1978 Synthetic Writers

Chapter 369 His Notoriety Equals His Achievements
The two sat down on the sofa in the living room.

There is actually nothing else to discuss now, it’s still the issue of royalty rate.

“We are willing to offer 8%.”

Hamilton said, "The quality of 'Drifter' is well worth the price that the University of Iowa Press is offering."

"."

Jiang Xian said nothing, just looked at Hamilton quietly.

"Jiang." Hamilton put his hands together and leaned forward slightly. "This number is not small. You have to know that this is the United States. All the rules are different from your country. Don't think that our offer is low. You are enjoying the resources and promotion of our publishing house."

As a businessman, Hamilton naturally had to negotiate with the author on the issue of royalties.

The essence of negotiation is exploitation.

"The Drifter" is naturally a good work. Jiang Xian has just arrived in the United States, and Hamilton believes that he can squeeze out the maximum value from him.

There is nothing wrong with this. It doesn't matter whether the person is good or bad. This is business, and business matters require extreme meticulousness.

After saying that, Hamilton picked up the glass and took a sip of water.

He has worked in the publishing industry for so many years and has extensive experience in negotiating with authors. He is confident that he can negotiate a good price with Jiang Xian today.

"15%." Jiang Xian repeated.

"You still didn't listen to what I said." Hamilton looked at him regretfully.

"Of course I understand you, Mr. Hamilton. We authors only need to write novels, but your publishing house has a lot to consider, such as content compilation, review and proofreading, printing and production, distribution and sales."

"."

Jiang Xian was clearly speaking for them, but Hamilton felt very uncomfortable listening to him and thought he was being sarcastic.

"Jiang, don't be emotional. No publisher would give you such a high price."

Hamilton said, "I still say what I said, if we want a higher price, we need data and market research results."

“So there must be an investigation into my previous works?”

"Of course." Hamilton said with a smile, looking at Jiang Xian as if he was looking at prey about to fall into a trap.

"OK then."

Jiang Xian said very straightforwardly: "If you need data or market research, you can do it, but 15% is my requirement."

"Market research?"

Hamilton frowned. "Jiang, are you kidding me? You haven't published any works in the United States. How can we do market research?"

"Hamilton, since I said you can do the investigation, of course it's because I have published works." Jiang Xian chuckled.

"what?"

Hamilton raised his head with a puzzled look and looked at Jiang Xian, and saw that he looked serious and didn't seem to be joking.

"In America?"

“In the United States.”

"But our investigation shows that, okay, we'll investigate. What did you publish?"

“Two novels.”

"Where's the name?"

"Letter from an Unknown Woman, The Moon and Sixpence."

Hamilton had just picked up the glass to take a sip of water, but when he heard the names of these two works, his hand holding the glass dropped into the air.

"what?"

"Do you need me to repeat it again?"

"No, it's not."

Hamilton put down the cup in astonishment and looked at Jiang Xian with a look of shock and disbelief.

"how come?!"

"Did you write these two novels?"

Jiang Xian crossed his arms and said in an extremely confident tone: "Who else wrote it? You?"

"."

Hamilton stared at Jiang Xian with an incredible look for a long time, and his tone became excited.

"String!"

"Oh my god, American publishers are going crazy looking for you!"

Since their publication, the two novels "Letter from an Unknown Woman" and "The Moon and Sixpence" have quickly become popular across the United States and have been ranked in the top ten of the New York Daily News bestseller list for several months.

These two novels are really to the taste of Westerners!

Hamilton himself also has a special liking for these two novels, whether it is the plot, the style of the novels, or the unique tone of String. Even after reading these two novels countless times, he still can't put them down.

"No wonder! No wonder you can write a novel like 'The Drifter'!"

"Hamilton, I think we should get back to the topic." Jiang Xian said softly, with his hand on his chin.

"of course."

Hamilton calmed down and said, "Okay, let's do as you say. 15% royalties. In addition, we will come up with special specifications to treat String's novel."

"15% is enough, Hamilton. There is no need for special specifications. I hope that the pen name of this novel will still be Jiang Xian."

