1980 My Literary Era.

Chapter 323 Reformation Literature on Historical Themes

In the third week of October, the editorial department of "Contemporary" was summoned to the conference room in the front building for a meeting.

Today the key members of the editorial offices of the agency were called in, and the meeting was presided over by editor-in-chief Wei Junyi.

Qin Chaoyang asked Lin Weimin: "It's not a festival, what kind of meeting is there?"

During the meeting, the editor-in-chief's office notified Lin Weimin, and Lin Weimin notified his colleagues in the editorial department, so Qin Chaoyang asked him.

Lin Weimin said: "It is said that we want to discuss the publishing route for next year."

Lao Meng is not here today, so there is no need to attend. Tan Chaoyang and Lin Weimin are the main force of the editorial department.

When the meeting started, Wei Junyi spoke.

The general idea is that the direction of attention in the literary world has undergone rapid changes in the past year. The most notable phenomenon is that among the novels published, more and more reforms have been written. Wider three years ago.

Another phenomenon is the "novelization" of reform literature.

When reform literature started a few years ago, it basically consisted of short stories and novellas.

But now, more and more reform literature works appear in front of readers in the form of novels.

The deeper problem reflected by this change is that reform literature is slowly beginning to retain the spirit of reform in the narrative of the text, and continues to act on literature as a basic ideal.

To put it more bluntly, reform literature has become more and more like a shell, and everything has begun to be filled inside.

Therefore, reform literature has become more and more mixed and comprehensive, and aspects such as story clues, character relationships, and time crossing have become more complicated.

Wei Junyi also took the novel "Heavy Wings" republished in this year's magazine as an example.

"Heavy Wings" is a novel written by writer Zhang Jie, which was first published by Guowen Society in 1981.This year's reprint has made major adjustments compared to the 81 edition. In Chapter 1 alone, more than 1000 words of livelihood descriptions have been added.

"This fully demonstrates that the subject area of ​​reform literature is gradually expanding, and the concern for people is becoming more subtle..."

"The reform hero, Qiao, has been 'in office' for five years. The single mode, coupled with the washing of time, has objectively produced disadvantages that make readers feel tired.

Nor can pure literature be limited to a single way of writing, bound by policy diagrams.Therefore, even reform literature must be more readable in order to attract more readers..."

When many colleagues heard what Wei Junyi said, they couldn't help looking at Lin Weimin with strange eyes.

Not long ago, Lin Weimin was about to launch a series of books, saying that he wanted to emphasize popularity. Today, the editor-in-chief held a meeting and said that novels should be readable?
It's not such a coincidence, is it?
Everyone reasonably suspected that Lin Weimin must have been given the opportunity by Mrs. Wei in advance to make such a move.

Comrade Weimin can do it, is the relationship with the leader now so mixed up?
Everyone couldn't help but think back to Lin Weimin's contact with Mrs. Wei in the past. Don't look at this kid who is always scolded every time, but in fact he has never suffered a disadvantage, it is all a matter of taking advantage.

Several colleagues from the editorial department who came to the meeting thought more and more that it made sense. They looked at Lin Weimin again, and their eyes were different.

"During this year, popular literature has quietly risen, which has put considerable pressure on pure literature. The circulation of "Story Club" magazine has reached more than 300 million copies, and "Shan Hai Jing" has exceeded 400 million. pass.

The best-selling magazine in our agency is "Contemporary", right?The largest issue is less than 200 million copies, and the gap will probably widen in the future.

Comrades, I am here to give you a breath.In December, a document will be issued from above..."

When Wei Junyi said this, all his colleagues focused their attention on him. Everyone knew that the document that she could take so seriously was absolutely no small matter.

"This document discusses the self-financing of journal publishing and distribution."

With a "boom", after Wei Junyi finished saying this, the meeting room was like a pot of hot oil being poured into cold water, and the pot exploded.

Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, all domestic newspapers and magazines have been backed by government agencies and state-owned units at various levels, and they have been eating financial food, and profit and loss have never been considered by everyone.

Now, the country actually wants to implement journals to be self-financed, how many journals have to be dumped!
It's not that everyone is pessimistic, but that everyone understands the situation of domestic journals too well.

In the past few years, publications in various parts of the country have sprung up like mushrooms. Most of them are produced by the localities themselves. and less.

The reason is very simple, a local publication usually sells thousands to tens of thousands of copies, and some influential publications can reach sales of more than [-] copies.

Calculated on the basis of 30 words per issue, no matter how low the manuscript fee standard is, the manuscript fee expenditure for each issue is at least about 2000 yuan.

In addition to labor, administration, distribution and other expenses, not counting printing costs, selling [-] to [-] copies will not pay back at all, and at least more than [-] copies will be able to break even.

But the problem is, despite the fact that many pure literature magazines in China have frequently sold hundreds of thousands or millions of copies in the past few years, this is largely due to survivor bias.

"People's Literature", "Harvest", "Contemporary", "October", "Flower City", "Zhongshan", "Yanjing Literature", "Shanghai Literature", "Youth Literature"...

Excluding these first- and second-tier literary magazines across the country, how many local publications can really achieve a periodical sales volume of more than [-] copies?

