Literary Master 1978

No matter how Li Shifei and Su Chen complained in their hearts, they had to admit that Lin Chaoyang did have the confidence.

Let alone the quality of works, influence and other empty things, just talking about the sales of works, Lin Chaoyang has never tasted defeat since he entered the literary world.

There are many works that have sold more than one million copies, such as "The Wreath under the Mountain", which has sold more than 10 million copies, and has created a sales myth of contemporary Chinese literature.

To be more realistic, publishing houses are supported by writers like Lin Chaoyang who sell well. Without their works, many publishing houses can only rely on grants. How can they live such a comfortable life now?

Huacheng Publishing House is a typical example. Since the publication of "The Story of the Boat Crossing" last year, Huacheng Publishing House has been making a lot of money.

One issue of the magazine sold two million copies, and with the publication of the book "The Story of the Boat Crossing", the publication volume of a novel has reached a huge amount of four or five million.

You know, if a general publishing house publishes a contemporary literary work that is not very popular, the print run is usually several thousand copies, and the sales cycle may be calculated in years. In many cases, the publishing house cannot even make back the printing and binding costs and the author's royalties.

However, "The Ferry" can bring millions of yuan in revenue to Huacheng Publishing House. After deducting various costs, Huacheng Publishing House's net profit is as high as 1.7 million. Huacheng Publishing House's profit in the past year may not be as high as this novel.

The difference between heaven and earth is actually a best-selling work, which is also the most real situation in the publishing industry.

So, even if the two people represent Huacheng Publishing House, a provincial publishing unit, they are still in a passive state when facing Lin Chaoyang.

It is the same principle that a big store bullies customers and a big customer bullies the store.

"Not bad, not bad. "The Ferry" and "Crossing Guandong", Chaoyang's two novels were published in our "Huacheng" one after another. Our cooperation has a solid foundation.

This time we came to Yanjing with twelve points of sincerity..."

Su Chen smiled and spoke sincerely.

He said a few polite words, and finally mentioned the most critical issue under Lin Chaoyang's expectant eyes.

"Regarding the idea of ​​'royalty payment' that you talked about with Lao Li before, this should be the first time in our Chinese publishing industry.

To be honest, we two discussed for a long time and didn't dare to make a decision on our own.

In the end, we reported to the higher-ups..."

Su Chen said a lot of things, which were nothing more than how they fought for it with their superiors and how many difficulties they overcame.

In negotiations, posing difficulties and making conditions are common means.

At the end, he made his attitude clear, "After the final discussion, our publishing house decided that as long as you can give us the publishing rights of "Crossing Guandong", we will pay you a royalty rate of 12%!"

Su Chen's tone at the end was decisive, revealing a surprise to Lin Chaoyang.

Originally, he listened to Su Chen's previous words and thought that there would be another round of tug-of-war today, but he didn't expect Su Chen to give a 12% royalty rate as soon as he opened his mouth.

This number is not low even in the publishing industry of later generations, let alone now when the royalty payment system has not yet been implemented?

The surprise came so suddenly that Lin Chaoyang didn't know what to say.

Su Chen was full of confidence when he said the royalty rate of "12%". However, when he saw Lin Chaoyang was silent after hearing this number and didn't respond for a long time, his original confidence was also worn away bit by bit.

What? Still not satisfied?

Su Chen and Li Shifei looked at each other again, asking: This is too dark!

Su Chen dared to say that the royalty rate they set was based on the royalty standards of Hong Kong, Japan, and the United States, and it was absolutely conscientious. As a result, Lin Chaoyang didn't seem to be satisfied.

Li Shifei said anxiously: "Chaoyang..."

Lin Chaoyang only reacted when he heard his voice, "This royalty..."

Hearing this, Su Chen and Li Shifei's hearts immediately lifted, fearing that Lin Chaoyang would make more excessive demands.

"...very sincere, then it's settled."

Lin Chaoyang's words made the two of them feel relieved, and Su Chen excitedly shook his hand, "Comrade Chaoyang, happy cooperation!"

