They’re all reborn, what’s wrong with being a little more almighty?

Chapter 214 American Hot Style

Amazon Publishing, Evans turned on the computer, entered the database, and looked at yesterday's book sales data.

"Compared to yesterday, the sales volume of "Thirst Game" has increased by one, and the rating is still stable at 4.7 points!"

Sales increased so quickly, and with such high ratings, Evans instantly felt that he had unearthed a great treasure.

With the advent of summer vacation, book sales have also entered the peak season, especially for youth literature, where sales have increased dramatically.

Of course, the market competition at this time is also very fierce. What can improve the sales ranking at this time may not be a pearl, but it is definitely a masterpiece that caters to the market.

There is a characteristic of American book review websites. Historical masterpieces may not have high ratings. On the contrary, many best-selling novels will have relatively high ratings. For example, the Harry Potter series will have a rating of 4.5 or above, and "The Red and the Black" For such a world famous book, the score is only about three points.

If it scores 4.7, it is definitely a high-scoring work!
Evans clicked on the latest comments and read the ones with a larger number of words.

""The Thirst Game" is a dystopian teenage adventure. This work successfully integrates the cruelty of the real world and the struggle of human nature into a fictional future world. While depicting the growth and transformation of the protagonist, it also reflects The tragedy of social injustice and the gap between rich and poor is both science fiction and realistic, and fascinating.”

"Thirst Games reveals the delicate relationship between power and class through a brutal reality show. In this fictional future world, rulers use games to consolidate their status and maintain social order. This work not only makes people feel the difficulty of survival, but also makes people deeply reflect on power and class. "

"There are many people who have reviewed it, and the reviews are mostly positive. It seems that we can invest more resources."

Galante continued to explain calmly: "You also know that he is Chinese, so I am even less likely to give him high royalties. I don't think something written by a Chinese can achieve good sales in the American market."

As a country of immigrants, the United States is a diversified society. It has only a history of more than 200 years and has not developed much cultural heritage. Therefore, the values ​​of each generation are quite different.

The boss threw a copy of the New York Times in front of Galante and asked sternly: "You must have read the latest issue of the New York Times book bestseller list, right? This eighth place suddenly appeared, you Do you want an explanation?"

……

And when readers actually bought this book and read it carefully, they discovered that the connotation of this work is not as simple as it seems on the surface. The works discuss value and exploitation, class and power, resistance and compromise, and the choices and tests of human nature, which are all thought-provoking.

"No good sales? So what's going on with this New York Times bestseller ranking eighth?"

In contrast, this generation of Chinese people are not so torn, so Chinese readers do not understand what is so good about The Hunger Games. Chinese readers have begun to like stories like "The Wandering Earth" in which people unite as one and work together to save the world.

This is definitely the most divided generation of Americans since the founding of the United States. Perhaps it is for this reason that works like The Hunger Games are regarded as masterpieces by Americans!

The most important thing is that many of the values ​​displayed in the work are really in line with American tastes.

This generation of Americans has experienced 911, the war in Afghanistan and the war in Iraq. In the future, they will also experience the subprime mortgage crisis. They will occupy Wall Street, take to the streets for Floyd, and shout "Well" Karma" stormed into Congress.

"A new author? As far as I know, he is also a top-selling author with millions of copies sold in China!" the boss immediately retorted.

"This is a thrilling adventure novel. The protagonist in the story uses the courage and determination to replace his sister in participating in the thirsty game, showing the responsibility and struggle of youth, and also inspiring the desire to survive deep in his heart. This novel is intense Exciting and touching. ”

After all, Amazon targets the entire United States. The last recommended position can be seen by Amazon users across the United States.
When the user clicked on it, the score of the work was as high as 4.7 points! That should be a good book. If you look at the introduction again and see that the works are recommended by the great writer Cormac McCarthy, then the quality of the works is even more guaranteed.

After reading several book reviews, Evans already felt confident.

Xuele Group, Galante was called to the office by his boss.

Because the subject matter is quite lovable, this recommendation immediately increased the sales of "The Thirst Game".

Galante took a look at the New York Times and saw that the eighth best-selling book this week was the book he rejected, "The Thirst Game."

The next day, "The Thirst Game" was listed on Amazon's book recommendations.

"It's like this. This author has relatively high royalty requirements and is unwilling to accept the 5% I proposed, so I rejected him. He is still a new author. Even if the quality of his work is acceptable, we cannot give him a higher rate. The price!" Galante explained calmly.

Finally, let’s look at the synopsis. The story is set in North America after the nuclear war. It’s a doomsday theme and there’s a killing game, so I like it even more! Lao Mei, I like to watch this kind of story of killing each other at the end of the world and finally eating the chicken.

"Maybe this is just a flash in the pan! Maybe by next week, this "Hungry Game" will disappear without a trace on the list." Galante said rather harshly.

