Of course, this is just a casual piece of music. "Wang Jin Beats Gao Qiu" would be a little acclimated to Eastern Europe.
Therefore, in accordance with Lou Ze's request, Zheng Qian prepared military music "Soviet March".
This song is the theme song of the game "Red Alert 3". The whole song is composed by Americans, but it is magnificent and makes people's blood boil when listening to it. It complements the "March of Steel Torrent" perfectly.
Later, Zheng Qian thought of the opening song "Main Titles" of the fifth season of "Game of Thrones".
Zheng Qian is very familiar with this song. In his previous life, when he was making self-media videos, Zheng Qian would play this song when he talked about passion, which can bring excitement to people's hearts.
Zheng Qian had the idea to compose these two pieces of music during the National Day Ceremony.
At that time, I just finished the first draft hastily.
Since he was going on tour in Eastern Europe this time, Zheng Qian decided to play these two pieces of music.
In addition, the epic music "Victory" produced by [Hell is So Close] music production company was also written by Zheng Qian.
Including "Tennessee" and "You Raise Me Up", there are exactly five pieces of music.
Of course, in addition to these five pieces of music, the orchestra led by Lou Ze will also perform "March of the Steel Torrent".
Since "Opera 2" and "Dance of the Goddess" are very popular abroad, Zheng Qian will also sing these two songs during this tour.
Precisely because of this gimmick, this military art academy tour led by Lou Ze is highly anticipated in European countries.
In recent times, many countries have reported on this trip in advance, triggering a wave of public opinion. Of course, this is not to say that students from military art academies are so popular, but that people are surprised that "Opera 2" is like this
The song was actually written by a Chinese, which was hard for people to accept and believe for a while.
Just as Zheng Qian was celebrating the Spring Festival holiday.
Across the ocean, New York, USA.
Stephen King, the editor-in-chief of National Geographic magazine, had just returned from the New Year holiday and on his first day at work, he found a letter on his desk with the address in the name of the World Science Fiction Association.
His heart skipped a beat, he picked up the envelope, adjusted his glasses, and after taking a closer look, his face suddenly turned red and he shouted, "Oh God!"
Then he quickly ran outside the office and loudly asked the assistant in the office area: "Sendy, when did this letter arrive?"
"Just arrived this morning, sir!"
Assistant Sendy ran over quickly with a smile on her face: "I have confirmed again and again that it is indeed your letter!"
“God, that’s great!”
Stephen kissed the envelope fiercely, and then he couldn't wait to open the letter. After browsing it, he couldn't control his excitement, "Finally, the wait is here, the wait is finally here! God pays off!"
Seeing that the editor was so happy, Sendi was surprised and said: "Did something happy happen? Sir!"
"Oh, what a happy event!"
Stephen laughed loudly: "Sendy, pour me a cup of coffee. A good day starts with a cup of coffee!"
After a while, Stephen checked the letter again while drinking coffee. After confirming that it was correct, he finally breathed a sigh of relief and smiled broadly.
…
Since Harpers Press signed a publishing contract with Zheng Qian with a royalty rate of up to 17%, after returning to the United States, Harpers Press immediately applied for an ISBN number and started printing the English version of "The Three-Body Problem". It only took one month
In August, "The Three-Body Problem" was hurriedly released after a short period of publicity.
As a translator, Stephen was also very concerned about this matter. On the day it was launched, he went to the bookstore with his own money and bought ten copies for his collection.
However, what surprised Stephen was that after the publication of "The Three-Body Problem", which was very popular on the Internet, its offline sales were much better than those of ordinary authors' new books, but it was far from everyone's expectations.
.
At first, everyone thought that the publicity was not adequate, so they increased investment in publicity.
But it only increased sales by 10% or 20%.
Two weeks have passed. On the U.S. science fiction book sales list, the sales volume of "The Three-Body Problem" is only ranked seventeenth, with only more than 500,000 copies!
Although for newcomers, this result is already very good, and even for China, this is already a top result!
But this is the United States after all, and the channels cover the entire European and American continent.
For any best-selling book, the sales volume in a single week can easily exceed one million.
The sales volume in two weeks was only 500,000. For "The Three-Body Problem", a popular book on the Internet, it is a bit unjust and it failed to live up to many people's expectations.
