Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 273 I have time to think about paying the manuscript fee

Lin Chaoyang really wanted to say that you editors are so boring, but since we are all friends, he couldn't be too disrespectful, so he gave a number.

“One million copies!”

Liu Xinwu's face, which was originally filled with joy, suddenly drooped. "How could you guess like that? Even if Harvest sells 100 million copies in a week, it won't work!"

"Then just tell me the truth. You are not a child. Why are you playing guessing games?" Lin Chaoyang complained.

Liu Xinwu shook his head. After being interrupted by Lin Chaoyang, his excitement was mostly gone. He said, "30 copies."

30 copies a week. Even if this momentum is maintained, it will only be 120 million copies a month.

"That's not a lot!"

Lin Chaoyang's tone was nonchalant, but it irritated Liu Xinwu enough.

“Is 30 not enough? We publish a bimonthly magazine. If we sell 30 copies in one week, even if the sales are slow, 120 million copies is a sure thing. Any more will depend on luck.

I see that you have collaborated too much with People’s Literature and Harvest, and you have no idea about sales volume.”

Although people always say that the 1980s was a golden age for literature, this "golden age" is only relative. Even during this era when literature was the hottest, the peak sales volume of traditional literary magazines was only over one million copies.

You should know that other popular magazines such as "Popular Movies", "Story Club" and "Wulin" have sales of millions of copies.

As one of the leading domestic literary magazines, October sold 55 copies of its first issue.

It has been less than four years since its establishment, and its sales have been steadily increasing. The sales of a single issue generally remain between 60 and 80 copies. It is already a leader in the domestic literary journal industry.

If we look at the magazine sales and influence together, the only two magazines that could surpass October were People's Literature and Harvest, two heavyweight magazines in the literary world.

However, the situation has changed in the past two years. Due to the continuous publication of many works by Lin Chaoyang, the sales and influence of "Contemporary" and "Yenching Literature" have been rising rapidly, and they have been surpassing "October" from time to time. This situation occasionally causes headaches for "October".

This time, "October" also published Lin Chaoyang's works, and proved with facts that Lin Chaoyang's works do have an appeal among the readership that is difficult for ordinary writers to match.

Every magazine has its own basic market. The sales volume of October in the past two years has been at least 60 copies and at most 80 copies. The difference of 20 copies is the difference in the quality of the works in that issue and the appeal of the writers.

The 120 million copies Liu Xinwu mentioned are certainly not groundless, but a reasonable estimate based on the previous sales of "October".

Therefore, when the first week sales of the magazine were counted today, the entire October editorial department was jubilant. After several years of publication, the magazine's sales are finally about to reach the million level, and everyone feels proud.

"You didn't come here today just to tell me this, did you?" Lin Chaoyang asked.

"There's something else."

As Liu Xinwu spoke, he looked at Tao Yushu. Lin Chaoyang was curious, could this matter be related to Tao Yushu?

Tao Yushu said, "The Yanjing Literary Association and our Yanjing Literature have jointly established a Yanjing Literature Institute to offer classes, train new literary talents, and provide guidance to our city's amateur creative teams. Lao Liu has been invited to be a lecturer, and we would like to invite you to be a lecturer as well."

Liu Xinwu added, "There are lecture fees."

Lin Chaoyang glared at him and asked, "Who do you, Old Liu, think I am?"
Seeing that Lin Chaoyang didn't say anything, Liu Xinwu introduced him to the situation of the Yenching Institute of Literature.

The Yenching Institute of Literature is jointly organized by the Yenching Literary Association and the Yenching Literature Magazine, and the novel writing workshops are also jointly run by the two organizations.

The workshop is scheduled to start in early April and will enroll 200 regular students. The number of auditors will depend on the situation.

Anyone who has an education level equivalent to high school or above, has published novels, essays, and reportage in provincial and municipal newspapers and magazines, and is interested in learning novel writing, can apply to become a formal student with their published works and a letter of introduction from their unit.

Beginning writers or literature enthusiasts can apply to become auditors with a letter of introduction from their work unit.

The workshop courses mainly include two aspects: literary theory and creative practice. Lectures are held once every two weeks at the Cinematheque of the Working People's Cultural Palace, and the class time is one morning.

The Yenching Writers Association and Yenching Literature plan to invite writers, critics, university teachers and editors in Beijing to be the keynote speakers. The lecture notes will also be published in the summary of BJ Literature. After guidance, the formal students' works will be selected and published by Yenching Literature.

Hearing this, Lin Chaoyang asked: "After talking for so long, your workshop won't be free, right?"

"How is that possible? Regular students are charged 12 yuan, and auditors are charged 7 yuan."

"Oh, it's not cheap! Other people's classes are free, and they also provide food and drinks, but you charge a fee here."

Liu Xinwu smiled bitterly and said: "The creative classes organized by those magazines are aimed at creators who have published experience and have certain potential, and they are small-scale.

Although we also require formal students to have published experience, there is no threshold for general enthusiasts. We can't lose money to gain publicity, right? "

He added: "The workshop will be held every two weeks for a year. If the results are good, we will continue to hold it next year. You will be responsible for giving a class, which will take only one morning. I will pay you 30 yuan for the class."

30 yuan is equivalent to half a month's or even a month's salary for ordinary people nowadays. Lin Chaoyang joked: "You are really willing to spend money."

"The guests we invited are all famous people. If the reward is too little, they won't be able to show it off!"

When Lin Chaoyang heard this, he asked who they were.

"The ones who have been invited so far include Wang Meng, Qin Chaoyang, Deng Youmei, Lin Jinlan, Wang Yuanjian, Tang Yin, and you and me."

