Author: Ten o'clock contract author Article source: Ten o'clock reading
"Do what you love for a lifetime" is a contemporary buzzword, reflecting young people's expectations for their ideal careers.
The character of Lin Shao's dialogue in this issue of "I Ask" happens to fully practice this sentence, he is the predecessor of the book industry, the publisher Mr. Li Xin.
After graduating from the Department of Chinese at Wuhan University in 1982, he then joined the People's Literature Publishing House, starting from the most basic proofreading, and gradually served as the editor, director of the editorial office and assistant to the president of the People's Literature Publishing House, the editor-in-chief of Hong Kong Sanlian Bookstore, the editor-in-chief of Beijing Sanlian Bookstore, and the special planner of the Commercial Press.
In Li Xin's simple and focused career, the only thing he does is the word "making books".
Wang Dingjun, a famous contemporary literary artist, called Li Xin a "publisher", and his most well-known "memoir tetralogy" ("Yesterday's Clouds", "Angry Youth", "Guanshan Takes the Road", "Literary Jianghu") was personally planned and published by Li Xin during the Beijing Sanlian period, and became a perennial bestseller.
Ding Gong once said, "I wrote overseas, and after 30 years of hard work, I was finally discovered by mainland readers, and I relied on the publisher Mr. Li Xin to discover it." ”
The work of a book editor is like "making a wedding dress for others", and Li Xin has served and achieved countless writers' works.
In his early years, at the People's Literature Publishing House, he published a three-volume 1.5 million-word History of Modern Chinese Novels for the young scholar Yang Yi, which was successfully selected as a liberal arts textbook for colleges and universities.
At that time, Yang Yi was just a graduate of the master's degree, and as soon as this book came out, the academic road was smooth.
At the end of the 80s, Li Xin was responsible for the introduction of Li Ao's essay collection "The Tradition Under the Monologue".
He made a bold attempt in the distribution and marketing, printing Li Ao's famous words on the back cover of the book, "In the past 50 years and 500 years, the top three Chinese vernacular writers are Li Ao, Li Ao, Li Ao", and plastered the new book posters in thousands of Xinhua bookstores across the country.
As a result, 200,000 copies were sold, setting off a wave of "Li Ao fever" in society.
In addition, there are Qi Bangyuan's "Mighty River", Yang Zhenning's "Dawn Collection", many manuscripts of Yang Jiang and Wang Meng, and the most important book that he thinks he has planned and published-
The Chinese version of Vogel's "Deng Xiaoping Era", these well-known book works, are all Li Xin's hard work figures.
"I think I've handled more than 3,000 books." Hearing this number, Lin Shao, who was half of his peers, couldn't help but admire.
After retiring, Li Xin finally wrote a book to summarize his life as a book, called "One Thing in a Lifetime".
Following the title of the book, Lin Shao also asked ordinary people about Li Xin's greatest curiosity:
In the course of a lifetime's career, how do you persist in constantly achieving others, but you are willing to live behind the scenes and only do one thing?
Decades ago, in the first editing class when he first entered the industry, Li Xin listened to Wei Junyi, then president of the People's Literature Publishing House, "dissuade" the new young people: don't want to be an official, don't want to make a lot of money, don't want to become famous.
As one of the first batch of college students after the reform and opening up, he also faced many "opportunities" and "temptations" to go abroad, do business, and teach in colleges and universities...... But he thought about it, and finally got into the pile of books.
"At the end of the day, I feel like I've found myself in my work as an editor, and how can you not be proud when every book you produce has an impact, is recognized by society, and is well received by your peers? This work has always inspired and encouraged me, so I didn't look around. ”
Lin Shao asked him, what was the book that influenced him the most when he was a teenager?
Li Xin's answers to "How Steel is Made" and "Gadfly".
"A man's life should be spent in such a way that when he looks back, he will not regret that he wasted his time, nor be ashamed of his inaction." This is the famous quote of the book's main character, Paul Kochakin, who inspired that generation of Chinese.
So Lin Shao naturally asked, then when you look back on the past, do you feel that you have wasted your time?
Li Xin's answer is: My so-called "one thing in a lifetime" can score 80 points.
Lin Shao: After reading "One Thing in a Lifetime", I realized that your father was a teacher at Tsinghua University, and you grew up in Tsinghua Garden.
Li Xin: Yes, I have had a reading environment since I was a child.
My father was very fond of literature, so he bought a lot of books to go home, and sometimes borrowed them from the library at Tsinghua University.
Lin Shao: Are there any books that have helped you a lot since you were a child?
Li Xin: If I say what shocked me the most, then I think it was "How Steel is Made" and "Gadfly", talking about why people live? How should people live? He said that life should not be wasted, and that we should temper ourselves and overcome ourselves in a difficult environment, which is tinged with idealism and heroism.