Therefore, Harpers Publishing House, which had originally increased its power to prepare for more printing, suddenly wilted like an eggplant beaten by frost.
I originally thought it would be a science fiction novel on par with masterpieces such as "The King of Thrones", but I didn't expect that sales were so cold in the early stages.
Of course, this is only compared to expectations.
In fact, the sales performance of "The Three-Body Problem" is already excellent for ordinary writers.
As long as you accumulate a little bit and your reputation increases, your second work will have a chance to become a hit.
However, such results make the behavior of the six major publishing houses sending troops to China at the same time look like a joke.
After so much effort, the result is this sales volume?
That's it?
So much so that Harpers Publishing House originally wanted to fulfill its contract and actively publish "The Three-Body Problem" in no less than 20 languages, but it suddenly stopped and was postponed indefinitely.
Stephen was in this circle and naturally heard about these things. In addition, he kept in touch with Hannah, the editor of Harpers Publishing House, so he became even more aware of the reasons.
After some research, it was obvious that "The Three-Body Problem" had encountered problems with the environment.
This novel is only popular in a small circle of science fiction literature. In the words of later generations, it has not "out of the circle". People are very interested in a writer from China and a Chinese science fiction novel, especially some awkward words in the book.
I don’t have much interest in names and unfamiliar words, and I don’t want to understand them in depth.
Although recommended by many senior science fiction readers and writers, the effect is not great.
Coupled with the current impact of online bookstores, the general environment is not good, so this result is achieved.
What is gratifying is that although "The Three-Body Problem" did not meet ideal expectations, its sales have always been very stable, which can be said to be unique among many works published at the same time.
During this period of time, Stephen has also been trying his best to make "The Three-Body Problem" go further, in line with his high-rated status in the science fiction world forum.
Therefore, when he received the new "Hugo Award" organized by the World Science Fiction Association and began collecting works for this year, Stephen immediately started working and contacted many conference members of the Science Fiction Association.
Only members are eligible to nominate works.
In fact, as science fiction fans, many association members have also paid attention to the novel "The Three-Body Problem". Therefore, many members of the World Science Fiction Association are preparing to nominate "The Three-Body Problem" this time.
Most of the people Stephen contacted also had this plan. After all, each member has five opportunities to nominate the previous year's works.
Between January and March of each year, members of this and past conferences are allowed to nominate up to 5 works from the previous year from 15 award categories.
In early April, the Science Fiction Association will announce the shortlist of five finalists in each category (the five most nominated works or people), and the final votes will be sent to the members of the current conference that year.
Finally, the members of this conference will conduct the final voting. The voting will end sometime in July, and the awarding of Hugo Award-winning works to the world will begin in August.
It's already mid-February, but the results have already come out. "The Three-Body Problem" passed the review and became one of the five candidates for the Best Novel Science Fiction Award.
As a translator, Stephen King naturally received this good news immediately.
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Once he wins the award, Stephen will also have the opportunity to follow the author to this World Science Fiction Association Conference and appear at this award ceremony for a global audience of science fiction fans.
This is definitely an honor for Stephen.
The Hugo Award for Best Novel can be said to be the highest honor in the science fiction world. Its gold content is almost unparalleled. Even if it is only nominated, "The Three-Body Problem" has corresponding strength. This shows that the science fiction literature community affirms "Three-Body Problem".
body's status.
When he thought of this, Stephen couldn't hold it any longer. Even though it was his first day at work and he had a lot to deal with, he still took the time to contact Hannah, the editor of Harpers Publishing House. On the phone, he explained in detail
Informed of the news that "The Three-Body Problem" was shortlisted for the Hugo Award for Best Feature.
Hannah was still worried about the fact that the novel "The Three-Body Problem" was not a big hit, and she kept it in her mind. Now when she heard the news from Stephen, she immediately screamed: "God, did I hear that right? Hugo Award?"
"Yes, Hugo Award!"
Stephen shared his joy: "There is a saying in China that if you keep the clouds open, you will see the moon. Miss Hannah, I think this is a good opportunity to promote "The Three-Body Problem" so that more people can see this wonderful film.
book!"
