Literary Master 1978

Time flies and it is already late January. According to the lunar calendar, it is already the 20th day of the twelfth lunar month. In a blink of an eye, "The Death of Van Gogh" has been published in "Contemporary" for more than half a month.

As the first issue of the publication that was changed from a quarterly to a bimonthly, the first issue of "Contemporary" in 1981 received great attention from everyone in the editorial department and the leadership of Renwen Press.

The publication was changed, and even if the sales volume of each issue was the same, the sales volume brought to Renwen Press increased by half.

That morning, the pre-editing meeting of the agency had just ended, and Wei Junyi stopped Qin Chaoyang.

"Has the paper problem been solved?"

"It has been solved. The printing factory started printing yesterday." Qin Chaoyang said.

Wei Junyi nodded and said, "That's good."

Since the late 1970s, the limited output of printing paper has always been a major problem that has plagued my country's publishing industry.

Catching up with the great development of the domestic cultural industry in recent years, the annual increase in printing paper has to take a big step forward, and many publishing houses often face the problem of paper shortage.

Although Renwen Press is a national publishing house, it is also inevitable to encounter such problems.

Since the first issue of Contemporary Magazine in 1981 was launched, it has been warmly welcomed by readers and its sales have hit a new high.

In just twelve days, the first print run of 350,000 copies of the magazine was sold out.

Such a terrifying speed was completely beyond the expectations of the editorial department of Contemporary Magazine. Before, the publication of Lin Chaoyang's "Lai Zi's Summer" raised the sales of Contemporary Magazine from 130,000 copies to 530,000 copies, which the editorial department thought was already exaggerated.

But now, the new issue of Contemporary Magazine has sold out 350,000 copies in just twelve days after it was launched. What does this mean?

The previous highest sales volume was 530,000 copies sold in three months, and now 350,000 copies have been sold in twelve days. At this rate, the sales volume of this issue of Contemporary Magazine will be heading for one million copies?

Such a drastic change in sales volume has made all the editors of Contemporary Magazine fall into great happiness, but it has also brought happy troubles.

Because the supply of printing paper is tight, both books and publications have a quota for printing paper. If the quota is exceeded, an application must be made.

According to the editorial department's estimate, the sales of the first issue of "Contemporary" after the revision may be a big satellite, and the demand for paper will increase greatly. Qin Chaoyang immediately reported this problem to the publishing house.

Originally, the sales of "Contemporary" have been steadily increasing since its inception, and the increase in paper consumption is also reasonable.

But suddenly it increased so much at once, and the original large consumption had to be doubled, which was also a big problem for Renwen Publishing House.

After two days of coordination, the publishing house finally freed up some printing paper for "Contemporary".

Guaranteeing the printing volume of this issue of "Contemporary" is equivalent to guaranteeing sales and guaranteeing the benefits of Renwen Publishing House.

Selling 500,000 more copies per issue, plus the subsequent impact, the sales of "Contemporary" in 1981 can at least increase by one million copies, and "Contemporary" is also expected to be on par with the two top literary magazines "People's Literature" and "Harvest".

You should know that these two magazines were founded as early as the 1950s. One is a national literary magazine with the word "people" on it, and the other is presided over by a literary giant.

In contrast, it is not easy for Contemporary, which has been published for only a little over a year, to achieve such momentum in such a short time despite the support of Renwen Press.

"You Contemporary should maintain a good relationship with the writer Lin Chaoyang and keep in touch with him frequently. He is very popular now, and a lot of magazines outside want to ask him to write articles." Wei Junyi told Qin Chaoyang.

The two major sales leaps of Contemporary were due to the publication of Lin Chaoyang's works. It can be said that Lin Chaoyang has made an indelible contribution to the development of Contemporary.

Without Wei Junyi's reminder, Contemporary has already put Lin Chaoyang on the top priority level of cooperation.

"Of course, he is now a great contributor to our Contemporary." Qin Chaoyang said with a smile.

After the meeting, Qin Chaoyang returned to the back building from the front building. As soon as he arrived at the entrance of the editorial department, he heard bursts of laughter coming from the office.

He walked in and asked casually, "What are you so happy about?"

Although Qin Chaoyang is the editor-in-chief, he never puts on airs on weekdays. When he came in, everyone in the editorial department looked normal.

Liu Yin replied with a smile, "Nothing, I just read a few letters from readers, all praising "The Death of Van Gogh."

"What did the readers say?" Qin Chaoyang asked curiously.

"What else can I say? Praise it as much as possible, it can be said to be rave reviews!"

Zhu Changsheng on the side said, "Liu Yin, you are exaggerating, why are you talking more and more like Lao Rong?"

He ridiculed the two people with one sentence, which caused Rong Shihui and Liu Yin to retort. They were all old comrades, and they usually talked and laughed without any scruples.

"Where am I exaggerating? Take the letter from the Jiangxi Normal University student just now, what did he say?"

"Before reading "The Death of Van Gogh", he knew nothing about Van Gogh, but after reading the novel, he was deeply moved by Van Gogh's talent and personality in the novel, and understood his loneliness and depression that were not understood by the world.

He also truly understood that the so-called art is by no means a self-righteous and arrogant bohemian, but must bloom in the deepest loneliness.

Listen, today's college students have such profound thoughts!"

Qin Chaoyang listened to her retelling with a smile in his eyes, "You really understand it very well. It is a blessing for our magazine to have such readers. You should think about replying to them."

When he mentioned this, Xiao Yao, who was responsible for opening and reading readers' letters in the editorial department, complained: "Editor-in-chief, there are too many letters from readers recently. Let alone replying, I waste a lot of time every day receiving and opening letters."

