Rebirth 2004: A lone figure in the literary world

Chapter 130: When it comes to imagination, Kennedy is not as good as Zhang Chao!

After much consideration, Zhang Chao decided to go to the United States, but his main itinerary changed from attending IWP to negotiating with the American bookseller Simon & Schuster about the distribution of "The Great Physician" in the United States.

As for why the US Embassy was arrogant at first and then respectful, Zhang Chao could vaguely guess it, but this kind of thing requires mutual consent... Zhang Chao wanted to see what kind of sweet treat the other party could throw out for him to taste.

Not long after the call to Smith Lee, he really showed up with his men to provide door-to-door service. However, when Smith saw that Zhang Chao took out a business invitation letter from Simon & Schuster, he was dumbfounded and had to say, "For a business visa, you have to fill out the form again..."

The review for business visas is much stricter than that for study abroad visas, but Simon & Schuster is one of the six largest publishers in the United States. Its cross-border business invitation letters are not only standardized but also of high value. As long as the authenticity is verified, they will generally not be rejected.

After a period of busy work, Zhang Chao got a business visa that allows him to travel to the United States as many times as he wants within 10 years, with a stay of up to 6 months each time, instead of the previous student visa.

Zhang Chao immediately set off for Shanghai. The application for the journal number of "Youth" could not be delayed any longer.

On the second day after arriving in Shanghai, Zhang Chao saw Zhao Changtian, Li Qigang and others in the office of New Sprouts with sad faces, and couldn't help asking, "Why, is the application for the journal number not going smoothly?"

Zhao Changtian said: "The policy on journal publication numbers has been tightened again, and the previous plan may have changed."

Zhang Chao said: "Didn't you say that this method is the most formal and safest at the moment?"

Domestic journal numbers are precious. If you run a journal yourself, you cannot apply for one without finding a "supervisory unit". The most important thing for the "supervisory unit" here is that it is willing to "take political responsibility" for the content of the corresponding journal. If this journal causes any adverse reactions, the first person to be punished will definitely be the "supervisory unit".

This is why it is difficult to apply for publication numbers for literary journals. Unlike technical or advertising journals, the risk of being responsible for a literary journal is second only to that of being responsible for a news journal.

"New Sprout" magazine is not considered the "supervisory unit", its superior department is.

The next step is to publish more than 6 issues of the magazine in the form of series, collaborative publishing, supplements, internal printing, etc., and the sales volume must meet the requirements and be convincing, and then you can formally enter the application process.

In the end, whether you apply for a new journal number, call up an excess old journal number, or purchase an old journal and change its cover, or are simply rejected, it all depends on your operation skills and your fate.

"Youth" takes the most orthodox route and is published as a supplement to "New Sprouts" magazine. So far, the sales of each issue have exceeded 50 copies. The social impact is not only huge but also positive. It is definitely a top literary journal. It should not be difficult to apply for a new publication number after the transition period.

Li Qigang explained: "This year, there is a saying that the 'print media winter' is coming. Newspapers and magazines in various places have either stopped publishing or started to switch to online distribution. Under this situation, the higher authorities are very cautious about issuing publication numbers to new publications."

Zhang Chao asked, "Didn't we say before that if we can't apply for a new publication number, we can just buy an old publication with a low circulation and change the cover?"

Li Qigang said: "It is because of the 'print media winter' that we are now doing a large-scale statistics of old and current journals. We may be preparing to recall and abolish some existing journal numbers. So this kind of transaction has also been temporarily frozen. It will take at least until this time next year to reopen it."

Zhao Changtian said: "Don't get me wrong, this is not aimed at Youth. Nationwide, literary journals are only a tiny part, less than 7% of the total, so one more or one less is not a big deal.

The main reason is that during the 70s and 80s, many county-level units published a large number of journals, and a large number of them died after the 90s. It’s okay if they died completely, in fact, many of them are still alive, occupying the staff and budget, and some journals have more editors than circulation.

Some journals have been selling fake products under false pretenses. For example, when they were registered, they were literary journals, but now they have become product advertising albums. So this year we will conduct statistical research, and next year and the year after will be a rectification, and we may even need to amend the law or legislate to regulate it.”

Zhang Chao was a little unhappy and asked, "Then why did I come to Shanghai this time? To sit with you and worry?"

Zhao Changtian said, "I have discussed it with my superiors and there are several ways to do it..." Zhang Chao interrupted directly, "If you use the book number instead of the publication number, forget it. There will be endless troubles. I definitely don't agree."

Using books instead of magazines has always been an industry practice, because it is too difficult to apply for a publication number. Xiao Si's "Island" series and Han Han's "Solo" magazine, which only published one issue this year, both use this method to bypass the publication number barrier.

But without exception, after the new law was promulgated in 2008, these two became the first to be criticized, and finally had to cease publication in disgrace. After that, even though Xiao Si applied for an official publication number for the "Best" series, he was unable to revive the "Island" series.

Zhang Chao would definitely not do such a stupid thing as giving someone something to hold against him.

Zhao Changtian had no choice but to say, "How about this, continue to publish it as a supplement to New Sprouts?"

Zhang Chao still rejected it outright, saying, "Using book numbers as a transition can at least fool people for a year or two. If any of your superiors is unhappy with the supplement, they can stop it with just one word." He was also scared by what happened last time.

Li Qigang then came up with an idea: "How about we release it in the form of a CD number?"

This was Zhang Chao's blind spot, so he asked, "Disc number?"

Li Qigang said: "CDs are audio-visual products, so they also need to apply for a distribution number, but it is easier than a journal number or a book number, and they are generally not stuck with this. When it comes to distribution, CDs must be the main sales entity."

Zhang Chao asked, "What about the magazine? Is it burned onto a CD? Will readers still need to use computers to read it?"

Li Qigang said: "No, just print it as usual, put the CD in a transparent plastic bag and stick it on the cover. You can just engrave something related to the journal content on the CD, a song, a few pictures, or even an electronic catalog."

Zhang Chao asked suspiciously: "That magazine...?"

Li Qigang said, "What magazine? That's the instruction manual that comes with the CD! There must be a message printed on the back saying 'This manual comes with the CD and is not sold separately'."

Zhang Chao: "..."

Li Qigang's idea was a bit too far-fetched, and Zhang Chao needed some time to digest it.

Zhao Changtian was very interested and said, "That's a good idea. Usually, game magazines and software magazines like to do this. I really forgot that there is such a way."

Li Qigang said: "CDs are not expensive nowadays. If you buy in bulk, each CD only costs a few cents."

Zhang Chao thought for a long time and still felt that this skirting-the-edge approach had hidden dangers. He suddenly asked, "I remember there is another method, which is to gradually revise the original journal by supplementing it, and then apply for a journal name change, or even change the journal number in one issue."

Zhao Changtian said, "Didn't I tell you that the purchase of old issues is not allowed now... Wait, what do you mean?"

Zhang Chao showed an extremely sincere smile and said to Zhao Changtian and Li Qigang: "Teachers, considering that the circulation of Youth Magazine is several times that of New Sprouts, have you ever considered changing New Sprouts to Youth Magazine?"

Zhang Chao's idea directly caused Zhao Changtian and Li Qigang to crash.

(End of this chapter)