After finally completing the Japanese work "Norwegian Wood", Cao Zhiqiang did not choose any auspicious day. He took the manuscript he had written and went to Kodansha in Japan alone.
The full name of Kodansha is "Kodansha Co., Ltd.". At present, it is the largest comprehensive publishing house in Japan and one of the major comics publishing houses in Japan. Together with Shogakukan and Shueisha, it is also known as the Three Heroes of Comics in the Japanese publishing industry.
I chose this publishing house first because it has strong strength, the strongest sales network, and is best at popular publishing.
As for "Norwegian Wood", strictly speaking, its literary value is not high.
If you look at it with a critical eye, the plot of this book is mediocre, the tone is light, the characters are simple, and the relationships are not complicated. Overall, it seems unremarkable.
However, beneath this unremarkable surface, there is a feeling of loneliness, confusion, at a loss, and a desire for self-salvation that is difficult to express but difficult to suppress.
It was this sentiment, combined with the social reality of Japan in the 1980s, that allowed the novel to resonate with a large number of ordinary readers, resulting in a fanatical sales wave. Since its publication, it has long occupied the No. 1 sales ranking in Japan's history. The throne of one.
Yes, although "Norwegian Wood" has average artistic quality and has not won any heavyweight awards, such as the Akutagawa Award, in terms of sales, at least in Japan, it has basically no rivals.
Even "Snow Country", "I Am Cat", "The Sinking of Japan" and the like, which were highly praised in Japan, are far inferior to "Norwegian Wood" in terms of sales.
What's more, this world does not yet have the masterpiece "Snow Country".
Precisely because there is no "Snow Country" in this world, this book is Cao Zhiqiang's next book that needs to be plagiarized, no, it needs to be original.
As Cao Zhiqiang's first debut in Japan, the reason why he chose "Norwegian Wood" instead of "Snow Country" was mainly because he was not popular enough now and was afraid that his masterpiece would be buried.
After all, the masterpiece "Snow Country" was written much earlier in another time and space. Even if the description of "Snow Country" does not have obvious characteristics of the times, it can be copied seamlessly to the 1980s. modern society, but this is a bit risky after all.
Therefore, Cao Zhiqiang chose the more popular "Norwegian Wood" and planned to use this book to build his reputation first.
Once Cao Zhiqiang is well-known, writing something with a strong literary nature such as "Snow Country" will more easily attract the attention of relevant people and cause an early sensation.
As for why Cao Zhiqiang went to Kodansha alone and did not find a local Japanese to guide him, the main reason was that he felt it was unnecessary.
Because Cao Zhiqiang liked to read Japanese comics in his previous life, he knew a lot about Kodansha, and he also had a better understanding of Japanese publishing houses and the rules of book publishing.
Book publishing in Japan is actually much more open, tolerant, and more regulated than in China.
This is a big rule, and it mainly refers to the fact that Japan’s publishing process is relatively fair, and basically all publishers are almost the same.
The so-called relatively fair refers to the so-called "uniformity of royalties".
This uniform royalty system means that regardless of whether it is writing, comics or essays, and no matter who writes it, whether it is a famous writer or a fledgling writer, the royalties are basically calculated according to the same standard rules.
To put it simply, the rules for publishing literary works in Japan are clear. The amount of income basically depends on the market performance. It does not depend on who chooses the dishes, and there will not be a separate set of rules based on different types of works. Relatively speaking, It's fair to say.
For example, even if you are a great and famous writer, if your next film is a blockbuster, your royalties will still be calculated based on the blockbuster. There will be no preferential treatment or special treatment just because you are a great writer.
In the same way, if you are a new writer who is just starting out, he will not look down upon you because you are not famous. As long as the editor can pass it and agrees to publish your work, he will still follow the rules and will not deliberately belittle you.
It is said that this kind of relatively fair publishing rules was very mature as early as the 1960s, and became more mature in the 1980s, and even foreigners were treated equally.
It was precisely because Cao Zhiqiang knew about this that he planned to go to Kodanshe alone to discuss publishing issues with others.
As for whether it can be recognized by the editor, Cao Zhiqiang thinks that it is not a big problem. After all, "Norwegian Wood" is recognized by the market, and it is unlikely that a publishing house like Kodansha, which prefers popular literature, will recognize something that is recognized by the majority of the market. Look down on it.
Even if you don’t like it, it doesn’t matter. There are many publishing houses in Japan, such as Shinchaosha, which is also good.