"why?"

Hamilton didn't understand, "string can drive the sales of novels, and this novel will perform better."

"Isn't the quality of "The Drifter" itself enough to support its popularity?" Jiang Xian said in a very confident tone.

"Hamilton, I was unknown in America before I wrote Letter from an Unknown Woman and The Moon and Sixpence, but those two novels became hits."

"But."

Hamilton tried to persuade Jiang Xian again, but it was completely in vain, so he had to compromise.

"Jiang, although I don't quite understand your idea, since this is your choice, we are willing to accept it. However, I want to say that the novel "Drifter" will still be published according to the highest standards of the University of Iowa Press. I assure you of this."

Everything was settled, and Jiang Xian couldn't help but sigh that he, a trumpet player, was considered a famous player in the United States.

As soon as he revealed this identity, Hamilton raised his royalty rate to 15% without hesitation.

In the next few days, Jiang Xian devoted himself to writing the work in his mind and preparing for the "Simulated Science Fiction and Reality" essay competition.

As before, the synthesized foreign manuscripts will be accompanied by translations in multiple languages.

In addition, because this is a science fiction novel that is originally about the future world, Jiang Xian basically does not need to make any adaptations. Writing something beyond the scope can also be said to be a prediction of future technology.

So this time, he copied the English manuscript directly, and one morning, he sent the finished manuscript out.

The plan from the University of Iowa Press was quickly approved. "Drifter" will be published at a royalty rate of 15%, with an initial print run of 21 copies and a price of $.

Based on the sales volume, Jiang Xian will earn more than 15 US dollars, and half of it will be paid in advance, which is more than 7 US dollars.

In addition, HarperCollins Publishing Group only paid Jiang Xian half of the royalties, and the other half has not been received.

If that money is also counted, Jiang Xian will instantly have a huge amount of assets worth more than 300,000 US dollars in his name, which is equivalent to 600,000 RMB in China. This amount of wealth can be considered a wealthy family even in the United States.

That day, Jiang Xian's family and Ru Zhijuan's mother and daughter were in the living room together, watching a 24-inch floor-standing remote-controlled color TV.

"There are so many varieties of American TV programs," Wang Anyi exclaimed.

There are many television programs in the United States now, with a wide variety of them, and China is still imitating them decades later.

The show on TV right now is called "Telling You the Truth". You have all seen "Cat and Mouse Game".

The show that Leo participated in at the beginning was this.

It's basically about the guests guessing the person they are looking for from among the three contestants.

It is worth mentioning that the movie is completely based on reality. The criminal played by Leonardo DiCaprio actually participated in this program as early as 77.

I have been in the United States for so long and have learned some basic English. With the help of Jiang Xian's translation, I can roughly understand it.

"Why don't we have such programs in our country?" Rao Yuemei couldn't help but ask.

“There will definitely be one in the future.”

Jiang Xian said, "There will be more and more variety in TV programs in the future. There will definitely be more and more variety in TV programs in the future."

"The future? You can know what will happen in the future." Zhu Lin looked up at him.

"Imagination, in America it's called science fiction."

Jiang Xian said, "I'm leaving for Iowa tomorrow."

"Where are you going?" Zhu Lin asked.

"New York."

"New York?"

Everyone in the room looked at him.

"What are you doing in New York? What's going on?"

Jiang Xian said calmly, "It's nothing. Hollywood knows about this, right? A production company took a fancy to my novel and wants to make it into a movie."

"Hollywood?!"

Everyone in the room exclaimed.

Even Comrade Rao Yuemei, who has a good family background and has been in the United States for so long, knows how famous Hollywood is.

Ru Zhijuan said admiringly: "Jiang Xian, you are amazing. You have only been in the United States for a short time, and even Hollywood has taken a fancy to you."

"I'm lucky. The situation hasn't even started yet. I'll discuss it with you guys once we've settled the matter."

Soon the next day, Jiang Xian packed his luggage, and under the admiring gazes of everyone in the room, he and Edwin's car headed to the airport and boarded a plane to New York.

The plane landed in the famous Queens. For Jiang Xian, the first person he thought of when mentioning Queens was Peter Parker.

