Writing Web Novels In America-Chapter 201 - 199: Acceptance

"No," Wang Jian pressed a hand to his temple, muttering to himself, "Give me a moment... just give me a moment."

After a short while, he lifted his head, his face filled with disbelief, and looked towards Tom and the young editor behind him.

"Did you really send Mr. Stephen King’s work back for a rewrite?"

The young editor glanced at the serious-faced CEO and general manager, swallowed hard, and slowly nodded.

"And in the response email, you attached a ’novice writing guide’?" Wang Jian felt his own voice trembling.

The young editor whispered a quiet "Mm-hmm," his face looking ashen.

Holy shit!!!

Wang Jian didn’t know what to say at the moment.

His entire mindset was just completely collapsing.

Since the 1975 publication of "The End of the World" solidified Stephen King’s status in the world literary arena, which publishing house had ever rejected manuscripts from this titan?

Only that former Red Empire’s national publishing house had politely declined once, on the basis of nationality.

Of course, now the website needed to be added to that list.

And as for advising Stephen King on how to write...

That was something not even a Nobel Prize in Literature laureate would dare to do.

This was tm a glorious moment unique to the website!

Wang Jian really wanted to grab the young editor in front of him and loudly ask, "How can you be so outstanding?"

He raised his head and stared at the young editor for a while, contemplating whether to fire him or not.

Tom, reading Wang Jian’s expression and drawing on their long history of collaboration, guessed what he might be thinking.

Tom hesitated before suggesting, "Wang, there’s a lot of material on the website, and editors can make mistakes in their work."

"Moreover, this editor has discovered many bestsellers, among which ’I’m Really a Great Mage’ has even made it into the top ten of the paid rankings."

"I think we should give him another chance."

"I’m Really a Great Mage"?

Wang Jian opened his computer and looked at the paid rankings.

The cumulative payment for this copycat work had already exceeded 4 million US Dollars.

Thus, this young Caucasian editor had brought at least 2 million US Dollars in profit to the website.

He pondered for a moment, then reprimanded, "In future work, you need to consider a variety of factors, not just rigidly follow the review standards."

The young editor breathed a sigh of relief at those words and hastened to show contrition, "Yes, President."

"I will remember this."

Wang Jian waved his hand, signaling the editor to go back to work, while he himself sat in the office chair pondering how to deal with the situation.

"Wang," Tom reminded him in a low voice, "Stephen King has a contract with us and by law, ’The Mist’ must be published on the website."

"What, if Mr. Stephen King doesn’t publish on the website, are you planning to sue him?" Wang Jian gave Tom a blank look.

"That story getting out would be like serving up scandal on a silver platter to the physical book publishers."

"The most famous author in the United States gets rejected by a website," Wang Jian sighed, "It’s not Stephen King who would be embarrassed—it’s us, okay?"

"So what do we do?" Tom thought for a moment and felt this situation was outrageous enough.

Wang Jian thought for a while and sighed, "I’ll give Mr. Stephen King a call first, test the waters a bit."

He picked up the phone and struggled to dial the number.

Being mocked and ridiculed by the famous author was no big deal, Wang Jian felt he could handle it.

But what if he were to hear some really bad news?

One must understand that many famous authors are quite proud.

Stephen King was getting on in years, and he also had a history of heart problems.

"If the most famous writer in the United States were to be pissed to death by his own website’s editor..." Wang Jian shook his head, casting out the terrifying thought from his mind.

He had spent half a day fortifying his mindset and then took a deep breath, pressing the button for Stephen King’s phone number.

After two electronic beeps, the call was answered.

"Hello, this is Stephen King," a deep baritone voice came through, "Is this the phone number for... Wang Jian?"

That was a relief, a relief...

The biggest farce in American literary circles had not manifested because of his website.

Wang Jian quickly adopted a different tone, apologizing, "Sorry, Mr. Stephen King, there’s been a major oversight by the website’s editor."

"Your manuscript got mixed up with someone else’s."

"If you don’t mind, we’ll publish ’The Mist’ on the website now, and we’ll arrange for the best promotional spots."

"Wang, I’ve given it some thought," Stephen King’s voice came through, "I might have fallen into the routine that writers often encounter."

Hmm?

Wang Jian’s heart tightened—was this a sign he was considering giving up the web serial?

Although the worst hadn’t happened, they still missed the opportunity to make an impression in the eyes of traditional writers!

Wang Jian was about to try persuading him when Stephen King continued, "Before I write a particular type of work, I tend to summarize the characteristics of that genre."

"And then in my own books, I make an effort to highlight these aspects."

"Before submitting ’The Mist,’ I only saw that web novels have no word limit and offer great freedom to the author."

"But after receiving the rejection, especially after seeing that ’novice writing guide,’ I realized what the core of a web novel is."

Wang Jian, a bit bewildered by this turn, blurted out, "What is it?"

"Heh," Stephen King chuckled, "It’s about immersing the reader in the protagonist’s role, experiencing a life that’s ’cool’ and unattainable in real life through various environmental settings."

"And what do you mean by that?" Wang Jian was still somewhat unclear.

Stephen King’s voice was resolute, "’The Mist’ will no longer just be an expansion but will undergo major revisions."

"Certain heavy elements will no longer be the main content, but part of the setting."

"Its theme will lean towards a post-apocalyptic version of ’The Count of Monte Cristo.’"

"But..." Wang Jian hesitated for a moment before asking, "Such a major change is almost like creating a new novel altogether."

"And there’s the uniqueness of web serialization..."

"It’s just about keeping up daily updates," Stephen King laughed, "Putting aside the early preparation work, writing ’The Shining’ took me six days."

"Not every writer is like George Martin."

"Does that mean I can publish the news on Twitter that Mr. Stephen King will soon be releasing his work on the website?" Wang Jian asked eagerly.

"Hmm..." Stephen King pondered for a moment, "That should be okay."

"After all, I have a complete outline, a detailed outline."

Then he added in jest, "And the ’novice writing guide,’ which spells everything out so plainly."

After hanging up the phone a bit awkwardly, Wang Jian fell into a brief moment of contemplation.

"What would ’The Mist’ look like, written by Stephen King following the ’Beginner’s Guide’?"

"And... could this affect the popular literature scene in the United States?"

"Wang, how did it go?" Tom asked nervously, looking at Wang Jian.

Wang Jian’s attention returned to the office.

He took a sip of coffee and said, "Notify Jack Dorsey that the famous writer Stephen King is going to publish his work on the website."

"Let’s use this artistically charged topic to hype up Twitter’s IPO with one final burst of enthusiasm!"

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