Chapter 448 I have an idea
Chapter 448 I have an idea
Flowers for Algernon was praised by Library Journal, America Today, Peoria Star, New York Times and Publishers Weekly on Earth, and was described as "a model of science fiction writing that explores emotional and moral issues."
In a parallel world, the situation would be different if the author changed his nationality.
Let’s take a look at their reviews.
Oak, a columnist for Library Journal, commented, "He (Gu Lu) may feel that he has mastered the trick of writing - exploring human nature. But The Shawshank Redemption comes from the exploration of freedom, and no one wants to listen to a 23-year-old young man discussing human nature."
America Today commented sharply, "It is a disaster for a novelist to be so proud. Perhaps Gu Lu does not understand how to describe smart people, let alone analyze their brains, and can only cover it up with clumsy schizophrenia. Gu Lu seems to be proving to everyone that writing The Shawshank Redemption was just an accident, and he does not understand what Americans need at all."
Not all media outlets were critical, some praised the film, such as the Los Angeles Times, which said, "The novel narrative techniques and the plot outlined shocked the readers."
After all, Gu Lu’s Black Mirror series of short stories is still being serialized in the Times.
The first-day sales volume was 4.1 copies, which seems okay just looking at the data.
But considering the publicity and promotion costs, as well as the fame gained from the previous film Shawshank, this result is quite disappointing.
After receiving the first day's data and further seeing that most media reviews were pessimistic, Yao Xiaoju fell silent.
Since his debut, Brother Gu has always been the most successful person in China, Japan, and the UK, and has never experienced failure.
I hope I won’t be hit this time.
Yao Xiaoju called at the appointed time to report the sales results. "Brother Gu, with the current chaotic situation in America and the impact of the decline of the physical industry, the sales of our Algernon are also the highest first-day sales of Chinese fiction novels."
"There are so many adjectives in front of it. How come this thing is just like those brands on Double Eleven, all claiming to be number one." Gu Lu heard the clues on the phone, "Come on, how bad are the sales? I can accept it."
There were two dry coughs on the other end of the phone. Yao Xiaoju didn't expect to be exposed so directly.
"It's actually pretty good. The best sales of a domestic fictional work in Hollywood before was only 13 copies, which was "Swordsman." Yao Xiaoju said, "Our first-day sales were close to copies, which is half of "Swordsman."
It is not surprising that the King of Snoring is popular in the United States. There are many Chinese books that are popular in the United States, but they are all information and popular science books, such as what Chinese people eat and Chinese history. However, there are basically no fiction novels. Hollywood knows that except for action movies, Chinese people cannot be used as protagonists. The same is true for the publishing industry.
"I'm a little curious. Which Chinese writer has the highest sales in America?" Gu Lu asked.
"The Joy Luck Club, written by Amy Tan, has sold 500,000 copies in total," said Yao Xiaoju. "It's about four Chinese mothers who immigrated to the United States. She understands the stereotypes of Chinese people in the American mindset, so the sales are very high."
"If Chinese writers want to become famous in America, they must write what Americans like to read," Yao Xiaoju said, "or they can win American awards."
Gu Lu knew that this was the case with "The Three-Body Problem" on Earth, so after winning the award, the annual sales of "The Three-Body Problem" reached the total annual sales of all Chinese fictional works in the United States - which indirectly reflects that it is really difficult to survive in the American market.
“Brother Gu, our work actually has a very high chance of winning an award, but it is basically impossible for us to go down the winning path.” Yao Xiaoju sighed.
Why are you just sitting here? Gu Lu was a little confused.
"Little Brother Gu, you are such a genius, and you have a strong Chinese official attribute." Yao Xiaoju explained, and he had a hunch in his heart. Because Kane's Cthulhu series was a small hit in America, but the founder Gu Lu did not make any moves.
Everything has two sides, Gu Lu agrees.
"I'm sorry, Brother Gu, but we still can't beat the Americans in terms of publicity and promotion." Yao Xiaoju apologized. Algernon's result was indeed unexpected.
"It's normal to lose in someone else's home court, because the referees and referees are all theirs." Gu Lu said, "Besides, our overseas sales are also good. The cumulative overseas sales of Algernon are about 3 million copies."
Sales are mainly dependent on Japan, the United Kingdom and Commonwealth countries.
"The American market is still very important." Yao Xiaoju himself really wants to help writers re-enter Uncle Sam's backyard to harvest leeks. He is a little discouraged.
