The literary era since 1979

Random House, Office of the Editor-in-Chief.

The secretary knocked on the door and walked up to Jason Epstein: "Universal sent the invitation to the premiere."

Jason Epstein raised his head but didn't answer immediately. "How are the sales of Saving Private Ryan going now?"

“Excellent!”

The secretary handed over the statistics and other documents. "Kate said that Saving Private Ryan has regained the third place on the New York Times bestseller list this week. She suggested that we print another batch to avoid the embarrassing situation of being out of stock when the movie is released."

Jason Epstein glanced at the number, crossed it out without hesitation, and wrote a more exaggerated number.

The secretary reminded: "Isn't this too much? What if we can't sell them all?"

"Can't sell out? How can we not sell out!" Jason Epstein smiled, "The American market is saturated, but there is still Europe!"

The secretary pretended to be ignorant even though he knew the truth and kept flattering the boss.

Jason Epstein looked very comfortable in the photo. He once again glanced at the New York Times bestseller list of this week and was surprised to find that not only the dialect-written Saving Private Ryan was in the top three, but even Guns, Viruses, & Steel made it into the top ten.

"It is said that his lectures at major universities across the United States were quite successful."

The secretary said, "Many schools have included this book in their recommended summer reading lists."

"I'm afraid it's not that simple."

Jason Epstein still remembers that at a charity auction in the New York celebrity circle a few days ago, he heard praises and recommendations for "Guns, Viruses, & Steel" from people in the media, business, and education circles.

The secretary said in embarrassment: "But we are not a responsible publishing house after all, so we don't have first-hand data."

"No matter what, now at least one thing has been proven: Fang's works have a great market!"

When Jason Epstein thought that he had a novel comparable to "The Ring" on hand, greed appeared in his eyes.

A pair of eyes were fixed on the invitation letter for the premiere. "We must not let it fall into the hands of other publishing companies!"

The secretary agreed. A monograph like Human History could sell well. This writer must be a great writer! He must be paid a lot of money!
But the reality was far beyond their expectations.

"Guns, Viruses, and Steel" not only sold well, but also became more and more popular.

Of course, this is also thanks to two free salesmen, Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger.

Charlie Munger called it, "A terrific book, the best of its kind I have ever read!"

Warren Buffett repeatedly emphasized in an interview with The New Yorker that "the thinking model used by this Eastern wise man spans multiple disciplines and comprehensively uses multiple thinking models to think about human destiny. This is truly unprecedented and groundbreaking..."

With the blessing of celebrity halo and the publicity campaign of the movie "Saving Private Ryan", the book spread almost instantly from prestigious American universities to American celebrity circles. Most of the buyers were wealthy people, senior intellectuals, school students and history enthusiasts.

As for ordinary Americans, haha, they don’t even know where Asia is, how could they be interested in this kind of academic work.

Although it is written in a very popular way, it doesn’t matter. "Guns, Viruses, and Steel" has successfully broken the circle.

The reason why there was such a commotion was precisely because it took the upper-class elite route.

Many members of the U.S. federal and state governments, as well as various politicians and scholars, have purchased and read this book.

You don’t have to read them yourself, but they must be on the bookshelf in your office. After all, these books are there for others to read.

Just like the celebrities in the entertainment industry, they are obviously "hopelessly illiterate" and "ignorant of CNKI", but they still want to show off and get a master's or doctoral degree.

The elite personality cannot be lost!

Therefore, what the superiors like, the subordinates will follow.

Seeing that officials loved reading "Guns, Viruses, and Steel", government employees also started reading it, and it almost became a trend.

The University of Iowa Press never dreamed that the sales speed of an academic work would be as fast as that of a popular literature bestseller. The 2 copies previously printed had been sold out, and they had to print another copies again and again, increasing the number of copies.

Even more, the number was increased to 3 copies in one go.

With the help of universities such as the University of Iowa, the name of "Guns, Viruses, and Steel" has become widely known in prestigious universities across the United States.

The New York Times also made a timely comment: "Guns, Germs, and Steel is an interdisciplinary research work by a Chinese scholar, Fang Yan, that explores the phenomenon of inequality in human social development. The book analyzes factors such as geographical environment, agriculture, germs, technology, and political organization, and proposes a theoretical framework to explain the differences in the development of different civilizations..."

