What is a publishing house? Submission of Lu Shu, Values, and Knowledge Dissemination

Since I work in a publishing house set up by the school, when I introduce myself to people, people always ask, "Are you a club?"

(wry smile)

About what a publishing house is, many great gods and mythical beasts have talked about it too many times; for everyone who steps into this industry, they also have their own understanding and explanation. So many people talk about "what is editing and publishing", perhaps because the public has a deep misunderstanding of the work of editing, and thus has a specious stereotype about what the publishing house is doing. But are publishing houses really misunderstood? For some, what he encounters (though it may be a case in a case) is the only truth.

A few things that have happened recently, returning to the front-line staff of publishing, they can think about one thing: what position should the publishing house take? Or say nothing? ——Or should the publisher have a position?

Value-oriented or business-oriented?

Whether or not China's copyrighted books are submitted for review, and whether the freedom of publishing has been reversed, the question I am more concerned about is not "whether the publishing house can do it", but "why the publishing house does it?"

 Think it's valuable?

If the publisher recognizes the value of a book and recognizes its meaning before publishing, then publishing a book means the attitude of the publisher. Most of us will use this standard to look at the publishing house, otherwise why would the publishing house publish it? But the paradox is that online media often see such a sentence: "This article does not represent the position of this newspaper."

Are traditional content media a place to speak, or a gatekeeper to hold the right to speak? The role in the middle is actually a constantly changing liquid.

Why do the media repost and publish some controversial articles, and then add superfluous annotations "We may not agree with the point of view of this article"? because of traffic. And why do publishers publish controversial books?

 Think you can make money?

Two controversial books a while ago, "The world is annoying, but you have to be cute" and "Wait for Dad to come home"; the former undoubtedly made money, but what about the latter? And how did the publishing house determine that Wantte was in the club? Vante was not well known in Taiwan and did not have a huge marketing operation prior to publication. At most, Taiwan has made a comeback in the market for chicken soup text in recent years, and because of the relationship between Internet celebrities and social networks, it is easier to be influenced by the values of the other side. On this basis, there are conditions for acceptance.

 The non-replicability of best-selling books, the sale of books is decoupled from values and quality, and cost and benefit are in command

Books that are made seriously may not sell, but books that are inexplicably hard to come out move because of unpredictable reasons. I believe that many colleagues in the industry have such experience. This leads to a phenomenon: publishers can only do their best, but cannot predict the results; but when the results are unknown, they must try their best to reduce costs.

 Does the number of publications and types of books mean the energy of freedom of speech and freedom of the press?

I guess that's a question mark.

As we all know, in order to reduce costs, publishing houses translate more books than local books (especially in literary and creative genres that take time); while the cost of copyright of imported simplified books is lower, and no translation is required.

With the development of China's content industry, it is becoming more and more common to see Chinese authors' books published in Taiwan. Most of them are Chinese knowledge columns and internet celebrity works. It's hard to tell where this book came from.

For the time being, we will not talk about the situation of "Chinese authors signing contracts to publish books in Taiwan", but only talking about the purchase of "copyrights that have been published in China" by publishers. It doesn't even talk about cultural united front, big outreach, and information warfare. I personally think that once the share of Chinese copyright books in the Taiwan market increases, it will basically cause some situations:

 1. Unlike translated books, it is difficult to distinguish the source of information. Readers tend to assume that Chinese authors are from Taiwan, and that the book conveys values that belong to Taiwan.
2. Unlike imported simplified books, readers lose their recognition and vigilance after converting from simplified to traditional. Especially through the authoritative medium of "paper book", it is easy to unconditionally accept the wording and writing logic in the book. For readers who have not yet formed their own writing ability, it will affect their writing and speaking style.
3. Books or translations that have been published in China mean that they have undergone an ideological and publication review, which can only play a supplementary role in Taiwan's publishing freedom and publishing value, rather than stimulating.
4. Once the purchase of Chinese copyright books becomes the norm, the cultivation of local authors will be further compressed. Due to the asymmetry between freedom of speech and publishing value, the unrestricted writing methods of Taiwanese authors may not be able to enter the other side market; while Chinese copyright books have been nurtured by their own market and continue to retain their publishing energy, it is also relatively easy to enter speech, The Taiwan market with high guarantee of freedom of the press.

These will be the issues that publishers need to consider when considering increasing the introduction of copyright books in China, and this is also a position statement. But aren't these problems in the past? In addition to the ebb and flow of the competitiveness of the content industry, the development and identity of the two countries are increasingly separated.

