I am a literary giant in Europe

Chapter 628 Harvest Season (Third update already, please vote!)

"Amos, when are you leaving?"

During the meal, Mela suddenly asked a question.

Liu Jin took a sip of the Dom Pérignon P3 extra dry champagne, which was specially recommended by the restaurant, wiped his mouth, and said, "My flight is early the day after tomorrow. Is something wrong?"

"Nothing for now."

Mela seemed to suddenly remember something funny and burst out laughing.

"why are you laughing?"

"It's nothing, it's just that I think... you'll have to come back again in about twenty days."

"why?"

Liu Jin's eyes widened.

Twenty days later, fly back to France from America?

Am I crazy?!

Sandrine seemed to understand, and her mouth dropped open.

“Mera, you mean…”

"Um!"

Mela nodded.

Jiang Wen asked, "What kind of riddle are you playing?"

Sandrine rolled her eyes at Jiang Wen. "You foreigner, you absolutely refuse to learn French, but when you speak Chinese, does Mela even understand you?"

"Forehead……"

The fairy couldn't help but giggle.

Mr. An's eyes flashed, and he realized what was going on.

"Mera, did you receive the notification?"

"There's no official confirmation yet, but Mr. Arno Largado did give me some hints."

"So that's for sure?"

Mr. An smiled and looked at Liu Jin, saying, "Brother, congratulations!"

"Papa, don't call him 'little brother,' it makes him a generation older than me for no reason!"

"I'm a generation older than you, after all."

Mr. An said helplessly.

"No, what are you talking about?"

Sandrine laughed and said, "Amos, it'll be November in twenty days. Think about it again?"

What's wrong with November?
Liu Jin looked at everyone with some confusion.

"Forehead!"

Leslie Cheung clapped his hands, looking as if he had just realized something.

Jiang Wen hurriedly asked, "Old Zhang, what's going on? These people are talking in French, are they taking advantage of me because I can't understand them?"

"I do not know either."

"Then what are you 'u'ing about!"

Jiang Wen said angrily.

Leslie Cheung replied with a grin, "Just to fit the mood. If I didn't say 'oh,' it would seem like I'm so ignorant."

"You Hong Konger, just meddling in the fun."

Leslie Cheung wasn't annoyed; he just laughed heartily.

March?
Liu Jin finally realized what was happening.

"Gongul?"

November is the month when France's major literary prizes are announced.

Except for the French Academy Prize for Literature and the Katz Prize for Literature, which are not announced in November, the other major awards are almost all announced in November.

The most famous and influential of them all is the Goncourt Prize!
Liu Jin had been longing for the Goncourt Prize for three years.

Mela smiled and nodded.

Everyone present, except for Jiang Taro who was engrossed in eating yogurt, spontaneously applauded Liu Jin.

"Amos, congratulations!"

"Lao Liu, congratulations."

Liu Jin chuckled to himself.

"That would definitely be worth coming back again."

“I heard from Mr. Arnold that there may be more than just the Goncourt Prize.”

"Forehead?"

"Although the Goncourt Prize has a great influence, it is ultimately a private award."

There is also a 12-member committee award.

"The French Academy of Fiction Prize?"

"Ok!"

Méla smiled and said, "This is France's official core award. It may not be as famous or influential as the Goncourt Prize, but in terms of honor, it is more prestigious. Moreover, only writers who have won the French Academy's Prize for Fiction have the potential to win the French Academy's Prize for Literature and the National Prize for Literature in the future."

What's the difference between these two awards?

The French Academy's Prize for Literature and the Grand Prix des Libre are individual awards.

The French Academy's Prize for Fiction is a literary award... If you haven't won the prize for fiction, you're not eligible for the other two. If Liu wins the prize for fiction this time, it means he's secured his place in both major literary awards.

Jiang Wen couldn't help but ask, "Are these two awards very prestigious?"

Sandrine rolled her eyes at him and said, "The winners of the Grand Prix des Literati are basically masters like Romain Rolland, Montaigne, and Yourcenaean. Milan Kundera is very famous, right? He still hasn't won either of these literary awards. Let's put it this way, both are individual awards, one is an academic award, and the other is a government award." "You mean, this kid won some novel prize and can be compared to Milan Kundera?"

"It might not be possible right now; let's see in ten years."

Jiang Wen shut his mouth.

