Rebirth 2004: A lone figure in the literary world

Chapter 131: Opening the Door to the Internet Literature Era
Zhang Chao, Zhao Changtian, Wu Wenhui and other senior executives of Qidian.com chatted for a while, and a reporter asked Zhang Chao: "Now many writers think that online literature has no literary value and is a cultural bubble. When readers get tired of this form, this bubble will burst. What do you think about this issue?"

Wu Wenhui and others looked at Zhang Chao nervously. As the most influential young writer among today's young people, Zhang Chao's remarks have been proven time and again to have the power to influence public opinion.

If he also denies that online literature has literary value, it will undoubtedly be a heavy blow to Qidian.com.

Zhang Chao smiled and replied: "First of all, I am also an online writer."

The scene suddenly became a little agitated.

Zhang Chao went on to explain: "Have you all forgotten that my book, "Youth Like You," was first serialized online, but not on online writing websites like Qidian.com, but on blogs."

Everyone laughed. Zhang Chao's blog had been inactive for too long, and almost everyone had forgotten about it. Wu Wenhui breathed a sigh of relief. If Zhang Chao was willing to say so, then people would not easily deny the value of online articles.

Zhang Chao continued, "Every sentence in the question you raised is worth explaining separately. The first is 'many writers believe that online literature has no literary value' - I want to know, which writers are these 'many writers' referring to? As far as I know, when the writers who taught me at Yanshi University occasionally discussed online literature, none of them would draw such a hasty and frivolous conclusion."

The reporter who asked the question was speechless. In order to show the "objectivity" of the question, many reporters would casually make up a "group view". When he said "many writers", there was no specific corresponding person at all.

Even if there is, its importance cannot be compared with that of Yu Hua, Moyan, Liang Xiaosheng, Jia Pingwa and others who taught Zhang Chao.

Fortunately, Zhang Chao did not ask further questions, but continued: "Assuming that what you said is true, some writers believe that online literature has no literary value. Those writers who hold this view have obviously made a mistake - whether a work has literary value or not, the power to judge lies with the readers, not with the writer, especially not with another writer.

I guess, those who dare to say this must not dare to explain more specifically what is the definition of his so-called "literary value". Because once he says it, he will first fall into the crisis of infinite self-verification, but more importantly, it will expose his elitist value orientation.

On the surface, he said that "online articles have no literary value", but in fact he meant that "works that do not look high-level have no literary value". And judging a work as "worthless" is an extremely harsh accusation, and behind the accusation is an extremely arrogant attitude. "

Some reporters were not convinced and immediately retorted: "The readers of early online literature were mainly intellectuals and college students. We still recognize that works like "First Intimate Contact" and "Chengdu Please Forget Me Tonight" have certain literary value.

However, as Internet services have become more and more popular, online literature has deviated from this path and has begun to target people with low education backgrounds whose worldviews are not yet sound. Works are becoming more and more numerous, and values ​​are becoming more and more confused and entertainment-oriented. Isn’t this a deviation from the value of literature? "

Zhang Chao sneered and said, "Regardless of whether it is accurate to regard 'people with low education backgrounds and an incomplete world view' as the mainstream population of online literature, I would like to ask, do these people have no right to read the works they like? Or are the works they read inherently inferior?
Many people think that "online literature" is simply spread through the Internet, and its writing methods, value orientation, and subject matter selection must still follow the paradigm of traditional literature. This is a big mistake.

The mode of communication itself can transform and change the form of literature. Not to mention the distant past, Hemingway's "news-style" novels were created by borrowing from the "news message" genre that was created in response to the demand for high-speed communication. Today, the high speed of network communication and the immediacy of feedback itself will affect the author's creation.

For example, if I had received constant feedback from readers during the process of writing "Your Name" and "The Great Doctor", saying things like "This plot is toxic", "The male protagonist is a saintly bitch", and "What the hell is it to give people a prescription for free", then I would probably have collapsed halfway through and stopped writing.

I feel extremely upset when I occasionally see one or two negative reviews in readers' letters. Online writers, especially popular ones, are bombarded with readers' comments almost every day. How can they not adjust their writing direction and methods at any time?

Therefore, online literature itself is an evolutionary direction of literature, and it is an inevitable evolutionary direction. All the doubts about it today will seem like jokes in ten or twenty years.”

