Chapter 479 Xilou’s first short story
After finishing the call with He Zhixing.
Wang Mo stopped typing and began to search for information about "Book Pavilion" on the Internet.
This investigation really surprised him one after another.
In today's highly developed Internet society, almost 99% of newspapers and magazines have gone bankrupt. However, the "Shuge" magazine founded in the 1920s has survived to this day. Not only did it not fall into trouble, it has also become a weathervane in today's literary world. It is known as the three major literary holy places in the world today along with "Ink Sea" and "Literary Elegance".
"Shuge" can achieve such results mainly because it does not rest on its laurels.
When the Internet emerged, Shuge was not as stubborn as other newspapers. Instead, it immediately established its own forum network to keep pace with the times. Achieved online and offline integration.
Because its leaders know that books will never go out of style, the development of the Internet has not brought a devastating disaster to paper magazines, but has brought another level of opportunities.
Therefore, with the integration of online and offline, "Bookcase" successfully broke through the dilemma and achieved its current glory.
Today.
"Shuge" magazine has tens of millions of loyal users around the world, and the magazine sells millions of copies every month. As for the "Book Pavilion" forum, the traffic is even more astonishing. The number of daily online users is stable at more than 100,000, and the daily traffic is also stable at one million, and the highest number is more than 10 million.
"Awesome~"
Wang Mo admired secretly.
In this traffic era, where short videos and short plays are king, a purely literary-themed forum that can achieve more than one million daily traffics definitely has its capabilities.
I also looked at the two magazines "Mohai" and "Literary Elegance".
I found that their operating model and scale are basically the same as those of "Shuge".
It seems that everyone copied me and I copied you, and together we evolved a path that is most suitable for survival.
Comparison was made.
Wang Mo finally chose "Shuge". There was no reason. In fact, these three magazines were almost the same. Choosing "Shuge" was purely based on preconceptions.
"Now that the object has been selected, the next step is to select the article."
Wang Mo blinked.
Which article to choose?
Short story?
prose?
Poetry?
Or some other type?
What He Zhixing said just now came to his mind.
He Zhixing's suggestion was to let him contribute prose, because He Zhixing felt that the prose he wrote was most in line with Western characteristics and would be most recognized by magazines.
However, He Zhixing didn't see the mysterious smile on Wang Mo's lips at this moment.
Who said he was best at prose?
Since "Bookstore" is based on short stories, of course he has to submit short stories!
Only by conquering the opponent in their most professional field can the reputation of "Xi Lou" spread in the shortest time.
Moreover, Wang Mo knows that in the literary world, only novels or short stories have the highest literary quality, and their works are the most recognized and recognized by everyone in the literary world.
prose?
Poetry?
These things require long-term infiltration and cultivation.
Of course, if your poetry can be as powerful as Rabindranath Tagore's, it can also shake the ground. Otherwise, writing short stories is the best way to become famous in a short time.
Just do it.
Wang Mo immediately sank into the system and opened the system mall.
It didn’t take long to find a category of short stories about Western literature.
Regarding Western short stories, Wang Mo has many classics in his memory.
For example: "Chameleon", "My Uncle Jules", "Millions of Pounds"...and so on, because these short stories were all in the textbooks when he was in school.
The fact that they can be selected by Chinese officials as the learning content of children's textbooks is enough to show how excellent they are.
"Which one should I choose?"
Wang Mo was a little unsure.
He has enough reputation that he doesn't have to worry about not being able to afford it.
What he cares about is that his first short story should not be too amazing or too mediocre.
It’s so amazing. It’s not good to set your starting point too high.
But if it is too mediocre, then the works you produce will not be able to conquer everyone.
So how to find a suitable piece of writing to balance this point is very important.
"This one? No, it's too good."
"This one? Not good either, it's too mediocre."
For the first time, Wang Mo felt that he was suffering from choice syndrome and was hesitant.
It wasn't until almost an hour or two later that he selected a piece: "A Bowl of Soba Noodles in Clear Soup."
For most people, "A Bowl of Clear Soba Soba" is probably not that familiar. But in the literary world on Earth, whenever this name is mentioned, it will probably be heard like thunder.
It is the work of a writer from Fuso Kingdom.
