Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 186: I've been caught in the rain, so no one else can hold an umbrella for me

Time flies and it is already late January. According to the lunar calendar, it is already the 20th day of the twelfth lunar month. In a blink of an eye, it has been more than half a month since "The Death of Van Gogh" was published in "Contemporary".

As the first issue of the publication changed from a quarterly to a bimonthly, the 1981 issue of Contemporary Magazine received great attention from everyone in the editorial department and the leadership of Renwen Press.

After the publication was revised, even if the sales volume of each issue was the same, the sales revenue for Renwen Press increased by half.

That morning, the pre-editing meeting of the society had just ended when Wei Junyi called Qin Chaoyang.

"Has the paper issue been resolved?"

"It has been resolved. The printing factory started printing yesterday." Qin Chaoyang said.

Wei Junyi nodded and said, "That's good."

Since the late 1970s, the limited production of printing paper has been a major problem plaguing my country's publishing industry.

With the rapid development of the domestic cultural industry in recent years, the annual increase in printing paper has taken a big step forward, and many publishing houses often face the problem of paper shortage.

Although Renwen Press is a national publishing house, it is still bound to encounter such problems.

Since the first issue of Contemporary Magazine was released in 81, it has been warmly welcomed by readers and its sales have once again set a new record.

In just twelve days, the first print run of 35 copies of the magazine was sold out.

Such a terrifying speed was completely beyond the expectations of the editorial department of "Contemporary". Previously, the publication of Lin Chaoyang's "Lai Zi's Summer" raised the sales of "Contemporary" from 13 copies to 53 copies, which the editorial department felt was already exaggerated.

But now, the new issue of "Contemporary" has sold out 35 copies in just twelve days on the market. What does this mean?
The previous highest sales volume was 53 copies sold in three months, and now 35 copies have been sold in twelve days. At this rate, wouldn’t the sales volume of this issue of "Contemporary" be heading for one million copies?
Such a drastic change in sales made all the editors of Contemporary Magazine feel extremely happy, but it also brought happy troubles.

Because the supply of printing paper is tight, both books and periodicals have a quota for printing paper. If the quota is exceeded, an application must be made.

According to the editorial department's estimate, the sales of the first issue of "Contemporary" after the revision would probably be very high, and the demand for paper would increase greatly. Qin Chaoyang immediately reported this problem to the publishing house.

The sales of Contemporary Magazine have been steadily increasing since its founding, so the increase in paper consumption is understandable.

But suddenly there was such a huge increase in usage, which meant doubling the already huge usage, which was a big problem for Renwenshe.

After two days of coordination, the publishing house finally freed up some printing paper for Contemporary.

Ensuring the printing volume of this issue of Contemporary is equivalent to ensuring sales and guaranteeing the benefits of Renwen Press.

With an extra 50 copies sold per issue, plus subsequent impact, the sales of Contemporary magazine in 81 will at least increase by one million copies. Contemporary magazine is also expected to be on par with the two top literary magazines, People's Literature and Harvest.

You should know that these two publications were founded as early as the 1950s. One is a national literary magazine with the word "People" in its name, and the other is headed by a literary giant.

In comparison, it is not easy for Contemporary Magazine, which was founded only a year ago and is backed by Renwen Press, to achieve such momentum in such a short period of time.

"You, Contemporary Magazine, must maintain a good relationship with the writer Lin Chaoyang and keep in touch with him frequently. He is very popular now, and there are a lot of magazines out there that want to commission him to write articles." Wei Junyi advised Qin Chaoyang.

The two major sales leaps of "Contemporary" were both due to the publication of Lin Chaoyang's works. It can be said that Lin Chaoyang made an indelible contribution to the development of "Contemporary".

Without Wei Junyi's reminder, "Contemporary" had already raised Lin Chaoyang to the top priority level for cooperation.

"Of course, he is now a great contributor to our Contemporary magazine." Qin Chaoyang said with a smile.

After the meeting, Qin Chaoyang returned to the back building from the front building. As soon as he arrived at the editorial department entrance, he heard bursts of laughter coming from the office.

He walked in and asked casually, "What are you so happy about?"

Although Qin Chaoyang is the editor-in-chief, he never puts on airs on a daily basis. When they saw him come in, everyone in the editorial department looked as usual.

Liu Yin replied with a smile: "Nothing, I just read a few letters from readers, all of which praised The Death of Van Gogh."

"What do readers say?" Qin Chaoyang asked curiously.

"What else can I say? I'll praise you as much as I can. It can be said that it has received rave reviews!"

Zhu Changsheng on the side said: "Liu Yin, you are exaggerating. Why are you talking more and more like Lao Rong?"

He mocked two people with one sentence, which provoked retorts from Rong Shihui and Liu Yin. They were all old comrades and usually talked and laughed without any scruples.

"How am I exaggerating? Take the letter from the Jiangxi Normal University student. What did he say?"

“Before reading The Death of Van Gogh, he knew nothing about Van Gogh, but after reading the novel, he was deeply moved by Van Gogh’s talent and personality in the novel, and understood his loneliness and depression that were not understood by the world.

I also truly understood that art is by no means a self-righteous, arrogant and unrestrained behavior, but must bloom in the deepest solitude.

Listen, today's college students have such profound thoughts! "

Qin Chaoyang listened to her retelling with a smile in his eyes, "You really understand it very well. It is a blessing for our magazine to have such readers. You should think about writing back to them."

As soon as he mentioned this, Xiao Yao, who was in charge of opening and reading readers' letters in the editorial department, complained, "Editor-in-chief, there are too many letters from readers recently. Not to mention replying, I waste a lot of time every day receiving and opening letters."