"Happy cooperation!"

Lin Chaoyang had a light smile on his face, looking relaxed.

The royalty standards of the Chinese publishing industry in later generations are generally between 6% and 10%, and Han Han's royalties when he published "Triple Door" were only 8%.

Afterwards, as his fame grew, the royalty rate he enjoyed rose all the way to 12% and 15%. At that time, a group of top best-selling authors including Yi Zhongtian, Shi Kang, and Zheng Yuanjie also enjoyed this treatment.

The 12% standard is an intermediate number compared to the royalty rates of best-selling authors in later generations, but now it is 1984 after all, and the royalty payment system is still a strange thing for the domestic publishing industry.

It is not realistic to achieve it in one step. At present, we still have to solve the problem of whether there is one or not, and then solve the problem of whether it is good or not.

The two parties reached an agreement, and Su Chen was very happy.

Huacheng Publishing House was determined to offer a 12% royalty rate. It was not only to convince internal colleagues and superiors, but more importantly, to show tangible results.

After all, royalties are calculated based on the sales volume. If a work is popular, even if it is only a point, it is a considerable profit.

If more than ten percentage points of Ma Yang are transferred out, if the corresponding results cannot be achieved, Su Chen, the president, will not be able to explain it.

"Chaoyang, I have another unkind request!" Su Chen said.

"you say."

“You should also understand that agreeing to pay you royalties is indeed a major decision for our publishing house, and it will also affect the future development of our publishing house to a certain extent.

I hope you can promise us that your next work can still be handed over to our publisher. "

Su Chen's words made Lin Chaoyang fall into silence. After a moment, he said: "I can only promise you that under the same conditions, I will give priority to your Huacheng Publishing House."

Su Chen nodded vigorously, "Your words are enough!"

"But..." Lin Chaoyang spoke again, and during the pause, Su Chen felt something in his heart again.

"I'm afraid my works won't appear on the pages of literary magazines in the future."

Su Chen immediately understood what Lin Chaoyang meant. The market for literary magazines has been booming in recent years, but the payment method is still in the form of a thousand-word manuscript fee.

With Lin Chaoyang's current fame and appeal among readers, after receiving royalties, it would be a huge disadvantage if his works were published first in magazines and then published as before.

The biggest benefit of publishing in a magazine is to increase the popularity of the writer and the influence of the work. It gives the work an opportunity to be exposed in advance, but it is detrimental to subsequent publishing sales.

In the past, with the variable of no royalties, publishing would only earn some royalties for the number of prints. A little more or a little less would not have much impact, but now the situation is different.

The author earns income from every copy of his work published and sold, so it is natural to give up the publication channel of magazines.

"Understood." Su Chen nodded.

Then he added: "I'll find a place tonight and let's have some food together to celebrate that our cooperation has entered a new stage!"

Just as Lin Chaoyang was about to speak, a child's cry suddenly came from the room next door. Lin Chaoyang quickly apologized to the two of them and went in to see Xiao Dongdong.

The child had just woken up. Without an adult around, he felt as if he had been abandoned by the whole world. He kept crying, so Lin Chaoyang held him in his arms and coaxed him for a while.

"Let's eat at home tonight, I'll cook something for you!" Lin Chaoyang said to Su and Li while holding his son.

Seeing that Lin Chaoyang still had to take care of the children, Su Chen and the others did not insist on going out to eat. Su Chen said with a smile: "I have heard that you are a good cook, so we would be disrespectful!"

They signed a publishing contract first and chatted for a while. When Tao Yushu got off work in the evening, Lin Chaoyang prepared a table of dishes. After eating, Su Chen and Li Shifei left with satisfaction.

After the two left, Tao Yushu took the publishing contract and looked at it curiously.

"So you will earn royalties from now on?"

"yes."

"Hey, can other writers also get royalties?"

Lin Chaoyang hesitated and said: "Yes, yes, but I'm afraid the publishing industry still has to go through an acceptance process."

Tao Yushu thought for a while and said, "That's not right. Implementing a royalty payment system should be a good thing for publishing houses.