Although Wang Mo has no feelings for Fuso Country, he has to admit that this country has a very profound literary heritage. It has several Nobel Prize winners, especially "Haruki Murakami" who has been accompanying him for countless years and is well known in China. .
Wang Mo had read this article "A Bowl of Soba Soba" several times in his previous life.
In many translations, it will also be called "A Bowl of Yangchun Noodles".
He chose it because this short story was different from other short stories.
Many short stories in the literary world are based on satire, reversal, and criticism to highlight the profound meaning of short literature. But this novel is different. It takes a warm and touching route.
This is rare in the short story world.
It’s not that other novelists are unwilling to write in this genre. In fact, warm themes are not enough to make readers feel deeply touched.
So this time, Wang Mo decided to come up with something new.
Of course he had other reasons:
One: Taking a warm and touching route is in line with the character of the West Building. After all, in everyone's mind, a fairy tale writer basically has a little innocence. If I were to write "Chameleon" when I first came up, my character would have changed too much. In the eyes of readers, a sense of split personality is inevitable.
Second: Pasta, isn’t it perfectly consistent with Chinese diet? So it was only natural for Wang Mo to take it out.
What is particularly worth mentioning is that although "A Bowl of Soba Soba" is touching content, its status in the novel world is not low at all.
Even because of this novel, the business of Yangchun noodle restaurants around the world has improved a lot.
"purchase!"
After confirming it, Wang Mo purchased it from the system mall without hesitation.
He did not submit it to "Bookstore" immediately, but made some basic changes, changing the background features of Fusang Kingdom to Chinese style.
The modification process is simple.
Soon, Wang Mo completed the revision, then opened the submission mailbox of "Book Pavilion" and submitted it.
…
Next, Wang Mo continued to write "Journey to the West", increasing at a rate of 30,000 words per day.
At this rate, it can be done in about a month.
Of course, it will take some time to write the English version, but it should only take two months to write it all.
soon.
A week has passed.
On this day, Wang Mo just wanted to code.
Fu Hong pushed open the door and walked in: "Ah Mo, the special plane sent by China has arrived and plans to return to China at three o'clock in the afternoon. Simon, Romando and other masters have already gone to the airport one after another, and we also need to return home."
Wang Mo said: "Brother Xiong won't come back?"
Fu Hong nodded: "Yes, Brother Xiong still has many important things to deal with here. It is estimated that it will take him half a month to go back."
"good!"
Wang Mo knew that Yuan Xiong was busy with his affairs, so he called Yuan Xiong, then packed up his things and set off back to China with Fu Hong.
At first they wanted to keep a low profile.
However, Wang Mo's fame is no longer what it used to be, and there are a bunch of paparazzi squatting under the hotel almost every day. In addition, Simon, Romando and the others are too dazzling.
Therefore, in just a short period of time, the news broke.
[Simon, Romando and more than 20 of the top music industry figures followed Wang Mo to China. China sent a special plane to pick him up in person all the way. 】
This news was passed on, and there was an outcry.
"Oh my God! So many music masters go to China?"
"what's the situation?"
"Are they all bought by China?"
"No matter what, the fact that so many music giants are coming to China will certainly have a huge boost to China's music scene."
There was almost an earthquake in the music world.
No matter what purpose Simon and the others have in going to China, everyone in the industry understands that in the coming days, Chinese music culture will soar. Coupled with the honor and blessing of the "Hometown of Music", China will definitely change. It has become a kingdom of music.
One day later, the plane landed smoothly at the Shanghai Airport.
Open the hatch and a breath of fresh air comes.
"The motherland is better."
Wang Mo took a few deep breaths and sighed in his heart.
After being abroad for more than a month, he finally returned to the embrace of his motherland.
Next, he spent three days accompanying a group of old men in the music industry to visit all the iconic places in the city. It wasn't until three days later that these big guys were invited to the capital by CCTV for interviews that Wang Mo had time.
"Um?"
After taking a rest, Wang Mo suddenly remembered something: "I submitted "A Bowl of Soba Soba Noodles" to Bookstore for almost a week, but why haven't I received any response yet? Is it possible that the manuscript was rejected by an editor?"
Although the probability was very small, Wang Mo was still a little worried.
After all, editors are not omnipotent, and it is not impossible to make mistakes sometimes.
"Forget it, wait two or three more days. If there is no response after ten days, I will vote it to "Ink Sea"."
