At the beginning of each month, whether it is a small bookstall on the street, a newsstand, a Xinhua bookstore or a private bookstore, there will be a large wave of people.

This is because most magazines will be published on this day, and in the 80s, when books were still scarce, magazines were such inexpensive books that attracted the vast majority of readers to buy them.

On March 1, 1985, such a lively scene was even more prominent.

In the past Spring Festival, every Chinese was so immersed in visiting relatives and friends, playing games, and having no leisure time to read.

With the end of the Spring Festival and the beginning of work, reading a magazine has become a means for many people to pass the time.

And during the Spring Festival, whether it is adults, young people or children, they are all full of pockets, and there are a lot of change to squander, so a few cents of magazines have become a hot commodity.

Beidao is now standing in the Xinhua bookstore, the largest bookstore in Shanghai, standing dumbly not far from the shelves where magazines are placed in the bookstore lobby.

Around him, there was a constant stream of people.

Children, middle-aged people, women, old people, young people, passed by him one by one, occasionally touching Kitajima's shoulder, making him stumble, leaving a sentence of "sorry", but Kitajima did not react at all, his eyes stared blankly at the bookshelf diagonally opposite him, allowing the flow of people to be turbulent.

At the bottom of the bookshelf opposite him, the "Tongpao" magazine was pitifully pressed by other magazines so that only half of the corner was exposed, and only half of the body of the soldier's photo on the cover could be seen and the big word "Tong" could be seen.

Today is also the day when the inaugural issue of "Tongpao" magazine was launched, and as the editor-in-chief of this magazine and the editor of this magazine, Bei Dao went to Xinhua Bookstore early in the morning to check the "enemy situation".

Seeing the results made Kitajima extremely frustrated.

Not to mention that the staff of the bookstore placed "Tongpao" in the most remote corner, and even the readers who came to buy the magazine turned a blind eye to "Tongpao".

Some people saw the photo of the iron-blooded soldier on the cover of "Comrade", and either hesitated or their eyes lit up and picked up the magazine and flipped through it, but when they saw the catalog and saw that the content of the magazine was neither a pure literary magazine nor a popular magazine, they all shook their heads and put it back on the shelf.

Only a very small number of people noticed that this magazine featured Gowen's novels, and after selecting other magazines, they would take out a copy and take it away.

In front of the shelves of magazines, wave after wave of readers came, but the purchase volume of "Tongpao" was frighteningly low.

It wasn't until noon that Kitajima left the bookstore in despair.

When Govin saw Kitajima's appearance, he was really shocked.

Kitajima's appearance is almost the same as the look he had when he muttered that he couldn't survive in the courtyard.

When he learned the reason for the incident from Kitajima, Govin couldn't help but laugh.

Bei Dao, who had been laughing, turned from loss to anger, and Govin patted Bei Dao's shoulder and said, "I'll just ask you a question - how many copies of the "Today" poetry magazine you sold when you walked the streets and alleys? ”

"On average, about 1,000 copies of Today are printed in each issue, what's wrong?" Kitajima said with a snort.

"That's right, with your fame in the Beijing poetry circle, you only sold a thousand copies when you went to sell it in person, and now "Tongpao" doesn't have any readership at all, and it is for others to buy, how can it sell so many at once! According to me, being able to sell a dozen copies in one morning is already good. Don't compare it with "Harvest", "Reader", and "Story Club", it took many years for people to accumulate a large number of readers! ”

"But there's your new novel on it! With your fame, "Fellow" should not be treated like this! "The North Island is still a little unwilling.

"Yes, "Fellow Robes" is my novel, but do you know?" Govin asked rhetorically, "Besides, you don't look at what is published in the magazine "Tongpao", such as entrepreneurial stories, handbooks for getting rich, policy interpretations, and foundation announcements...... How many people do you think would buy this magazine for my novels? ”

"Uh......" Kitajima was speechless.

"You're too urgent, how can you become fat in one bite!" Govyn shook his head.

"Don't you be in a hurry, if these 70,000 magazines can't be sold, they won't all be returned in the end. No matter how much you pay for your manuscript, how much can you have? The cost of a magazine is 70,000 or 80,000 yuan, and if the magazine does not return to its original value, it is a bottomless pit, how much can you cushion? How long can it last? It's okay to take half a year and a year, can you cushion it for ten or twenty years? ”

"Also, now there are four people in the magazine, according to your idea, you have to increase the number of editors, planners, photographers, advertising personnel, ......, these people are all salary, and they will not give us work in vain, if the magazine can't take care of its own profits and losses as soon as possible, I am worried that the magazine will close down in a few years!"

Kitajima inserted his hands into his thick hair, rubbing them desperately, looking crazy and struggling.

