Chapter 229 Between Your Eyes and Me
Chapter 229 Between Your Eyes and Me
Adonis has a poem that goes like this:
"When I sink my eyes into yours, I glimpse the deep dawn... I feel the universe flowing, between your eyes and me."
Was the poet deliberately making a shocking statement, or was a woman's eyes really that powerful? He only needed to raise his head and meet An Younan's eyes to verify it. But he didn't dare.
A thirty-year-old man who can be called an uncle does not dare to look at a girl in her twenties. It may sound a bit cowardly, but it is indeed dangerous. He is afraid of seeing signs of heat death in her eyes.
He lowered his head, pretending not to see An Younan, and said to Duan Xiaosang:
"All of these publishing houses you just mentioned seem to be quite difficult, right? Are there any others?"
Duan Xiaosang also pretended not to notice, tapped the notebook with the tip of his pen, and continued with the previous topic:
"Among the emerging private publishing houses, Zhongxing and Kuaimai are the first to be recommended. Zhongxing has strong packaging capabilities and is good at creating bestsellers. Shen Qingfeng is one of the authors they introduced. Kuaimai has been gaining momentum recently and is very good at marketing, especially liking to catch up with hot topics..."
Being ignored, An Younan suddenly stretched out his white hands and willfully scratched the table, scattering his notebook and manuscript paper into pieces.
Duan Xiaosang held his forehead and sighed, "What do you want, Miss?"
"It's so boring to listen to."
An Younan yawned and sat down between the two of them, her long white legs sticking out from under her nightgown, standing straight.
Duan Xiaosang said, "It's not your turn yet. How about you wait for me to finish speaking first?"
"It's too slow, I can't wait. And when I think about how after you finish talking, he will find that he has no choice but to ask me for help to turn over, I get so excited that I want to laugh!" An Younan's eyes were shining with excitement.
"If you say this to this stubborn guy's face, won't he never beg you even if he dies?"
"You don't understand, this is where the fun part comes in."
Who is the stubborn one? So... fun? Where is the fun?
Prince Xu was shocked.
Duan Xiaosang said: "After all, he is a writer with a strong sense of self-esteem. You should at least consider his face, right?"
An Younan said: "I hate men who have little ability but still want to save face. I am not hinting at anything, I am just stating an objective fact. I hate men who have little ability but still want to save face."
The words sounded familiar.
Duan Xiaosang said: "Although the ability is small, it is also cute. You can't laugh at it."
"Hehe, just laugh, miscellaneous fish~carp~mackerel~grouper~"
Wang Zixu felt that he had seen how much dirty talk they could do in private in a place where only girls were present, even though he was there. Obviously, they didn't treat him as a man.
But grouper is quite expensive, so he was not angry.
He reminded them politely and cryptically: "I'm still sitting here."
An Younan slammed the table: "Hurry up and confront him. If you want to turn things around by relying on sales, you can only ask me for help!"
"Why don't you tell him yourself?"
An Younan was silent for a moment, then said, "You should speak."
Duan Xiaosang showed a particularly disdainful look: "This child has learned to be shy."
An Younan punched her.
Since Wang Zixu was completely ignorant of the publishing industry, Duan Xiaosang spent another hour laying the foundation for Wang Zixu's basic knowledge.
Terms such as "tiered royalties", "reprint cycle", "opening data", "book number management", "bookstore stocking", "channel stocking", "book number management"... each term carries a large number of data frameworks and endogenous mechanisms, and there are also a large number of unspoken rules in practice.
After listening to this, Wang Zixu felt drowsy for a while, and finally tried to summarize:
“So, if you want Fire in the Stone to become a hit, it needs to be in the top 50 on the sales charts and in the top 10 or even top 5 on the category charts?”
"Correct."
"If we want to increase sales, we need channel recommendations and bookstores to have eye-catching stands."
"Yes."
“If you want to be recommended by both channels and bookstores, the sales volume must be high enough to be on the list.”
"That's it."
Wang Zixu thought for a moment and said, "So what you mean is that if you want to sell well, you have to sell well? Isn't this the other way around?"
Duan Xiaosang said: "Things in the world are like this. The more money you have, the richer you are. The poorer you are, the less money you can make. This is the Matthew effect."
After hearing this, Wang Zixu was speechless and felt deeply sad.
She drew a horizontal line in the air and said:
“There is a golden line in book sales. If you cross that line, a virtuous cycle will form and the book will become more and more popular. Otherwise, a vicious cycle will form and the less popular the book is, the less it will be distributed and eventually it will disappear from the market.”
Wang Zixu pondered for a moment and said, "I believe Fire in the Stone will surpass that line."
"Bullshit!" Duan Xiaosang rubbed his eyebrows, "Your book is fundamentally unlikely to be a bestseller!"