Lin Shao: Everyone knows the famous quote in this book, "A person's life should be spent like this, when he looks back, he does not regret wasting his time, nor is he ashamed of doing nothing...... "Now that you think about it, do you feel that you have wasted your time?"
Li Xin: I am still quite satisfied with my life, and I have done things that I like and have a sense of achievement. When I sum up this "one thing in a lifetime", I can basically give myself a score of 80.
Lin Shao: That's so rare. Because we now have more and more choices, it is easy to change jobs and industries, and I admire you very much. You went to the countryside when you were young, did you stop studying during that time?
Li Xin: To be honest, those ten years were still delayed. In the countryside, I still mainly do farm work, and I am very tired after finishing my work.
In that case, if you still insist on studying, you can study for two or three hours, and you have to go to bed quickly until 10 o'clock in the evening, and you have to get up at 4 o'clock tomorrow morning.
Of course, there is more time in winter, I went to the countryside to the Northeast, I can "cat winter", that is, I don't do farm work in winter, I used this time to read a little book, "Water Margin", "Dream of Red Mansions", "Journey to the West", and some foreign literary works.
Lin Shao: Later, you went to the People's Literature Publishing House.
Li Xin: I am very satisfied with the position assigned after graduating from university, which not only meets my interests, but also competent.
Lin Shao: As mentioned in the book, I originally wanted to transfer you to administrative work.
Li Xin: Yes, yes, because there were 5 college students who were assigned to the Humanities Club at that time, and I was the only one who was a party member.
Since the Cultural Revolution, there have been no new college students coming in, and all positions have been lacking, not only editors, but also administrative, personnel, and political work cadres, so I am ready to train me to be the successor of the personnel department.
But I came to the Humanities Club to be an editor, so I tried to fight for it. I found Mr. Tu An, who was actually in charge of the work at that time, and he was a very elegant intellectual, as well as a poet and translator.
I told him that I knew that it was not easy to be an editor in the Humanities Society, and if I didn't do it well, I might be missed by the "bottom board", but I wanted to try my talents, can you give me a chance? For a period of three years, if I can't do well, then I will take the initiative to sign up for administration, do you think it will work?
Tu An and I were in the cafeteria, and the two of us were eating in our own rice bowls. After listening to me, he stretched out a finger and said, "One word is certain."
That's what I said, and I started editing. To this day, I say that Tu An's one finger will decide my whole life, hahaha.
Lin Shao: There are also several opportunities to study abroad and do business, why don't so many temptations attract you?
Li Xin: Actually, there are some contradictions in psychology. I grew up in Tsinghua Garden, and many of the children of intellectual families around me went out after the reform and opening up.
My father taught foreign languages, and his friends abroad put me in touch with a university and said that I could go there directly and teach while researching.
But as soon as I joined the editorial office, I was so busy that I didn't have time to review my English and TOEFL, so I gave up.
Of course, one of the more important reasons is that my book was quickly well received. For example, the second book I edited was A Compendium of the History of Modern Chinese Literature, which soon became a textbook for colleges and universities.
The younger brother and sister wrote to say that we have used the book you compiled as a teaching material, do you think this gives me a sense of accomplishment? I also edited the works of Wang Meng, Liu Zaifu and others, all of which were well received, and I felt that I was on the road to becoming a mature editor.
I was reluctant to give up in this situation, which is why it is important not to go abroad in the end.
As for the future business, there are also opportunities. But at the end of the day, I found myself in my work as an editor, and it motivates and inspires me, and I should do it, so I don't look to the left and right.
Lin Shao: Wang Dingjun mentioned in the preface to "One Thing in a Life" that you are a particularly diligent person, and you have handled two or three thousand books over the years.
Li Xin: There should be more than that.
Lin Shao: Then I'm curious, each book has its own area of expertise, how do you quickly understand a field in a short period of time?
Li Xin: I still have to read more. If you are not familiar with the content of the book you are going to do, then I am afraid that you should find a few representative works as soon as possible to read through them to understand the level of research in this field.
In this way, you can judge whether the manuscript you get is ahead or behind? Editors should make up for their knowledge and find a ruler for themselves to judge whether the manuscript they receive is worthy of publication.
Lin Shao: You have discovered a lot of excellent authors, what are the characteristics of becoming a "good author"?
Li Xin: If it is literature, then his works should have enlightening thoughts and shocking feelings, and their works are the most likely to have an impact.
Lin Shao: The Chinese version of Vogel's The Age of Deng Xiaoping is the most important book you have ever published.
Li Xin: Yes, I remember that there were more than 30 publishers rushing at that time, and we finally won the trust of Mr. Vogel with sincerity, commitment and brand influence.
We discussed with Mr. Fu how to maximize the protection of his academic achievements and comply with domestic publishing regulations. He understood our good intentions and accepted our proposal. So much for.
At that time, there were about 60 people involved in all aspects of the book, from editing, designing, producing and publishing, which is the culmination of collective wisdom. It was a real success, with a first printing of 500,000 copies, and an additional 800,000 copies in the first week.
