07 List of Chinese writers and millionaires unveiled
Guo Jingming is the first and Dan is the second
The annual rich list of Chinese writers is released again! Like the last time, it may still cause disputes among thousands of people, but the dispute is good. It means that in the face of a powerful and surging business era, we can't refuse and ignore it - whether you like it or not, accept it or not.
Looking around the world, the cultural reality of developed countries has proved for countless times that art and commerce are not antagonistic, and personal creation cannot be completely divorced from the market. The writers who are hungry and seek to take care of themselves, the writers who still resist or even hate business, and the literary flagship who accidentally ran aground must start to think about how to create works that are both recognized by the market and have literary value while changing their own ideas. After all, the days of writing A Dream of Red Mansions are gone forever.
Literature affects the soul, and writing creates wealth. So, while looking forward to a more complete and honest publishing system, we sincerely hope to see more rich writers emerge. Facing such a diligent group, let's give them some help/ P>
The ground is white and the snow is still falling. The desert boat shrank its neck when a winter wind blew over.
This is the afternoon of January 15, 2007 in Wuhan, Hubei Province. Desert Boat, a Fujian writer who has not been confused for nearly five hours, has been wandering back and forth at the gate of Chongwen Bookstore for nearly five hours. He holds the printed version of his autobiographical novel "Dear Suffering", which took four years of painstaking efforts to complete, and sells it to passers-by: "This is my manuscript. If you can publish it, I won't pay a cent for it."
In the face of the other party's strange expression and alert eyes, the front teeth are incomplete, and the face is similar to the bell ringer in Notre Dame de Paris, but it is not so ferocious, and the writer who looks smaller than the Hobbit in Tolkien's pen has to explain with a smile again and again. If the manuscript is lucky to be published, he will use the manuscript fee to "set up a charity foundation to help poor or disabled children."
However, nine out of ten, the other party will shake its head and wave its hands, and some will speed up their steps to avoid it. "The reason why he chose to sell his works in Chongwen Book City is that it is the largest book market in the country, and there are well-known publishers." Desert Boat Vision, "if he is lucky, he may encounter an editor who is interested in his works." On the morning of that day, he tried to enter the publishing building, hoping to meet Bole, but the result disappointed him again.
The rise of post-80s writers: Guo Jingming became rich in style
In fact, there are thousands of writers who have the desire to publish books, such as Desert Boat. Because of the lack of popularity or other reasons, it is an extravagant hope for them to publish books. Because there is no way to publish a book, there was a literary youth posting online, willing to "sell yourself" for publishing a book: on the premise of publishing a book, you can work for investors, be a nanny, be a husband, sell organs, borrow money to repay debts, etc.
In sharp contrast, there are some "rich" writers. Once their new works come out, regardless of their style, their publishing is natural, and sometimes they become the object of fierce competition among major publishers.
Among them, the post-80s writers Guo Jingming and Han Han are particularly so.
On April 29, 2007, Guo Jingming's latest novel "Sadness Against the Current Becomes a River" (hereinafter referred to as "Sadness") was listed.
Because its first print volume is up to 866666 sets, the waist cover paper on the cover has consumed all the stored paper of the same type in Beijing, so a small part can only be replaced by other paper - more striking than paper consumption is that after a May Day golden week, the book sold 1 million copies. "It's also a record for me." Guo Jingming said that the previous books will sell 1 million copies in almost one year. "It's surprising that this book has achieved such a success in such a short time."
Statistics show that the hardcover edition of Sadness, priced at 44 yuan, has sold 13712 copies in the rest of the month from its publication in April to the end of May, which is only the retail market sales of 1480 bookstores in 304 cities in China. The total sales volume in the country is far greater than this figure.
During this period, Guo Jingming contributed a lot to the signing of the tour: in Chengdu, the signing site once caused traffic congestion near the Southwest Book City; In Deyang, the local armed police dispatched to maintain order; In Qingdao, the scene was almost out of control several times, and a boy shouted excitedly "Guo Jingming I love you!" and tried to climb over the fence; In Nanchang, the cry of "Little Four (Guo Jingming's nickname) is brilliant, and the four fans will never leave" and the exhortation of "Please maintain good order and do not crowd" are combined together - the final result is that the inventory of "Sadness" has been emptied everywhere in Guo Suo.
Taken together, these factors have made Guo Jingming, who likes to drink cola, take a bath and take a sauna, the best-selling writer among the post-80s writers. When most of the "post 80s" writers are facing the pressure of survival, employment and even family, and when some writers who are not well known spend half a year to a year writing long articles for only seven or eight thousand yuan, Guo Jingming can already drive the Cadillac for a ride, while equipped with swimming
The upscale community of Chi and Gym bought houses and spent millions to decorate the houses.