Wang Zixu raised his eyebrows in doubt.
He previously published a book titled “Love Poems of the Little Prince” as the Little Prince, which is still in the bestseller section of bookstores.
He didn't really care about the fate of the book, he just felt that it was easy to get on the bestseller list, so he subconsciously thought it was not a difficult thing.
Duan Xiaosang explained: "Your book is indeed well-written, but it is too long! For a serious novel of this length, it takes a long time to gain word-of-mouth, and the publicity period has already passed.
“Even if you want to become popular by relying on the long-tail effect, without a triggering point for public opinion, readers will just read quietly on their own and will not help you spread the word. The book market is very competitive now. If your book does not win an award, you will hardly get a chance to reprint it.
“Think about it, if you don’t reprint, your book will only be in stock on the market, and others won’t be able to buy it. If the publisher stops promoting it, it will naturally fall off the list, and eventually, it will disappear in the vast ocean of books like a drop of water.”
Duan Xiaosang shook his arms and made a wave. An Younan applauded enthusiastically: "Well said!"
The prince opened his mouth bluffingly, subconsciously wanting to cite the counterexample of "The Three-Body Problem".
But if you think about it carefully, there were two periods of explosive sales growth for "The Three-Body Problem". One was that it was recommended by celebrities such as Zuckerberg and Lei Jun, and the other was that it won the Hugo Award.
Without these two hot spots, this book would not have been so popular that it topped the charts for 137 consecutive weeks just by word of mouth. Or, to sell to this extent, it would take a long time, until everyone is old.
Wang Zixu asked: "But my book is already this long. It is an established fact and cannot be changed even if I want to."
Duan Xiaosang said, "Silly, what I mean is that the most important thing about selling books is marketing. Relying on the breaking circle event, you can create a sales surge and get on the charts in one fell swoop! If your book wants to turn around, you must take this path!"
Wang Zixu said, "How should I wrap it? I'm not good at wrapping. I never even wrapped books in book covers when I was in school."
An Younan bit his thumb gently and said, "Wouldn't it be that the corners of the book cover would be curled up by the end of the book?"
Duan Xiaosang said: "It's OK to roll it up. Wrapping books is a waste of time. The top students in my class don't wrap them. I also wrapped books in the beginning, but it was too troublesome in high school and I didn't wrap them anymore. But if you haven't wrapped books since childhood, you're a miracle."
An Younan sneered and moved his thumb away from his lips: "Don't you think he is not a god?"
Duan Xiaosang was stunned and nodded: "Indeed."
"Can we focus on our conversation and not let it wander?"
Duan Xiaosang humbly accepted Wang Zixu's proposal and continued:
“You don’t need to package yourself, you need the publisher to package you, or rather, only they can package you. However, this requires them to be willing to spend money.”
Wang Zixu was stunned, thinking, is she hinting at me to expose the identity of the little prince? Did An Younan tell her that he is the little prince?
He glanced at the two of them separately and found that they looked normal. He tentatively asked, "My relationship with the Cultural Association is so bad, they should not be willing to take this risk, right?"
Duan Xiaosang smiled and said, "That may not be the case. You are so popular on the Internet now. As long as you manage your image well, the publishing house will definitely be willing to take the risk. The only question is how you show your image."
Wang Zixu wondered, this was also a blind spot in knowledge.
Although he has the image of a "little prince" in an unknown place, that was a coincidence and not something he did intentionally.
He is not good at hypocrisy. He can build up an image in order to complete his job well, but if he is asked to force a persona, he will not do it well.
"What does it mean to manage a persona?" he asked, "Or, what kind of persona can I have?"
"Don't you have a ready-made persona?" Duan Xiaosang said, "Literary Knight. Or, the Don Quixote of literature. Of course, the latter is more clownish, which is not good for you. You can consider using the latter persona to save your reputation after failure."
The prince declined the offer politely.
"I know you feel a little uncomfortable psychologically, but every writer has a personality. Even if they themselves are unwilling, the outside world and readers will give them a personality," said An Younan.
She went on to say, “For example, Gu Zao’s character is that of a wild and uninhibited young writer, and all the packaging and publicity are highlighting this trait, but in fact he is a bit neurotic;
"For example, Xiao Mengyin, you have also met her, but her image in the outside world is that of a cold and sharp female writer!"
Wang Zixu covered his mouth and thought about it. It seemed to be true. But Xiao Mengyin's character was a bit too outrageous, and the contrast was too great.
Suddenly his heart skipped a beat, and he subconsciously asked, "Does Chen Qingluo also have a character setting?"
Duan Xiaosang said: "Chen Qingluo's character is a genius literary girl. After so many years, she is still a genius literary girl."
An Younan continued, "That's true. She's always been promoted as a girl. But she looks pretty good, otherwise we wouldn't be embarrassed to print her photo."
