those things in the editorial department

In December, the club held an annual topic selection meeting.

For new editors, every topic selection meeting is also a training meeting, which requires a lot of observation and learning.

The president presides over the meeting himself.The opening remarks were not long, and soon it was the turn of the planning editors to report one by one.

According to the order, the editorial room went first, Liu Yangchun first reported the situation of the previous research, and then explained about the adjustment of varieties for next year, and the corresponding persons in charge of each department added a few words from time to time.However, compared with private companies, the changes of publishing houses are relatively conservative.

Then there is the second room.There are many children's book projects, and there are various types - children's literature, children's enlightenment books, story books, popular science encyclopedias, some can be torn off directly for handicrafts, and children can record daily observations on them, one of which is This "Four Seasons Silhouettes" also has three-dimensional paper-cuts when unfolded.

Children's books are always very interesting. When it was the second room's turn to give a report, the youngsters were almost all attracted by their childlike innocence.Most of the topics in the second room are also the types that have been done, and the new attempt is audio books.

Audiobooks are mainly audio enlightenment books for young children. They use the reading pen to realize "human-computer interaction", and even play games. They can stimulate children's learning experience with multiple senses, which can be regarded as a subversion of traditional children's books.This technology has been developed for several years, and it is becoming more and more popular. With the continuous improvement of technology, it will become a common type in the book market in the future.

As for listening to books and audio comics, the technology relied on is not here, it is another matter, and will not be discussed.

(Hangzhou Dongfan in the hands of Wu Chunjun specializes in comics, and Hunan Phantom in the hands of Lu Minghong also has some comics. Some of the comic books published by them have already achieved sound, and some are even preparing for animation. Animation After all, it takes much more time, manpower, and money. Relatively speaking, it is much easier to add a dubbing to the sound, which can be regarded as a tricky and transitional form.)

In fact, the second room has also made audiobooks before, but they are only responsible for content review, and the rest is handled by the partner. This time, they want to find a technical partner to do a self-planned project.

After the second room report, the president said: "Nowadays, parents are very concerned about their children's education. The content is for children to read, but adults pay for it. From the perspective of parents, you think that such books will be bought for yourself. From the perspective of children, this kind of topic selection is meaningful.”

Long Yaya said: "Kids need to be interesting, parents need to be learning, the cover design should reflect these two demands, and pay attention to the marketing words, I think both parents and children will like it."

The president nodded, "With the adjustment of the one-child policy, the future children's book market will only continue to expand and not shrink. You have also accumulated some experience. I think the topics I selected this time are not bad, so roll up your sleeves." Do it well."

By the time the two rooms in the front had finished their reports, the morning was almost over, and it was Liu Chengying's turn to be the first to play in the afternoon.

"Leaders and colleagues, good afternoon, everyone. My topic is "Looking for the Shadow of the City—A Journey in Urban Ruins." Liu Chengying moved the remote control pen towards the projection screen in his hand, and drew two red dots on the title of the book. After a pause, the page skips to the next page.

"First of all, the origin of the topic selection. This is a travel book. What's more special is that the destination of the tour is not a famous scenic spot, but a ruin. Yu Qiuyu said that the ruins are the messengers sent from yesterday to today. The ruins let us read geography. It has become history. Ruin tourism is also a form of tourism that has emerged in recent years, especially popular with young people, forming a tourist group. Some people abroad have published books specifically for this purpose. There are still relatively few domestic ones. If you do well, you can consider doing it later. It is a series based on cities. The current one is a test of the waters.

"As material life gets better and better, travel has become one of many people's annual plans, and the connotation of travel is also changing. Travel has gradually become a part of people's daily life, rather than being separated from life. People want to get The tourism experience is no longer the same as in the past. People want to experience the culture and lifestyle of the locals when they go to a famous place to see new things and take a few photos. The concept of global tourism has gradually been accepted by the industry, and even appeared In the document released by central.

"Selling books, one sells knowledge, and the other sells stories. Telling stories through travel is a major direction of travel literature. Now that the Internet is so developed, almost any information can be found, and there is no market for traditional travel guide books. Travel stories with the theme of ruins may open up a world. The key is to meet the right author.

"Actually, what I planned to do at the beginning was not this theme. I was looking for Minister A, Mr. Luo, but he was too busy. In the process of communicating with his son and daughter-in-law, I found that this young couple is very thoughtful and has a lot of experience. , worth doing, and finally became such a topic.”

