Urgent! Ask your predecessors about copyright!

1979, Sichuan Association for Science and Technology founded a popular science magazine named Science Literature and Art, which is the predecessor of today's Science Fiction World magazine.

We must pay attention to the words "Sichuan Association for Science and Technology", otherwise we can't understand the real status of the science fiction world. In recent years, this magazine has gained the authority of "National Science Fiction Magazine" in the hearts of science fiction lovers. On one occasion, Science Fiction King magazine invited local sci-fi fans in Taiyuan to have a discussion. Those invited sci-fi fans whispered privately: Will "Headquarters" be angry when it knows? Liu Xianghui, from Henan Province, paid for "Sketch of Science Fiction" from his own pocket. A reader wrote and asked: Has this magazine been approved by Science Fiction World? Even some knowledgeable people who know the management system of China press and publication don't know the truth. The year before last, the author participated in the science fiction seminar of China Institute of Popular Science. At the forum, an editor from China Film Publishing House asked: Why did China Association for Science and Technology put such a "national" science fiction magazine in Sichuan?

In addition, we should know that under the planning system of China, every province should run a popular science publication, such as Shanghai Science Pictorial and Hainan Great Science and Technology. If you can't find popular science publications in your province, it's basically because its circulation is too small. Science Literature and Art was originally a provincial-level popular science publication under Sichuan Province.

At that time, science fiction and popular science were inseparable. Even the national organization of science fiction writers in China is called "China Association of Popular Science Writers", and it continues to this day. At that time, science and literature were full of popular science articles, biographies of scientists and, of course, a lot of science fiction. At that time, many popular science publications and even pure literature publications were publishing science fiction. "Science and literature" is just more concentrated. At that time, the publications with the same style were Science Fiction Ocean in Beijing, Wisdom Tree in Tianjin, Science Times and Science Fiction Newspaper in Heilongjiang, which were called "four issues and one newspaper" of China science fiction.

At that time, science and literature easily reached the circulation of 200,000 copies. So are several other science fiction newspapers. But soon, political and market pressures went hand in hand, and others could not resist and lost. The last one to go out of business was "Tianjin Knowledge Tree" published by 1986.

Under pressure, Sichuan Association for Science and Technology has made scientific literature self-financing, which is an important change. Since then, this magazine has gradually become a "red hat enterprise": in fact, it is a joint-stock private enterprise with the name of a national publication on its head, and its boss is several major shareholders. This is what China science fiction lovers should know, otherwise you can't know what many of its practices are based on. It has the flexibility that state-owned publishing units do not have, and at the same time it has the market monopoly desire that ordinary state-owned publishing units do not have.

No mother-in-law, on the one hand, no backer, on the other hand, no bondage. At that time, a small magazine with less than ten people democratically elected its own president, which is now Tigerson Yang. Tigerson Yang's election is not only her own ability, but also the identity of the daughter of the former Sichuan Provincial Party Secretary. Objectively speaking, without this shield, the only fragrance in China's science fiction world would have long since disappeared. Then the revival of science fiction in China in 1990s will be more difficult than it is now because of the lack of core. Under the leadership of Tigerson Yang, the magazine held the World Science Fiction Convention, which changed the magazine's running style and so on. There is a lot of publicity in these words, so I won't say much. There is a fact that I can tell my friends who yearn for heroism: there are only 700 sci-fi world issues with the least circulation. Today it is hundreds of thousands. From this perspective alone, it is indeed a business hero.

At that time, the decision-making level of science fiction was mainly composed of four people: Zhang, Xiang and Mo Shuqing. Xiang was then the head of the American editor and also the planner. Old readers must also know that the sci-fi world of 1994 and 1995, like today's King of Science Fiction, is half-written and half-comic. Without this change, Science Fiction World will not be able to cut into the middle school students' market and gain vitality. And the whole work is basically planned and organized. At that time, there was a set of best-selling science fiction art cards, which were also written by the item.