In contrast, Han Han, who has multiple identities and does not focus on writing, spends a lot of time and energy on racing, making records and other aspects. Writing is more of a lifestyle and experience for him. Perhaps only when the economy is tense will we put the pen to the table. "There is no way, and I have no other source of income, because I don't do business activities and business endorsements." Han Han likes racing cars, sometimes hundreds of thousands of cars. "Like a driver who wants to win the race, if he wants to participate in the race by himself, he has to spend nearly 78 million yuan a year just for tyres."
In other words, if there is no high royalty support, Han Han may not be able to engage in his favorite motor sport.
"The popularity of Guo Jingming and other new generation writers' works is not necessarily due to how well they write," said He Sanpo, a famous literary critic. The key is that they write about the lives of teenagers. "These lives are unfamiliar to writers of other ages."
So, how do post-80s writers view their works? "I don't want everyone to see my book. I hope there will be some people who will definitely like me in the future. I think this is what I want." Zhang Yueran's calmness shows a low-key atmosphere before his rise. In private, Han Han revealed the secret in his heart: he hoped that he could leave something behind. "If I could sell 100000 copies of each book by the age of 40, I would be very happy."
It is worth mentioning that Zhang Yueran and Guo Jingming both joined the Chinese Writers Association this year, and there are many other post-80s who applied to join the Writers Association. The interaction between the Chinese Writers Association and the "post 80s" writers, while causing some doubts and disputes, has also conveyed a message: "post 80s" writers are transiting from being recognized by the market and teenagers to being recognized by the whole society, including the literary circle?
Online writers break through: gain both fame and wealth
Compared with post-80s writers, the rise of online writers in recent years is also worthy of attention and consideration.
On July 7, 2005, a netizen named "Nine Gang Leader" began to serialize his novel "Circle Trap" (hereinafter referred to as "Circle") on the "IT Vision" of Tianya Community. In the preface to the post, the author explains the reason for writing: "Because I have life, because I have time, because I have writing."
The real name of the Nine Gang Leader is Wang Qiang. After obtaining a master's degree in engineering at Tsinghua University, he has worked in many well-known foreign enterprises since the bottom sales of Lenovo. In seven years, he has risen from ordinary staff to the top level of foreign enterprises in China, and has served as the general manager of two multinational software giants in China. As a senior manager of a foreign enterprise, he has been immersed in the business world for many years and has an amazing wealth of experience.
After leaving the foreign enterprise, Wang Qiang began to write a blog. "I mainly want to sort out my previous experience, but because there are too many living comrades and companies involved, I am too sensitive, so I have to avoid reality and write a novel." Considering the limited amount of blog information, Wang Qiang began to post his novel in the popular Tianya community. Because the novel truly describes the life of people in the workplace, it has been sought after by netizens, especially salespeople, and has attracted the attention of Tsinghua University Press.
"In fact, the publication of this book is also a kind of marketing. If I go to the publishing house with the manuscript in my arms, people will not necessarily answer me." Wang Qiang said, "Before people who need this work find you, you need to find a way to let people who need it find it."
At the time of signing the publishing contract, "Circle" was not yet finished. This 200000 character novel, which took three months to write, has received a good response after being launched by Tsinghua University Press. Without strong publicity, it has been reprinted 9 times in 15 months and sold nearly 200000 copies.
In February 2006, Wang Qiang began to create "Circle Trap 2". This time, the progress was faster, with 250000 words in three months. After the completion of the novel, it will be published by Changjiang Literature and Art Publishing House. "Changjiang News Agency has developed a complete sales and publicity plan for this book," Wang Qiang said, which made him very important. Will Wang Qiang become a professional writer from an online writer? "It's possible. Before I wrote the book, I didn't plan to work again. If I worked, I wouldn't write the book," he said.
Compared with Wang Qiang, who has "time to live and writing style", another author who has become popular through the Internet, Tianba Singing, is legendary. "Neither a professional writer nor an amateur writer", Zhang Muye, a 28-year-old singer with a real name, has worked in the art industry and clothing business. In his works, "many plots are hearsay, and many terms are made up by himself".
This is how the series of novels "Ghost Blows the Lantern", which combines multiple elements such as reality and fiction, tomb robbery and exploration, ranked first in the 2006 "Baidu Search Network Fiction Top10". The book began to be published online in March 2006. In April, the starting point Chinese website purchased the copyright of Ghost Blowing Lantern. Soon, the paper version of the book was published by Anhui People's Publishing House.
