Chapter 9 is very in-depth
Chapter 9 is very in-depth
The parent company of "Story Club" is a giant state-owned enterprise. I won't go into details about it, but it is very powerful. No wonder it has become a rare magazine that is sold nationwide.
At this moment in the story club editorial department, the editor-in-chief, editors, reviewers and others are coming in and out, and it is very busy.
Lao Li is the deputy editor and the leader of the Red Edition Group A, responsible for reviewing manuscripts.
Why is he called Lao Li? Because he has a lot of experience and is a veteran in the publishing industry. If Lao Li had not switched jobs here because of his children's studies, his position would definitely be higher than it is now.
As one of the best-selling magazines in the country, the review model of "Story Club" not only has the traditional three reviews of "primary review, re-review, and final review", but also has an additional "discussion" step, which is the discussion of the retention or removal of all editors.
Even if it passes the third review, it will be rejected if it is not accepted in the first review.
Too many manuscripts in the first half of the month passed the review. Lao Li held the enamel cup, took a sip of tea, drank the tea leaves, and spit them back into the cup.
"The story is too bad, let's wait and see, forget it, just reject it directly. Even if it passes the re-examination, it won't pass the final review."
"The story of "The First Beggar in Seven-Year-Old Country" is okay. The setting of Seven-Year-Old Country is a bit like the Hollywood movie "Stupid Evolution". It's okay."
Old Li, who has entered working mode, reads manuscripts very quickly. He takes a sip of tea after reviewing one article. It feels quite comfortable, but the probability of drinking tea is relatively high.
Not only is he fast at reading manuscripts, but he also doesn't just skim through them. He can notice every detail in the article. This kind of talent makes him a good candidate for editor.
"Gu Lu...all eight articles passed the preliminary review? This is quite rare."
It is common for an author to submit several manuscripts, but it is unusual to have a 100% approval rate.
"The Bus Driver Who Wants to Be God", "Smashing the Piglets", "Good Heart", "Pipe", "Shoes", "Souvenirs from Hell", "The Hole in the Wall", "The Flying Man of Santini". Gu Lu submitted one more article than planned, but I won't go into the details for now.
Eight stories, Lao Li saw the comments in the document notes of the editor in charge of the preliminary review, [Editor in charge Li Muxi: The reason for passing is that the story is well written, but it is not very similar to the style of our magazine, but the story is really well written.]
"What nonsense are you talking about." Lao Li decided to criticize his subordinates for being unreliable.
Good Heart: I never asked to be like this. It's like being possessed by an evil spirit, except that it's not an evil spirit that's possessing you, but an angel. Damn it! If it was a devil that was possessing me, someone would have wanted to kill me a long time ago. But now?
Shoes: The world has a bad memory, he said, especially about bad things in the past. The world is always easy to forget, he said, but you don't. Every time you see a Japanese, you will remember what I said to you. Every time you see a Japanese product, whether it is a TV or anything else, you will remember that under the beautiful packaging are various parts and tubes made of Chinese bones, skin and flesh.
"Flying Man of Santini": "You could have bent your knees a little bit." Captain Luigi wiped a tear from my eye and said softly, "You could have bent your knees a little bit. I won't say anything."
Old Li was watching intently. How intent was he? He even raised the ceramic cup twice but didn't drink the water.
One story after another silenced the knowledgeable Old Li, just like Sun Bin's Ya and Arthur's first skill were used on him at the same time.
"This author is amazing. He can make trivial things in life quite interesting." Old Li was silent for a while before giving this evaluation.
For example, the story of the Flying Man of Santini tells the story of a foreign child who watched a circus performance and wanted to join the circus, so he accepted the test of the head of the circus. The head of the circus tested the child by asking him to touch his toes with his hands without bending his knees. As a result, the child touched his toes too hard and caused a herniated disc.
It's that simple, but in line with the leader's words at the end, just bending your knees slightly will lead to success, so is it the children's fault for being too honest? Going a step further, "In this society, you have to bend your knees to succeed. Children don't understand this, but adults know it all too well."
It is definitely not that Lao Li thought too much when doing reading comprehension. After reading eight stories, he could feel that the author named Gu Lu definitely has the depth of thought.
It was like his most impressive work "Shoes", in which the protagonist accompanied his grandfather to visit the Memorial Hall of the Victims of the Nanjing Massacre. Two weeks later, "I" was unwilling to accept the gift of Mizuno (Japanese) sneakers brought back by my parents. After being forced to wear them, I played a game of football. I was so comfortable that I even forgot that the shoes were from Japan.
"The ending is a stroke of genius, and it doesn't focus on the protagonist feeling guilty," Lao Li said with emotion. "People are forgetful, and we often forget temporarily. Don't feel guilty, because we will remember the pain of the nation forever."
What a pity! If it had been sent three months later, the magazine would have solicited patriotic stories as usual. Lao Li thought that "Shoes" was much better than the winning works in previous years.
"Why doesn't Gu Lu submit these stories to literary magazines like Harvest or October?" Old Li paused, then changed the subject, "That's not right. These stories are not that literary, so they won't be accepted."
Simply put, the writer Gu Lu has the highest literary quality in the story club and the strongest story in Harvest October.
Lao Li personally passed seven essays, and the one that failed was "Smash the Piggy Banks" because the story was really weak, even though it was very profound.
I used the email rejection reply template, [Dear author, thank you very much for submitting your manuscript to Story Club magazine...] The template also explained that the manuscript might not be accepted due to reasons such as the attractiveness of the plot, the fullness of the character creation, the fluency of the language expression, and the fit with the magazine's positioning. I look forward to submitting your manuscript next time.
"Story Club" is not a core journal. In 95% of cases, it will not give revision suggestions, and the remaining 5% will only appear in the final review by the editor-in-chief and the review editor.
Then, out of his love for the story, Lao Li replied privately: [Mr. Gu Lu, your "Smashing the Piglets" is not suitable for the storytelling club, but I can recommend you to "Youth Literature and Art". If you are interested, please add my contact information...]
"Huh——" Lao Li felt that he should leave a review message, but he didn't know how to start.
Now he somewhat understood the initial review comments of his editor Li Muxi, which were very apt! It seemed that he had also written a similar comment.
I don’t know what Editor-in-Chief Huo will think about this. Old Li smiled and felt a little expectant.
Gu Lu, who had posed a bit of a problem to the review editor and the responsible editor, heard a piece of gossip as soon as he arrived in the classroom early in the morning.
Zhao Juan and Wang Wenjun from the class broke up!
Well, Gu Lu was now very sure that it was not gossip, because Zhao Juan walked into the classroom with red eyes, and when she got to her seat, she started crying without even warming up the stool.
Three or four girls who were close to him gathered around to comfort him, not including Zhou Lin, who was catching up on his homework.
If Zhou Lin hadn't been consistently among the top students in the class every time he took a test, his every move would really be like that of a poor student: "eating snacks in class," "coming to school early in the morning to do homework," "like passing notes in class"...
"But crying like this is not a solution." Gu Lu realized the crux of the problem. Zhao Juan is the math class representative, and it is her turn to lead the reading in morning self-study today.
(End of this chapter)