I am a literary giant in Europe

Chapter 645 King's Interview

Over the next two days, Liu Jin visited several publishing houses.

During a visit to Random House, Nancy Miller asked him what he had been busy with lately.
He casually remarked, "Didn't Jeffrey say I couldn't write a novel about America? He's been busy with this project lately, hasn't he?"

Sen Quluo's eyes lit up.

"What kind of subject matter is it?"

"Yes, a love story set during the Civil War."

I stumbled upon some information in the library, and that's where the idea came from.

"That's very good."

Senqu Luo seemed a little disappointed.

She would prefer Liu Jin to write a work similar to "Les Misérables".

Previously, due to a conflict with Liu Jin, Random House missed out on Les Misérables, which made Sen Qulu feel very disappointed.

As an editor, my greatest hope is to take on a work that will go down in history.

Les Misérables is undoubtedly of this type, but unfortunately it didn't end up in her hands.

However, she also knew.

A work like Les Misérables isn't something you can just write on a whim.

I guess he was angered by Jeffrey Eugenides, so he wrote a novel about America out of spite.

Romance theme?

Sengoku instinctively ignored the words 'Civil War'.

In her opinion, it's probably a romance novel disguised as a story about the Civil War, with the focus on 'love' rather than the Civil War itself.

Had Liu Jin written any romance novels before?

I've written it!

Childhood sweethearts, Fifty First Loves, Time Traveler.

He's quite good at writing about love, but of these three books, "Childhood Sweethearts" probably had the worst sales.

Sales in the North American market have reached 1.8 million copies to date.

A truly outstanding result!

The other two books also sold over two million copies.

For a writer, this is already an outstanding achievement.

But for an author like Liu Jin, whose sales often soar to tens of millions, his romance novels seem quite ordinary.

Of course, Sen Quluo also knew that her demands were a bit too high!
But what can you do when he's Amos?
"How much have you written?"

"I've already finished writing the opening chapter, which is about tens of thousands of words long."

The opening chapter is already tens of thousands of words long?

Nancy Miller's intuition was a bit sharper than Sengoku's, and she smiled and tentatively asked, "It sounds like a big book."

"Hmm, it's probably around 800,000 words."

"Eight hundred thousand words?"

Nancy Miller said, "Longer than Les Misérables?"

"Yes, my hand is sore from writing."

The atmosphere in the school library was nice, and my writing went relatively smoothly. If it weren't for Diddy's situation, I might still be writing in the library right now. I don't like New York; there's too much distraction, and it affects my concentration.

Nancy Miller and Sengoku couldn't help but burst into laughter.

However, while laughing, the two exchanged a glance.

Nancy astutely noticed a key point: Liu Jin was using handwriting.

There's a saying among writers.

Amos usually uses a computer for commercial writing or general creative work; however, when he is particularly focused on a work, he will create it by hand. Examples include *The Hunchback of Notre Dame* and *Les Misérables*.

It is said that a wealthy Frenchman is willing to pay 80 euros for a handwritten copy of "The Hunchback of Notre Dame".

But Liu Jin refused!

Yes, this is indeed true.

It's that guy, Henry Pinault...

"Can we get a sneak peek?"

"what?"

Liu Jin was taken aback, then laughed and said, "The manuscript is at home."

"It's okay, I don't have anything to do anyway, I'll just go back with you in a bit."

I'm really curious about your book, which is supposed to be going head-to-head with Jeffrey's.

Liu Jin smiled and didn't seem to care.

"of course can!"

Nancy Miller smiled and secretly glanced at Sengoku.

Sengoku Luo may not have much business sense, but he is an exceptionally good editor with extraordinary judgment of the works.

Nancy Miller trusted this completely.

Sen Quluo understood what she meant and nodded.

"By the way, I spoke with Mr. Salzburg of the New York Times. Judith just got out of prison, so he gave her the draft. But don't worry, Judith is the best reporter at the New York Times."

Moreover, she was a female journalist and a feminist.

She was very interested in Ms. Bellucci's plight and even contacted other actresses from Europe...

I believe we'll have results soon.

Meanwhile, Sen Quluo whispered to Liu Jin about Judith's background.

She's one of the New York Times' top female reporters, and her writing is exceptionally powerful.

In 05, Judith was sued by the subject of a highly sensitive report she published.

The court required Judith to provide the source of the information.

But Judith vehemently opposed the allegations and refused to reveal her source. Ultimately, the court found her guilty of spreading false information and sentenced her to eight months in prison.

Judith filed an appeal from prison.

However, the court rejected the appeal and added four months to the sentence.

"Ms. Judith is a journalist with a strong sense of justice and a deep concern for women's rights."

Although she served a year in prison, Mr. Salzburg still valued her highly and invited her back to The New York Times after her release.

The Salzburg mentioned by Nancy and Sengoku is Arthur Oates Salzburg Jr., the son of the founder of The New York Times. He took over The New York Times in 1992. However, due to an excessive pursuit of profits and an overemphasis on populism in The New York Times, along with the forced creation of sensational news, he lost public trust at one point.