Hannah didn't seem to have recovered from the news, and she said excitedly after a long time: "Oh my god, Stephen, you are so right. I will tell the editor-in-chief Alison about this. I believe the editor-in-chief will
Make the right decision - it's time to print The Three-Body Problem!"
Hannah did what she said. After hanging up the phone, she hurried to Editor-in-Chief Alison's office and narrated the matter.
However, although Alison was a little surprised, she didn't seem too excited. She just said she knew and let Hannah leave.
Hannah's aroused enthusiasm was like a bucket of cold water being poured on her, and she suddenly became a little depressed, feeling that "The Three-Body Problem" was an absolutely unexplored treasure.
In fact, the editor-in-chief Alison is not unconcerned, but she is not like Hannah, a rookie, who puts her happiness and anger on her face.
Therefore, after getting the news, Alison made two phone calls to confirm the authenticity of the news. Then she took out her makeup mirror, touched up her makeup a little, and after thinking about it, she reported it to the editor-in-chief's office.
this matter.
As one of the six major publishing houses in the United States, Harpers Publishing House is definitely a powerful force in the publishing industry. The chief editor's office also quickly confirmed the authenticity of the news. According to internal information, many members of the conference were concerned about "The Three-Body Problem".
" is highly praised. At present, "The Three-Body Problem" can be said to have a great advantage in winning the award among the five candidate works.
After hearing this, the editor-in-chief of the publishing house held a meeting in the company.
Soon, the meeting approved multiple publicity and distribution plans. One million more copies of "The Three-Body Problem" will be printed, and words such as "Best Feature Candidate for the Hugo Award" will be printed.
He even paid a lot of money to invite the author of "Dynasty of Power" to write a message for "The Three-Body Problem": "The Three-Body Problem is a magnificent work with a beautiful imagination. It not only pays attention to the combination of extreme ethereal and heavy reality, but also pays attention to scientific connotation and beauty.
It has strong Chinese characteristics and distinctive personal style, setting a new tone for Chinese science fiction."
You know, the Hugo Award is definitely a barometer and weather vane of sales in the industry.
Almost every science fiction novel that wins the Hugo Award will experience a sales explosion after winning the award, with sales increasing by millions or even tens of millions. It is no exaggeration.
In fact, in a previous life, after "The Three-Body Problem" won the Hugo Award, sales exploded.
Global sales have reached more than 20 million copies, and it is very popular in countries around the world.
Especially in Japan, it has been reprinted more than ten times in a row. Every time it is released, it is sold out and sold out. Readers have praised it.
The former president of the United States is also a big fan of "The Three-Body Problem".
Rumor has it that at that time, President Xi Jinping commissioned the President’s Office to urge the original author Liu to quickly find someone to translate the last two books of “The Three-Body Problem” into English.
In addition to ***, the famous writer George Martin, the author of "A Song of Ice and Fire" is also a fan of "The Three-Body Problem": "This is a very unusual book that wonderfully mixes science and philosophical speculation, politics
and history, conspiracy theories and cosmology.”
The great director Cameron even asked Liu for authorization in person, hoping to get the opportunity to adapt "The Three-Body Problem".
All these factors demonstrate the value and charm of "Three-Body".
Every lover of science fiction literature will be attracted by its setting and description of the universe after reading "The Three-Body Problem".
It will catch fire!
This is the biggest feeling of Stephen, Hannah, Alison and other industry practitioners after reading "The Three-Body Problem". Therefore, they recommend "The Three-Body Problem" unswervingly.
On the other side, in Shenzhen, China, Zheng Qian was celebrating the Spring Festival while working hard on arranging music and immersing himself in rehearsals for the upcoming European tour.
As a result, he received a phone call and informed him that "The Three-Body Problem" had been shortlisted for the Hugo Award for Best Novel.
"Unbelievable! Unbelievable!"
Zhang Hanting, editor-in-chief of Science Fiction World magazine, excitedly told the news: "After Stephen told me the news, I thought it was a joke, but after repeated verifications, the news was confirmed to be correct! It is true, it is indeed true!"
"This is the closest thing to a Hugo Award for Chinese science fiction literature!"
"It is also the closest a Chinese writer has come to the world's science fiction literature palace!"
"Zheng Qian, congratulations! We should keep improving ourselves!"