Every royalty they pay corresponds to sales. Although they pay more royalties when their books sell well, they also earn more.

Similarly, if the book is unsaleable, the royalties they pay will be very small, right? "

Lin Chaoyang looked at her with a gentle face, "Theoretically, that's the case. But you have to understand that what really hinders publishers from changing now is not the issue of efficiency, but inertia."

Tao Yushu understood what he meant at once, "How big is this inertia?"

"It's not small anyway. If a person has been in an environment where frogs are boiled in warm water for a long time, even if he knows that the water outside is cold, he may not be willing to change the environment."

Tao Yushu listened thoughtfully, then became happy and said to him: "Well, now that you have received royalties, other writers will definitely get them in the future, and they will have to thank you!"

Lin Chaoyang laughed and said: "No need to thank you, it's more affordable to take some commission."

"I think you are crazy about money!"

A few days later, Lin Chaoyang received a notice from Chen Huaikai, saying that "The Master of Chess" had just finished filming and wanted to treat him to a drink.

Lin Chaoyang first came to Yan Film Studio. Chen Huaikai was busy editing, so he took him to the editing room to watch some preliminary cuts.

The first cut just spliced ​​the filmed materials together in the order of the script. There was no narration, no music, and no dubbing, and the atmosphere was very poor.

But Lin Chaoyang can still feel the effort Chen Huaikai put into this movie. At the beginning of the movie, a large panoramic shot captures the bustling and lively scene near the City God Temple after the Spring Festival.

Then a long shot continuously travels through the streets. The bustling markets, vendors selling goods along the street, and the crowds of tourists. In the first few seconds of the long shot, a joyful and peaceful festival scene is presented.

But as the camera continues to advance, this scene fades little by little.

Street performers risked their lives to make the audience laugh. The audience cheered loudly, but there were only a few investors.

At the door of the restaurant, the waiter was chasing the beggar at the door. The beggar was so weak from hunger that he fell to the ground after being pushed by the waiter.

"You stinking beggar, you still want to blackmail people, right? Did you see that the police are right in front?"

Following the direction pointed by the waiter, the uniformed policeman had just overturned the stall that had just arrived. A dirty and immature hand picked up the straw hat that had fallen off the ground and put it on his head.

I was running and jumping along the street in a happy mood. I accidentally bumped into a neatly dressed middle-aged man in a long coat. The middle-aged man cursed angrily: "You don't have eyesight when you walk? You little beggar!"

Ignoring the stern-looking middle-aged man, the little beggar ran and came to a grass target filled with crystal-clear candied haws. The little beggar drooled with greed.

The short man selling candied haws hurriedly shouted: "Go, go, go!"

The little beggar said with a playful smile: "You can't sell it anyway, so you might as well give me a taste."

"Little Chi! Even if I feed the dog, I won't give it to you!"

The short man was about to fight, but the little beggar ran away quickly, and then went to the chess stall nearby.

A gentle, gentle young man wearing a half-worn robe was sitting in front of a short stool and thinking hard in front of the chessboard. The little beggar looked at the black and white game on the chessboard in confusion and started pointing.

The scene came to an abrupt end here. After about two minutes of plot, Chen Huaikai said: "The live sound recording effect is not good. It is better to add some shouting and voice-over to this part, which is the introduction of the current situation in your novel."

Lin Chaoyang nodded and said nothing. Chen Huaikai asked, "How do you feel?"

"Among other things, the long shot in the opening scene was well planned, capturing the difficult livelihood of the people and the turmoil of the current situation behind the prosperity."

Listening to Lin Chaoyang's praise, Chen Huaikai looked a little proud, "In the entire film, except for the scene where Jiang Nansheng was shot dead at the end, this scene is the one I am most satisfied with."

When he said this, he said with a hint of showoff: "This shot was taken by your eldest nephew!"

Lin Chaoyang praised: "Old Chen, a tiger father has no dog sons!"

"Average, average." Chen Huaikai said modestly, but his smile could not be concealed at all.