Fortunately, he later poached highly capable individuals like Jason Blair and Judith Miller to join The New York Times, which gradually turned the situation around.

"It would be best to ask her to hurry up; Diddy's pursuit has been quite intense lately."

Liu Jin smiled.

Diddy did indeed launch a full-scale smear campaign.

That's impressive! However, Liu Jin has very little dirt on him.

In short, he's a womanizer, petty, and has a short temper, making him prone to conflicts with others.

Left with no other option, Diddy had to use the fact that "Amos has never had a Black girlfriend" as evidence that Liu Jin discriminated against Black people.

When Eva saw this report, she laughed so hard she almost fell over.

"Amos, looks like you'll have to find a black woman!"

……

Clearly, Nancy and Sengoku had also read this report.

The two of them laughed simultaneously!
To be honest, this kind of report at most reinforces Liu Jin's image as a "romantic and talented man," but it has no real impact on Liu Jin.

Didn't you have a Black girlfriend?

What kind of crime is this?!

The most ridiculous thing is that Beyoncé, who came from Destiny's Child, also complained in an interview that Liu Jin had attended many people's concerts.

Shakira, Alizee, Celine Dion, Britney Spears...

He even went to a Madonna concert.

However, he never attended her concert...

This further reinforces the evidence that Liu Jin discriminates against Black people.

……

"In the next few days!"

Nancy Miller laughed.

"Don't worry, Judith is the lead writer, it will definitely be fantastic."

Liu Jin nodded and then started talking about other things.

That day, Senqu Luo and he arrived at 76 Parry Street.

The renovation of No. 78 was still underway. Liu Jin first checked the progress, and then went to the living room with Sen Qu Luo.

He took the completed manuscript from his study.

Sen Quluo's eyes lit up, and he joked, "Your habit is really special. Nowadays, apart from some elderly people, very few people are willing to write by hand."

“Works with a sense of historical depth feel better when handwritten.”

Sen Qulu remained noncommittal.

She was reading the manuscript, while Liu Jin picked up the newspaper he had bought on the way.

Diddy put in a lot of effort and mobilized a large group of people to attack Liu Jin.

Not only in the rap scene, but also in the sports world, people have jumped into the fray.

Liu Jin even saw King's name.

King: Everyone knows that Diddy is one of the best people in the world.

He is very sincere and kind to his friends, and everyone likes Diddy. I don't understand why anyone would refuse to be friends with him.

Reporter: You mean Amos?
King: No, of course not. I know Mr. Amos, a great writer.

But I don't know him personally, and I don't know much about him... Hahaha, all I know is that he's probably the writer with the most scandals in the world.

Reporter: So what do you think about Amos refusing to cooperate with Will?
King: Will is one of the best actors in the world, and I believe Mr. Amos would not refuse to work with Will.

Reporter: Some people say that Amos is a racist.

King: I'm sorry, I don't know about this, so I can't answer.

Just as Liu Jin remembered, King had a high level of emotional intelligence.

His answer was watertight.

There wasn't a single criticism of Liu Jin, yet every sentence seemed to point out Liu Jin's faults.

Diddy is such a good person, why don't you become friends with him? Therefore, you must be a bad person...

Will is such a good actor, why don't you want to work with him?

Then you are most likely engaging in racial discrimination.

But would you say he criticized Liu Jin?
Not a single word in the entire interview spoke ill of Liu Jin.

After reading it, Liu Jin couldn't help but burst into laughter.

As expected of you, my LeBron!

Laughter interrupted Sen Quluo's reading.

She looked up at Liu Jin, her expression somewhat agitated.

"Amos, please make sure to deliver this book to Random House."

"what?"

"Although it's just the beginning, I can already feel it..."

“Senquluo, you’d better talk to Nancy first. As you can see, this is just the beginning, you can wait a bit.”

"No, there's no need to wait!"

Senqu Luo laughed and said, "I believe in your abilities, Amos, and the name Amos alone is enough to make me place a bet."

Previously, Charlie spent $800,000 to purchase priority rights to "The Big Short".

Random House is also an option; I can assure you, it won't be cheaper than The Scholars Group.

"The sales of the big short sellers seem to be quite average."

Moreover, many people said I wasn't a professional and didn't have high hopes for my book… Charlie said that book only sold 130,000 copies.”

"It hasn't been that long... Besides, the reading threshold for The Big Short is inherently high."

I've read that book, and I thought it was great. I believe that over time, more and more people will come to appreciate it…

Liu Jin didn't know whether she was being sincere or just flattering him.

Just as I was about to answer, the phone rang suddenly.

"Amos, we've arrived in New York. Come pick us up."

"what?"

It was Mela calling.

Chloe's voice came through the phone: Come pick us up, it's so cold!

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming?"

"Chloe said she wanted to give you a surprise."

"Surprise or shock? Okay, I'll leave now, you guys wait at the airport."

He hung up the phone and was about to speak with Sen Quluo.

Sen Qu Luo said, "Then it's settled. I need to go back and explain the situation to Nancy."

"Go ahead and do your work, I'll just take a taxi home myself."

……

(End of this chapter)