Wang Mo said secretly.
At that time, "Bookstore" should not blame itself.
…
When Wang Mo was slandering in his heart.
In the distant Yingjili, located at the headquarters of Shuge Magazine in London, the editorial department is busy at the moment.
Because it's already mid-April.
Generally speaking, before April 20th, the editorial department needs to finalize all the contents of May's "Bookstore" and then send it to the publishing house, and strive to finalize the May monthly magazine before April 25th, and Carry out global distribution. Then on May 1st, all "Bookstore" readers around the world will be able to purchase the latest monthly magazine.
But this time.
Editor-in-chief Melvin looked at the manuscript in front of him and frowned: "These are the ten short stories you are sure will be published in May?"
Next to them, several editors-in-chief were worried and nodded.
Seeing everyone's expressions, Melvin shook his head and sighed: "Don't be nervous, I didn't say you were negligent in your work. It's just that I think these novels are not much newer than the manuscripts in the past few months. Of course, they The quality is still good, but it can’t withstand readers’ aesthetic fatigue.”
There was a pause.
Melvin picked up a piece of manuscript, pointed at it and said: "Look at this "Secret Behind the Door", I have seen at least ten similar ideas in the past year, all of which satirize money worship. Although it It is a work by the famous novelist Jason, the writing is also online, and the plot is also innovative. But readers have read ten or eight similar short stories, do you think they will still find something new?"
Several chief editors spread their hands.
In fact, they will hear similar words once a month.
Where do so many innovative short stories come from?
right?
In the field of short stories, there are only a few creative ideas that have been stripped away. Many times, their editors only need to see the title of the novel to roughly determine what the content is.
Of course, in the world of novelists, thousands of different stories can be written on the same creative theme. As long as your imagination is big enough, you will never run out of inspiration.
This is also the reason why "Shuge" still produces high-quality monthly magazines every month.
Browsed through the manuscript again.
Editor-in-Chief Melvin shook his head and said: "Although the quality of the novels is passable, which novel do you think should be used for the first place?"
First seat!
Several chief editors were a little embarrassed when they heard this.
In the monthly magazine "Bookstore", one of the best short stories will be selected every month and placed in the most conspicuous first article of the magazine, and Melvin will also give it a detailed review.
This novel was called the "first novel" of the month.
Basically every novel that takes the top spot is the best among the best of the month.
If it's the work of a well-known author, it's solidifying the godhead.
But if it's the work of an unknown author, it's basically a masterpiece.
For example: in history, there have been at least a dozen rising stars in the literary world who rose to fame in the literary world by ascending to the "first" position.
From this we can see the gold content of the first seat.
However, at this moment Melvin asked.
Everyone was hesitant because they knew that the ten novels this time were considered acceptable for publication in a monthly magazine. But it's a bit of a stretch to be the first.
After all, the top spot represents the highest level of short stories of the month. If a certain novel is forced to sit on the top spot, it will easily arouse criticism from other writers and readers.
Seeing everyone's expressions, Melvin rubbed his eyebrows: "You have to choose one, right? In this way...before noon, you vote for the novel with the highest number of votes as the first one."
Voting... is a last resort, but there is no other way.
"yes."
"OK."
Several editors nodded in agreement.
After everyone left.
Melvin sighed leisurely. Although his position as editor-in-chief of "Bookstore" was very prestigious in the eyes of the outside world, he felt deep pressure.
Pressure from the Internet wave.
Pressure comes from two major competitors: "Ink Sea" and "Literary Elegance".
Pressure from readers.
Therefore, he worked on the monthly magazine with great trepidation, fearing that he would lose his standard.
Just like this month, Melvin is not very satisfied because no novel is qualified for the top spot.
After such a monthly magazine is published, it will most likely arouse some doubts from the outside world.
But there is no way.
He also wanted to write a better novel, but he didn’t have one.
Even the top short story writers in today's literary world do not produce works every month.
"Forget it, that's it for this month. Next month, we must spend a lot of money to hire a short story writer with enough weight to stabilize the magazine's status."
Melvin thought to himself.
At the same time, he made a phone call and prepared to inquire about the situation of the two competitors.
But it was okay if he didn't call. When he asked about it, his face turned ugly.
Because he got the news:
This month, Mo Hai has an appointment with novelist Nolan for a manuscript.
