Rebirth of the courtyard, the start is 80s

Chapter 567 Kodansha Contributed Alone

After finally finishing the Japanese work "Norwegian Forest", Cao Zhiqiang didn't choose any auspicious days, and went to Kodansha in Japan alone with the manuscript he had written.

The full name of Kodansha is "Kodansha Co., Ltd.", currently, it is the largest comprehensive publishing house in Japan and one of the major comic publishing houses in Japan. Together with Shogakukan and Shueisha, it is also known as the three heroes of comics in the Japanese publishing industry.

The first choice for this publishing house is because this publishing house has strong strength, the strongest sales network, and is best at publishing popular novels.

Strictly speaking, the novel "Norwegian Wood" is not of high literary value.

If you look at it with a critical eye, the plot of this novel is mediocre, the tone is light, the characters are simple, and the relationship is not complicated. Overall, it looks mediocre.

However, under this ordinary surface, there is an unspeakable but hard to suppress feeling of loneliness, confusion, overwhelm and longing for self-salvation.

It is this emotion, combined with the social reality of Japan in the 80s, that made this novel resonate with a large number of ordinary readers, thus causing a frenzied sales wave, and since its publication, it has long occupied the No. the throne of one.

That's right, although "Norwegian Forest" is of average artistry and has not won any heavyweight awards, such as the Akutagawa Award, but in terms of sales, at least in Japan, it basically has no rivals.

Even "Snow Country", "I Am a Cat", and "Japan Sinks", which have been popular in Japan, are far inferior to "Norwegian Wood" in terms of sales.

What's more, there is no such masterpiece as "Snow Country" in this world.

It is precisely because there is no "Snow Country" in this world, so this book is Cao Zhiqiang's next book to be plagiarized, no, to be original.

As Cao Zhiqiang's first debut novel in Japan, the reason why he chose "Norwegian Forest" instead of "Snow Country" is mainly because he is not popular enough now, and he is afraid that his masterpiece will be buried.

After all, the great book "Snow Country" was written much earlier in another time and space. Even if the description of "Snow Country" does not have obvious characteristics of the times, it can be seamlessly copied to the modern times of the 80s. Society, but it's a bit risky after all.

That's why Cao Zhiqiang chose the more popular "Norwegian Forest", planning to use this book first to build his reputation.

Once Cao Zhiqiang became well-known, writing something more literary like "Snow Country" would be easier to attract the attention of relevant people and cause a sensation early.

As for why Cao Zhiqiang went to Kodansha alone and didn't find a local Japanese to guide him, the main reason was that he didn't think it was necessary.

Because Cao Zhiqiang liked to read Japanese comics in his previous life, he also knew more about Kodansha, and then he learned more about Japanese publishing houses and the rules of book publishing.

Compared with domestic book publishing, Japan's book publishing is actually much more open, more inclusive, and much more regulated.

This rule is big, mainly referring to the fact that the publishing process in Japan is relatively fair, and basically all publishing houses are almost the same.

The so-called fairness refers to the so-called "equal payment system".

This uniform system of manuscript fees means that whether it is writing novels, comics, or essays, and no matter who writes it, whether it is a famous writer or a fledgling new writer, the royalties are basically calculated according to the same standard rules.

To put it simply, the rules for publishing literary works in Japan are clear, and the income basically depends on the market performance. They don’t look at what people order, and they don’t set up a separate set of rules according to the type of work. Relatively speaking, It's fair to say.

For example, even if you are a famous novelist at the level of a god, if your next novel hits the street, the manuscript fee will still be calculated according to the hit novel, and there will be no preferential treatment or special treatment just because you are a god.

In the same way, if you are a newcomer writer, you will not belittle you because you are not famous. As long as the editor can pass and agree to publish your novel, then follow the rules and will not deliberately belittle you.

It is said that this relatively fair publishing rule was very mature as early as the 60s, and even more mature in the 80s, even foreigners are treated equally.

It was precisely because Cao Zhiqiang knew about this that he planned to go to Kodansha by himself and talk to people about the issue of novel publishing.

Cao Zhiqiang thinks it is not a big problem whether he can get the approval of the editor. After all, "Norwegian Forest" has been approved by the market, and it is unlikely that Kodansha, a publishing house that is biased towards popular literature, will approve something that is approved by most people in the market. Look down on.

It doesn't matter if you don't like it, there are a lot of publishing houses in Japan, such as Shinchosha, which is also good.

