I am not a literary giant

Chapter 175 (Thanks to Alliance Leader Chi Meng Shuo Yu Shan Gui Ting)

Besides the main professional tasks like reviewing manuscripts, continuous learning and self-improvement are also crucial aspects of editorial work, especially for young editors like Yang Yin.

With the print media market gradually shrinking, and considering future career development, it is all the more necessary to constantly reflect and summarize, and strive not to become one of the "80%" in the Pareto principle.

With a hint of schadenfreude, Yang Yin underlined a barely noticeable typo in a magazine, then closed the magazine and set it aside. His notebook was already filled with new words and phrases; he looked down and organized them again before picking up the top shelf of another stack of books, "The Gain."

Studying other magazines is part of the learning process. You should read both the good and the bad, aiming for a holistic approach. For example, top-tier magazines like *Get* deserve careful study.

Typesetting and binding are secondary things to learning; the most important thing is to learn other people's eye for selecting manuscripts and to accumulate more names in your author database.

There are plenty of people in China who can use a pen, but those who can truly write clearly are as rare as a drop in the ocean. In the current literary world in China, there are only a handful of people at the top, and several magazines are vying for their manuscripts.

As the editor, Yang Yin's biggest headache wasn't the tedious work of proofreading and correcting typos, but rather the task of compiling manuscripts. Compiling good manuscripts was like picking a treasure from a mountain or a grain of millet from a vast ocean—a rare gem among towering mountains, a single grain of millet from the boundless sea.

Therefore, he must discover more talented writers to fill his pool of authors.

Simply reviewing submissions isn't enough; we also need to proactively reach out to authors and invite them to contribute. Other magazines serve as a channel for understanding authors.

Yang Yin opened the magazine "Get".

Upon opening the journal *Get*, the first thing Yang Yin did was flip through the table of contents. He fixed his gaze on the author list, scanning it from bottom to top. This was his work habit.

His work habit has a reason—when reading *Get* magazine, he first checks the authors to see if there are any new names, so he can immediately identify his primary target. New authors appearing in *Get* are usually listed towards the end, so reading from the back is the most efficient way.

Shan Xuetao and Bi Feiyu, well, these are renowned artists, no need to ask; Xu Haofeng and A Yi... these are also familiar faces; Gu Zao, unfortunately, I missed out...

In fact, finding new authors through *Get* magazine is extremely inefficient. It publishes very few works by non-established authors. Even established authors have to wait in line for submissions, let alone new authors.

However, Yang Yin never actually considered finding a new author from "Get".

Even disregarding work-related considerations, he enjoys reading *The Gain*. Rather, he chose this high-investment, low-return, and ultimately self-serving job precisely because he was drawn to the opportunity to freely read other people's works. Reading *The Gain* is both his duty and his perk.

After reading the table of contents, Yang Yin was about to turn to the second page when he suddenly frowned and turned the page back.

He stared intently at the top of the table of contents, rubbed his eyes, and strained to see through the blank page.

At the very top of the table of contents, a line of text is printed prominently and unequivocally:

"Fire in the Stone" - by Prince Xu

Before Yang Yin even realized what he was seeing, his heart was already racing, and his blood was rushing to his head. When he regained consciousness, he found himself standing up, leaning on the table.

"What's wrong?" asked the colleague next to me.

Yang Yin waved the magazine "Get" in his hand, but couldn't utter a single word for a long time. After a while, he threw the magazine onto his colleague's desk, pointed forcefully to the first line of the table of contents, and showed it to his colleague.

His colleague looked at him with a puzzled expression, then read aloud, following the direction of his finger:

"Fire in the Stone, Prince Xu... OMG! Isn't this the manuscript you accepted?!"

Yang Yin was still speechless when his colleague patted his arm and said, "Is it the same person, the same manuscript? Hurry up and take a look!"

He reminded Yang Yin. Yang Yin hurriedly turned to the page number in the table of contents, his hand trembling uncontrollably as he did so. After roughly flipping to the page, what came into view was that familiar beginning.

"It's him, it's him..." Yang Yin slumped down, holding the book "The Gain" in his hands, on the verge of tears.

"Oh no!" my colleague exclaimed in regret, "You let the 'Get' headline slip away!"

My colleague yelled, which startled several other colleagues behind him, who then peered over in our direction.

"What's wrong?"

Yang Yin said angrily, "No matter what, let's make this clear: I didn't let Prince Xu escape! Everyone knows what really happened!"

My colleague said, "Don't rush things. Now is not the time to settle scores. First, check his manuscript. Has it been revised? Is it to be published in full?"

Yang Yin flipped through a few pages, looked up and said, "It's been changed, quite a lot. It's not the original manuscript anymore."