People have made great contributions, and naturally they are not satisfied with their original state. So there was a 1: 3 struggle at the decision-making level. As a result, Xiang left Chengdu to work in a publishing house in Beijing. Since then, no one has challenged Yang Xiao's position. Today, she is the absolute authority of the magazine, and the style of the whole magazine is largely an extension of her personality. It's just that she rarely appears in public, and the public is not familiar with her.

Science Fiction World worked hard for many years until 1994. Later, after a period of skyrocketing, a lot of money came in and I didn't know how to manage it. 1998 When I went to the science fiction world, the magazine was in this period. Science fiction fans in Chengdu can take out hundreds of dollars from magazines as long as they report an activity plan. Decorating the office is also about buying whatever you want, with no budget and no plan. They spent 20,000 yuan on a large-scale publicity campaign in Shanghai. 1997, the film was completely funded by Science Fiction World, not to mention the huge investment of World Science Fiction Convention. To be fair, the activities in the science fiction world were the only science fiction activities in Chinese mainland. Without these activities, the world would not know what science fiction is.

I entered the world of science fiction at the beginning of 1998 for another ridiculous reason besides applying. At that time, they began to look for editors in the circle of science fiction fans, and first inspected a science fiction fan named Hou in Jiangsu. The conclusion is that this person is short and ugly, which has an influence on the image of the magazine. I just applied, so I, a northerner with a big figure, took advantage. Although I was fully prepared, I entered the world of science fiction without any exams and tests until I didn't want to stay.

Later, I learned that there was no post exam at all, because no one in the club could test me at all. In the first month of the magazine, I didn't find anyone to talk about science fiction. At that time, the editorial department of the magazine was composed of editors of some literary publications and theatrical troupes in Chengdu, who knew nothing about science fiction. I live across the hall from an old editor in his early fifties. There are many classical literary works in his family. He told me that after work, he just looked at these things and was not interested in science fiction. As for young employees, needless to say, they are basically the children of old employees of the Association for Science and Technology, and come to the world of science fiction simply for a job. One thing a social leader liked to mention at that time was that he called young employees together and asked them to name three sci-fi writers, both at home and abroad. As a result, two are the best! Of course, these workers are very good people. During my colleagues, they also cared about me as a foreigner. But this dislocation of interest and ambition is a problem.

Since then, magazines have successively introduced Yao Haijun, Jin Wen, tang style, Liu Weijia and others, which has made the science fiction world have people who understand science fiction. These young friends did the main work when communicating with the authors and readers of the magazine. But don't get me wrong, and don't expect too much, because they are just wage earners and have no say in major policies at all.

Roy's entry into the magazine is another problem. 1997 When I attended the World Science Fiction Convention in Beijing, Loy followed Tan Kai to Beijing. I clearly remember that a "well-informed person" in Beijing pointed at him at a distance and said that this person would be the winner of the Mao Dun Literature Prize. At that time, I didn't even know that the Mao Dun Literature Prize was awarded every few years. I didn't expect this guy to "predict" it three years later! Of course, the leaders of the "science fiction world" must be more "predictive", so they hired the future Mao Dun literature prize winner in their accounts early, waiting for the day when the news broke.

As businessmen, magazine executives have been looking for new profit growth points after turning losses into profits. In their view, the market of science fiction in China is so big that there is nothing to start with. So I invested a lot of money in other projects. Ironically, these projects have lost money, and some small companies have even come to the brink of bankruptcy. For several years, only science fiction novels that they really don't like have brought them profits. The profit is huge enough to offset those losses. Later, they became "solid", and only changed the money earned from science fiction into real estate: residential houses were given to "old workers" in the name of rewards, and there were other real estate, and the scope of home ownership even went far beyond a suburban county. When a sci-fi fan walks into their crowded office, it is hard to imagine the real home of this magazine.

This "stop as soon as possible" action began in 1998, which also prompted me to leave the magazine. It is understandable that magazine leaders are approaching retirement age. And I am still a young man in my thirties, and there is no future in an increasingly conservative car. Only then, I didn't tell anyone the truth.