Now, the sixth book of the Ghost Blowing Lantern series has been published, with a total of millions of copies, and has triggered a fever of tomb robber novels in the book industry. There are no less than 10 works that follow the trend. On the evening of August 30, 2007, Shanda Start-Up and Huaying Film Company jointly announced that they would make "Ghost Blows the Lantern" into a trilogy series of films. Du Qifeng, a famous director in Hong Kong, will be the supervisor of the series of films and will direct one of them. And the "world tyrant" has also become one of the best-selling writers from the scattered soldiers on the internet.
From book royalties, film and television adaptation rights, magazine income to album release, the new generation of writers have made a lot of money.
Writing books, becoming famous and making money have become the goals and directions of many online writers. In interviews, they do not shy away from it. According to the reporter, at present, there are more than 90000 kinds and 7 billion words of online novels in stock on Starter.com alone. Every day, 4000 to 5000 online writers update more than 10 million words of original novels, and these data are still being refreshed at an amazing speed.
Chen Tianqiao, president of Shanda Network, a literary enthusiast, said that thousands of ordinary people will become writers and famous writers because of the network. "The Internet is providing an unprecedented open, broad and international creative platform for Chinese literature."
"In the past, there were many people who wrote things, but there was no way to publish them, so they had to put them in the drawer. Now, some literature websites play the role of public drawer." Ye Kuangzheng, an independent publisher, believed that when literature is placed in the network, it might produce a kind of hypertext completed by interaction and multiple people. However, "the truly mature network literature has not yet been born, and most of the existing works have no literary value."
But it is undeniable that online literature has broken through the limitations of the network and formed a complete economic chain between traditional publishing and the development of peripheral industries (film, online game, animation). In other words, such as Wang Qiang and Zhang Muye, who have become famous through the Internet, and then grafted with traditional publishing authors will continue to emerge and come into the public eye again and again.
Some publishing institutions have noticed this phenomenon and have begun to take the initiative to seek gold in online original works.
Ge Hongfeng, an international cultural publishing company, told reporters that the development of literary websites has promoted the breakthrough of online writers. "Grassroots authors" usually pay attention to accumulation. Their works are reviewed by netizens, and their publishing is accumulated to a certain extent.
Power that cannot be ignored: Lu Jinbo's marketing
It is worth noting that both the rise of post-80s writers and the breakthrough of online writers have a force that cannot be ignored, namely, private booksellers.
Since the state opened the private channels of the book market in 1984, the vitality of the book market has increased a lot. Especially in recent years, the involvement, understanding and influence of private booksellers on China's book market are eye-catching. Most of the best-selling books on the market are operated by private booksellers. Their market sense and publishing speed make many state-owned publishers feel inferior.
Among them, private booksellers Lu Jinbo and Shen Haobo are representative.
Before becoming a bookseller, Lu Jinbo also wrote under the net name of Li Xunhuan. He was once called "three carriages of online literature" together with Ning Caishen and Xing Yusen. "Before writing, I was a businessman. I felt that writing was just an interlude and a small trifle, so I didn't care about making money in writing." In the Beijing office under the famous literature website Banyan Tree, Lu Jinbo, dressed in a suit, spoke softly and smiled occasionally. "I have been doing Internet since I was 22 years old, so it can be said that doing business is my specialty."
From 2002 to 2005, Lu Jinbo also wrote several books, "but the main energy is to understand the book market." From 2005, he began to devote himself to the book market, and began to snap up advantageous resources, signing some best-selling writers, including Han Han and Baby Annie.
"I have spent three years understanding the market, so I am more prepared. I will tell the writer who signed with me how to improve the sales. When talking with Baby Annie, her book is still about 300000 copies per book, but I signed it according to 600000 copies." The facts prove that Lu's judgment on the market is accurate. "Up to now, her book has exceeded 600000 copies."
Lu's judgment, in addition to his business wisdom, is largely due to his research on culture, especially the mainstream culture of teenagers. "There is no real middle class in our society. The current market is for children and retirees. The market that truly belongs to intellectuals is very small. So the strongest writers can't sell these young writers and TV scholars."