……

After dinner, everyone went home.

Jiang Wen followed Sandrine away.

Although the two are divorced, he is still Taro's father.

Although Sandrine harbored some resentment towards him, she wouldn't let him go out and stay in a hotel.

Anyway, Sandrine's house is quite large, located in a wealthy area of ​​Paris, a big house with five bedrooms and three bathrooms, enough for Jiang Wen to have a place to stay.

As for whether it's a case of lingering attachment after a break?
Liu Jin wasn't quite sure!
This is France; anything can happen here.

He, Jiang, wasn't the kind of hero who could remain unmoved by a woman's advances, so...

Watching Lao Jiang get into Sandrine's car, Liu Jin chuckled and casually took two low-resolution photos with his phone.

Next year, filming for "The Bélier Family" will begin. Let's see if this guy still dares to cause trouble.

Leslie Cheung only arrived in Paris today, so Lau Chun simply booked another room for him at the Athena Hotel.

He has to rush back to Switzerland early tomorrow morning.

Mr. An then brought Tianxian to the hotel.

Everyone chatted for a while on the terrace of Liu Jin's guest room.

Anita Mui's health did not improve, but it did not worsen either; it seemed to have stabilized.

However, the effects still need to be observed.

At least Lao Zhang thinks that the fact that things haven't gotten worse is a good thing.

"She's all alone over there, is she alright?"

“Maggie came from China last week and is staying with her there.”

"That's good!"

"How's Sisi? How's her studies?"

"Hmph, don't underestimate me. My teacher said I'm very intelligent."

"You? A spiritual being?"

The celestial being blushed with anger and stomped her foot, saying, "What, is that not allowed?"

"Ok, Ok!"

Liu Jin's perfunctory attitude caused Tianxian to explode again.

If her father hadn't been sitting next to her, he might have already rushed over and fought Liu Jin to the death!

How are the sales of Les Misérables?

Meira said, "It's been very stable. There wasn't the explosive growth like 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame,' which sold 746 million copies in 48 hours, but it's been very steady. From August until now, it has held the top spot on the bestseller list for eight consecutive weeks."

Weekly sales have been steadily increasing, with last week's sales exceeding one million copies. So far, total sales over eight weeks have reached 3.2 million sets… Hachette's distribution channels and operations are truly impressive. I spoke with Mr. Arno, and he believes that, given the current situation, this sales trend will continue until the end of the year, after which it will gradually decline.

By the end of the year, sales will most likely exceed 13 million units.

Future sales will likely remain stable... just like Stendhal's *The Red and the Black*, which still sells between 800,000 and 1.2 million copies annually in France. Your book is following that trend.”

Liu Tianxian exclaimed in surprise, "Doesn't that mean Amos can live off this set of books for the rest of his life?"

"That's pretty much it."

A look of envy appeared on the celestial being's face.

"Amos, teach me how to write a book!"

Liu Jin rolled his eyes at her.

The reason it's called a set instead of the book is because Les Misérables is divided into two parts, and a single set costs 39.9 euros.

A set of books costs forty euros; achieving this sales level is already quite remarkable.

If we calculate by the number of copies, that's 6.4 million... In France, a country with only 60 million people, that's roughly one in twenty people buying a copy of "Les Misérables," which is quite astonishing.

Liu Jin had anticipated the situation Arno described.

Notre Dame de Paris had previously experienced explosive sales growth, but it quickly returned to normal.

It has been three years since Notre Dame de Paris was published.

This year, nearly two million copies were still sold in the French-speaking region... while global sales have accumulated to forty million copies.

The success of Les Misérables may surpass that of Notre Dame Cathedral.

"I plan to sell the French publishing rights to Notre Dame de Paris to Hachette so they can make a hardcover edition."

"Arnold agrees?"

"What could he possibly disagree with? No matter how many copies they sell, they have to give me a share."

Moreover, Hachette Publishing Group's distribution channels are indeed much stronger than Singer's.

Liu Jin naturally had no objections.

Giving Notre Dame to Hachette was a win-win-win situation for Liu Jin, Singer, and the Hachette Group.

Anyway, his income won't decrease.

"why are you laughing?"

Chloe asked.

Liu Jin scratched his head and laughed, "I just think this is truly a wonderful harvest season!"

Mela wholeheartedly agrees!
……

(End of this chapter)