Zhang Chao paused and continued, "It is precisely because online literature naturally has such market-oriented attributes that it will definitely win the market. Not only will it not become a bubble, but it will also become one of the mainstream forms of literature. And with the popularization of the Internet, the number of online literature works and its audience will only soar rapidly.

Readers will never get tired of online literature. Under the stimulation of this strong interactive mechanism, there will always be online writers who write works that make them feel fresh.

Online literature will be the genre with the fastest iteration of methods and themes in the history of literature, and in the future, the writers with annual incomes exceeding 100 million yuan in China will definitely not be those who mainly sell physical books, but online writers. "

Now even Wu Wenhui couldn't stand it any longer. He said, "Brother, you can support me if you want. It's pointless to brag like this." So he quickly said, "'Breaking 100 million' is too flattering for us, but I think online writers will be able to reach the level of royalties income of best-selling authors in the future!"

Zhang Chao glanced at Wu Wenhui and said, "We should always have dreams. What if they come true? And I believe that this writer with over 100 million followers will appear on Qidian Chinese website."

Wu Wenhui was overjoyed on the surface, but he was actually quite uncertain. Although Qidian.com had a head start in the competition among websites in 2005, it actually did not have a big advantage. At this stage, Qidian.com grew up largely by relying on the help of its competitors.

First, the industry leader gradually abandoned online serialization and turned to physical publishing in 2002, and published more than ten physical fantasy novels with publishers in Taiwan and mainland China. The result was that although netizens said it was exciting - "must buy the physical book" - the actual sales were very average.

Then, the second largest company in the industry, led by Webmaster Kong, made a series of bizarre moves and drove all the authors such as Xuehong and Wandering Toad to Qidian.

That’s why there are two urban legends: the book “Tian Peng Zong Heng” saved Qidian in 2003, and the book “Sheng Long Dao” saved Qidian last year, which survived until it was acquired by Shanda.

In the final analysis, at this point in time, most people were not particularly optimistic about the potential of online literature. There was even a view that only "physical publishing" was the way out for online literature, and online serialization was just to gather popularity, such as Taiwan's novel channel and Xianwang. There were also many early masters who followed them.

Therefore, during the industry's confused period, all kinds of strange things will happen, and the pioneers will always find new ways to commit suicide. The starting point is just to do less and smaller things. Wu Wenhui didn't know where Zhang Chao's full confidence came from, but he said that it was too much to support himself, a senior from Yan University.

A reporter caught a word in Zhang Chao's speech and asked: "In your previous speech, you kept using the term 'online writer', but it seems that the more popular term is to call them 'online writers'. Why do you emphasize the identity of 'writer' so much?"

Zhang Chao said with great conviction: “As long as one earns even a penny through writing, he is still a ‘writer’. Most people who denigrate online literature and online writers really want to denigrate their readers.

I believe that in the near future, the Writers Association will see this huge group and will take the initiative to recruit online writers into the association.”

Another reporter suddenly asked, "You are so optimistic and relaxed. Is it because you are already a hugely successful best-selling author? You no longer need online platforms to promote your books. The minimum print run for any of your books is 50 copies. So are your words also a kind of condescending and bossy attitude?" Wu Wenhui became nervous. He noticed that the reporter seemed to be in conflict with Zhang Chao. He was worried that this situation would affect Qidian.com's image in the mainstream media.

Zhang Chao said, "I say this precisely because I want to serialize a novel on the Internet again. It will be a brand new novel, and it will be a subject that I have never written before."

The reporters were in an uproar; they had paid for their travel expenses and had only wanted to go through the motions today. The previous interview had been worthwhile as Zhang Chao had expressed so many novel ideas. Now Zhang Chao actually revealed that he was going to serialize a novel on the Internet!
Wu Wenhui was confused. It seemed like Zhang Chao was just making up something because he was angry at the reporter. It wasn't that he didn't believe Zhang Chao couldn't write good works, but could Zhang Chao bear the pace of online writing?

Zhao Changtian was also confused. Zhang Chao was the editor-in-chief of "Youth School" and his words were worth thousands of dollars. How could he publish his new novel on the Internet? Isn't this a waste of things?

A reporter immediately asked, "Is it serialized on a blog, on a forum, or on an online literature website? Is it Qidian Chinese website?"