People can evaluate the nature of the science fiction world from their own standpoint. Personally, I think "Science Fiction World" is just an ordinary cultural enterprise involved in the science fiction market. It greatly opened the market of China science fiction in its own profitable commercial activities, and improved the weak influence of China science fiction after 1990s. But it has never been, and never intended to be, a certain core of China's sci-fi career.

In terms of science fiction, I have only seen two works, one is the science fiction novel Lan published in Science and Literature in the early 1980s, and the other is a paper published in World Science Fiction Convention in 1997. Tan Kai has published the science fiction "Space Monastery" and "Lin Cong's Comments on Science Fiction". Besides, he is indifferent to science fiction in private, and even has an inferiority complex. Because their social relationship is not between sci-fi writers and sci-fi fans, in the environment where they really live, saying that they are engaged in science fiction will always be looked down upon by people around them. The reason why the situation has improved in recent years is entirely because Science Fiction World is the most profitable magazine in Sichuan Province. For money, no one laughed at them for "making science fiction". The author participated in more than a dozen social conferences for half a year, but never talked about the creation of science fiction literature and art, and no one even cared about this issue, because at that time, Science Fiction World had a solid influence among science fiction lovers all over the country, and magazines could print it into money. In recent two years, a large number of young editors of Science Fiction World have written a lot about China's science fiction career, but they have never had the decision-making power.

As a commercial enterprise, it should not be blamed for any profit-making behavior. But if this enterprise tries to break the rules of the game and turn free competition into monopoly, that is another matter.

For China's science fiction, the magazine's main leaders have privately made judgments. To put it mildly, you would say: Without Science Fiction World, there would be no science fiction in China today. When you're welcome, I also said: Without me, there would be no China science fiction today! There are only two listeners, including the author. Therefore, any forces that get their hands on this market must be regarded as their natural enemies.

1994 When The King of Science Fiction was about to be published, the editor-in-chief went to Chengdu to consult Big Brother. Needless to say, I got the cold shoulder. Ironically, after the King of Science Fiction had survived for several years, Science Fiction World claimed to be the only science fiction magazine in China in any public place. It was not until 1999 that Tianjin Science Fiction Time and Space was published that it was renamed as "the largest science fiction magazine in China". The reason why science fiction time and space is given this face is because the predecessor of science fiction time and space, The Tree of Wisdom, is an old-fashioned publication, and the elders of China science fiction circle have cooperated with it, so they can no longer turn a blind eye to it.

Monopolizing authors is the usual practice of sci-fi tycoons. Before 1997, they once gave each author a contract, demanding a complete monopoly on the right to use the work, but only paid a one-time contribution fee. This invalid contract, which is not protected by copyright law, is nicknamed "sales contract" in the author circle. Even when there was no longer this contract, they once regarded the authors who had published works in magazines as "their own" and were very disgusted with their publishing works elsewhere. In fact, there is a system of "contracted authors" in modern publishing industry. If a magazine really signs a contract with an author to buy out the publishing rights of all his works in a certain period of time, it can be called "one of our own". But the science fiction world has never been prepared to use this commercial means, and has always wanted to achieve its goal through "emotional investment."

Over the years, I don't know how many magazines and publishers have found the door to the science fiction world and want to cooperate with them to publish books. Rejected by everyone. There is no way to find the author's mailing address. Especially the latter, has actually seriously damaged the interests of the author and the overall interests of China's science fiction career. Because the space of science fiction world is limited, even the best author can only publish a few works a year. However, the author can't communicate with other publishing units, and a large backlog of manuscripts can't be published. The publishing house that wants to engage in science fiction can't find the author. Finally, the increasingly developed Internet "stepped forward" to solve this problem. Now that most of the main authors are online, the science fiction world can no longer engage in this blockade.