The answer is: very few.

And once this document is issued, there is only one fate waiting for these publications: stop publishing.

The only thing that can be questioned is the time of suspension of publication, just to see which publication lasts longer.

Thinking of this, everyone couldn't help sighing.

Being in the Guowen Society, I rely on the national brand name. There are front-line magazines such as "Contemporary" and "People's Literature" that sell millions of copies per issue, and even the journal "New Literature" that is biased towards documentary and historical materials Each issue of "Historical Materials" can sell for six figures.

So everyone is shocked, but there is no real pain for the documents that are about to be issued.

In addition to shock, there is more regret in my heart.

In the second half of Wei Junyi's speech, she mentioned the "Plainclothes Police" that the editorial department of "Contemporary" had brought to the editorial meeting in the agency.

"Now the content of reform literature is gradually developing horizontally and developing different branches. The publication of "New Star" provides a new branch for reform literature, that is, officialdom novels.

In the past year, I have also seen some novels involving anti-corruption and criminal investigation. It should be said that these are all variants of reform literature, and they are likely to become an important branch of supporting literature in the future.

For example, "Plainclothes Police" that was released by "Contemporary" before, Weimin's review comments at the time were: it is very popular, but not literary enough, so it was included in the Selected Novel Series.

This novel is in line with the current development direction of reform literature..."

Being praised by the leader as a three-good student, "Contemporary" has become a hit in front of the various editorial offices in the agency.

After returning to the editorial office after the meeting, everyone surrounded Lin Weimin.

What they were most concerned about was, of course, why Lin Weimin was so unpredictable and started arranging the series of books so many days before the meeting.

Lin Weimin was stunned, how the hell would I know?

He is based on his own understanding of history, but today's meeting can only be attributed to his grasp of the general trend of the literary world.

I'm just standing on the shoulders of giants, and someone like Mrs. Wei is far-sighted, right?

Lin Weimin couldn't help feeling a little admiration in his heart.

The discussion in the editorial department after the meeting was very lively. The theme of today's meeting is not only about the reform of literature, but also about the direction and route of publishing articles in the future.

The reason why reform literature has been valued is largely related to the background of the great era.

In addition to reforming literature, what is more worthy of attention is how to integrate the artistry and visibility of novels.

After Meng Weizai returned to the editorial office, Lin Weimin conveyed to him the spirit of today's meeting, and he pondered for a long time.

"Reform literature, as a genre of literature, has developed over the past few years. It is an indisputable fact that the genre has become increasingly complex. It seems that it is necessary to focus on this direction in the future."

Lin Weimin frowned and said, "If the works are good enough, who wouldn't want to publish them? But the fact is that many of the submitted works are old-fashioned, with clichéd plots and flat characters. They really can't support the big title of 'reform literature'." .”

"Oh, this is a problem. Reform, reform, I didn't expect to reform myself. Following this path of development, it seems that everything can be installed here." Meng Weizai sighed.

Lin Weimin said: "That's true. Look at Er Yuehe's "Kangxi Emperor", which is actually an official novel, and it can also be regarded as a variant of reform literature!"

Meng Weizai said with a smile: "Speaking of it this way, our publication can be considered to have grasped the pulse of the times in advance."

"Ha ha!"

With a joke, Meng Weizai said: "Jokes are jokes, this direction is correct. "Reform literature" in historical themes, this direction can be explored. However, Er Yuehe's "Kangxi Emperor" focuses on strategy, which is almost meaningless .”

Lin Weimin nodded, "Indeed."

Having said that, he had an idea in his heart.

"How about... I write a book?"

Meng Weizai looked at him in surprise, "Are you writing a book? A 'Reform Literature' with historical themes?"

"That's right. This is a type I haven't tried before. I think I can try it."

Meng Weizai's expression showed a bit of distrust, which hurt Lin Weimin very much.

"Leader, you are going too far. I am dedicated to the public. What kind of eyes are you looking at?"

"What eyes do I have? My eyes are normal. How many history books have you read? Do you dare to write novels?"

Lin Weimin argued: "I am writing novels, not "Historical Records", the novel is the main body!"

"All right, all right, if you want to write it, write it. If it's really finished, it may also provide a new way of thinking for those writers."

Lin Weimin joked and said, "From then on, this novel of mine will be their ancestor!"

"Start talking nonsense again, can't you be more cautious with your mouth?"

"Understood, then I'll go first if it's okay."

Coming out of Meng Weizai's office, Lin Weimin was still thinking about the topic just now.

He wasn't joking, he hadn't started writing for more than half a year, he was indeed a bit eager for skills, just happened to talk about this topic today, and it was a subject he had never tried before, and now thinking about it, he actually felt a little eager to try.

Thinking back to the magical drama that later generations have seen, compared with other TV dramas adapted from historical novels, this TV drama is simply outstanding.

Lin Weimin is confident that if he turns it into a novel, the effect will be equally extraordinary.

After thinking about the content of his next work, Lin Weimin felt that the strength accumulated in his body for half a year was bursting, and he hadn't felt this way for a long time.

Teacher Lin's big sword is already hungry and thirsty!
(End of this chapter)