Chapter 36: Literature Is Also About Packaging

After Simon Publishing Company accepted the conditions offered by Lin Ming Yang, a profile about the author of the Twilight novel was finally placed in front of Simon's general manager, Toker, and editor-in-chief, Avis. This pair of old partners chose to remain silent after reading Lin Mingyang's profile. In fact, there was no need for a profile, just based on the photo on the profile, the two recognized him as the sunny and handsome hero from "Song and Dance Youth".

"Do you think this novel will be Felix Lin's original?" The one who broke the silence was Tock, who believed that "Twilight", which he regarded as a "masterpiece", was actually written by a sixteen year old boy, which was still a bit hard to accept.

"From a writing point of view, a work like this is very difficult to plagiarize." Avis shook his head, "I felt the same as you after receiving this information, but I investigated the other party's information in detail, and there was no indication that he plagiarized or hired someone to write for him."

"This is just your judgment, where is the evidence?" With the reputation of Simon Publishing Company at stake, Tock had to be cautious.

"All my judgments are based on facts, and why would someone who can write such a work go on to be an obscure gunslinger?" Avis's rhetorical question made it impossible for Tock to find a rebuttal as well.

"And assuming Felix Lim hired someone to write for him, then why would he write such a novel?" Avis looked at Tock, and the other party was also deep in thought, "The biggest possibility is that it's a hype tactic to gain fame! But if he is harboring such a purpose, why would he offer such a high price to create heavy obstacles for the publication, wouldn't this go against his original intention?"

"Maybe he wants to get more out of it?" A possibility occurred to Tork.

"The average American writer earns less than a fifth of what an actor earns, and even if this work is different, it's far less important to use it as a means to gain profit than to use it to reap more fame!"

"But these are all speculative judgments on your part, and we still can't guarantee the originality of this work." Tock was a guy who recognized death.

"The only proof is that besides being an actor, he's also a good screenwriter, and the script of Song and Dance Youth is from his handwriting. If you can't believe all of the previous ones, then at least this can prove that he has the strength to create this novel!"

"Then what do you mean?" Tock's hesitation was mainly related to his conservative business philosophy.

"Trust him!" Ever since he took over as editor-in-chief, Avis had felt that Simon's business model needed a new change. But the reform needed a breakthrough, and Lin Mingyang's Twilight gave him such an opportunity, "How is this not an opportunity for us, if we let our competitors get the publishing rights of this novel, the consequence is that we will have to face an increasingly harsh environment for survival."

"Alright, this matter will be your sole responsibility!" Avis's insistence dispelled Tock's last doubts, everyone else only saw Simon Company's superficial splendor, but the reality wasn't as rosy as people saw it. As Avis said, Twilight might really be an opportunity for Simon Company.

Toker is now 56 years old, is about to retire, he faces the problem of choosing a successor, Avis is 42 years old this year, can be just the time of the year, this matter if he can follow their own way of operation success, then Toker will recommend to the board of directors to take over his position.

Did through the Tok's "thought work", Avis finally let go of the action, his first thought is still and Lin Mingyang to meet. But and Eckles after getting in touch with him but learned that Lin Mingyang at this time is not in Los Angeles, "Pirates of the Caribbean" is still in the tense preparations, until the film officially opened, Lin Mingyang need to report to the crew, Moss Middle School to give him a vacation is almost used, he can only return to Florida in advance.

With more and more things for Lin Ming Yang to cope with, and he was already somewhat unable to organize himself, he finally accepted Eckles' suggestion to hire the other party as his agent. Learning that Avis was prepared to personally rush to Florida to discuss the publication of Twilight with Lin Ming Yang, Ecks gladly acted as a guide.

In a cafe near Moss Middle School, Avis finally met the popular idol who was sought after by teenagers all over America. With the influence of Song and Dance Youth further expanding in the United States, Lin Ming Yang could no longer walk down the street as uninhibited as before. Only in the private room could Lin Mingyang safely remove his sunglasses.

"Felix, can you specifically talk about this novel of yours, such as your original intention, source of inspiration?" Avis didn't bother with too much politeness with Lin Ming Yang, and went straight to the point as soon as they met.

"The publication of this novel is necessarily related?" Lin Ming Yang froze, he could hear that the other party was doubting the originality of Twilight, so he became very nonchalant in his speech, "If Mr. Avis is still doubtful even now, then there is no need for any in-depth cooperation between us!"

"No, no, no, I think you misunderstood me!" Avis didn't expect things to actually be botched by himself, he hastened to explain, "We're not doubting your ability, but this information you've provided will help us formulate a more relevant publicity and promotion plan!"

"Felix, the fact that Mr. Avis personally came over is enough to show that Simon Company has great sincerity towards this cooperation!" Seeing that the scene was a bit stiff, Ecks hurriedly stepped forward to round up the situation.

The expression on Lin Ming Yang's face finally looked better, "Perhaps I'm being presumptuous, then please ask Mr. Avis to talk about your company's publishing plans first!"

"For the publication of a novel, channels and publicity are the two most important aspects. In terms of channels, Simon Company has stable sales partners covering the whole of the United States, but of course no publishing company can form a monopoly in this area, so this time we have decided to start with publicity, and carry out some bold innovations in this area, provided of course that Mr. Felix is able to give us enough cooperation!"

"Can Mr. Avis be more specific?" The other party's idea coincided with that vague concept in Lin Ming Yang's head, but he still needed further verification.

"Mr. Felix, as a writer, what do you think is the key to a successful novel?"