Hearing this, Lu Minghong smiled a little, with an expression of getting a new skill, so it can still be like this.

"The authors are Mr. Luo's son Luo Zhaohua and his daughter-in-law Ding Minjun." A group photo and profile of the two were released on the PPT. "Luo Zhaohua, graduated from Tsinghua University, now works as a software designer in a company, 29 years old. Ding Minjun, graduated from North China Normal University, now works as a trainer in an advertising company, 27 years old. The two got married the year before last and have no children at present. They go everywhere together every year. Traveling. Interestingly, Luo's parents are from Shandong and Shaanxi, and Ding's parents are from Guangdong and Anhui. The young couple has four provinces in them, so they can be regarded as a small mixed race.

"They have been to many places, and sometimes they will shoot some videos and post them on the Internet. They have uploaded Douyin before, and even broadcast live broadcasts. The young people are more able to play tricks, and they can be counted on Moments and Douban. Some fans. Mr. Luo said that if he really makes a book, he can write a recommendation on the back cover, or he can help invite some people to write it.” Naturally, the invited ones are all well-known in the industry.

Wu Chunjun sighed from the bottom of his heart: the winners in life are with the winners in life, as expected, there is nothing wrong with them in the world.However, there are many winners in life among the authors. Although the threshold for publishing a book is very low now, it is enough to be abused.

The PPT skipped to the next page, and Liu Chengying continued: "Analysis of competing products in the market. I have searched online bookstores such as Dangdang, Amazon, and JD. There are not many similar books, but these are the main ones." Page screenshots and corresponding analysis. “The areas covered by these books are different, and the angles of description are also different. Some are partial to records, some are too simple, the language is not flexible, there are not many illustrations, and the market evaluation is mediocre. Overcome it in the new book. Since you want to tell a story, you must either tell the story interestingly or tell the story with depth."

Lu Minghong raised his eyebrows and wrote it down.

"Analysis of characteristics and selling points. The first point is to fill the gap in the market. The second point is to echo the theme of 'China's current pain-the disappearance of nostalgia'. Although ruin tourism has a certain mass base, it is still a minority after all. If you go to the market, the resonance is still too low. However, based on the thinking of the ruins, the reflection on the process of human development, telling the story of the city from a different angle, and entering the history of the city from a different entrance, it is still from the perspective of young people. Some feelings and opinions on new things are different, even people who are not interested in ruins can get their own experience from the lines, so the resonance will be higher."

Lu Minghong's eyes lit up, the price is too high.

"I plan to write 20 chapters for the first book, and I have already written seven or eight chapters," the PPT continued to jump. "This is a sample chapter that has been written so far. The text still needs to be tempered, and the illustrations need to be selected. The preliminary plan is to write in one month. Chapters 3 to 4 will be finished in April next year, and completed in June and July.

"In terms of marketing, we can process the videos they took before and put them in the online store for publicity, or we can choose some of the photos taken before to form a series and make a small exhibition. After the book comes out, we can also go to the bookstore for activities, Signing and live broadcasting at the same time, you can also invite other travel experts or industry celebrities to interact, and the author will also advertise in his circle of friends and Weibo, and then promote it on multiple platforms at the same time to stir up the topic.”

At the last page of the PPT, "Thank you for watching", Liu Chengying said to everyone: "The above is the situation of my first topic selection."

They chattered for a while, and then began to express their opinions one by one.

"Based on the thinking of the ruins, this is good. The title of the book is quite satisfactory, and it does not reflect the point of thinking."

"From the perspective of the author's academic qualifications, it's not bad. Have you published any other books before?"

"No, this is the first time to publish a book, and I have written travel notes before."

"Since it's a travel book, you can consider adding a postcard as a book."

"I don't think postcards are necessary, it doesn't fit."

"Illustrations are well framed, otherwise they won't work."

……

Seeing that everyone was talking about the same, the president began to speak: "Substitution and interactivity are the future trends, not only in tourism, but also in many aspects. This topic is good, it has marketing value, and it is also operable. During the production process We must always pay attention to the core of topic selection, coordinate text positioning, form positioning, and binding positioning. Spend more effort to make a good book and strive to build a brand for the society."

"Understood." Liu Chengying nodded.

"How about the cost?"

"The author can pay [-] to [-] yuan."