Literary Beauty, on the other hand, successfully obtained Andrew’s latest short story.
Nolan and Andrew, although they are not the top short story writers in the world today, they are still famous. In the past few months, Shuge has sent two manuscript requests no less than five times, but all failed.
Melvin previously thought that these people had no inspiration.
But today I learned that these two people were actually bought by their competitors early on.
very good!
Blocked on Instagram!
Melvin scowled.
In the May monthly magazine "Shuge", there were no major articles. But the works produced by competitors are so outstanding. When the magazine is published in May, Shuge may be in trouble.
what to do?
Now it is too late to request manuscripts from famous artists. It seems that I can only swallow my anger and wait until June to save my respect.
It's just... I'm afraid it will be very difficult for me in the next month.
Shake his head.
After all this tossing, Melvin felt like he was no longer sleepy. Although his head still hurt, he still endured his fatigue and opened the mailbox.
As editor-in-chief, he rarely reviews manuscripts himself.
Generally, the manuscripts that he can handle are basically novels that the editor-in-chief cannot decide on, so he is left to make judgments.
But today he was going to review a few manuscripts to relieve his sullenness.
Chapter 1: Trash.
Chapter 2: Trash.
Article 3: Fighter in the garbage.
Do these people really not face up to their own literary level? Such a substandard manuscript, let alone submitted to a bookstore, would probably be an eyesore if it was released for free.
After reading these manuscripts, Melvin felt even more depressed.
have to!
You are really looking for your own fault.
Melvin glanced at the submissions in the mailbox and was about to close the mailbox.
Suddenly his eyes narrowed slightly.
Because he saw a familiar name.
"West Tower?"
In fact, in the past few months, Xilou, a Chinese, has become very popular internationally.
First of all, ten fairy tales almost overturned the fairy tale world and shocked the literary world.
Then, Wang Mo mentioned Xilou several times at the International Music Hall Night, making the name of Xilou once again enter the eyes of the world.
Because of this, Melvin caught Xilou's name at a glance among the long list of emails.
"But this West Tower should not be the Fairy Tale King West Tower."
Melvin laughed dumbly and shook his head.
Xilou writes fairy tales, how could he submit short stories?
It's completely two tracks.
And even if the other party wants to write a short story, he can just contact me directly from the coffee shop in the West Building. Why bother to submit it?
Isn't this unnecessary?
If Wang Mo heard this, he would probably be a little depressed. He also wanted to contact Melvin, but he didn't know him. Although he had made friends with a lot of celebrities this time, he had no connections in the literary world at all.
Mainly from the business world.
Even though he was called the Fairy Tale King, he didn't know even half of the people in the industry. After all, he trampled on everyone in the fairy tale world back then. Those people hated him so much that they couldn't possibly have a relationship with him.
Although I am sure that this Xilou is just another person.
But Melvin still aroused a little curiosity and opened the mail from Xilou.
"A bowl of soba noodles in clear soup?"
Melvin frowned slightly.
Apparently he didn't quite understand the name.
As a Westerner, the noodles he comes into contact with are tomato noodles, pasta...etc.
What the hell is soba noodles in clear soup?
Melvin thought about it for a moment and found that he couldn't find any relevant memories. He simply didn't think about it and clicked on the content of the work.
The opening chapter is very to the point:
[For noodle restaurants, the busiest time is New Year’s Eve. This day at Modu Ting Noodle House has been extremely busy since early in the morning. 】
The content of the story is very fresh.
In other words, it was a completely different style from anything Melvin had seen before.
Because the previous short stories basically revealed a strong atmosphere of irony and money at the beginning. Melvin rarely saw short stories like this, which had a few paragraphs before but still had the atmosphere of ordinary life.
So he was a little curious.
Is this writing prose?
The article sent by this person named "Xi Lou" is not a short story, but a prose?
["Ah... Yangchun noodles... a bowl... okay?" the woman asked timidly. The two little boys hid behind their mother and looked at the landlady timidly.
"Okay, please, please sit over here," the proprietress said, leading the mother and son to sit at table No. 2 near the heater, while shouting into the counter, "A bowl of Yangchun noodles!"
The boss who heard the shouting raised his head, glanced at the three of them, and replied: "Okay! A bowl of Yangchun noodles——\