Lu Jinbo revealed that he has signed up with more than ten authors, who will publish one book or more every year, but they are basically books for teenagers. "To sign these authors, the market is the most important standard, and of course the text is not
07中国作家富豪榜揭晓
郭敬明第一于丹第二
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2007年中国作家富豪榜榜单
07中国作家富豪榜众生相
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于丹1060万换算示例
一年一度的中国作家富豪榜再次发布!与上次一样,或许它仍会引发万人争议,但争议是好的,它意味着面对一场强大的奔涌的商业时代的到来,置身其中的我们无法拒绝和漠视———不管你愿不意愿意,喜欢不喜欢,接受不接受。
放眼世界,发达国家的文化现实,已经无数次证明了艺术和商业并非对立关系,个人创作也不可能完全脱离市场。饿得发慌寻求包养的作家们,对商业还有抵触甚至仇恨的作家们,不小心搁浅的文坛旗舰们,在改变自身观念的同时,必须开始思考如何才能创作出既被市场认可,又有文学价值的作品了。毕竟,“举家食粥酒常赊”而写出《红楼梦》的日子一去不返了。
文学影响心灵,写作创造财富。所以,在期待出版界体制更加完善、更加诚信的同时,我们衷心希望看到更多的富豪作家涌现,面对这样一个勤奋的群体,让我们给他们足坏恼粕妥鹁矗?/P>
地上白了,雪仍在下。一阵冬天的风刮过来,沙漠舟缩了缩脖子。
这是2007年1月15日下午,湖北省武汉市。年近不惑的福建籍作家沙漠舟,在崇文书城门口已经来回徘徊了将近五个小时,他抱着自己耗费4年心血完成的长篇自传体小说《亲爱的苦难》打印稿,向路人推销:“这是我写的书稿,如果你能够出版,稿费我分文不要。”
面对对方异样的表情和警惕的眼神,这个门牙不全,面相与《巴黎圣母院》中的敲钟人相似,只是没有那么狰狞,而身材看上去比托尔金笔下的霍比特人还要矮小的写作者不得不一次一次再一次地微笑着解释,如果这部书稿有幸出版,自己将用稿费“筹建一个慈善基金会,帮助贫困或有残疾的孩子。”
然而,对方十有八九会摇头摆手,有的还会加快脚步避而远之。“之所以选择在崇文书城推销自己的作品,因为这里是全国规模最大的图书市场,有知名的出版社,”沙漠舟憧憬,“如果运气好,或许会撞见一个对自己作品感兴趣的编辑”,当天上午,他曾尝试进入出版大楼,希望能遇到伯乐,然而,结果却让他再一次失望。
80后作家崛起:郭敬明式致富
事实上,像沙漠舟这样有着出书愿望的作家还有成千上万,由于知名度不够或者其他原因,出书对他们是一种奢望。因无路出书,曾有文学青年网上发帖,愿为出书“卖身”:在出书的前提下,可以为出资者打工、做保姆、做丈夫、卖器官、借贷还债等。
与此形成鲜明对比的,则是一些“富豪级”作家,他们一旦有新作问世,无论长短风格,出版都是水到渠成,有时还成为各大出版社激烈争夺的对象。
其中,80后作家郭敬明、韩寒尤其如此。
2007年4月29日,郭敬明的最新小说《悲伤逆流成河》(以下简称《悲伤》)上市。
因其首印量高达866666套,封面上的腰封纸,消耗完了北京同类型的所有存纸,于是有少部分只能用别的纸来代替———比耗纸更引人注目的是,经过一个五一黄金周,该书销售即达100万册。“对我自己也是一个纪录。”郭敬明说,换成以前的书,差不多都是经过1年的时间,会卖到100万册,“这本书在这么短的时间内取得这样的成绩,很意外。”
统计数据则显示,定价44元的精装版《悲伤》,从4月出版到5月底,月余时间累计销量达到13712册,而这仅仅是国内304座城市1480家书店门市的零售市场销量,全国总销量要远远大于此数据。
期间,郭敬明各地巡游式的签售功不可没:在成都,签售现场一度引起西南书城附近交通堵塞;在德阳,当地武警出动维持秩序;在青岛,场面几次差点失控,一个男生更是激动地大喊“郭敬明我爱你!”并企图翻越围栏;在南昌,“小四(郭敬明的昵称)才华横溢,四迷不离不弃”的呐喊声和“请大家维持好秩序,不要挤”的劝导声汇合在一起———最终结果是,郭所到处,《悲伤》库存被掏光。