The boss directly handed over the original book of "The Thirst Game" and continued: "A short-lived flash in the pan? Take a closer look at what is written on the cover!"

Galante took the book "The Thirst Game" and looked down. In addition to the title and author, there were the words "Highly Recommended by Cormac McCarthy" on the cover of the book.

Seeing this name, Galante was shocked. He immediately asked: "Cormac McCarthy's recommendation? How is this possible? Cormac McCarthy has always been reclusive. Even the New York Times wanted to interview him. It’s very difficult, how could that Chinese person get his recommendation?”

"See for yourself, the title page is a letter of recommendation from Cormac McCarthy, and Cormac McCarthy spoke very highly of this book!" the boss said.

Galante turned over the title page and saw that it was indeed the case.

It has been printed in the book, so it is definitely impossible to fake it. Even if the author wants to fake it, the publisher is not a fool and will check the authenticity.

"That Chinese guy actually has such connections that even Cormac McCarthy can get his hands on it!"

Galante took a deep breath and then explained: "That's the thing. When he came to me, he didn't produce Cormac McCarthy's recommendation letter. Otherwise, I would definitely consider giving him more royalties. divided into.

"It's too late to say this now. Because of your mistake, we may have missed a best-selling book."

The boss snorted coldly and continued: "It would be fine if we didn't know about this book before, but the first person this author came to find was us, but you rejected it, which brought losses to us.

More importantly, if this book really becomes a hit, wouldn’t it mean that our editor is short-sighted? At that time, our professional standards will be questioned, and writers will lose trust in us!
And if our peers find out that we have not agreed on the percentage of royalties, then we will really become the laughing stock of our peers, and no writer with any ability will come to us to submit a manuscript. "

In a cultural and creative industry like publishing, the loss of money is secondary. What is really serious is the loss of reputation. If the money is gone, you can make it again, but if your reputation is ruined, it will be difficult to recover it.

In today's situation, when an excellent work is delivered to your door but the publishing house does not accept it, it is obviously because the editor has no vision. Doesn't this mean that this publishing house is amateur?
Whether you are a writer or a colleague, you definitely want to cooperate with professionals. If you look so amateur, others will not want to talk to you.

It is not unforgivable to behave unprofessionally. No one is born to know everything. If you don’t understand, you can learn!

But it would be foolish to reject a top-notch work just for a small percentage of royalties!
I just heard my boss say: "I can accept that you are not professional enough, but I absolutely cannot accept your stupidity! If this book "The Thirst Game" really becomes popular, our entire Xuele Group will be questioned. When the time comes, you Need to explain to the board!”

Galante was stunned, and the next second he understood his boss's purpose. He was looking for the scapegoat!
If the follow-up sales of "The Thirst Game" are average, that's all. But if the sales really explode, someone must take the responsibility for missing out on the hit.

If we don't find someone to take the blame and give an explanation, the reputation of the entire Xuele Group will be damaged. At that time, peers will laugh at the Xuele Group, and writers will also ignore the Xuele Group.

In the publishing industry, works are the core resources. If excellent writers are not willing to submit to this publishing house, then this publishing house must be in trouble.

Finding a scapegoat to perform the attack was tantamount to Cao Cao's campaign against Yuan Shu. He ran out of food halfway, so he borrowed the head of the food officer Wang Jie to calm the morale of the army. As for the result of the scapegoat, one can imagine that even if he is not fired, he will be relegated to the sidelines.

The boss definitely doesn’t want to take this responsibility, so he can only bear the blame!
……

A week later, it’s time again for the New York Times to announce its bestseller list.

Galante immediately bought a copy of the New York Times and found this week's bestseller list.

"Last week, "Thirst Game" was ranked eighth. I hope it won't move forward this week!" Galante thought to himself, and then looked directly at the eighth position.

"It's not "Thirst Games"!" Galante's eyes began to glance upwards. The seventh, sixth, and fifth places were all not "Thirst Games."

Just when Galante was about to breathe a sigh of relief, "The Thirst Game" finally came into Galante's sight.

"Third place!" Galante gasped.

In one week, it went from the eighth bestseller to the top three bestsellers!

The top three is a threshold. If a work can enter the top three, it means it has the potential to hit the first place.

And with the momentum of "Thirst Game", it doesn't seem to be difficult to hit the first place.

Galante couldn't help but recall the scene of his meeting with Zhang Wei that day.

At that time, Galante only thought that "The Thirst Game" was an adventure novel of good quality, but he did not expect that this work would eventually become a hit!

Recalling that day, he was so awesome and coaxing that he was unwilling to let go even for one percent of the price. At this time, Galante wished that he could turn back time and go back to a few months ago to meet Zhang Wei. When we meet.

If I wasn't so arrogant and signed this book "The Thirst Game", then this best-selling novel would become my performance, and maybe it could help me get promoted and get a salary increase!
But now, it's too late to regret it. I have already taken the blame!
……

At this time, Zhang Wei had returned to Tsingta University.