Anyway, gold will always shine. As long as the work is good enough, there will always be a publishing house that will take notice of it and publish it. As long as this set of books can be published and distributed, it will definitely cause a sensation. At that time, he can use his identity as a famous writer. Walked in Japan.
After taking a taxi and arriving at the headquarters building of Kodansha, Cao Zhiqiang didn't hesitate and walked directly inside.
Soon, he entered the headquarters building and found the receptionist.
When asked by the receptionist, he stated that he was here to submit a manuscript for publication, and the type of work was pure literature.
After understanding Cao Zhiqiang's purpose and requirements, the receptionist enthusiastically introduced him to the book publishing department, saying that they were responsible for book publishing.
As for who to contact, you can go to the Book Publishing Department and ask for details.
After asking where the Book Publishing Department was, Cao Zhiqiang thanked the other party, and then followed the path pointed out by the other party and came to a department with a "Book Publishing Department" sign.
After entering it, I found that there are square office spaces, which are similar to the modern large offices of later generations.
It doesn't look very busy here. Except for the fact that there are books and manuscripts everywhere, which looks a bit messy, the overall look is quite peaceful. There are no staff members walking around quickly and talking on the phone loudly. Such a tense atmosphere.
Soon, Cao Zhiqiang found a workstation closest to the door, pulled a young man who looked to be in his twenties, a thin figure, and wore black-rimmed glasses on his face, and asked how to publish.
After understanding the purpose of Cao Zhiqiang's visit, the other party was stunned, and then said: "Are you here to submit a manuscript for publication?"
"Yes." Cao Zhiqiang nodded.
"Why don't you submit your article through the mailbox?" the other party asked.
"Well, I don't really understand this." Cao Zhiqiang chuckled, "And I'm relatively close to here, so I came directly."
The other party nodded: "Then did you call in advance to make an appointment? Do you have any editors you know well?"
"No." Cao Zhiqiang shook his head.
The other party nodded again: "Then what kind of article are you submitting? Is it popular or pure literature?"
Cao Zhiqiang said: "Well, it should be pure literature."
"Pure literature." The other party frowned, "If it's pure literature, you should go to Xinchao Society. Why did you come to our Kodan Society? Our book publishing here is usually light-hearted, didn't you know? ?”
"This..." Cao Zhiqiang scratched his head, "I really don't know."
Cao Zhiqiang really didn't know the meaning behind this. He had only read a lot of Kodansha comics in his previous life, and had also searched for Kodansha. He knew a thing or two about the internal mechanisms. It was barely the Japanese publishing house that Cao Zhiqiang was most familiar with.
In addition, Cao Zhiqiang also knows one thing, and that is that when the book "Norwegian Wood" was first published in Japan, it seemed that it was indeed published by Kodansha, not Shinchosha.
Of course, Kodansha does prefer popular literature, which is the so-called light literature.
For example, things that are more entertaining, such as mystery, time travel, different worlds, etc., are all considered light.
Those that pay attention to literature and artistry, are good at exploring human nature, nature, and social contradictions, and are relatively weak in entertainment, belong to the purely literary category.
Judging from the content of "Norwegian Wood", it is pure literature and does not have high entertainment attributes. However, this book, which does not have high entertainment attributes, has extremely high sales. Not only does it rank first in the pure literature category, even if it is included in The more entertaining light and medium are equally capable.
Of course, this is only a comparison of pure text. If comics are also included, it will not be enough.
In fact, in Japan, among book publications, comics have the highest sales volume. Compared with comics, which often sell tens of millions or even hundreds of millions, "Norwegian Wood" sold more than 3.5 million copies in the year it was first published, and By 2012, the cumulative sales in Japan exceeded 9.2 million units, and the cumulative global sales exceeded 20 million units, which is simply not enough.
"You didn't know anything, so you came directly to our Kodansha to submit an article?" the young man said in surprise.
Cao Zhiqiang chuckled: "Yes, can't you?"
Upon hearing what Cao Zhiqiang said, the young man shook his head: "It's not impossible, it's just... forget it, have you brought the manuscript? Just give it to me."
"Give it to you directly?" Cao Zhiqiang was stunned, "May I ask who you are..."
The thin, ordinary-looking young man wearing black-rimmed glasses smiled softly: "Ah, let me introduce myself. My name is Watanabe Yuno, and I am one of the editors... responsible for Kodansha's pure literature publishing.
Well, so, you have hit the right person. Since you are writing pure literature and you don’t have an editor you are familiar with, just leave it to me. "
Cao Zhiqiang blinked and looked at the other party suspiciously: "Watanabe Yuno? Are you really the editor?"
