Back to 80: My literary life.

Chapter 751 Ashley Press Positioning - Cultural Output

Fang Minghua's days in San Francisco began.

He was not in a hurry to go to Los Angeles, as Warner Bros. had already sent him an email, announcing their decision to adopt the script he wrote and paying a hefty price - $110 million, a sky-high price in the Hollywood script market where the average price was only $10.

But Fang Minghua didn't think it was that high. However, when he thought that Shengshi Film and Television was also involved in the filming of this movie, he reluctantly accepted it.

In the afternoon, Li Li drove to the university for classes. Fang Minghua didn't stay at home for long. He first took the subway to the DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) in San Francisco to get his driver's license translated. Then he went to a nearby Mercedes-Benz 4S store and took a fancy to two Mercedes-Benz cars, a Mercedes-Benz W140 and a Mercedes-Benz ml320.

The former was for Li Li, whose Ford car she had driven for seven or eight years, and she wanted to replace it with a better one. The latter was for her own use in San Francisco, and it was an SUV with a large space, suitable for family travel.

The prices of both are not expensive, the former is 12 US dollars and the latter is only 10. It has to be said that American cars are cheap.

Of course, he cannot pick it up now. He has to wait a week for the translated documents to be processed before he can drive away, but there is no rush.

The next morning, Fang Minghua and Li Li got up together, mainly to take her car to the publishing house - Ashley Press, located on Font Blvd (Baptismal Boulevard) in the northwest corner of San Francisco State University.

Li Li drove him to the door of the publishing house and said, "Minghua, I'll pick you up after class at noon."

"No, just do your thing. I can't stay here for long."

"Okay, I'm leaving now. Bye."

Seeing the Ford driven by Li Li leaving, Fang Minghua put his hands in the pockets of his windbreaker and looked at the building.

It hasn't changed much from the original, except that the Ashley press nameplate has been replaced with a new one with more metallic sheen.

When we went up to the second floor and entered the publishing house, the old-fashioned decoration had long disappeared. The walls, ceiling, doors and windows had been completely renewed and full of modern atmosphere.

The number of people working in the publishing house increased significantly, and people walking in the corridor were busy, all looking at this oriental man with curiosity.

Fang Minghua went straight to the president's office. After knocking on the door, he saw a beautiful white-collar lady with flaxen hair sitting behind the large boss desk.

It’s Demi, the president of Ashley Press and Li Li’s good friend.

"Hey, Demi."

"Mr. Minghua!" Demi stood up immediately with a smile on her face.

Fang Minghua sat on the sofa, and Demi asked attentively: "Mr. Minghua, would you like coffee or tea? I heard from Lili that you like Chinese Longjing tea, but I'm sorry, I don't have it here."

"Coffee then, no sugar."

Quickly, Demi made a cup of coffee and placed it on the coffee table in front.

"Thank you." Fang Minghua took a bite and it tasted good.

"Mr. Minghua, I went to Lili's house a while ago and saw her little baby. He is so cute! Congratulations."

Fang Minghua also knew that Demi knew about her relationship with Li Li, so she said "thank you" without any disguise.

"Oh, I almost forgot one thing. You have just been named the best writer of 96 by Publishers Weekly." Demi said, standing up and taking out a magazine from the boss's desk drawer and handing it to Fang Minghua.

Sure enough, his name was prominently listed in the latest annual writer column on the front page of the magazine, with a brief introduction of him below, mainly describing his major works published in China and the United States over the years.

The introduction to the Harry Potter book is: "In the novel, the author Mr. Minghua first created for us a magical world full of imagination and mystery, which allows people to bravely face difficulties and challenges and bravely pursue their dreams."

He has won several awards for his novels, so he is not too surprised by it. However, Demi is very excited.

"Mr. Minghua, this is also the focus of our promotion of the second Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets."

"You wrote to me saying that it was released across the United States on January 1st. How are the sales?" Fang Minghua asked.

"Very good. One month has passed since the release and the sales have reached 15 copies, exceeding the sales of the first volume in the same period last year."

"According to the latest statistics, the sales of the first Harry Potter book in the United States last year reached 120 million copies, ranking first in the bestseller rankings, and the second book is likely to break this number." "How are the sales on Amazon?" This is a question that Fang Minghua is concerned about.

"It has sold more than 20,000 copies, exceeding the sales of Barnes & Noble, the largest bookseller in the United States. Amazon has become our largest customer. Oh my God, Amazon is truly a miracle, incredible." At the end, Demi couldn't help but sigh.

Fang Minghua just smiled and said nothing.

"Mr. Minghua, in view of the rapid development of online book sales, Ashley Press plans to establish an online bookstore. However, unlike Amazon, it will mainly sell books published by Ashley Press." Demi offered her suggestion.

"Okay, you're the president, and these are all within your authority."

"Thank you for your trust in me." Demi was very happy.

It is so comfortable to work for a boss like Fang Minghua. He almost always leaves it to himself and lets you do whatever you want.

"Mr. Minghua, let me report to you in detail about my work this year." Demi was about to get the report materials from the table but was stopped by Fang Minghua.

"No, you've already made it clear in your email. Just talk about your recent work, especially the difficulties and problems you encountered."

"OK, Mr. Minghua, please give me the book To Live written by Yu Hua from your country. After it was translated into English by the translation team of the University of California, my colleagues in the editorial department and I have carefully read it."

Demi said.

"How about it?"

"From a literary perspective, this is a very valuable novel. But from a sales perspective, I still have to say a few words: According to our evaluation, the sales will not be good - it may even lose money, because the stories told in the book are not of interest to the average American."

Fang Minghua didn't care.

"I expected this. Pure literature should be published if it is to be published."

Demi was not surprised by Fang Minghua's attitude.

She remembered what Li Li's cousin, the cold-looking woman, said when she was the president:

"Ms. Demi, do you know what the Ashley press position is?"

"Try to become a large publishing house like Simon or Random House!" Demi replied.

"No, no." Song Tangtang shook her head.

"I don't know if Lili has told you, "Ashley Press is not about publishing bestsellers - excellent serious literature in China will account for a large part of future publications, and this part is often not selling well or even not profitable, and you are trying your best to make money from these books that seem impossible to make money! This is where you can really test your ability!"

Cultural export!

Demi understood immediately.

Now the Chinese are also starting to do this.

Now, this book "To Live" is one of them.

She looked at Fang Minghua who was drinking coffee leisurely, and suddenly asked, "Mr. Minghua, how is your relationship with the writer Yu Hua?"

"That's fine, we're friends."

"OK! That's a highlight of our promotion of this book!" Demi immediately said excitedly: "Mr. Minghua, can you tell me about the interesting things that happened between you two?"

Oh my God
"Demi, if this Yu Hua was a woman, wouldn't you be planning to hype up a scandal between us?" Fang Minghua joked.

"Of course you can. Look at Emily, a famous female writer in our country. She had a wonderful time with you in Iowa ten years ago. She often mentions this experience in front of media reporters. Although it is a recollection of a friend, from another perspective, isn't it a kind of hype?!"

Fang Minghua was speechless after hearing this.

(End of this chapter)