这些因素综合起来,就让喜欢喝可乐、泡吧和洗桑拿的郭敬明成为80后作家中的畅销王。当大部分的“80后”作家面临生存、就业甚至家庭压力,当某些知名度不高的作家耗费半年至一年时间创作的长篇稿酬只有七八千元时,郭敬明已经可以开着凯迪拉克兜风,在配备游泳
池和健身房的高档小区购房,并且花费百万装修房子了。
相对而言,有着多重身份不专注于写作的韩寒,则将大量的时间和精力用在赛车、出唱片等其他方面,写作对他而言更多是一种生活方式和体验。或许只有当经济紧张时,才会提笔伏案。“没有办法,我也没有别的经济来源,因为我不做商业活动,商业代言。”韩寒喜欢赛车,有时一辆车就几十万,“像一个要拿成绩的车手,如果想自己参加比赛,一年光轮胎的钱就得花掉将近七八十万。”
换言之,倘若没有高额的版税支持,韩寒不一定能如愿从事他喜欢的赛车运动。
“郭敬明等新一代作家作品的热卖,不一定是作者写得多好,”著名文学评论家何三坡表示,关键在于他们写的就是青少年的生活,“而这些生活,是其他年龄段的作家不熟悉的。”
那么,80后作家是如何看待自己作品的呢?“我并不希望所有人都看到我的书,我希望很久以后还有一部分人,有个别人很确定地来喜欢我,我觉得这是我特别想要的。”张悦然的这种平心静气,显示出一种崛起前的低调气象。在私人场合,韩寒则透漏了心中的秘密:希望自己可以留下来一些东西,“如果到40岁时每本书都可以卖到10万册,我就很开心了。”
值得一提的是,今年张悦然和郭敬明都加入了中国作家协会,其他申请加入作协的80后也有不少。中国作协和“80后”作家的互动,在引起一些质疑和争议的同时,是否也传达出一种信息:“80后”作家正在从市场和青少年认可向被整个社会包括文学界肯定过渡?
网络写手突围:名利双收
和80后作家相比,近年来网络写手的风生水起同样值得关注和思考。
2005年7月7日,一个名为“九帮帮主”的网友开始在天涯社区的“IT视界”连载自己的小说《圈子圈套》(以下简称《圈》)。在帖子的自序中,作者如此解释写作的缘由:“因为我有生活,因为我有时间,因为我有文笔。”
九帮帮主,真名王强。在清华大学获得工科硕士后,从联想公司底层销售做起,先后在多家知名外企工作,七年间,从普通员工升到外企在华机构最高层,先后担任两家跨国软件巨头在中国区的总经理。作为外企高层浸淫商界多年,有着令人称奇的丰富经历。
离开外企以后,王强开始写博客。“主要是想整理一下以前的经历,但是因为涉及太多还健在的同志和公司,太敏感了,只好避实就虚,写成小说。”考虑到博客信息量有限,王强开始在人气旺盛的天涯社区转贴自己的小说。由于小说真实地描写了职场众生相,获得网友特别是销售人士的追捧,继而引起清华大学出版社的关注。
“其实,这本书的出版也是一种营销,我要是抱着书稿去找出版社,人家不一定搭理我。”王强说,“让需要这个作品的人找到你之前,你要找到一种方式让需要它的人发现它。”
签出版合同时,《圈》尚未完稿。这本花3个月写成的20万字小说,经清华大学出版社推出后,反响不俗,在没有强力宣传的情况下,15个月内加印9次,售出近二十万册。
2006年2月,王强开始创作《圈子圈套2》,这次进度更快,3个月25万字。小说完成后,改由长江文艺出版社出版。“长江社为这本书制定了完整的销售和宣传计划,”王强说,这让他十分看重。王强以后是否就从一个网络写手突围成一个职业作家?“这是有可能的。在我写书之前,我没有打算再去打工,如果打工的话,我不会写这本书。”他说。
相对“有生活有时间有文笔”的王强,另一位通过网络走红的作者天下霸唱则具有传奇意味。“既不是职业作家,也不是业余写手”的天下霸唱,今年28岁,真名张牧野,曾做过美术行业和服装生意。其作品中“很多情节都是道听途说,很多术语都是自己瞎编”。
就是这样糅合现实与虚构、盗墓与探险等多重元素的系列小说《鬼吹灯》,在2006年“百度搜索网络小说Top10”中列居首位。该书2006年3月开始在网上发表,4月,起点中文网购买了《鬼吹灯》版权。不久,该书纸版由安徽人民出版社出版。
如今,《鬼吹灯》系列已经出到第六本,累计发行过百万册,并引发了图书界的盗墓小说热,跟风之作,不下10部。2007年8月30日晚,盛大起点网和华映电影公司联合宣布,将把《鬼吹灯》拍成三部曲的系列电影,香港地区著名导演杜琪峰出任系列电影的监制,并会执导其中一部。而“天下霸唱”也从网络上的散兵游勇跻身畅销作家一族。