My colleague breathed a sigh of relief: "If he changed it, that's good. It's the same as the manuscript we received from our agency before. This way, the responsibility for losing the manuscript is less."

Yang Yin raised his voice and said, "He revised a piece that could be published in 'Get,' which means that with further polishing, it could also shine in our 'Yangtze River.' I just regret that it wasn't me who got him to revise it? Why didn't our magazine give him this platform?"

My colleague said, "Look at you, in such a rush! Is this the time to be thinking about this?"

Several colleagues gathered around and, having heard the whole story, reacted in various ways: some were anxious, some sighed, and some gloated.

Yang Yin turned the pages faster and faster until he reached the last page. He held all the contents between the first and last pages of "Fire in the Stone" between his fingers, a thick stack that took up almost half of the entire book "Gain".

"So much content, two hundred thousand words! 'The Gain' magazine published a full two hundred thousand words of Wang Zixu's work!"

As Yang Yin spoke, his face gradually turned red.

He recalled the various reasons why the department had rejected his manuscript before, including the comment that it was "too long".

Thinking about this made him angry. There were too many words! There were far too many words! Even more! The journal *Get* published 20 words in one go, which is equivalent to publishing a whole book! *Get* has such a status, yet they have that kind of boldness. I don't know what they are still hesitating about!

Another reason for the previous rejections was that "Ancient City" also rejected the manuscript. So what if Ancient City rejected it? So what if Yangtze River rejected it? Didn't Get it published anyway? In the future, people will only remember that Get published "Fire in the Stone," and the rejections from Ancient City and Yangtze River will only be mentioned as a joke!

Yang Yin was utterly enraged. He was now disappointed in Editor-in-Chief Wu, the editor-in-chief, the editorial department, and even himself.

It wasn't because his author had moved on to another company. It's normal for authors to submit manuscripts everywhere; what he resented was that this particular work had a chance to be preserved, but he personally handled it, and it was lost. This feeling was more painful than anything else.

Thinking of this, he angrily picked up "The Gain" and strode toward his office.

"What are you going to do?" a colleague asked.

"I'll show it to Editor-in-Chief Shen."

When Yang Yin pushed open the door to the editor-in-chief's office, Editor-in-Chief Shen was still all smiles. He had just received a manuscript and was in a good mood. Seeing Yang Yin walk in with a resentful look on his face, he asked in surprise, "What's wrong?"

Yang Yin slammed the magazine "Get" onto the table: "Wang Zixu's 'Fire in Stone' has been published in 'Get'!"

Editor-in-Chief Shen's expression turned serious, and he took out his glasses from the table and put them on.

"Is 'Fire in the Stone' the manuscript you brought over last time?"

"Yes. The text has been modified, but it is indeed the same work."

"60 words, how was that published?"

"The first issue contained 20 words, and it should be published in three issues."

"Did you tell Wang Zixu after you rejected the manuscript? Did you know he submitted it to 'Get' magazine?"

Yang Yin smiled bitterly: "He rejected the manuscript with that kind of reason, how could I have the face to go to him? He only said he wanted to revise it, and I gave him a few suggestions. After that, I didn't hear from him for a long time. I asked him, but he didn't reply."

Editor-in-Chief Shen sighed deeply, his eyes fixed on "Fire in the Stone" for a long time, and Yang Yin didn't dare disturb him. Then Editor-in-Chief Shen stood up and said:

"Let's go report to the editor-in-chief."

Editor-in-Chief Shen, along with Yang Yin, laid out the journal "Get" in front of the editor-in-chief and repeated almost verbatim what Yang Yin had just said.

The editor-in-chief listened without changing his expression, picked up the magazine "Get" with both hands, read it for a while, then put it down, picked up the landline on the table, and made a phone call.

"Summon Editor-in-Chief Wu to my office!"

Soon, Editor-in-Chief Wu knocked on the door and entered: "Editor-in-Chief, you wanted to see me?"

The editor-in-chief pointed to "Get" and said, "I only have one thing to say, listen carefully. Wang Zixu's 'Fire in Stone' has been published in 'Get,' and it's the lead article, published in full. The first issue alone has 20 words."

Editor-in-Chief Wu listened blankly to the editor-in-chief finish speaking before asking:

"Editor-in-Chief, excuse me, may I ask who Wang Zixu is?"

Hearing this, all three people in the office couldn't hold back anymore. Yang Yin was especially annoyed and shouted, "Remember that manuscript that was rejected by 'Ancient City' last time?"

Although he was angry, he managed to control his emotions and didn't say to his face, "It's that manuscript you insisted on rejecting last time!"

Editor-in-Chief Wu's forehead beaded with sweat: "That article? Oh, that article was published in *Get* magazine? How did it get published? Yang Yin, do you have any news?"