Meng Heming and all the professors from the Department of Biology stood at the door. After seeing Zhang Wei, they immediately greeted him.

"I hope for the stars and the moon, and finally I hope you are back!"

"Professor Meng, are you looking forward to the follow-up research results on IPS cells?" Zhang Wei asked with a smile.

"With you here, I can get whatever research results I want!" Meng Heming said quickly.

"If you're not in a hurry, I'll rest for a few days and go back to my hometown."

"No, all the professors in the biology department are here to welcome you, you are not allowed to say more than a few words!"

"I knew you wouldn't let me go. I've prepared everything you want. Let's go in and talk!" Zhang Wei waved his hand and followed Meng Heming to the conference room.

After arriving at the conference room, Zhang Wei was not polite, he sat directly in the middle and said, "Everyone must know about IPS cells, so I won't introduce them in detail.

As for the follow-up research on IPS cells, I am currently working on three projects, namely generating IPS cells with germline reproductive capacity, generating IPS cells using mouse liver cells and gastric cells, and generating IPS cells without virus vectors.

Relevant results were also published last month. I won’t elaborate on the specific content. They are all written in the paper. If you want to know more, you can come to me and we will discuss it slowly.

Regarding this IPS cell, there is still great potential for subsequent research. I also promised President Gu before that I would keep the core research at Tsingta University. So I will talk about this today.

First, let’s talk about the generation of IPS cells without virus vectors. The purpose of this research is mainly to improve the safety of IPS cells, so as to serve subsequent clinical experiments.

When I first induced IPS cells, I used retroviruses as gene vectors. Later, I collaborated with Professor Stapp's team at Northwestern University to develop plasmids as gene vectors, which greatly reduced the carcinogenicity.

But I have a bolder idea, which is to use other methods to induce and realize the reprogramming process of IPS cells without using vectors! "

As soon as these words came out, the expressions of everyone present became serious. They all knew that directly inducing IPS cells without using carriers would bring a revolutionary progress to this research.

For example, this is equivalent to replacing a feature phone with a smartphone, which directly changes the ecosystem of the entire mobile phone industry and redefines the functions of mobile phones.

Zhang Wei continued: "Regarding the research in this area, I plan to divide it into two projects: short-term and long-term. The short-term results will be produced relatively quickly, while the long-term results will be slower. The two projects will be carried out at the same time.

For short-term projects, we need to experimentally use transcription factor proteins to achieve induction effects. This will increase the safety of IPS cells, at least the oncogene will be gone and the risk of cancer will be eliminated.

For a long-term project, I hope to use small molecule compounds to induce IPS cells. Compared with traditional gene induction methods, small molecule compound induction will take less time, be more efficient, be simpler to operate, and more cost-effective. The key is It is we who can carry out precise control!
My ultimate goal is to achieve two goals. One is to get rid of the dependence of previous reprogramming methods on genetic manipulation, and the other is to achieve reversibility of the cell development process! "

Hearing Zhang Wei put forward these two goals, everyone in the conference room gasped, and some people even showed surprised expressions, obviously frightened by Zhang Wei's idea.

It is easy to say that getting rid of dependence on genetic manipulation is a very important issue in genetics.

But the reversibility of cell development is a bit scary to think about!

We all know that embryonic stem cells can be transformed into any tissue cells, but this process is irreversible.

What Zhang Wei calls reversible means that any tissue cells can be transformed back into embryonic stem cells. In other words, various cells such as muscles, blood, fat, skin, organs, nerves, etc. can be re-converted into stem cells.

This is equivalent to a process of rejuvenating cells. To put it bluntly, this completely violates the laws of biological growth.

It's like if you plant a seed, it will grow into a towering tree a few years later. Now, how is it possible for this big tree to grow back to its original seed?

And once this research is successful, does it mean that when a person gets old, his cells can be reversed through technological means and eventually return to the state of a young adult?
Then humans have gained eternal life!
Qin Shihuang knew that there was such a good thing, wouldn't he have to climb out of the coffin, and even without you paying for it, he would have to make you a prince?
Looking at the surprised expressions of everyone, Zhang Wei showed a meaningful smile. Everyone's reaction was completely expected by him.

According to the understanding in 2005, the reversibility of cell development is indeed beyond the normal biological understanding.

In this era, humans are still thinking about how to use embryonic stem cells to cultivate human tissues and organs and then use them as replacement parts. How can anyone think about reverse growth of cell development?

But in 2018, the scientific research team of Peking University really studied the reverse growth of cell development, using the three-factor transcription method of IPS cells.

Although it is just a mud town of cell development, there is still a long way to go before human beings can rejuvenate, and it may even never be realized, but this research is indeed a landmark achievement.

(End of this chapter)