"Of course!" Yuno Watanabe nodded, and then said, "If you don't believe it, just wait a moment."
Having said this, Yuno Watanabe searched on the table and found a sign. He gave it to Cao Zhiqiang to look at: "Look, Yuno Watanabe, editor of the literary group."
Cao Zhiqiang looked at the work badge and frowned: "Literature team editor, do you mean pure literature?"
"Of course." Watanabe Yuno nodded.
Cao Zhiqiang was suspicious again: "Are you lying to me? You are so young, are you sure you are not an intern?"
Watanabe Yuno was stunned after hearing this, and then he was not angry. He just laughed and said: "Don't think I am young, but I graduated from Tokyo University's Faculty of Letters, so my internship period is very short, only three months.
In short, I am the official editor here. If I were not, my badge would clearly say intern editor. Do you understand? "
Cao Zhiqiang suddenly nodded. It turned out that he graduated from a prestigious school.
The Faculty of Literature of the University of Tokyo, in spoken Japanese, generally refers to the Faculty of Literature of the University of Tokyo. The University of Tokyo's status in Japan is similar to that of Peking University and Tsinghua University in China, and it is a first-class university.
Basically, if you can be close to Tokyo University, even if it is not very important, you will be a social elite. At least in the 1980s, with this kind of academic qualifications, you would not have to worry about finding a good job. Big companies are rushing for it.
Of course, the Faculty of Literature at Tokyo University is less valuable, and Japan in the 1980s also paid more attention to professional counterparts, so students who were engaged in literature, the better ones, or those with backgrounds, all went to be civil servants, and the lower ones were The only option is to work as an editor at a large publishing house.
This Yuno Watanabe graduated from Tokyo University's Faculty of Letters and came to Kodansha as an editor. He most likely has no background.
But even if there is no background, people who graduated from prestigious schools cannot be ignored, because as long as they do their job correctly, they will be promoted much faster than people with ordinary academic qualifications.
In other words, in Japan, society attaches great importance to seniority, but more to the value of academic qualifications.
In the same job position, people who graduated from prestigious schools are promoted faster than those with ordinary academic qualifications. This is an unspoken rule generally recognized by society.
Of course, even if Watanabe Yuno graduated from a prestigious school, given that he is too young, he will definitely have to go through seniority, so normally, he should not have much power now.
In fact, Cao Zhiqiang didn't really want to hand over the work to him. After all, he was too young and certainly didn't have much experience.
But considering that he didn't know anyone else here at all, and he managed to chat with Yuno Watanabe for a few words, and the other person seemed to be a nice person, not domineering and elite, maybe, probably, it should be okay, right?
Seemingly seeing Cao Zhiqiang in a bit of a dilemma, Watanabe Yuno smiled: "Ah, I understand, don't trust me. Well, if you are worried about handing over your work to me, I can introduce you to a senior who... "
"No need!" Cao Zhiqiang said decisively, "It's okay to leave it to you, but let me ask one more question, do you have the right to review and approve whether a film can be published?"
Watanabe Yuno was stunned for a moment, then smiled gently: "Of course. Well, I'm afraid you don't know much about our situation here. We are all under the editor responsibility system, that is to say, as long as the editor has reviewed a work , and if it passes the review, it will basically be confirmed for publication.
Of course, after publication, if the results are not good, the editor responsible for review will also be punished with demerits and bonus deductions. If serious, he may be fired.
On the other hand, if you have good grades, you will naturally be rewarded. As for the specific reward, this is our internal matter, so I won’t tell you.
All in all, if you submit your work to me and I can pass it, then it will be published, so don’t worry. "
Cao Zhiqiang nodded, took out the manuscript from his backpack, and handed it over with both hands: "Okay, here is the manuscript, please accept it!"
Watanabe Yuno took the manuscript and took a brief look at the title: "Norwegian Forest? The name is quite interesting. There seems to be a foreign song, so let's call it this, right?"
"Yes!" Cao Zhiqiang smiled slightly, "The Beatles' song "Norwegian wood" translates to Norwegian forest. I was inspired after listening to this song and added some of my own insights before writing it. Got this one.”
"I see." Yuno Watanabe nodded, "Then you leave it here, leave your contact information, and then you can leave."
After a short pause, Watanabe Yuno said: "Don't worry, I also like Beatles songs, and I've been quite free lately, so I will definitely read your book right away, as long as it's not a big problem." , I will contact you as soon as possible."
Cao Zhiqiang smiled: "Okay, if that's the case, then I'll leave it to you!"
(End of chapter)