Wang Zixu pursed his lips, remained silent, and secretly apologized to Chen Qingluo in his heart.
"How old is she? Almost 30, right?" Duan Xiaosang asked.
"29 years old." Wang Zixu replied, "One year younger than me."
An Younan asked sharply: "How do you know so clearly?"
I sat at the same table with you and wished you happy birthday, how could I not know?
Wang Zixu replied: "She is the editor-in-chief of my magazine."
"Oh." An Younan nodded.
Seeing that he was in a dilemma, An Younan asked, "Do you think she wants you to go to the publishing house to promote yourself and submit your resume?"
Wang Zixu didn't think so, but the nature of the behavior he conceived was not far off.
"That's not necessary," An Younan said. "Literati are literati after all. They must follow the rules of the elegant circle and not be too explicit. What's the idiom called? How to sell yourself?"
Duan Xiaosang: "Where is there such an idiom?"
Wang Zixu said: "Wait for the price to rise."
"Yes, wait for the price to be offered," An Younan said. "You should act like you are waiting for the price to be offered. Show up arrogantly, confidently, and let the publisher discover you. Only in this way can you get a good contract."
Wang Zixu asked: "So, at which event can I appear so that publishers can pay attention to me?"
An Younan stretched out a slender finger and pointed it in the air: "You've got the point. It's easy to find that kind of occasion. Just beg me."
"I beg you."
"As long as you can beg me...how could you agree so easily!?"
Wang Zixu said seriously: "I don't want Fire in the Stone to fail."
That's the only reason.
He didn't want "Fire in the Stone" to go unread. No writer wants to have his hard work and efforts left unread.
Saying things like "hiding it in a famous mountain" or "leaving it to future generations" are just nice words to comfort oneself.
The life of a novel lies in its dissemination and in living in people’s memories. The author devotes part of his life to the story, and the story is the continuation of his life.
After listening to Duan Xiaosang's remarks, he realized that the statement "a writer's responsibility ends when he finishes writing a novel" was a bit empty.
Shi Tonghe tried to hinder his book because of his own problems; those people from the Writers Association spoke ill of his book in order to promote Shi Tonghe and suppress him.
To others, people are books and books are people.
How could he separate himself?
If this kind of thing causes "Fire in the Stone" to be ignored, it will be his fault.
"I hope many people will read this book. For this, I am willing to do anything," said Wang Zixu.
Because it was too easy, An Younan lost the fun of playing with mice and became bored. He hummed, "Okay.
"What you have to do is very simple. Just make an appointment with me."
……
The so-called socializing refers to a non-public, non-work, and non-family occasion where a group of men and women exchange life scraps and emotional garbage over a drink and integrate resources and connections.
Many people hate socializing. But socializing is a necessity. Even someone as unremarkable as Wang Zixu was forced to attend many social events during his first years at work.
Or to use a more popular name, "bureau".
There are big and small bureaus, and there are upper and lower ones. The big ones are presidents’ meetings, and the small ones are beggars’ meetings; the upper ones are masks and suits, and they dance in groups at cocktail parties, and the lower ones are KTV rooms, touching and singing.
The form of the game varies depending on the identity of the participants.
An Younan didn't want Wang Zixu to sell himself to go on a date with her, but to ask him to participate in a game.
Although the relative position of the book industry has been declining compared to 20 years ago, its absolute GDP has been expanding. Competition in the industry is becoming increasingly fierce. Apart from the central-level publishing houses, private enterprises are also competing more fiercely.
Authors need to know publishers, and publishers need to know channel dealers. Driven by demand, in addition to public events such as the BIBF Expo, major book fairs, and book festivals, there are also some closed-door events.
What An Younan wanted Wang Zixu to attend was the "Ancient Xuanzang Reading Salon", which was little known to the outside world but well-known to everyone in the industry.
Gu Xuan is a well-known entrepreneur who has been deeply involved in the book market since the last century. He is the first person in the book industry and has great appeal in the industry. Therefore, this salon named after him also has a huge influence in the industry.
This salon is held every year, and there is a 100-person team from event planning to execution. The salon is an invitation-only event, adhering to the principle of "better to have fewer than too many", and only people are invited each year, never more.
Although the number is not large, those invited every year must be the best and elites in the industry. It is worth bragging about to be qualified to attend this party, and it is enough to make people in the industry drool.
This activity has become so prominent.
Of course, Wang Zixu was not qualified to receive the invitation.
Although he won the first prize of the Xihe Literary Festival, was featured in "Get", and became popular on the Internet, according to An Younan, that is still not enough. He must at least win a national award to be among them.
But who is An Younan? She is a leading channel distributor in China. So, if it is her invitation, Wang Zixu will naturally be qualified.
(End of this chapter)