I am a literary giant in Russia

Chapter 87 Reputation in Cultural Circles and Mikhail's New Role (Part 2)

Regarding why Mikhail and his team raised the payment standards for manuscripts at the magazine "The Contemporary," one reason was to follow the trend. As the publishing industry became increasingly commercialized with the development of the times, Russian writers' awareness of manuscript fees and copyright became stronger.

This idea dates back to the time of Alexander Pushkin, a prominent figure in Russian literature. Pushkin once jokingly wrote to his poet friend Vyazemsky, "I write for myself and publish books to make money, not to please a woman."

While Pushkin was a genius poet, he was also quite adept at the business operations of publishing. For example, before publishing the complete book "Eugene Onegin," he published each chapter of the long poem separately, making some money from each chapter first, and then making a profit from the complete collection of poems.

It is said that the excerpts and the full version of this long poem earned a total of more than 30,000 rubles in royalties, and "Eugene Onegin" is one of the most lucrative novels in Russian classical literature, making Pushkin arguably the most commercially savvy writer.

It can only be said that a prison is still a prison, and he was always one step ahead. However, due to his extravagant spending and the expenses of supporting his family and his career, Pushkin was sometimes heavily in debt and lived a rather miserable life.

Returning to the present, although there are indeed still some well-off gentlemen willing to donate their manuscripts for the sake of Russian cultural endeavors free of charge, the market environment has matured considerably, so raising the standard of royalties is only a matter of time.

After all, higher royalties mean more good articles will be received; otherwise, a magazine might not be able to sustain itself with just a few people.

Of course, to say that Mikhail could actually do it would be too outrageous...

As for why Krajewsky, in "Chronicles of the Fatherland," still resorted to exploitation tactics given the current situation, it's simply because that way he could earn more money. If it's not necessary to change, then it's better not to.

But no matter what, someone always has to do it first.

So, in order to increase the influence of the magazine they had just taken over, and also to cultivate their reputation in the cultural world, Mikhail quickly finalized the matter after discussing it with Nekrasov and Belinsky, who shared the same idea.

When this news was released, it caused quite a stir in cultural circles.

For some writers and poets who struggle financially and make a living through writing, this is undoubtedly very good news, and many people have already discussed it on various occasions.
"So? Is that news true?"

"It's confirmed! There was a gentleman present who said to them with pity: 'You've gone mad by wasting money like this!' They replied: 'If the magazine does well, we'll pay more. We're writers ourselves, and it's shameful to mistreat our contributors.' What a noble statement!"

"I heard that it was those two young men who proposed this. They offered Vesalion a high salary, and for excellent articles, they offered much higher prices than the magazines and newspapers currently on the market. It was a really bold decision!"

"I have to give it a try. Although they only recently took over 'Modern Man,' I've heard that a large number of users have already started pre-ordering!"

"Of course it is! Don't you know how many people in St. Petersburg have been discussing their anthology lately? Of course, there are many criticisms, and many of the short stories in the anthology are not exactly elegant, but as everyone knows, Mikhail's previous novels were like that."

Every issue I see other magazines questioning his writing style, his stance and inclinations, but the fact is that everyone remembers those few novels, and each one is unforgettable!
The same is true of this edition of the *Petersburg Anthology*. Although there are many criticisms, it is also widely discussed and sells very well. I think readers in Petersburg seem to be gradually accepting this new literary trend.

So what exactly is this new trend?

"I heard from friends in the circle that Vesalion is already working on related articles, and it's said that he has the help of Mikhail. It seems they want to raise a new banner in the Russian literary world!"

"I can't quite put my finger on what this new trend is, but I'm certain that these novels are exceptionally moving and touch upon the current social situation in Russia and the broadest segment of the population more profoundly."

Poetry that evokes noble emotions is certainly valuable, but it seems too far removed from reality and far less moving than things on earth.

Such discussions had already occurred everywhere when Mikhail first appeared in the literary world. Initially, Mikhail was among the most heavily criticized, but because he didn't have much money at the time and didn't attend many literary gatherings, he wasn't particularly affected by these voices.

However, in the eyes of others, Mikhail was indeed single-handedly stirring up the nerves of the St. Petersburg literary circle, and once he had stirred things up enough, novels by others that seemed to have the same style and inclination began to appear in magazines.

If his work were of average quality, it would probably have been buried by the overwhelming noise long ago. But it is precisely because his work is truly unforgettable for many people that this trend has been forced out of the mainstream.

So much so that by the time of the Petersburg Anthology, many people were pleasantly surprised to see other novels of this style and inclination. After all, they had already become interested in this trend, so how could one author be enough?
While other works may pale in comparison to his, they are still of decent quality. No, the quality of "The Poor" is truly astonishing, so much so that the discussions surrounding it are not far less than those surrounding Mikhail's novels and poems.

However, it must be said that perhaps because Mikhail had already touched people's nerves with those novels, the criticism of "Poor Folk" was not too strong. And when it did, Mikhail was often brought up for criticism as well.
Despite the numerous criticisms, the collection of essays sold remarkably well. And how could those who bought the collection, who thought it was good, possibly have no interest when they saw news about the new magazine and novel in the newspaper again?
Frankly speaking, if those rumors hadn't actually had some effect, the pre-orders for "Modern Man" might have been even higher. Currently, some people have indeed been influenced by those rumors and are planning to wait until the first issue is released before buying it.