The enthusiasm of readers in this day and age for writing letters to newspapers and magazines is hard to imagine in later generations. Renwen Press is a national publishing house. Although Contemporary Magazine has only been published for over a year, its reputation in the literary world has already risen. Naturally, the number of letters from readers on a daily basis is not small.

Every Tuesday and Friday when Xiao Yao goes to work, he has to go to the guard's office and carry a sack of readers' letters to the "Contemporary" editorial office on the second floor of the back building.

A small envelope is not heavy, but a sack of envelopes is heavy, weighing about 40 to 50 kilograms. Thanks to the fact that women at that time were not pampered and had the idea that "women hold up half the sky" in their minds, Xiao Yao carried the sack for more than a year.

Since the beginning of this year, along with the surge in sales of Contemporary, the number of letters from readers has also increased dramatically.

She used to carry two sacks of letters a week, but in the two months after Lai Zi’s Summer was published, she had to carry sacks almost every day.

Xiao Yao was a little dazed from carrying the sacks during those two months. Sometimes she even couldn't help but wonder whether she came to Renwen Press to be an editor or a contractor?
Fortunately, after the peak period of two months, the number of letters from readers of "Contemporary" decreased significantly in the second half of the year, but it was still a lot more than before. She received three to four packages of letters a week, and she still had to carry them upstairs in two batches, which was barely acceptable.

But who knew that the good times would not last long. In January this year, Lin Chaoyang's "The Death of Van Gogh" was published again in "Contemporary".

After just a few days, the number of letters from readers to the mailroom rebounded to the level after the publication of "Lai Zi's Summer" in the first half of the year, and then soared in the following days.

Xiao Yao now rides a bicycle to work every day. What he fears most is that Mr. Zhai will open the window and stick his head out to shout: "Xiao Yao, come and get the mail!"

To go from one pack twice a week to two packs a day, all it takes is the publication of The Death of Vincent van Gogh.

And this is just the beginning. When the letter reaches the editorial office, you have to open it, right? After opening it, you have to read it, and after reading it, you have to reply, right?
No one understands Xiao Yao's pain, and no one sympathizes with her. After all, she is just a newcomer in the editorial department.
We all have been through this. If you’ve been caught in the rain, why would you think of holding an umbrella for others?
In recent days, due to the hot sales of the new issue of the magazine, the editorial department is filled with laughter and joy. Everyone is immersed in joy, except Xiao Yao, who is always unhappy and sighing.

Listening to Xiao Yao's complaints, Qin Chaoyang asked, "Too many letters?"

He seldom pays attention to readers' letters on a daily basis, and he doesn't know the exact number of letters. Although a leader is close to the people, it is impossible for him to care about even such small matters in detail.

Zhu Changsheng replied: "The response to The Death of Van Gogh has been so good recently, and the letters from readers are very enthusiastic."

Qin Chaoyang nodded, "Xiao Yao has worked hard. Lao Zhu, if you have time, please help Xiao Yao share the work."

"it is good."

Qin Chaoyang's light-hearted words made Zhu Changsheng unable to laugh, and the other people in the editorial department were gloating after Qin Chaoyang left.

Although Qin Chaoyang said "you" just now, he only named Zhu Changsheng.

With a "bang", Xiao Yao placed a half-opened package of readers' letters on his desk.

"Old Zhu, thank you for your hard work!"

When saying this, Xiao Yao showed a smile that he couldn't hide at all.

"Xiao Yao, I still have so many manuscripts to review, how can I have time to read these letters!"

"Take some time to read it. Just glance at it. It won't take up much time. If you find any letter interesting, just reply with a few words."

The more Xiao Yao spoke with ease, the more worried Zhu Changsheng became. It was not like he had never done this before, it would be great if it was that easy.

"It would be great if our publishing house had a communications department!" Zhu Changsheng sighed.

The so-called Communications Department is generally a functional department set up by a newspaper, which is mainly responsible for communicating and coordinating with the superior authorities, organizing training for correspondents, and contacting the masses.

One of the important jobs of the Communications Department is to handle letters from readers, because letters from readers of newspapers basically reflect problems, many of which are related to the vital interests of the people.

Renwen Press is a publishing house. Most of the letters from readers are comments on published books and periodicals. The workload is not large, so there is no department specifically responsible for handling readers' letters. All of them are handled by young editors.

"Do you want me to assign you a secretary?" Liu Yin teased mercilessly.

"That's great, it would be best if it's a female secretary." Zhu Changsheng said jokingly.

"You are so beautiful!"

After the joke, Zhu Changsheng looked at the letters from readers and started to feel worried.

He knew that the letters in front of him were less than half of the number of letters the editorial department received every day.

Let him read some manuscripts, but he won't be able to stick to reading letters.

Zhu Changsheng thought about it and soon came up with an idea.

"Xiao Yao, how many of these letters are written to Lin Chaoyang?"

"Quite a lot, at least one third."

"Then let's pick out all these letters and send them to him."

Xiao Yao was a little surprised and asked, "Didn't he say no?"

In April, "Contemporary" published "Lai Zi's Summer", which received a strong response from readers. Letters poured into the editorial office like snowflakes. At that time, the editorial department wanted to forward many letters written specifically to Lin Chaoyang to him, but Lin Chaoyang refused on the grounds that there was no place at home.

"He said no, so he doesn't want it? This is all from the readers!"

Zhu Changsheng's expression was so righteous that Xiao Yao was stunned.

She wanted to say something, but didn't know where to start.

The old comrades' principles and bottom lines are indeed flexible.

(End of this chapter)