The enthusiasm of readers to write letters to newspapers and magazines in this era is unimaginable in later generations. Renwen Press is a national publishing house. Although "Contemporary" has only been published for more than a year, its reputation in the literary world has already risen. Naturally, the number of letters from readers on weekdays is not small.

Xiao Yao has to go to the guard's communication room to carry a sack of readers' letters to the "Contemporary" editorial department on the second floor of the back building when he goes to work on Tuesdays and Fridays.

A small envelope is not heavy, but a sack of envelopes is not light, weighing forty or fifty kilograms.

Thanks to the fact that women at that time were not pampered and the idea that "women can hold up half the sky" was planted in their minds, Xiao Yao carried this load for more than a year.

Since this year, along with the surge in sales of "Contemporary", the number of letters from readers has also increased sharply.

She used to carry two sacks of letters a week. In the two months after the publication of "Lai Zi's Summer", she had to carry sacks almost every day.

During those two months, Xiao Yao was a little dazed by carrying sacks. Sometimes she couldn't help but wonder whether she came to Renwen Press to be an editor or a contractor?

Fortunately, after the peak period of those two months, in the second half of the year, the number of letters from readers of "Contemporary" dropped significantly, but it was still much more than before. She still carried three to four bags of letters a week in two trips, which was barely acceptable.

But who knew that the good times would not last long. In January this year, Lin Chaoyang's "The Death of Van Gogh" was published again in "Contemporary".

After just a few days, the number of letters from readers in the mailroom rebounded to the level after the publication of "Lai Zi's Summer" in the first half of the year, and soared again in the following days.

Xiao Yao now rides a bicycle to work every day. What he fears most is that Uncle Zhai opens the window and sticks his head out to shout: "Xiao Yao, come and get the mail!"

From twice a week, one package at a time to once a day, two packages at a time, only one "Death of Van Gogh" needs to be published.

And this is just the beginning. When the letter arrives at the editorial office, you have to open it, right? After opening it, you have to read it, and after reading it, you have to reply, right?

No one understands Xiao Yao's pain, and no one sympathizes with her. Who makes her a new young person in the editorial office?

Everyone has gone through this. If you have been caught in the rain, how can others hold an umbrella?

In recent days, because of the hot sales of the new issue of the magazine, the editorial office is full of laughter and joy. Everyone is immersed in joy, except Xiao Yao, who is always depressed and sighing.

Listening to Xiao Yao's complaints, Qin Chaoyang asked, "Too many letters?"

He seldom paid attention to readers' letters on weekdays, and he didn't know the specific amount of letters. Leaders are close to the people, but it's impossible for them to care about such a small matter in detail.

Zhu Changsheng replied, "Isn't it that the response to "The Death of Van Gogh" has been so good recently, and readers are very enthusiastic about writing letters."

Qin Chaoyang nodded, "Xiao Yao has worked hard. Old Zhu, you can help Xiao Yao share the work when you have time."

"Okay."

Qin Chaoyang's light words made Zhu Changsheng unable to laugh, and the other editors in the editorial department were gloating after Qin Chaoyang left.

Although Qin Chaoyang said "you" just now, he only named Zhu Changsheng.

With a "bang", Xiao Yao put half a pack of unopened readers' letters on his desk.

"Old Zhu, you have worked hard!"

When saying this, Xiao Yao showed a smile that he couldn't hide at all.

"Xiao Yao, I still have so many manuscripts to review, how can I have time to read these letters!"

"Take time to read them, just take a look, it won't take up much time. If you find any interesting content in the letter, just reply a few words."

The more relaxed Xiao Yao said, the more worried Zhu Changsheng was. It's not like he hasn't done this before, it would be great if it was that easy.

"It would be great if our publishing house had a liaison department!" Zhu Changsheng sighed.

The so-called liaison department is generally a functional department set up by a newspaper, which is mainly responsible for communication and coordination with the superior competent department, organizing and training correspondents, and contacting the masses.

One of the important tasks of the liaison department is to handle readers' letters, because the readers' letters of newspapers are basically reflections of problems, many of which are related to the vital interests of the people.

Renwen Press is a publishing house, and most of the readers' letters are comments on the published books and periodicals. The workload is not large, so there is no department specifically responsible for handling readers' letters, which are all handled by young editors.

"Do you want another secretary?" Liu Yin teased mercilessly.

"That would be great, it would be best if it was a female secretary." Zhu Changsheng said jokingly.

"You'll be so happy!"

After the joke, Zhu Changsheng looked at the letters from readers and became worried.

He knew that the letters in front of him were not even half of the amount of letters received by the editorial department every day recently.

It would be okay for him to read some manuscripts, but he couldn't hold on if he read the letters.

Zhu Changsheng thought about it and soon came up with an idea.

"Xiao Yao, how many of these letters are written to Lin Chaoyang?"

"Quite a few, at least one third."

"Then let's pick out all these letters and send them to him."

Xiao Yao was a little surprised and asked, "Didn't he say no?"

In April, "Contemporary" published "Lai Zi's Summer", which received a strong response from readers. Letters flew into the editorial department like snowflakes. At that time, the editorial department wanted to forward many letters written specifically for Lin Chaoyang to him, but Lin Chaoyang refused because he had no place at home.

"He said no, so he doesn't want it? This is all the readers' kindness!"

Zhu Changsheng's expression was righteous, and Xiao Yao was stunned.

She wanted to say something, but didn't know where to start.

The principles and bottom line of the old comrade are indeed flexible.