"Brother Yao, we have had a very pleasant cooperation over the past few years. You have really helped me a lot. Brother Yao, what about you? Have I helped you?" Gu Lu changed the subject and added, "I'm talking about the reason why you ran back to China from Bantam Dell Publishing House."
Why did he return to China? Yao Xiaoju was stunned. Thinking about it carefully, it was like he wanted to let his ex-girlfriend who followed the rich third generation know that things change over time...
"I was carried away. I was a little carried away at the time." Yao Xiaoju was a little embarrassed. "Actually, if you think about it carefully, there is nothing wrong with pursuing a good life. If it weren't for her encouragement, I wouldn't have taken the risk of resigning, let alone meeting Brother Gu. So think about it this way, she is also my benefactor in my career. I haven't paid attention to her for a long time, and I hope she lives a smooth life."
Why is Yao Xiaoju so generous now? Because he is successful. He may not be richer than the third-generation rich, but he earns 180 million pounds a year (before tax), plus he is the president of Little Prince Culture Company, so he has connections and status. Especially connections, because the Gu Lu King Diplomacy series of articles, even if the copyright was bought by the country, is indeed because Gu Lu can often deal with foreign dignitaries.
So what can make people see things in a positive way may not be time, but "success".
"In general, even though you took a few years off, you still provided enough operating resources for me," Yao Xiaoju said. "And he never interfered with the company's operations and focused on creation. It's hard to find such a good boss."
That's good too. Gu Lu originally wanted to hear the bloody plot of a man showing off and slapping his ex-girlfriend in the face.
As the two chatted, Yao Xiaoju suddenly said, "Well, actually, Flowers for Algernon has a good reputation among American readers. It has a Goodreads score of 4.0. Readers like it very much."
As an agent, he really cares about this matter. Gu Lu also cares about it and puts forward his own plan.
"I have a novel here that is very suitable for European and American style." Gu Lu said, "I can make another attempt next year."
Why didn't you understand? It's not a quality issue! At least in Yao Xiaoju's opinion, Algernon is particularly suitable for European and American tastes. The current issue is nationality. No matter how good it is, it's useless!
Unless... unless there's another book like Shawshank that suits my taste.
Just as Yao Xiaoju was about to explain, he heard Gu Lu continue, "With our current popularity, can we make the book popular in the Commonwealth, or more precisely, in the English-speaking market outside of the United States?"
After making an estimate, Yao Xiaoju immediately responded, "That's no problem. Our foundation is still very solid, and I can handle the publicity and promotion."
"It's true." Yao Xiaoju emphasized.
"Can we trouble Brother Yao with Norway and Spain as well?" Gu Lu continued.
Norway and Spain have a popularity base, but the former is a language that Yao Xiaoju has never released before, which is a challenge for him.
"Give me enough time and I can finish it." Yao Xiaoju responded after thinking about it.
"I'll think of a solution for the French and Russian speaking regions," Gu Lu said. "If our new book can become a bestseller in most markets around the world, but is not published in the United States, what will happen?"
"?"
"!" "6"
Yao Xiaoju could only silently spit out a number after hearing this, and then took a deep breath to make his brain active, "Does our work isolate America?"
"It's not isolation. How can we do this? Culture has no national boundaries." Gu Lu said, "It's just that Algernon's failure has caused me to lose confidence.
"As a person with a broken heart, I dare not publish my new book in America. Is that reasonable?" Gu Lu asked.
"Very reasonable." Yao Xiaoju said, "Then you, Brother Gu, will be under a lot of pressure. You have to write works that will be loved by European and most foreign readers."
A man named Ove decides to die, and there is a ready-made one.
Gu Lu was not worried. He said, "Brother Yao is under a lot of pressure. Our company has not yet tapped into the Norwegian and Spanish markets."
"I'm so stressed that I can't sleep tonight. I'll go get ready. Brother Gu, take care of yourself."
The two hung up the phone.
Yao Xiaoju was telling the truth, he really couldn't sleep. It was one o'clock in the morning, and he was still full of energy.
But it’s not because of pressure, but because I felt excited after hearing the plan!
Ever since the United States achieved military hegemony, artists from other countries have been vying to gain recognition from the United States. They have never dared to isolate the United States.
What does this mean? It means absolute confidence in the quality of the work. Apart from the United States, other countries can become popular.