Anyway, gold will always shine. As long as the work is good enough, there will always be a publishing house that will read it and publish it. As long as this set of books can be published, it will definitely cause a sensation. At that time, he can use his identity as a famous writer Walked in Japan.

After taking a taxi and arriving at Kodansha's headquarters building, Cao Zhiqiang didn't hesitate and walked in directly.

Soon, he entered the headquarters building and found the reception staff.

When questioned by the receptionist, he stated that he was here to contribute and publish a book. The type of work was pure literature and popular novels.

After understanding Cao Zhiqiang's purpose and requirements, the reception staff enthusiastically introduced him to the Book Publishing Department, saying that they were in charge of book publishing.

As for who to contact specifically, you can go to the Book Publishing Department and ask for details.

After asking again where the Book Publishing Department was, Cao Zhiqiang thanked the other party, and then followed the path pointed out by the other party to a department with a "Book Publishing Department" sign.

After entering it, I found that there are square office seats, which are similar to the modern large offices of later generations.

It doesn't look very busy here, except that there are things like books and manuscripts everywhere, which look a little messy, but the overall look is quite peaceful, there is no such kind of staff walking around quickly, talking loudly on the phone Such tension.

Soon, Cao Zhiqiang found a work station closest to the door, took a thin young man who looked about 27 or [-] years old, and wore black-rimmed glasses on his face, and asked how to publish a novel.

After understanding Cao Zhiqiang's reason for coming, the other party was taken aback, and then said, "Are you here to contribute and publish a novel?"

"Yes." Cao Zhiqiang nodded.

"Why don't you submit through the mailbox?" the other party asked.

"Well, I don't really understand this." Cao Zhiqiang chuckled, "Besides, I'm relatively close to here, so I came here directly."

The other party nodded: "Then did you call in advance to make an appointment? Is there an editor you know well?"

"No." Cao Zhiqiang shook his head.

The other party nodded again: "Then what type of manuscript do you submit? Popular light novels, or pure literature?"

Cao Zhiqiang said, "Ah, it should be pure literature."

"Pure literature." The other party frowned, "If it's pure literature, you should go to Xinchaosha, why did you come to our Kodansha? Book publishing here is usually light novels, you don't know Is it?"

"This..." Cao Zhiqiang scratched his head, "I really don't know."

Cao Zhiqiang really didn't know the truth about it. He just read a lot of Kodansha's comics in his previous life, and he also searched Kodansha, so he knew a thing or two about the internal mechanism. He was barely the Japanese publishing house that Cao Zhiqiang was most familiar with.

In addition, Cao Zhiqiang also knows one thing, that is, when the book "Norwegian Forest" was first published in Japan, it seemed that it was indeed published by Kodansha, not Shinchosha.

Of course, Kodansha does tend to favor popular literature, which is the so-called light novel.

For example, mystery novels, time-travel novels, novels of different worlds and other highly entertaining novels are all light novels.

The novels that focus on literariness and artistry, are good at exploring human nature, nature, and social contradictions, and are relatively weak in entertainment are pure literature novels.

In terms of content, "Norwegian Forest" is a proper pure literature, and the entertainment attribute is not high, but this novel is not high in entertainment attributes, but its sales are extremely high. It can also be played in more entertaining light novels.

Of course, this is only a comparison among pure text novels. If comics are included, it will not be enough to read.

In fact, in Japan, the highest-selling book publications are manga. Compared with the tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of manga sales, "Norwegian Forest" sold more than 350 million copies in the year it was first published, and By 2012, the cumulative sales in Japan exceeded 920 million, and the cumulative global sales exceeded 2000 million, which is not enough to watch.

"You don't know anything, so you came directly to our Kodansha to submit an article?" The young man was a little surprised.

Cao Zhiqiang chuckled: "Yes, can't it?"

Hearing what Cao Zhiqiang said, the young man shook his head: "It's not impossible, it's just...forget it, have you brought the original manuscript? Just give it to me."

"Give it to you directly?" Cao Zhiqiang was taken aback, "May I ask if you are..."

The thin, ordinary-looking young man wearing black-rimmed glasses smiled lightly: "Ah, let me introduce myself, my name is Yuno Watanabe, and I am one of the editors in charge of Kodansha's pure literature publishing...

This, so, you have hit the right guy. Since you are writing a pure literary novel and you don't have a familiar editor, then leave it to me. "

Cao Zhiqiang blinked, and looked at the other party suspiciously: "Watanabe Yuno? Are you really an editor?"

"Of course!" Yuno Watanabe nodded, and then said, "If you don't believe me, just wait."

