西方作家应该效仿中国文学界的做法

Western writers should take a leaf out of China's book

There was uproar in French literary circles last week when a self-published novel only available on Amazon was nominated for one of the country's most prestigious prizes.

上周，法国文学界一片哗然，一部只在亚马逊网站销售的自主出版小说获得了法国最负盛名文学奖项的提名。

Booksellers and traditional publishers were up in arms, with shrill predictions about the death of their industry and the demise of reading in general.

书商和传统出版商对此竭力反对，他们甚至尖锐地预测传统出版业的灭亡和国民阅读能力的总体下降。

The basis for their frankly hysterical argument struck me as a mixture of protectionism and old-fashioned snobbery: How could a novel that hadn't cleared the gatekeepers of the traditional publishing houses possibly be any good?

他们坦率而歇斯底里的论辩背后的保护主义和老式势利，深深触动了我。一部没有经过传统出版社把关的小说到底好在哪里？

This accusation of not being a "proper" writer is regularly leveled at independent authors in the West. Listen to any number of podcasts with self-published novelists and you will hear about the struggle to be taken seriously by a mainstream that prefers to circle the wagons rather than confront its prejudices and evolve new ideas.

西方独立作者被贴上了“不称职”的标签。我们只要听一听播客上任何关于自主出版作家的内容，就会发现在主流媒体主宰下的困局。主流媒体宁愿固守陈规，也不愿直面偏见，接受新的观点。

"Indy" authors are usually overlooked for awards and all but ignored by the mainstream media when it comes to reviews, often a crucial component when it comes to marketing books by new or little-known writers.

“独立”作者（Indy）在荣誉奖项方面常被置于脑后，在主流媒体的评论方面更是不值一提。然而，在营销新作家或不知名作家的作品方面，书评却举足轻重。

But while the Western literary establishment continues to wrinkle its nose at self-published novels, China has embraced them, and may even be providing a template for the industry as a whole.

虽然西方文学机构对自主出版的小说嗤之以鼻，但是中国却欣然接受它们，甚至将为整个自主出版行业提供相应模板。

The contrast is due to a couple of factors, the first one being consumer habits. The vast majority of people in China use their smartphones to read books, with the number of online readers in the country rising to 400 million this year from 330 million in 2017.

诸多因素造成这种反差。首当其冲的是消费者的习惯。在中国，绝大多数的人都使用智能手机进行在线阅读，其人数已经由2017年的3.3亿增至今年的4亿。

Also, a study released by the China Audio-video and Digital Publishing Association at an online literature conference held earlier this month in Beijing found that by the end of last year, there were more than 16 million literary works online, compared with the estimated 7 million on Amazon.

根据中国音像与数字出版协会于本月在北京举办的网络文学会议发布的一项研究表明：截至去年年底，该协会的在线文学作品数量达到1600万册，而亚马逊仅有700万册。

The result of this is a more open environment in which the role of traditional publishers is greatly reduced as readers are less dependent on them for physical copies of books.

出现这种结果的原因在于：在更为开放的环境里，读者更少地依赖传统出版社的影印本，所以传统出版商的作用大幅度减小。

Which leads me to the second, more important, factor: bias. China's bookworms don't appear to have the same prejudices when it comes to self-published novels. Although it's true traditional books are seen as more "serious", there is less of an "us and them" mentality, which is perhaps partly due to a refreshing culture of innovation.

第二个更为重要的因素是偏见。对于自主出版的小说，中国的书虫不会有相似的偏见。虽然传统小说确实显得更为“严肃”，但其中很少会有“我们和他们”（读者和作者）的心态，这可能部分源于文化的创新。

For example, books are often serialized, with writers and readers collaborating on the direction the story might take, which strikes me as a modern, interactive spin on the "adventure" tales I used to devour as a kid in which you could choose your own ending and other key points in the plot.

比如，书通常会连载，在这个过程中，作家和读者在故事脉络上会有一些合作。这给人一种现代互动冒险故事的感觉。这种感觉就如同儿时可以在冒险故事中选择情节中的要点，选择属于你的结局。

Another interesting aspect is that China's online book industry is also attracting foreign writers, who have traditionally looked no further than North America and Europe for potential readers.

另一个有趣的事情是，中国的在线图书产业同样吸引了外国作家，而这些作家以前总是把传统读者定位在北美和欧洲，而未看到其余的潜在读者。

Yang Chen, general manager for content operation with China Literature, an online reading platform created by Tencent, was quoted by Xinhua News Agency as saying that more than 2,000 writers overseas have published 4,000 online works on their website and mobile app.

据新华社报道，腾讯创建的在线阅读平台阅文集团原创内容总经理杨晨表示，2000多位海外作家在该网站和手机应用软件上发表了4000多篇在线作品。

So with China's increasing market and enthusiastic readers, now is a good time for Western writers to broaden their horizons and change the narrative.

因此，在中国市场需求日益增长和读者热情高涨的背景下，现在正是西方作家开阔视野，转换视角的良机。