The few names Liu Xinwu mentioned are indeed well-known in the literary world. With such a lineup of lecturers, this workshop can be considered conscientious.

The tuition fee of 12 yuan is really not expensive, not to mention that it is only 7 yuan to audit the class.

30 yuan was nothing to Lin Chaoyang, but with the favors from Tao Yushu and Liu Xinwu, it was not convenient for him to refuse.

"Okay, then I'll go to the lecture. Are there any requirements in this regard?" Lin Chaoyang asked. "No. You can talk about whatever you want. Just report it to Yushu three days before the class starts."

After Liu Xinwu left, Lin Chaoyang asked Tao Yushu: "I see you don't seem to support this workshop?"

“It’s not that I don’t support it, but I think the leaders take things for granted. This type of creative class will definitely not be very effective.

I talked to Editor-in-Chief Yang at work and said that our magazine was just assisting in this matter, and the main thing was that the Cultural Association wanted to make some achievements. "

Hearing her say this, Lin Chaoyang nodded and said, "The original intention is definitely good. As for the effect, it depends on whether the listener is Wukong."

Tao Yushu couldn't help but smile, "That's right. If you really have wisdom, maybe you will be enlightened after listening to a class and benefit a lot."

Two days later, Lin Chaoyang finished writing the script of "The Garland under the Mountain" and called Xie Jin to ask him to send the script over.

But Xie Jin disagreed and insisted on going to Yanjing to get it himself.

Nowadays, it is not uncommon for writers to lose their manuscripts after mailing them. For more important manuscripts, many writers will deliver them personally or ask friends to deliver them. Some editors will even pick them up in person.

Two days after the phone call, Xie Jin came to Yanjing.

"It came quickly enough!"

Xie Jin came directly to the Overseas Chinese Apartment, and Lin Chaoyang teased him.

"You write the script so slowly!" Xie Jin retorted.

"The old comrade is really angry."

After a few jokes, Xie Jin asked, "Where's the script?"

Lin Chaoyang took out the script, and Xie Jin sat on the sofa and read it carefully, without moving for a long time.

Movie scripts are generally around 30,000 words, and the same is true for "The Garland under the Mountain". This number of words is only equivalent to the content of a novella with fewer words, but the amount of information is incomparable.

Especially from the perspective of director Xie Jin, he would think about the scenery, the camera movements, the character performances...

It was almost ten o'clock in the evening, and Xie Jin was still sitting on the sofa motionless. Lin Chaoyang was already prepared to let him stay overnight.

"Old Xie, if you feel sleepy, go to the north room. The bedding is ready for you."

Xie Jin didn't react when he heard this, and Lin Chaoyang didn't urge him. He went back to his room with Tao Yushu and went to bed.

The next morning, when Lin Chaoyang got up, he saw Xie Jin lying on the sofa with his clothes on. He went over to wake Xie Jin up.

"Why don't you go to your room and sleep? I've prepared everything for you."

Xie Jin shook his groggy head and said, "I'm old now, and I don't get much sleep. Just lie down for a while."

"Don't force yourself to eat if you don't have to. What difference does it make to sleep in the room?"

Xie Jin ignored his sarcasm and reached for the script on the coffee table. "I've read the script, it's very well written. Do you have any suggestions for the actors?"

"You are the director, you have the final say."

"What do you think of letting Zhu Shimao play the role of Zhao Mengsheng?"

Zhao Mengsheng's early image was that of a pretty boy who came to the army to gain experience and was afraid of death. Later, under the influence and sacrifice of his comrades, he completed his character transformation and grew into an iron-blooded warrior who had experienced the baptism of blood and fire.

He is the most full-bodied and most arc-like character in the novel. He can also be said to be the soul of "The Garland under the Mountain", connecting the plot of the entire novel.

As the original author, Lin Chaoyang has restored the novel 100% in the script, and Zhao Mengsheng is naturally the undisputed protagonist of the script.

When Xie Jin selects actors for his movies, he rarely works with the same actor in multiple films.

The reason why he asked this question was not because of their collaboration on the previous film, but more because he thought that Zhu Shimao's image was somewhat consistent with the character of Zhao Mengsheng.

When he chooses actors, he never cares whether they are famous or not. Because no matter whether they are famous or not, if they act in his movies, they will become the most dazzling stars in the Chinese film industry. This is the confidence of a famous director.

"Shi Mao has a good image and is upright. If he plays Zhao Mengsheng in the later period, it would be great, but his temperament is too tough. Zhao Mengsheng in the early period was just a pretty boy, so there is still a certain gap."

Xie Jin was not determined to let Zhu Shimao play Zhao Mengsheng, he was just asking tentatively. After listening to the advice of Lin Chaoyang, the original author and screenwriter, he gave up.

"We have to look carefully for this male lead."

Xie Jin also talked to Lin Chaoyang about the crew's preparations. He is a meritorious director of the Shanghai Film Studio, so the Shanghai Film Studio will naturally give its full support to his new film.

Before the script of "High Mountains" was released, the behind-the-scenes team of the crew had already been set up, and the only thing left was the selection of actors.

Now that the script is out, Xie Jin plans to call the assistant director Wu Zhennian and photographer Zhu Yongde, who are in charge of casting this time, to Yanjing to participate in the casting.

After all the roles are confirmed, we will go to the border to scout locations. During this period, the actors can be placed in the army to experience life.

Xie Jin talked for a long time about his plans and arrangements for the movie, but only got one response from Lin Chaoyang.

"You always think about paying the manuscript fee when you have time!"

Xie Jin was furious when he heard this. It was like talking to a cow!
(End of this chapter)