The core idea is that geography, rather than the inherent superiority of race, has played a decisive role in human history.

From a professional academic perspective, it provides a powerful theoretical weapon for the anti-racism and racial discrimination movement!
There is no doubt that Fang Yan is not only a wise scholar, but also a brave fighter! He is a pioneer in the fight against racism! "

This suddenly brought "Guns, Viruses, & Steel" into the vision of black, Latino and other groups, and its sales subsequently opened up.

If it weren't for the wrong timing and the fact that he missed the peak of the equal rights movement, he might have been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

However, as an academic work, it is already as successful as it can be. In particular, academic works have a long life span and do not need to be compared with those commercial works. Every year, students and scholars pay for them.

It is equivalent to getting a pension insurance in advance.

Fangyan was very happy and visited Old Mike's house before the movie premiere started.

Old Mike handed him a glass of whiskey on the rocks. "Nowadays, if you don't talk about Guns, Viruses, and Steel at a party in New York, you will seem out of date. Fang, you stole the show in the United States this time."

Fang Yan sighed: "I didn't expect it to be like this."

Old Mike asked curiously, "How did you convince Buffett and Munger?"

"Maybe I gave them a pretty satisfactory investment advice."

"Coca Cola?"

“Yeah, maybe you and I can buy a few more Coca-Cola shares.”

"Thanks for your advice!"

There was a hint of shrewdness in Old Mike's smile, and he then asked how he planned to invest the royalties he earned this time.

Fangyan took a sip of wine and said, "Don't put all your eggs in one basket. I plan to buy some more Berkshire and Nike stocks."

"Your investments always confuse me."

Old Mike frowned. "When Pepsi had the upper hand, you invested in Coca-Cola. Now the world is obviously dominated by Adidas, Puma, Reebok, and Converse, but you actually want to invest in Nike, which is likely to go bankrupt?"

Fangyan didn't care, now is the best time to buy Nike.

The current market value is 9 million, and the share price is only 6 US dollars. If you invest 1000 US dollars at this time and reinvest the dividends, the future value will be at least 95 US dollars.

But I can't say that I cheated, I have to come up with a reason that seems reasonable, just like Coca-Cola.

Because Nike has entered the Chinese market and signed agreements with seven domestic shoe factories.

What's more, if Han Yuemin wants to expand his clothing business to shoes in the future, he will inevitably have to cooperate with Nike.

"Is it just because of this reason?"

Old Mike's brows relaxed slightly, and he was doubtful.

"I also admire Nike's marketing model, which, like Pepsi, signs contracts with NBA players."

Fang Yan said: "This kind of promotion can quickly expand the fan circle of Nike shoes. I don't know if you have heard this saying, 'It is much better to have 100 very fanatical fans than 10000 people who think you are okay'. The fan effect will make brand marketing more effective."

"But Nike only signs NBA players. Maybe you don't understand how bad the NBA is."

Old Mike reminded us that throughout the 70s and even into the early 80s, the image of the NBA was very negative.

Violence, drugs, and gambling are rampant throughout the league, and they are disliked not only in overseas markets but also in the United States.

"No, the NBA is different now!"

Rodian, who was listening in, suddenly interrupted and said, "The new Stern is quite capable and is making drastic reforms."

Old Mike then remembered that Rodion used to work in a Chicago law firm and naturally became a fan of the Chicago Bulls.

"This year's Bulls team picked a great player named Michael Jordan!"

Luo Dai'an and Fang Yan looked at each other and said, "This person is signed with the Nike brand."

"She gave me a lot of confidence that I invested in Nike. We all thought Michael Jordan would be a superstar in the NBA!"

Fangyan added in his mind that this old rogue’s “Braised Egg” is the GOAT after all.

As for who the executive deputy GOAT is, I really don’t know.

"If you bet right, Fang, I think you can write a book about stock market investment, it will probably be a big hit!"

Old Mike pondered for a moment and still couldn't make up his mind to invest in Nike.

"Every one of his books is a bestseller."

Rodian shook his glass and said, "Now not only Random House, but also Penguin, HarperCollins, Hachette, Holtzbrinck and other publishing companies all want to cooperate with him." He then cast a meaningful look at Fangyan and said, "What do you think now?"

Fang Yan smiled and said, "Don't worry, let's see if Random House is sincere first." (End of this chapter)