The advantages of economic strength and population base have reversed the content output energy of both sides of the Taiwan Strait. In the past, the two places shared similar cultural backgrounds and aesthetics, but with the formation and separation of their respective national characters, the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have become more and more different in terms of culture, language, national conditions, and values. There are obvious distinctions in the choice of words and habits. At this time, "who influences whom" becomes more prominent. At this time, whether or not we are afraid of being influenced and whether or not to be influenced is a new issue and choice in an era.

The choice of publishers to publish Chinese copyright books is obviously more business-oriented than value-oriented. In fact, many controversies in the publishing industry have always been because of these commercial colors. The publishing industry has always been endowed with intrinsic value to certain cultures, but it is also a content industry that has long maintained traditional business models. The so-called freedom of the press and the value of publishing are the runway that makes this industry take off, but not the wind that makes it fly farther.

When encountering copyright problems and value problems, unless it is obviously wrong in the execution of the publishing house, the publishing house is often silent. Can we say that such an industry can represent Taiwan's freedom of speech? Is such an industry, and its products, of profound value?

Can publishers refuse traffic?

Traffic, that is, commercial interests, in the introduction of Chinese copyright books, the ready-made market results, the highly accepted culture, and the relatively low preparation costs, compared to the four questions raised above, how will mainstream publishers choose?

Publishers will choose—

"But, I really think this is a good book!"

Yes, I believe that most publishing houses and first-line editors agree with such a book or have a fancy point in the process of implementation, which is different from others.

This discussion is also similar to the criticism of "inspirational prose" type books in Taiwan. It is obviously a waste of writing, why the publishing house wants to publish it, and why so many readers love to read it. In fact, this may be "really a good book" for many people.

Do you have the right to decide my values? ——This is obviously against the spirit of freedom of speech in Taiwan . We can criticize it, but we cannot interfere with it by banning or removing it from the shelves. In Vant's book, apart from the fact that he is from China, the bigger controversy lies in the pedantic and retrograde values conveyed in the book. For some people, such a book obviously has no publication value and significance, and has only a negative impact on society as a whole.

Publishers can accept such criticism and choose and publish books more carefully. But this comes from the publisher's own will and value judgment. However, will mainstream publishers take the initiative to take such a position? Or does this society have the right to deprive publishers of their freedom to express certain positions?

Ideally, publishers and editors should first understand this situation, and decide whether it is important to choose the influence of the above four points out of their own value judgments—if most of the last, or influential publishers choose. It is a different value, then Taiwan's reading market and products will also show another completely different style.

If we don't want to be like that, but find that we are powerless to stop it, we will naturally want politics to intervene. But it's like the book pricing debate, maybe in the end, cultural commodities can't and can't just be commodities.

The value judgment of the content publishing industry on knowledge dissemination may also be considered from another aspect:

 What should the publishing house say about the interpretation of knowledge dissemination by popular Internet celebrities?

The most recent topic is the incident where Youtuber Lao Gao talked about " Nietzsche's thought and his writings " on his channel, which accidentally led to the best-seller " Thus Spoke Zarathustra " published in Taiwan. This topic has been raging in different fields for a few days. In addition to the re-emergence of Lao Gao's criticism in the past, it is mainly to refute the problems with the content of the film - and there seem to be many problems.

In the discussions of many peers, they think from a business-oriented perspective. The conversion rate brought by Internet celebrities is astonishing , and a single film may make a philosophical book traditionally regarded as an unpopular book.

But what I'm more curious about is that even if the distributors are not involved, as the publishers and editors involved, how should they face such a thing? Should you speak out? Should you be happy with it?

For the publishing house, it and the editor of the book are obliged to ensure that the comments and recommendations from the official website are reasonable and correct, or that even if there is room for discussion, it will not reach the level of over-translation. But when the influence of others surpasses itself and brings about the interpretation ability that surpasses the publishing house itself, how does the publishing house handle itself? Is he just a reader's personal understanding?

Traditionally, publishers will only reiterate book reviews and opinions that are beneficial to book sales. Because a "reader" in the past did not have such a large-scale influence, and did not need to face the competition of other self-media and Internet celebrities for their own right to speak, but now I think how the publishing house should face such an event has become a need Consider the issue of your own attitude.

If the publishing house itself is unable to shoulder a certain mission and value of knowledge dissemination, or reposition its role in the era of self-media, naturally it cannot be expected that such an old industry can perform any responsibility and responsibility for Taiwan's publishing freedom and well-being. strength.