Zhang Chao glanced at Wu Wenhui and said, "Since it's an online novel, then it should be serialized on the online novel website. As for whether it should be the starting point..."

Wu Wenhui immediately responded, "If you choose us as your starting point, we will serve Zhang Chao's novel with the greatest sincerity and effort."

Who cares whether Zhang Chao can adapt to the updating rhythm of online literature? Let’s just take on this huge amount of traffic first!

Zhang Chao nodded with satisfaction and said, "Of course I also hope that my novel can be serialized on the most influential website in the online literature industry. As for the specific details, I may need to discuss it with Mr. Wu later."

At this time, a reporter asked a soul-searching question: "Just now you said that the first writer with an annual income of over 100 million yuan must be an online writer - could you be referring to you?"

Zhang Chao just smiled and said, "Guess..."

Soon, the news about Zhang Chao's "cooperation" with Qidian became a minor hit. Zhang Chao's high evaluation of online literature was also widely reprinted by various media. This was the first time that a "legitimate writer" had given such a high evaluation of online novels.

Zhang Chao's decision to write an online novel was certainly not a whim. He had thought about this issue since the beginning of his rebirth. At that time, he mainly felt that it would take too long for newcomers to write online novels, and it would be difficult for them to break through the circle.

If he were to write again now, it would be different. And only he knew how powerful online literature would be in the adaptation market in ten years. If he didn't seize the opportunity to grab a few pieces of land now, at the latest in two or three years, Shenji, Tudou, and Fanqie would all become popular.

The arrival of the era of online literature would take another five years or so. However, Zhang Chao wanted to use his influence to push the door open a crack. As for opening the door completely, it would require the help of the mobile Internet, which is beyond human power.

As for copyright and other things, Qidian is not qualified to discuss these with him at this point.

After Wu Wenhui finished the internal meeting at Qidian, he brought several other Qidian management members to visit Zhang Chao the next day to show his sincerity. Zhang Chao had already written the beginning of the novel, which was about 10,000 words, and distributed it to Wu Wenhui and others for reading.

Wu Wenhui was shocked at Zhang Chao's hand speed. Zhang Chao was still chatting with them in the company yesterday afternoon. Did he type these words in one night? It was comparable to the first generation tentacle monster Xuehong.

After reading it, they looked at Zhang Chao in disbelief. This opening had no trace of traditional pure literature or popular literature, it was completely for the sake of showing off and having a good time, without any integrity of a famous young writer - Zhang Chao, aren't you afraid that your teacher Yu Hua will come to us at Qidian with a knife to fight?

Zhang Chao asked, "Why? It's not well written?"

Wu Wenhui sighed, "It's not bad, it's too good. It's hard to imagine that this is what you would write."

Zhang Chao said: "Showing off words, being mysterious, abusing allusions... well, all kinds of problems are present."

Another founder slapped the manuscript and said, "But that's how it is. It's so damaging to readers!"

The two sides then talked very quickly, and Zhang Chao was the main person in charge. Qidian was the only legal website on the Internet where this novel was serialized - but that was all. The copyright of the novel had nothing to do with Qidian, and it was all in Zhang Chao's hands.

As for the subscription revenue, Wu Wenhui took the initiative to propose that Qidian and Zhang Chao split it 1% each, with Qidian only taking % to cover the publicity and operating costs.

Because at that time, the annual royalties paid by the entire Qidian site to authors were only equivalent to Zhang Chao's royalties and other income; the two sides were even more incomparable in terms of media voice. It was already a huge profit to attract Zhang Chao to serialize, so I didn't dare to expect too much.

But Zhang Chao had another suggestion. He could use a portion of the subscription revenue to set up a fund to support online writers... He didn't have time to create a website now, but it was always a good idea to lay the groundwork first.

Half a month later, after dealing with various domestic affairs and spending a few days with his parents, Zhang Chao finally boarded a plane to the United States.

The first stop was not Iowa, where the University of Iowa is located, but New York, the headquarters of publisher Simon & Schuster. Huang Jiefu also came with them.

At the same time, the online novel that Zhang Chao promised also appeared on the homepage of Qidian Chinese website. A huge promotional picture occupied a full one-third of the page, with three big characters:

Celebrating more than one year

(I don’t want to delay the domestic content, so I’ll just finish writing one chapter today.)
(End of this chapter)