从书籍版税、影视改编权、杂志收益到发行专辑,新一代作家赚得钵满盆溢。
写书、出名、赚钱,已经成为很多网络写手的目标和方向,在采访中,他们对此并不避讳。另据记者了解,目前仅起点网,库存就有9万余种、70亿字网络小说,每天有4000~5000名网络写手更新1000多万字的原创小说,并且这些数据还在以惊人的速度被不断刷新。
身为一名文学爱好者的盛大网络总裁陈天桥说,成千上万个普通人,都将因为网络而成为写手、知名作家。“网络正在为中国文学提供一个前所未有的开放、宽阔、且与国际接轨的创作平台。”
“以前也有很多人写东西,只是没有渠道发表,只好放在抽屉。现在,有些文学网站扮演了公共抽屉的角色。”独立出版人叶匡政认为,当文学置身于网络之中,也许会诞生一种通过互动和多人完成的超级文本。但是,“真正成熟的网络文学,目前还未诞生,已有的作品,绝大多数无文学价值。”
但不可否认的是:网络文学已经突破了网络局限,并且在传统出版、周边产业(电影、网游、动漫)开发之间形成了完整的经济链条。换言之,像王强和张牧野这样,通过网络走红出名,然后嫁接传统出版的作者还将不断涌现,并一次又一次进入公众视线。
一些出版机构已经注意到这一现象,开始主动出击到网络原创作品中去淘金。
国际文化出版公司葛宏峰对记者表示,文学网站的发展促使了网络写手的突围。“草根作者”平时很注意积累,他们的作品是经过网友检阅的,出版则是积累到一定程度的厚积薄发,“我们有负责文学网站的‘书探’专门负责信息‘侦察’,以得到第一手信息。”——对于网络写手们而言,这真是一个好消息。
不容忽视的力量:路金波式营销
值得注意的是,无论是80后作家崛起还是网络写手突围,其背后都有一股不容忽视的力量,即民营书商。
自1984年国家开放图书市场民营渠道以来,图书市场活力增添不少。特别是最近几年,民营书商对中国图书市场的介入、了解和影响,令人侧目。市场上的畅销书大多出自民营书商的操作,他们的市场嗅觉和出书速度让不少国有出版社人士自叹不如。
其中,民营书商路金波和沈浩波具有代表性。
在做书商之前,路金波也写作,网名李寻欢,曾与宁财神、邢育森并称“网络文学三架马车”。“写作之前我是个商人,我觉得写作只是插曲,小打小闹,所以在写作上无所谓赚钱。”在知名文学网站榕树下的北京办公室内,西装革履的路金波说话轻声细语,偶尔眯着眼睛微笑,“我从22岁就做互联网,可以说做生意是我的一项特长。”
2002年到2005年,路金波也做过几本书,“但主要精力用来了解书市。”2005年起,他开始全身心地投入到图书市场,并且开始抢购优势资源,签约一些畅销书作家,其中包括韩寒和安妮宝贝。
“我花了3年时间了解市场,所以准备更充分,我会告诉和我签约的作家,如何让销量再上台阶。跟安妮宝贝谈的时候,她的书大约还是每本30万册的发行量,但我是按60万册签的。”事实证明了路对市场的判断是准确的,“到现在,她的书已经突破了60万册。”
路的这种判断,除了他的商业智慧,很大程度上还缘于他对文化,特别是对青少年主流文化的研究。“我们的社会还没有出现真正意义的中产阶层,目前的市场是小朋友和退休人员的市场。真正属于知识分子的市场是很小的。所以最强的作者卖不过这些青少年作者和电视学者。”
路金波透露,目前他已经和十几个作者签约,这些签约作者每年都会出一本书,甚至更多,但基本上都是针对青少年的读物。“签这些作者,市场是最重要的标准,当然文字也不能太差,否则炒出来也没用。”除此之外,路金波还有自己的心得,他认为作家要畅销必须类型化,不能什么都写。“商业的价值在于单一,要纯粹才会强悍。所以我喜欢的作者是单一的作者,读者想到他就知道他写什么类型的作品,这样才会有很强的市场号召力。”
他以韩寒为例。“就这些年的市场来看,韩寒作品几乎每本都畅销,他的名字对于图书市场的能量,比人们估计的还要大得多,人们猜不出他的‘粉丝’有多少,也难以想像他们的狂热程度。”所以就出现了一个怪现象,韩寒的最新作品《光荣日》还没有出版时,各种伪书已经充斥市场,“提前”上架热卖。据记者了解,截至目前,《光荣日》发行量已经突破50万册。这种销售速度,茅盾文学奖、鲁迅文学奖的获奖作家也很少能与之比肩。
相对路金波的精打细算,出版人沈浩波则显得高歌猛进。
沈浩波,“下半身”诗歌流派的主力干将,他做书商的时间并不很长,但其营销能力却让很多人惊讶。他出的第一本书是春树的《北京娃娃》。2001年,这本书打着“残酷青春”标签的小说让春树成为80后热门作家并在两年后登上《时代》周刊亚洲版封面。