By then, Gu Lu's new works will be selling well in most countries around the world, but there will be no news in America. If you want to see them, you can only go to neighboring Mexico or Canada to buy them.
Brother Gu is just not betting that American readers have enough appreciation, but betting that the American people are used to being overbearing...
The important thing is not the books. It doesn’t matter if you can’t find a foreign bestseller. The important thing is that in the Internet age, the old men with the Union Jack are not as good as Mexico, South Korea and Japan. They look down on them!
"If I were an American, could I tolerate this? I definitely couldn't." Yao Xiaoju said to himself.
He also understood that the diplomatic articles written over the past few years, as well as Cthulhu, The Little Prince, Who Moved My Cheese, Mr. Sherlock Holmes adapted into a movie, etc., all had to be put into action.
……
Gu Lu, who proposed the plan, was not so excited, because he was mentally prepared for a long-term plan. If one book for isolation was not enough, he would use two or three books.
We need to cultivate more Americans who are brave enough to try. For example, some games are not available in China, or there is no Chinese version. In short, they do not consider Chinese players. But if the game is fun, you are not a player, you use Chinese patches, and you play on foreign servers, so you want to try it.
Same concept.
Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention that Gu Lu is a think tank expert, so he can log in to the external network without a password. Of course, the mobile phone is not allowed, and you must use the home computer.
He looked to see if there was any contrast between American readers' evaluations of Algernon and Earth.
Actually, there isn't. Google Books uses a five-point system. As Yao Xiaoju said, a score of 4.2 is really good.
I won’t go into details about the specific book reviews, as I’ll just praise the old domestic and Japanese readers.
To say something unexpected, the news that Gu Lu had failed abroad actually made South Koreans very excited.
Gu Lu looked at the website and found that both Naver News and Yonhap News had pushed out very exaggerated front-page news.
Pick one to say -
"The Chinese talent is no longer rising, and the sales of his new works in America are far inferior to those of our South Korean writer Han Jenny."
[Han Jenny is our South Korean... Her debut novel, "To All the Boys I've Loved Before," is the number one New York Times bestselling romantic comedy.
It tells the story of the secret love letters written by Lara Jean, a Korean-American high school student. The book has sold 69 copies and is one of the most successful works by Asian writers in the United States.
It has also been adapted into a popular Netflix film series.
...]
That’s right, Nan Han was so excited just to mock Gu Lu.
It can also be said that Japan and South Korea, the two dogs of the Far East, are more likely to be supported. Anyway, there are quite a few best-selling authors from South Korea in the United States, and "Pinball Game" is also a very popular one. It comes from Korean-American writer Lee Min-jin.
"Why is South Korea so hostile to me? Have I ever offended the Koreans?" Gu Lu asked himself, and then gave an answer, "Oh, it seems that I did, and it was a serious offense."
South Korea's birth rate is not good now, and some Korean cults are putting the blame on Gu Lu, saying "Gu Lu's curse comes from Gu Lu. Gu Lu's ancestor is the famous Taoist Gu Huan, who respected Taoism and despised Buddhism, and caused a large-scale dispute between Buddhism and Taoism. So he has the ability to curse!"
I don’t know what King Guru himself would think if he saw this, but the key point is that this statement is very popular in South Korea.
Back to the topic, Gu Lu saw the Koreans celebrating in the comment section.
"He only has the support of China. Now America is useless."
"I've read Flatland and I think it's very childish."
"Correct a piece of news. Flowers for Algernon is not a new work, but an old one. However, it is really not good-looking, and the characters are all wrong. It is far worse than Han Zhennixi and Li Minjinxi."
……
OK, OK, OK, Gu Lu contacted Yao Xiaoju on WeChat, since he has become popular in Korea recently, can he buy some books in South Korea? After all, he has been scolded, so he should give him some money for being scolded, that's what Gu Lu thought.
Just after sending the message, a phone call came.
"Director Zhao, what's up?" Gu Lu answered Director Zhao's phone call. The current social unspoken rules are that if it's not important, you can just talk on WeChat.
"We should still go to the Bear Country to participate in the National Day celebration," Director Zhao said with some helplessness.
"Huh? Didn't I refuse twice?" Gu Lu responded.
The first time was a WeChat message from Director Zhao, and the second time was a phone call from Director Zhao saying it was a formal invitation.
(End of this chapter)