After the pre-orders for "Modern Man" spread to a certain extent, some writers and poets in the literary circle who might have been waiting and watching immediately gained more confidence in it. They were already preparing to send their new manuscripts to the magazine through intermediaries, or simply to go directly to the magazine's publisher and distributor and hand them over in person.

To be precise, the cultural circle in St. Petersburg is not very large, so news spreads quite quickly. And because these people all have some connections, it's not difficult to hand over manuscripts to them if you have a certain relationship with them.

As a newly acquired magazine, Nekrasov and his team naturally had a great need for good articles. If they heard of a particularly good article, they would even personally go to ask for it.

Their actions had an immediate impact on "Chronicles of the Fatherland." If Krajewsky was recently annoyed by the low pre-order numbers for "The Contemporary," he now had to forget about that and deal with this kind of thing instead.
“Mr. Krajewsky, if I send my article to ‘The Modern Man,’ they will be happy to pay me a higher fee!” If it were an ordinary author’s manuscript, Krajewsky would of course coldly reply: “If you want to give it to them, then give it to them. We will never allow you to come here again.”

But if it was an article that even he valued highly, then Krajewsky had no choice but to increase the royalties.
Krajewsky repeatedly exclaimed to his colleagues who were also affected: "They are fostering a bad atmosphere in the literary world! How can they compete in such a despicable way? I can predict to you that if they spend money like this, they won't earn a penny from the magazines!"

With this kind of management, their magazine's finances will collapse sooner or later!

Some people believed such remarks while others hesitated. But for young Andrei, who had been deeply moved by the article "Coward" not long ago, he just wanted to find a way to join the new magazine as soon as possible.

Royalties were secondary; what Andrei really wanted was to get closer to that writer who had produced such outstanding works at such a young age.
Fortunately, as a minor nobleman with some connections in St. Petersburg, Andrei quickly made contact with the gentlemen of the magazine "The Contemporary" through some people. However, while contacting them was easy, meeting the young publisher was difficult.

In response, the new editors of *Modern People* magazine stated:

"Recently, too many young authors have wanted to meet him. Although he is willing to make time for it, there are so many people that if you want to do so, you may have to wait a while."

"I am willing to wait."

Andrei replied without hesitation.

So he waited a few more days. When he finally received the news, he dressed up carefully, put on his best clothes, tidied his appearance, and then walked nervously toward the office space that "Modern People" had recently rented.

Because of the limited budget, the office space of "Modern Man" magazine does not look very large. Fortunately, there are not too many people at present. As soon as Andrei walked in, he could only see a few messy desks and some editors who were having a heated discussion about a novel.

They were so enthusiastic and focused that they didn't even notice Andrei's arrival. Out of politeness, Andrei waited for a long time, but he was unconsciously infected by their warm atmosphere, to the point that he wanted to go up and ask them which novel they were discussing.

After quite some time, someone finally saw him and hurried over to him.

"Excuse me, sir, is there anything I can help you with? Are you submitting an article or something else?"

"I have come to see the esteemed Mr. Mikhail Romanovich."

Andrei couldn't help but show a humble expression: "I've already arranged a time in advance."

"So you must be Andrei?"

The editor, who didn't seem very old, looked knowing. After confirming Andrei's identity, he quickly led him upstairs.

It is clear that even if the space is not large, a publisher and writer like the esteemed Mikhail would most likely have a separate office.

With this in mind, Andrei followed the editor to the second floor. The second floor didn't look very big, but there were very few rooms. From the bottom of the stairs to the very back, there were probably only two or three rooms at most. When they arrived, the editor pointed to something.
“Mr. Mikhail Romanovich is sitting in his office in the innermost room.”

Seeing that the editor seemed to have no intention of delivering any more, Andrei could only take a deep breath, endure the intense spasms in his abdomen, and walk forward in small steps. After an exceptionally long journey, he finally knocked shakily on the door of the innermost room.

"Please come in."

As this voice, seemingly coming from beyond the heavens, rang out, Andrei steeled his resolve, gripped his manuscript tightly, and slowly pushed open the door to go inside.

As he moved, a large and empty desk gradually appeared, revealing quill pens, ink, several sheets of white paper, a vase, and a bouquet of flowers. At the same time, a figure leaning back in an office chair also gradually emerged.

The gentleman was dressed appropriately, but not extravagantly; rather, he appeared rather simple. His hand holding the quill pen looked bony and distinct. He was writing something on the paper in front of him. When he finally looked up, Andrei saw a ruddy face that was too young, even much younger than himself.

Although the gentleman looked quite young and gave off a very gentle vibe, Andrei involuntarily tensed up, standing ramrod straight as he stammered, "Hello, esteemed sir."

"Why are you standing there? Find a place to sit."

Andrei had barely managed to utter that one sentence when he heard the other person's voice, which seemed to come from another world. Before he could react, the other person had already stood up, poured a cup of tea, and walked towards Andrei, saying:

"Please have a seat, don't be shy. Would you like some tea?"

What happened next was, for some reason, hazy and dreamlike. And when Andrei walked out of the other person's office as if sleepwalking, his mind was filled with that young face of the other person.
(End of this chapter)