Writing Web Novels In America-Chapter 237 - 243 Elena Ferrante

"Ms. Lily, this is your office."

"The young lady outside will assist you with your work. Of course, she’s a newbie."

"If you’re not satisfied, you can file a report. After it’s reviewed, we’ll arrange a switch for you."

Lily stared at the slightly cramped yet efficiently laid out office and was a bit dazed.

From now on, would she become the deputy in charge of women’s affairs? And would she be communicating with the media with the help of professionals?

After the introducer left, she peered through the blinds toward the lobby.

Three years ago, she was still a housewife dependent on a man.

Two years ago, reeling from a sudden divorce, she was just as panicked as the women outside, waiting for help and fearful of re-entering society.

But who could have imagined that she, now a thirty-year-old single mother, would achieve her college dream in such a way?

Lily looked down at her black office-lady suit and felt as though she was still dreaming.

"Is this what Lynn meant when she said that maintaining a relationship with Wang not only satisfies emotional and physical needs but also brings great benefits?"

The thought flashing through Lily’s mind made her quickly shake her head.

Even though things with Wang Jian were a bit awkward, she still didn’t want too many other factors involved.

At that moment, the young woman outside knocked on the office door.

"Ms. Lily," she looked at Lily with adoration, "I will definitely cooperate with your work and strive to improve the situation of women in New York."

"Is there anything you need me to do now?"

"Uh..." Lily was completely unaccustomed to such a situation.

"Please get me a cup of coffee," she said tentatively.

"Sure!" The young girl immediately got busy with eagerness.

Watching the girl’s bustling figure, Lily became a bit restless.

It wasn’t until the coffee was placed in front of her that she began to accept this reality.

Was this what Lynn had always pursued?

It must be said, it felt... quite nice!

Curious, Lily surveyed the office and then, hesitating for a moment, picked up the phone and called Wang Jian.

And when Wang Jian got the news, he was somewhat speechless.

Indeed, the Republican Party didn’t have many good cards when it came to "political correctness."

New York City was planning to turn Lily into a spokesperson for the "women’s movement" amid such hype?

"Career politicians..." he chuckled and shook his head.

But aside from the embarrassment of appearing topless in newspapers, it seemed he wasn’t at a loss.

Besides promoting "The Female Pope" and even the website, there was an unexpected windfall waiting for him.

After hanging up the phone, Wang Jian continued to carefully examine the manuscript.

This work called "My Genius Girl Friend" was just too perfect for the female-centric novels serialized on the website.

If "The Female Pope" was the history of women’s resistance in Medieval Europe, then "My Genius Girl Friend" was the contemporary equivalent.

What was invaluable about this work was not only the satisfying elements typical of website stories.

Its delicate, uniquely feminine writing let it encompass friendship, love, and family emotions while the heroine achieved class transcendence.

Wang Jian looked up at the woman author opposite him, "I can offer you a 60% royalty cut. Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, Dan Brown, and other gentlemen only get 70%."

"Moreover, your work needs to be translated into English, which is also a significant expense."

"I have no objections," the female author nodded, "my only request is not to disclose any personal information about me, even marketing or awards are not allowed."

There were so many authors on the website; who knew if they were people or dogs?

Wang Jian, concerned only with profits, naturally had no objections to this.

He took out a standard contract, filled in his name, and handed it over to her.

But when the female author signed her name and returned the contract to Wang Jian, he was surprised.

"Elena Ferrante? The mysterious Italian author?" Wang Jian looked at the contract and then at her, his expression somewhat astonished.

If there was any debate over who was historically the greatest author, some might argue for Hugo.

But that Elena Ferrante was the most mysterious author was without question.

Since 1991, this author had published a bestseller every year.

Yet, having never appeared publicly, even her name was believed to be a pseudonym.

Many began to speculate that it was a pen name used by a group of writers.

"Are you really Elena Ferrante?" Wang Jian felt a sense of witnessing history.

"Hehe," the female author laughed lightly and handed him a stack of documents.

"These are photocopies of all the manuscripts, starting from my debut work, ’Nasty Love’."

"Also, here are bank records of the royalty payments from the publisher."

"If Mr. Wang still isn’t convinced, I can authorize the website to audit the bank records."

Uh...

Wang Jian still couldn’t suppress his curiosity, "So, why is it? I think many publishers would be interested in Elena Ferrante’s new work, right?"

"Large publishers can no longer tolerate my behavior," the female author sighed, "and smaller publishers don’t seem to have much advantage in terms of marketing channels, do they?"

"What’s more, compared to the editors-in-chief of publishing houses, I’d rather trust a colleague."

She held back a laugh, her expression slightly odd, "Especially a male colleague who, in support of women’s rights,"

"Is willing to run naked in front of a group of women and the media."

Uh...

This conversation couldn’t continue!

Wang Jian laughed awkwardly and told the female author, "You’ll have to wait in New York for a little while longer, we need to contact a translator."

"If you are satisfied with the level of translation, then ’My Genius Girl Friend’ can officially start serialization on the website."

"Of course," Wang Jian wrote a note and passed it to her, "your expenses in New York will be covered by the website."

"The treatment will be in line with the standard of JK Rowling, the very popular author of ’Harry Potter’ in the English children’s book market."

Elena Ferrante took the note and stood up, nodded to Wang Jian, and left the office.

Watching the back of the mysterious author as she departed, Wang Jian picked up the intercom phone and called Tom.

"Find a group of Italian translators immediately, ’My Genius Girl Friend’ is bound to be a hit!"

"You and I will personally oversee it," Wang Jian spoke on the phone as he drifted into fantasy, "if the website could release a classic work..."

"Cough, cough." Tom interrupted Wang Jian’s daydream with a cough, "Finding a translator is no problem."

"But about overseeing it personally, Wang, have you forgotten that St. Patrick’s Day is coming up?"

"We’ve already accepted Apple’s invitation to attend their new product launch."

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