"The content of the novel!" Lin Mingyang answered without hesitation.

"I agree with you, but just like a gemstone, it's not enough to have a good color, it's the meticulous carving and polishing that allows it to shine brightly, and that's the relationship between the quality of the novel itself and the publishing and publicity." Avis made a figurative analogy, "In terms of the quality of the novel Twilight, this is one of the best works I've read in recent years. But not all great works succeed; the value of Van Gogh's paintings was only gradually recognized after his death. It's important for a novel to be in front of people at the right time and in the right way so that it can get the most bang for its buck."

"To give a more specific example, Mr. Felix must have read the novel Harry Potter, JK Rowling should be considered the most successful author in the world. It is widely believed that the novel's unique creativity earned the author great success, but there is another theory circulating in the industry. In terms of writing and creativity, there were actually better works around the time Harry Potter came out, but why was Harry Potter so successful?"

"It really comes down to a question of timing of publication and publicity. I admit that Harry Potter is an excellent enough novel, but its huge success does not exclude an element of luck, this novel appeared at the end of the twentieth century when traditional magical novels were declining, and new magical genres had not yet appeared, Harry Potter managed to mix magic and reality together, and portrayed a magical world that coexisted with the real one for people. Harry Potter successfully blended magic and reality to create a magical world that coexisted with the real world. I have to say that it came out at the right time; if it had come out a few years earlier or a few years later, it would have been very difficult for the novel to achieve what it did."

"It can be clearly seen that the third and fourth installments of the Harry Potter series are no longer as good as the initial two in terms of plot and creativity, but the sales of the novels are still on the rise. I think that Harry Potter has risen beyond the quality of the work itself to become a trend and a fad, and the publicity from the movies and the media has further reinforced the notion that people around the world think it's a worthwhile piece of work, and because of the herd mentality, those who may not have liked the novel have begun to subconsciously embrace it. "

"As far as literary value is concerned, Harry Potter is obviously not comparable to many classics, bearing in mind that its circulation even exceeds that of the Oxford Dictionary, and it is simply not possible to explain this success in terms of its own literary value, which the industry ultimately attributes to the power of publicity!"

"I have no ambition to challenge Harry Potter with this novel!" Avis lived up to his reputation as a professional, his analysis was silky smooth, and Lin Ming Yang was almost encouraged by his remarks, but fortunately he still had a relatively clear understanding of himself right now.

"But I think 'Twilight' has all the potential for this, just from the writing and creativity shown in this 'Twilight', there are enough reasons for me to believe that this will be a work that doesn't lose to 'Harry Potter'. Moreover, Twilight has a deeper thematic expression and a wider audience, and if coupled with a reasonable publicity campaign, why can't a work comparable to Harry Potter be born in the United States?"

"I'm somewhat flattered by your comment, but as you said before, the success of a novel contains too many factors behind it, like timing, which is not a factor that can be grasped by human control."

"But the timing is right in front of our eyes, the first generation of Harry Potter readers would be about your age now, and Twilight is targeting teens in your age group. 'Harry Potter' appeared at a time when traditional magical fiction was declining, while 'Twilight' is a reinterpretation of the vampire and werewolf story that has been written by many authors as uninspired with a kind of beautiful love element, and if it is further down the road, it may be a new story that comes out, and that is it will be very difficult to get the publicity that we have now! "

Avis's expectations for Twilight, far exceeded Lin Ming Yang's expectations, and even exceeded the achievements of this work in the latter days, but Avis's analysis was indeed very reasonable, since he, the butterfly, had already flapped his wings, why didn't he set off the storm a little more violently?

Lin Ming Yang was having a fierce internal thought struggle, while Ecks on the side had long been impressed by Avis's plan, and he began to frequently pass his eyes towards Lin Ming Yang, signaling him to agree to the other party.

The reason that made Ecks so excited was that Avis had put Twilight and Harry Potter, a novel that had created a sales myth in the contemporary publishing world, on an equal footing. The success of Harry Potter is clear for all to see; it made a penniless single mother into a female author worth over half a billion pounds, even richer than the Queen of England. What's more, the series has spawned a spin-off industry worth more than £7 billion, with the movie of the same name, based on the original novel, at the forefront of that.

The better the Twilight novels sell and the greater the impact they have, the higher the value of the novel's movie adaptation will be, and by then the movie rights of the novels will surely become the target of major movie studios competing for them. Himself is Lin Mingyang's agent, then Disney will compete to gain a great advantage, as long as the hand holds such an ace, Ecks' position in Disney is certainly also rising.

"Such a program arrangement for you there is no loss, the vast majority of the risk is borne by us, of course, in the publicity process, we also need a certain degree of cooperation from you." Lin Ming Yang hadn't made a clear statement yet, but his agent, Ecks, was already visibly moved, and at this point in time Avis was certainly striking while the iron was hot.

"What do I need to do?" Lin Mingyang had originally wanted to borrow the widespread influence of Twilight after its publication to raise his popularity, but the plan proposed by Avis was to utilize his current popularity among the teenage crowd to promote the novel. For the quality of Twilight itself, Lin Ming Yang was absolutely confident, but he didn't have a bottom in his heart as to what kind of results such an operation by Avis could bring.

Avis decided to make a desperate move this time, turning his career into a bargaining chip on Lin Ming Yang's body, and from the moment he learned of Lin Ming Yang's identity, a huge publicity program had been brewing in his mind. If he was able to put it all into action, he believed that he was fully capable of creating a novel that would surpass Harry Potter!