事实上,这些和沈浩波的努力密不可分。
2005年,网络热门玄幻小说《诛仙》出版时,在图书制作上,出版人沈浩波选择了最时髦的大16开本,有着强烈视觉冲击力的封面和插图则由专业美工操刀,带有煽情广告词的海报挂满了各大图书城和网站。此外,他还在门户网站做了关于《诛仙》的专题,然后给媒体的朋友打电话:“有个专题请你们关注一下。”
《诛仙》出版一个月后,销量直线上升,至今已出8部,每部销量都突破50万册。
尽管沈也承认,网站很难沉淀一些真正有文学价值的作品,但他同时表示,自己今年会出版240种图书,“其中,有120多种来自各大文学网站的网络原创小说。”
“现在的年轻作家,必须从网络中杀出来才能出书。”沈说,网络的认可是硬道理,“相当于读者选择了你,而读者就是市场。”
不可否认,一些超人气网络作品在改编出书后发行量都不低,很多甚至超过了传统意义上的专业作家。但事实上,在这些销售数字背后,往往隐藏着书商们的精心策划和各式宣传,吸引读者眼球的,或许恰恰是那些文学之外的东西。
值得一提的是,并不是每个有机会出书的网络写手都能致富。记者通过采访调查了解到,很多图书公司会选择一次性稿费买断的方式,大部分书的价格在1万元左右。有的作者书的销量到了5万册以上,但由于签的是被买断的合同,拿到手的稿费仍然只是几千块钱。如果签的是版税,一般只付首印的版税,而版税则不会超过10%。这就是为什么有的网络写手作品卖了上百万册但并未身家百万的原因。
出版界潜规则:监守自盗
出版界看上去繁荣无比,但记者在一个多月的采访期间却发现:这只是表象而已。
2003年我国开始推行文化体制改革,出版社由事业单位向企业化转制。2006年中国社会科学院发布的《中国文化产业发展报告》披露,由于改革触及出版体制和出版行业一些深层次的矛盾,特别是相关利益获得者的抵制,出版业改革一度停滞。
据有关人士介绍,改革的艰难曲折也导致了出版管理体制的混乱局面,有些出版社已经改制,却面临生存压力;有些正在经历改制过程中的阵痛,但找不到前进方向;少数仍然坚守事业单位的性质,依旧按老一套的方式运作。而被喻为民间出版力量的文化公司又缺乏相关部门的引导和管理,于是,不统一、不规范,缺乏标准,各自为政,就成为当下出版界的标签。
面对民营书商的市场嗅觉和非一般的出书速度,作为企业的传统出版社,考虑更多的则是如何维护、加强自身影响力和扩大品牌效益,同时尽可能多的获得市场份额。
传统出版社靠两种类型获利,第一是知名作者,第二是大量的投稿。然而名家很少能一年一部长篇,更多的是数年磨一剑。而读者投来的稿,多数会被编辑退掉。
“要减少市场风险就要做名家,投稿的作者大多没名气,他们稿子出成书缺乏市场前景很可能赔钱。”曾是重庆出版社编辑,现为北京共和联动图书公司资深编辑的李江华说。
不赚钱甚至赔钱的作品,民营书商不会出,出版社同样敬而远之。
“这也是很无奈的事情,如果出版社老是处在低端,出不了赚钱的书,各地的经销商就会拖欠书款,时间一长,出版社可能连正常的开支都无法应付。”人民文学出版社资深编辑脚印说,“所以,有了畅销书长销书,才能拿捏到经销商,维持正常运转。”
但是,能出畅销书或者拿到热门书稿的出版社毕竟只是很少一部分,其他没有热门图书的出版社怎么办?为了生存,有些只能硬着头皮增加图书品种,以此获取微薄利润;有的为了追求短期市场效益,盲目跟风畅销书,生产出大量流水线产品,造成许多不必要的资源浪费;少数急功近利的出版社,基本上是以买卖书号为生。在出版社工作多年的施袁喜向记者透露,隐瞒印次和印数已经成为当下出版业的“潜规则”:一种是注水,将印数夸大,吸引读者注意力,造成舆论高潮,由于趋众心理,面对两本同类型书,读者多半会选择印数多的;一种是印数缩水,这是为了少付作者版税或少交税。于是,超出印数的“黑书”除去低廉的成本外,便都成了出版者的利润。
“出版社隐瞒印次和印量,多出来的书说白了就是‘黑书’,属于‘盗版’,圈内也称之为‘自盗版’。一般来说,作者基本无法证实出版单位到底卖了多少自己的书。因此,某些出版社才敢肆无忌惮地虚报印量。甚至有的出版社要求与作者签订‘以实际销售数结算版税’的霸王条款。与印数相比,实际销量是无从了解的。”施袁喜说。
在采访过程中,记者也发现,不少畅销书重印本的封面和书脊与第1版第1次印刷在字体和设计上均有改动,而且里面的部分文字及内容错误已经改正,但是,在重印书的版权页上标明的仍是第1次印刷的册数——这也是很多纯文学作家不愿意写畅销书的原因。