By the way, superheroes like Peter Parker have already been created and are already household names in the United States.

"River!"

As soon as he got out of the airport, Jiang Xian saw Smith from HarperCollins, who was holding a sign and greeting him enthusiastically.

"Long time no see, Smith."

"haven't seen you for a long time."

The two greeted each other.

"I thought only the movie people would come, but I didn't expect you to come pick me up in person. Thank you for your hard work."

"I should have come here. I don't know how to thank you, man."

Smith smiled and said, "Your two novels are already popular enough. Thanks to your reminder, I signed Stephen King's "Four Seasons", which is now a hot novel."

"It's just a small reminder. I believe that even if I don't tell you, you won't miss meeting him."

"Who knows what has never happened?"

After a brief exchange of greetings, Smith brought Jiang Xian to a beautiful Lincoln car.

Lincoln cars are quite classic in the United States, with black paint, extra-long body, and theater-style windows, giving you the feeling of an American gangster in every minute.

"This is the car they're coming to pick you up in," Smith said.

The popularity of the novel will definitely attract film producers.

The film producer contacted Jiang Xian through Smith.

Jiang Xian didn't know much about them. He only knew that the company was called Miramax, an independent film producer with a high reputation in Hollywood and the film industry.

Jiang Xian sat in the back seat and shook hands and greeted several people in the car.

"Your novel is truly outstanding. I have read it countless times!"

“Yes, it’s a classic.”

"You're welcome."

After a few pleasantries, the car started slowly.

The people in the car took this opportunity to proudly introduce their film company to Jiang Xian.

Miramax was established in the 70s and initially only produced small-budget films, but it soon achieved unprecedented success and made remarkable achievements in the field of independent film production, making independent film production a trend in Hollywood and even the world film industry.

Jiang Xian listened quietly and felt that their film company sounded a little familiar, but he couldn't quite remember it.

As the car drove through New York City, Jiang Xian couldn't help but marvel at the prosperity of the city. It really didn't seem like the same era as China.

The car stopped at the entrance of a magnificent hotel. Jiang Xian followed the Miramax people into the elevator and came to the door of a room. He knocked a few times and the door was soon opened. Inside was a white man in his thirties, who was a little plump.

"String! Welcome!" As soon as they met, he opened his arms enthusiastically to hug Jiang Xian, "Hello, I am the founder of Miramax, my name is Weinstein."

"."

Jiang Xian instantly understood why he felt that Miramax sounded familiar.

Weinstein?

He was so familiar.

This guy is a famous Hollywood tycoon, nicknamed "Hand of Caesar".

During his career, he produced more than 300 Oscar-nominated films and won more than 70 Oscars.

This guy has very sharp eyes.

When Tornatore was facing setbacks with Cinema Paradiso, he took a fancy to this movie.

When Quentin tried his best to get investment with his story, he took a fancy to the story and later made it into "Pulp Fiction".

He has produced many great movies: Pulp Fiction, The English Patient, The Lord of the Rings, Good Will Hunting.
He also pays close attention to the Eastern market.

Weinstein is a person who particularly likes Chinese movies.

He is an absolute Kung Fu fan and has acquired the North American distribution rights for many films by Jet Li, Chow Yun-fat, and Jackie Chan.

It also released the acclaimed Chinese film "Ju Dou", and single-handedly pushed Zhang Yimou's "Hero" to the top of the North American movie box office weekly.

Stephen Chow's Shaolin Soccer was not even released in mainland China, but Weinstein bought the global distribution rights (except Hong Kong) directly after watching the film for the first time.

In that era, if Chinese films were to go global, it seemed that his name had to be mentioned.

He sounds like a great man, like a "savior".

But the truth is this guy is a jerk.

Feng Xiaogang once angrily called this guy a liar and said that all Chinese producers had been badly cheated by him.

Later, it was revealed that he had sexual relations with many Hollywood beauties, shocking the world.

All in all, this guy has a bad reputation.

His notoriety, as well as his achievements, spread throughout Hollywood.

(End of this chapter)