"Uh...... What you say is true. Being analyzed by Beidao, Govin was really worried.

A few years ago, the magazine made use of the postal system through its relationship and sent its inaugural issue to major Xinhua bookstores across the country for consignment sales.

But if the magazine really can't be sold, it is impossible for Xinhua Bookstore to pay for it out of its own pocket, and the magazine that no one buys is a pile of waste paper to put it bluntly, and people may be disgusted with hard paper when they wipe their butts. In the end, these unsalable magazines will inevitably return to the magazine.

Just like Kitajima said, a few issues of the magazine Govin can still afford it, but if the magazine has not been profitable, I am afraid that the situation that Kitajima is worried about will really appear, and the "Tongpao" magazine may really go out of business, not to mention, the magazine will have to pay the foundation an affiliation fee in the future.

It seems that we have to think of ways to increase the sales of "Fellow Robes"!

Govin touched his chin and thought secretly.

Don't look at the current Chinese people are crazy about books, but that is also a situation.

Since the end of the buzz, China has begun to emancipate its minds, the dry minds of young people are waiting for milk, and an entire generation has suffered from reading hunger. And in this era, people don't seem to have anything else to do except reading, so a generation began to grasp what to read, swallowing dates, and not seeking much understanding.

This situation has naturally become a golden age for China's publishing industry, and all publishing units across the country are desperately printing all kinds of books.

At the beginning, it was naturally open to print, and it was not worried about selling anyway. However, with the passage of time, although these publications still cannot meet the growing needs of readers, they have also suppressed readers' desire for books to a certain extent, and readers have a choice, and they can choose their favorite books.

Just like the "Towards the Future Series" published by the People's Publishing House, it was very popular when it was first released, and it is not an exaggeration to describe it as expensive Luoyang paper. But now the sales of this series have also flattened.

One might ask why is that?

Well, just list some of the book series that publishers follow suit, and you can get a glimpse of the leopard.

Shanghai Translation Publishing House: Contemporary Academic Thought Translation Series, Twentieth Century Western Philosophy Translation Series; Shanghai People's Publishing House: Western Academic Library; The Commercial Press: Chinese Translation of World Academic Classics Series; Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press: Translation Series on the History of American Literature; Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House: "Literature and Art Exploration Book Series". Even Fudan University Press, which originally published Gowen's "Soldier Assault", followed suit and published the "Foreign Literary Theory Series".

These are just some series of books issued by some publishing houses in Shanghai, and looking at the whole country, it is conceivable how many kinds of books have been issued or are preparing to be released at this time.

In this case, readers will be selective even for their own wallets, rather than buying them all at home. After all, the landlord's money is not blown by the wind.

This is true for books, and it is also true for magazines.

To be honest, "Fellow Pao" entered the market at this time, and it did not catch up with the good times, and the climactic reading frenzy of previous years has begun to cool down.

In recent years, there have been many new magazines, but not many have been really successful, and readers are more inclined to buy those with appeal and reputation than new magazines. So a purely literary magazine like Harvest and a popular magazine like Story Club can have a staggering million copies. These magazines have all been passed on by word of mouth for many years, and have silently accumulated countless fans.

And how do the new and successful magazines succeed?

Let's use Wenhui Monthly, a pure literary magazine in Shanghai, to make a simple explanation.

Founded in 1980, Wenhui Monthly is a large-scale literary and artistic comprehensive magazine.

First of all, this publication was born at the right time, when China came out of the quagmire of ten years of cultural desolation.

In addition, if you look at the huge group of authors in the catalog of "Wenhui Monthly", you will definitely be stunned - Ba Jin, Ye Shengtao, Xia Yan, Bingxin, Ding Ling, Qian Zhongshu, Ai Qing, Ke Ling, Huang Yongyu, Wang Yuanhua, Huang Coal, Yang Hansheng, Bai Yang, Qin Yi, Xie Jin, So Zhi, Zang Kejia, Feng Yidai, Huang Miaozi, Yu Feng, Huang Zongying, Feng Mu, Bai Hua, Wang Meng......

Were you scared?

With such authors, one can imagine the quality of the articles published in Wenhui Monthly, and the orientation of other magazines is very clear, that is, the content of literature and art -- reportage, novels, biographies, essays, book reviews, and even music, art, Chinese and foreign screens, and so on.

Is this comparable to "Fellow Robes"?

Whether it is the influence of the author or the direction of the content, it is simply not on the same level!

If we want "Tongpao" to sell well and make a profit as soon as possible, we must have new sales ideas and methods, otherwise we can only change the direction of "Tongpao".

Naturally, we will not get the consent of the Press and Publication Bureau to change the founding policy of "Tongpao".

Then you can only make crooked moves!

(To be continued.) )