Even for ordinary science fiction lovers, the word "loyalty" is essential. 1September, 999, sci-fi fans in Changchun planned a large-scale sci-fi activity and invited Science Fiction World. At the same time, the King of Science Fiction, Science Fiction Time and Space, and Harbin Science Fiction Newspaper were also invited, and they were ready to reissue. As a result, Science Fiction World found that even its competitors had to be present and threatened to withdraw its sponsorship of 2,000 yuan. The organizers of the event are only college students. Without this 2000 yuan, the activities that have been prepared for nearly half a year can only be ruined, so we have to bid farewell to the other three under pressure. Due to the sudden incident, the vice president of Tianjin Xin Lei Publishing Company, the organizer of Science Fiction Time and Space, and the editor-in-chief of the magazine have arrived in Changchun without knowing it. So the leaders of several sci-fi societies in colleges and universities can only meet secretly in the form of underground activities. I have seen and dealt with all those lovely sci-fi fans in Changchun. But after this incident, I never dared to ask them whether their idealism for China's science fiction career has declined. I hope it doesn't turn out like this.

Careful readers may find that a few years ago, the words "Invited Deputy Editor Yanwu" were printed on Science Fiction World, but now it is gone. Although Yanwu is less than forty years old this year, he is already a senior figure in China's science fiction world. In the late 1970s, Yanwu, a junior high school student, began to write science fiction novels, which produced a lot. He is one of the seven China members of the World Science Fiction Association. Has experienced the rise and fall of China science fiction for 20 years. And because he has presided over the science fiction lecture of Beijing Normal University, he has a lot of popularity among the authors. When Science Fiction World was still very weak, it was also quite polite to Corporal Xian, so there was such an arrangement of "invited deputy editor". Yanwu did two things for the world of science fiction: first, he helped them establish a relationship with the World Science Fiction Association. Nowadays, Science Fiction World can participate in World Science Fiction Convention every year, and it is also convenient to purchase the copyrights of overseas science fiction writers through this organization. Yanwu made an important contribution. In addition, it is to help them coordinate their relationship with young authors. Without his appeasement, the relationship between those passionate writers in their early twenties and the science fiction world may be even worse. However, Yanwu also had to speak for the author, because the continued domineering of the science fiction world eventually harmed the interests of many authors. Therefore, he can no longer be the "invited deputy editor" of the science fiction world.

Readers who have read a wider range and paid attention to China's science fiction for a longer time may find that some sci-fi predecessors of the 1970s and 1980s (it is not convenient to be named, so everyone can understand) are still active on the stage. They edit books and do translation. When you go to the bookstore, you can find their activities in published science fiction books everywhere. But no one cooperates with the science fiction world. Apart from socializing and speaking, the two sides are like two factions. There are two reasons. On the one hand, the current science fiction leader, as a "mistress", hopes to erase the influence of those predecessors in the minds of young science fiction lovers. On the other hand, those old writers, translators and editors don't buy the accounts of the science fiction world. This relationship has been tacit understanding for several years. 1two days before World Science Fiction Convention in 1997, the Chinese Association of Popular Science Writers held a national science fiction seminar in a scenic spot on the outskirts of Beijing.

. Three generations of writers, including Zheng, the "father of science fiction in China", gathered together to discuss the development prospect of science fiction in China. However, the science fiction world magazine is close at hand, and no one will go. A reporter asked a senior leader of the science fiction world at that time what was the relationship between that meeting and this meeting (World Science Fiction Convention)? The leader simply said that the two sides are not one faction! This conversation happened in front of the author.

Of course, there are also many facts that show that in today's increasingly open era, high-level science fiction circles have been trying in vain to make China science fiction their own world. It's just that those things involve the interests of others, or they can't be verified at the moment, so I won't write them here.

I once heard a senior sci-fi fan say that "Science Fiction World" is the "Yan 'an" of China's sci-fi. Of course, under the education of facts, he no longer has this fantasy today. The author wrote the above passage in the hope that more sci-fi fans will not have illusions about their idols. Science fiction needs imagination, but it is also very realistic. If you can think about this problem like this.