The president pondered for a while, and then said: "Since the author has a certain mass base, you can communicate with the author and let them crowdfund."

Wu Chunjun was stunned for a moment. He had heard of crowdfunding to cure diseases and crowdfunding to open stores, but never heard of crowdfunding to publish books.Looking at Brother Liu, he had a calm and calm face.

"To judge whether a topic has the value of brand discovery, one depends on the topic itself, and the second depends on the author. In the publishing industry, author resources can be said to be the most important resource. Authors with stories are even better authors and can become marketing leaders. Motivation. For example, JK Rowling, the author of "Harry Potter", a single mother who has a difficult life insists on writing and finally succeeds. Such an inspirational story itself is an excellent marketing material and a stimulant that can mobilize readers' interest .Old Liu, you are an old editor in the agency, tell me how you found the author this time, and let them learn from it."

Liu Chengying nodded and said: "At the beginning I planned to do another topic. I found some books on related topics, selected the most suitable style and content from them, and then searched for the author on the Internet. It happened that I could find the author's information on Baidu. He is well-known in the industry and has published several books. There is no more detailed information on the Internet, so I called the publishing unit of the book and found the responsible editor to communicate. Because someone I know also I worked in that publishing house, so I asked him for help, and finally succeeded in getting the author's contact information.

"I made an appointment to go to the other party's house, but Minister Luo himself is very busy, and he is not very interested in publishing another book. At that time, his son and daughter-in-law were also there, so I chatted with them and found out that the relationship between the two of them The travel experience is also very rich, and the feelings of travel can also reflect the values ​​​​of young people, so I invited them to write books.

"Minister Luo, although he doesn't publish a book himself, still supports his children's book publishing. The young couple are very excited to publish a book for the first time. Later, I asked them to talk with them several times, and finalized the core content of writing. and form.

"Although newcomers do not have enough fame, they have a solid foundation. Compared with 'experienced' authors, newcomers are always more able to respect the professionalism and authority of editors, and they will take everything you tell them into consideration. , there will be little prejudice."

Seeing that Liu Chengying finished speaking, the president added: "The ability to select topics and plan and tap high-quality author resources is the core ability of an editor. You should visit more websites, such as forums, Douban, Zhihu, Tianya, Mafengwo, and get to know more Interesting people, when you see experts in certain fields, go hook up. You can’t find good authors sitting in an office. We didn’t have the Internet before, and we had to go to bookstores to flip through copyright pages, copy authors, and copy editors. Contact number, how convenient it is for you now, make good use of it.”

"When planning a work, you must have IP thinking, and make word-of-mouth. It becomes a phenomenon and becomes the brand of our agency. When people mention this book, they think of our Suicheng Club, and when they think of Suicheng Club, they think of the quality of our agency. Just like the Commercial Press, Zhonghua Bookstore, and Sanlian Bookstore.” Turning to Wu Chunjun and Lu Minghong as he spoke, “Your fourth room occasionally asks questions.”

Lu Minghong agreed, and Wu Chunjun silently looked down at the tip of his shoe.

Liu Chengying went on to talk about two selected topics, then Cheng Xifeng reported a theme publication, Meihua talked about a set of collaborative books, the content was not bad, and planned to talk to the other party, and change this version of the book to be published in the club.

The Fourth Room has never chosen a topic, but only reported the cooperation situation this year and estimated the next year.Although the book number in the second half of the year has decreased a little, the workload has not decreased.Some partners took advantage of the opportunity to form a series of multiple books and changed them into a set of books. The combined price is too high. The key is that they did not intend to go to the market in the first place, and they were not afraid of affecting sales.Next year, we still need to select a good topic. It is best to reduce some topics. Even if there is pressure on revenue, the strategy of "small profits but quick turnover" should not continue for a long time. It is short-sighted to turn editors into cheap labor.

We had a meeting all day, and when the meeting ended, everyone was a little dizzy, so we cleaned up and went out to have a meal at night.

The annual topic selection meeting is over, will the end of the year (award? I hope there is) be far behind?

Of course, before that there is an annual must-have task...

The author has something to say:

The scene in this chapter simulates a certain rot's personal experience, which is just a common example~ Speaking of which, children's books are really overflowing now, because they are popular, and there are no access restrictions. PS, a certain rot really doesn’t know how to hook up with the author, hey~~~