按相关规定,每印刷一次以及加印都必须进行累计,并反映在版权页的印次印数上。
一位获过鲁迅文学奖的作家告诉记者,很多出版社不能遵守商业规则,缺乏诚信,书卖了10万册,但版权页上只标3万册,由于没有证据不好说什么,但心里多少还是有些不舒服。“腆着脸写个走市场的东西,卖得好也拿不到多少钱,与其这样,我还不如老老实实写点自己想写的东西。”他说这话时,眼光显得很无奈。
值得庆幸的是,很多作家意识到这一点。童话大王郑渊洁在接受记者电话采访时就表示,自己选择出版社,首要是看其诚信度,也就是不对作者隐瞒印数。他说,“很多年前,南方一家少儿出版社在出版我的书时,向我隐瞒印数达数十万册之多。”
国内出版界的这些隐疾,或许在体制完善和真正的诚信建立后,才能得到根本的改变。相对中国,在出版业发达的美国,畅销书常常行销全球,动辄上百万册乃至几千万册,有些作家系列作品销售总量达到上亿册。但“出版社对于作者是诚信的,版税半年一结,卖出多少就是多少,根本不会隐瞒印数。”施袁喜说,中国出版界与国际接轨,还有段路要走。
值得一提的是,国外部分作品在畅销的同时,还带动了电影、玩具、时尚用品等相关行业的蓬勃发展,并支撑起强大的国家文化,在全球范围内所向披靡。英国女作家J·K·罗琳的《哈利·波特》系列小说在全球已卖出了3亿多册,成为继《圣经》之后西方世界最普及的图书。由书改编的电影票房总收入超过20亿美元,DVD发行也超过了10亿美元。据一项粗略统计,由《哈利·波特》带动的相关产业,经济规模已经超过了2000亿美元。
“以后我们做书,作品只是起点。”二十一世纪出版社社长张秋林说,在书业方面,尽量控制品种,多出精品,提高印量,将一本书做成一个产业,才是未来几年发展的主导方向。“当然,这是可遇不可求的事,要很多因素的组合,不是每个出版社和每本书都能做到。”
可以想见的是,对沙漠舟来说,他未来几年发展的主导方向,极有可能是穿梭于各个书店之间。2007年国庆节那天,因为缺乏相关证件,常常连出版社的大门都无法进入的沙漠舟给记者打来报喜电话,可能是手机信号不好,也可能是北京风大,他的声音断断续续,像是从千里之外飘过来。他笑着说,一个书商终于答应出版《亲爱的苦难》了,但前提是不付稿酬,“书出来后,书商会给我3600本书,到时我送你一本,剩下的,我自己想办法卖……”
(特约记者吴怀尧)
(This article is an original article by Zhuge Changqing, and the pictures are selected from the Internet. Welcome to forward it, and please indicate the source for forwarding)
Introduction to Zhuge Changqing: Zhuge Changqing, the inheritor and promoter of traditional Chinese culture, is willing to "learn from sages, promote virtue, revitalize China and benefit the world" together with people with the same ideals in the world.
(Zhuge Changqing: zhuge8031@163.com )
Zhuge Changqing mailbox:
zhuge8031@163.com
Zhuge Changqing's Chinese Dream
Learn from sages and carry forward virtue
Revitalizing China for the benefit of the world
(本文是诸葛长青原创文章,图片选自网络。欢迎转发,转发引用请注明出处)
诸葛长青简介:诸葛长青,中国国学传统文化传承弘扬者,愿与天下志同道合者一起“学习圣贤、弘扬善德、振兴中华、造福世界”。
(诸葛长青:zhuge8031@163.com)
Zhuge Changqing mailbox:
zhuge8031@163.com
诸葛长青中国梦
学习圣贤 弘扬善德
振兴中华 造福世界
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