The editor-in-chief waved his hand and said, "You all go out, Editor-in-Chief Wu stays."

After Editor-in-Chief Shen and Yang Yin left and closed the door, angry shouts soon came from the office.

"I haven't heard the editor-in-chief lose his temper like this in many years," said Editor-in-Chief Shen.

Yang Yin felt that he was even somewhat gloating.

"This manuscript almost got saved, if it weren't for Editor-in-Chief Wu... sigh." Yang Yin sighed deeply. He was still regretting losing the manuscript.

Editor-in-Chief Shen whispered, "Go ahead and curse. It won't hurt your composure to curse a little now. I want to curse him myself."

Yang Yin finally couldn't help but chuckle, but then fell into deep regret.

After a while, the office finally quieted down. Editor-in-Chief Wu came out, trembling, and opened the door for the two of them, gesturing for them to come in.

The editor-in-chief said to the three men, "I have only one request: you must get Wang Zixu's next manuscript submitted to us. Get him back the way he was lost. Do you understand, Editor-in-Chief Wu?"

Editor-in-Chief Wu nodded tremblingly. The chief editor looked at Yang Yin, but Yang Yin straightened up with a cold face and said, "It's a bit difficult."

"What's wrong?"

"Last time, when the manuscript was rejected, I made it clear that part of the reason was that 'Ancient City' rejected it, and Wang Zixu was very disappointed with our publishing house."

Editor-in-Chief Wu immediately interjected, "How can you say that? Really, how can you just say it like that?"

Yang Yin looked at him coldly: "Then what else can you say? What reason can you give? Are you going to say that he wrote it badly?"

Editor-in-Chief Wu said, "These days, aren't rejections mostly silent? Why give a reason? It sounds terrible if word gets out. Yang Yin, you don't save face for yourself, and you don't even leave any room for the publishing house?"

Yang Yin angrily said, "Wang Zixu was already very discouraged at the time. If he had really silently rejected the manuscript, the work 'Fire in the Stone' might not have been published in 'Get'!"

Editor-in-Chief Wu wanted to say that was just right, but ultimately didn't say it.

The editor-in-chief said sternly, "Stop arguing."

Yang Yin glared at Editor-in-Chief Wu, then turned his head away and gave up.

"Like I said, get it back the way it was lost. Whether you come to our door in person or apologize, you have to get the next article back!"

……

The editor-in-chief had his reasons for keeping Wang Zixu's next article.

"Fire in the Stone" was lost, lost in a humiliating way. The reason for this loss is enough to make anyone lose face, because they deliberately gave it away.

However, the publication of "Get" in "Stone Fire" might cause a sensation. To be honest, it's not a problem that Wang Zixu, an author who debuted in "Yangtze River", did not submit to "Yangtze River". But if people find out that he did submit to "Yangtze River" and was rejected, it will probably be ridiculed by the industry.

So the editor-in-chief wanted Wang Zixu to send over the next manuscript, even if it was just a small piece, an unimportant article. As long as it was published in *Yangtze River*, it would mean that the relationship hadn't been damaged and that goodwill was still there. Rejecting it from *Stone Fire* would have seemed less foolish.

As for the instigator, "Ancient City," it didn't take "Fire in the Stone" seriously from the beginning, so it's obviously beyond redemption. We can only wish it success!

Yang Yin learned from Editor-in-Chief Wu that it was Hao Chengliang who rejected "Stone Fire," and that he had done so on his own initiative. He knew Hao Chengliang, and upon learning of this, he merely sneered silently, without intending to inform him. He planned to first call and congratulate Wang Zixu.

Before Yang Yin's call came, Wang Zixu was "watching the procession" at the south gate of Nanjing University.

Calling it a grand procession is an exaggeration and an overstatement. On this day, the "Yesterday's Star" symposium was to be held at Nanjing University, and many important figures were going to attend. Many students ran to the entrance to count the cars, trying to see which industry leaders or whose idols would be there to support them.

Zhao Peilin was one of them. He was the one who dragged Wang Zixu over.

In fact, Wang Zixu himself found the whole thing quite boring and wouldn't have come on his own. But Zhao Peilin acted as a tour guide, introducing each car as it arrived: "This is the editor-in-chief of Modern," "This is a judge for this year's Fei Shi competition," "This is the winner of the previous year's Outstanding Novel Award," and so on. That made it less boring.

Finally, Shi Tonghe's familiar black car slowly drove in.

"He still came," Prince Xu said.

Zhao Peilin squinted and looked around: "They're all the stars surrounding the moon."

"If he's not attending the seminar, then in what capacity is he here?"

Wang Zixu was puzzled. He asked himself honestly, if he were in a different place, he would never be as shameless as Shi Tonghe, who had almost openly paved the way for his son.

(End of this chapter)