Speaking of this, Watanabe Yuno searched on the table, found a listing, and handed it to Cao Zhiqiang for a look: "Look, Watanabe Yuno, editor of the literature group."

Cao Zhiqiang looked at the badge and frowned: "The editor of the literature group, you mean pure literature?"

"Of course." Watanabe Yuno nodded.

Cao Zhiqiang was suspicious again: "You are not lying to me, are you? You are so young, are you sure you are not an intern?"

Yuno Watanabe was taken aback when he heard this, and then he was not angry, he just laughed and said, "Don't look at me as young, I graduated from the Faculty of Letters of Tokyo University, so my internship period is very short, only three months.

In short, I am the official editor here, if not, my badge will clearly say intern editor, understand? "

Only then did Cao Zhiqiang nod his head suddenly. It turned out that he graduated from a prestigious school.

The Faculty of Literature of the University of Tokyo, in spoken Japanese, generally refers to the Faculty of Literature of the University of Tokyo, and the University of Tokyo's status in Japan is similar to that of Peking University and Tsinghua University in China, and it is a first-class institution.

Basically, being able to be close to Dongda, even if it is the not-so-important Department of Literature, is a proper social elite. At least in the 80s, with this kind of education, there is no need to worry about finding a good job. It is all major companies. Rushing to ask for it.

Of course, the gold content of the Department of Literature of Dongda University is less, and Japan in the 80s also paid more attention to professional counterparts, so students who are engaged in literature, better, or people with background, all go to be civil servants, and the next one is Become an editor at a large publishing house.

Yuno Watanabe graduated from the Department of Literature of the University of Tokyo, and even became an editor for Tansha, so there is a high probability that he has no background.

But even if they don't have a background, people who graduated from such prestigious schools can't be ignored, because as long as they don't make mistakes in their work, they can be promoted much faster than people with ordinary degrees.

In other words, in Japan, the society pays great attention to seniority, but pays more attention to the gold content of academic qualifications.

In the same job position, people who graduated from prestigious schools will be promoted faster than those with ordinary degrees. This is an unspoken rule generally recognized by society.

Of course, even if Yuno Watanabe graduated from a prestigious school, since he is too young, he must have qualifications, so normally speaking, he should not have much power now.

In fact, Cao Zhiqiang didn't really want to hand over the work to him. After all, he was too young and certainly didn't have much experience.

But considering that he didn't know anyone else here, and he talked to Yuno Watanabe for a few words, and the other person seemed to be a nice person, not a domineering elite, maybe, probably, it should be ok?
Seeing that Cao Zhiqiang was in a bit of trouble, Yuno Watanabe smiled: "Ah, I see, don't worry about me. How about this, if you don't worry about handing over the work to me, I can introduce you to a senior who... "

"No need!" Cao Zhiqiang said resolutely, "It's okay to leave it to you, but let me ask a question, do you have the right to review and approve a novel for publication?"

Yuno Watanabe was taken aback, and then smiled gently: "Of course. Well, I'm afraid you don't know much about our situation here. We are all under the editor responsibility system, that is to say, as long as the editor has reviewed a work , and passed the review, it can basically be confirmed that it will be published.

Of course, after publication, if the grades are not good, the editor in charge of the review will also be punished with demerits and bonus deductions, and if it is serious, he may be expelled.

On the other hand, if you have good grades, you will naturally be rewarded. As for how to reward, this is our internal matter, so I won't tell you.

All in all, if you hand over your work to me and I can pass it here, it will definitely be published, don't worry. "

Only then Cao Zhiqiang nodded, took out the manuscript from his backpack, and handed it over with both hands: "Okay, the manuscript is here, please accept it!"

Yuno Watanabe took the manuscript, and briefly looked at the title: "Norwegian forest? The name is very interesting. It seems that there is a foreign song. Is it called this?"

"Yes!" Cao Zhiqiang smiled slightly, "The song "Norwegian wood" by the Beatles translates to the forest in Norway. It was after listening to this song that I got the inspiration and added some of my own insights to write it. the novel."

"I see." Yuno Watanabe nodded, "Then you put it here, leave a contact information, and then you can leave."

After a short pause, Watanabe Yuno said: "Don't worry, I also like the songs of The Beatles very much, and I'm also relatively free recently, so I will definitely read your novel right away, as long as the problem is correct. Big, I will contact you as soon as possible."

Cao Zhiqiang smiled: "Okay, since that's the case, then I'm counting on you!"

(End of this chapter)