Lin Shao: I also bought it ten years ago, and although it was very thick, I could read it as soon as I read it, and I couldn't put it down. Did you encounter a lot of challenges in publishing Li Ao's book?
Li Xin: In 1989, I got more than 20 books by Li Ao, and I selected seven of them to make a series, the first of which was "The Tradition Under the Monologue". At that time, no one knew about Li Ao, and I wanted to make it a bestseller, what should I do?
At that time, Bai Yang's "Ugly Chinese" had a great influence, so I designed an advertising slogan to the effect that "if you have read Bai Yang, you must read Li Ao", and then printed 10,000 posters and sent them to thousands of Xinhua bookstores across the country.
As a result, the circulation exceeded 200,000 copies at once, and this was the first time that the People's Literature Publishing House used posters to promote a book.
Lin Shao: When I was in elementary school at the time, I was very impressed by this book, because the book planning was very bold, and Li Ao's sentence "In the past 50 years and 500 years, the top three Chinese vernacular writers are Li Ao, Li Ao, Li Ao" was printed on the back cover.
Li Xin: Hahaha, many people criticized me for not being serious at that time, you know? Do you think that a publishing house like the Humanities Society, which is sitting in a precarious position, dares to use this kind of propaganda slogan, so I will explain that this is just a joke, not to mention that Li Ao's vernacular writing is really good, what if you let him ridicule it?
Lin Shao: Later, when I contacted him privately, did I think there was a difference between Li Ao himself and his works?
Li Xin: He is a very witty and humorous person. He is suspicious, but he is a little angry, once he trusts you, he will listen to you, so if you want to cooperate, you have to find a way to gain his trust.
Lin Shao: How did you gain trust?
Li Xin: I was friends with him, and I quarreled with him a few times, and after the quarrel, he found that what I said made sense, so he slowly trusted me.
The last letter of authorization he signed before he died was for me, hoping that I would help him arrange for the publication of his works in the mainland.
Lin Shao: Whether it's an editor or a publishing house, how do you build trust with authors and pass that trust on from generation to generation?
Li Xin: The brand influence of the publishing house and the relationship between the editor and the author are the two most important.
Once you gain the trust of the author, the author is willing to continue to develop cooperation with you, so that it will slowly accumulate. Whether it is the Humanities Society, the Triptych, or the Commercial Press, they all have many authors who have been old for decades.
Lin Shao: When you retired from Sanlian ten years ago, you said that the era of the rapid development of the publishing industry after the reform and opening up "has not existed in the past and may not be sustainable in the future", did you have a premonition of the crisis of the publishing industry at that time?
Li Xin: If you look at the traditional publishing industry, it has indeed been standing still from then to now.
Since his retirement in 2014, traditional publishing has not developed much in any way in the past decade, and even its scale has shrunk.
For example, the Sanlian and the Commercial Press, now have an average print run of 3,000 or 4,000 copies per book, and when I retired, it was still 6,000 or 8,000 copies.
Of course, online publishing is improving every year. Today, this multimedia presentation is much richer than it was a decade ago, and in this respect, the publishing industry is progressive. So it has a trade-off process, and it can't be said to be all pessimistic.
Lin Shao: Do you feel lost when you see people reading books more with electronic products than reading paper books?
Li Xin: As a traditional publisher, I will of course be a little disappointed to see that paper books do not have too wide development prospects. But seeing the new form emerge, from the perspective of national reading, I feel that it has brought something new.
Lin Shao: You've been doing live broadcasts and trying to make short videos recently, what do you think of these new marketing methods?
Li Xin: I feel like I'm being pushed forward. In 2009, Weibo became popular, and I opened Weibo to promote a triptych book every day, and I persisted for five or six years;
Later, Weibo did less, and I opened an official account, still telling books; Later, when I opened the circle of friends, there were fewer and fewer people forwarding the articles on the official account, and there were more and more short videos, so I had to transform.
Since February last year, I have used the video account to do some book promotion, and I found that it is still effective, and its dissemination is one of the best among the various publicity methods at present.
Lin Shao: What advice do you have for young people who are still in the publishing industry?
Li Xin: Publishing today is much more difficult than when I was younger. If you want to break through this predicament, you can only be invincible if you make books with heart and create high-quality products.
So what I give to young people is eight words - to write books with heart and create high-quality products.
Lin Shao: What about the reading advice for ordinary readers?
Li Xin: I hope that everyone will take reading as the most important way to supplement their nutrition. Reading is not only to improve practical skills, but more importantly, to shape personality and cultivate character through reading.
Don't read with utilitarianism, don't stop at practical books, read some humanistic books that are thoughtful and seem to be useless, in the long run, it may be of great use.
Author: Sun Si Source: Ten o'clock reading (ID: duhaoshu), a national reading tuba subscribed by more than 30 million people. One week this book is published with permission.