Rebirth 2004: A lone figure in the literary world

Chapter 32 Sign it and you will be a millionaire!
Although Lu Jinbo completely gave up his identity as an "online writer" after publishing a work titled "Fenmo Xiechang" in 2002, he actually began to transform himself into serving a publishing company as early as 2000.

Thanks to his creative experience, Lu Jinbo pays special attention to the development of young writers. Annie Baby's earliest famous work, "Farewell Wei'an", was planned and published by him. At the same time, he is also one of Han Han's most trusted publishers. Before Han Han transformed into a film director, most of his important works were handed over to him for operation.

However, in 2004, he had not yet become the best-selling book planner and top bookseller who made every book he published become a hit. He was still the editor-in-chief of "Beirong Culture", and Han Han had not yet started to work closely with him.

But finding young writers and popular works has become Lu Jinbo’s most important work guideline.

Lu Jinbo suggested on the phone that if "Young Like You" was handed over to Beirong Culture for publication, it would not be calculated based on royalties, but a higher 10% royalty rate in the industry could be given, and the first print run would be no less than 20 copies.

Generally speaking, the royalties for writers of this era fluctuate between 6% and 12%, depending on sales prospects. Some top writers, such as the fairy tale king Zheng Yuanjie, can get 15%.

A few years later, in 2009, Han Han was reported to receive a 20% royalty, and was called "the second writer to enjoy this royalty since the advent of civilization, literature, and royalties on Earth (the first being Hu Shi)."

The 10% royalty for the famous Zhang Chao is indeed a very tempting figure for new literary talents. You know, when Han Han published his first novel "Sancongmen", he only received about 8% of the royalties.

However, after an in-depth discussion with Lu Jinbo, Zhang Chao declined his invitation. The reason was simple: Lu Jinbo not only wanted to sign his "Young Like You", but also wanted to sign all of Zhang Chao's works in the next two years.

Of course, there is a quantitative requirement, at least two works within two years, with a total word count of no less than 30 words.

But for Zhang Chao, this is undoubtedly a tight ring around his neck, and he thinks that although the 10% royalties are relatively high, it is still relatively low compared to the current popularity of the topic.

Lu Jinbo just had a keen sense of smell and took action earlier. There will definitely be other publishing houses that will approach him for negotiations later. There is no fear that he will not be able to negotiate a better deal by then.

After hanging up the phone with Lu Jinbo, Zhang Chao's winter vacation was over. Before the firecracker debris on the street was cleaned up, he set out on the journey back to school.

However, as soon as Zhang Chao returned to school, he was called to the guard room by the security guard.

Zhang Chao's scalp was numb when he saw the snakeskin bag full of letters from readers. It would be too conspicuous to take it back to the dormitory. Fortunately, he had a plan B. When Lan Ting came to school, she begged him to store the bag of letters in the radio station first.

In the radio station, under Lan Ting's "envious, jealous and hateful" gaze, he roughly counted the number of letters, which should be no less than 1000.

Lan Ting asked: "Will you reply to these letters?"

Zhang Chao pointed to his forehead and said, "Do you think I look like a fool? If I take this back, I won't be able to do anything else all day."

Lan Ting joked, "I read in the newspaper before that Zheng Yuanjie bought eight houses in Yanjing to store readers' letters. You can also learn from him."

Zhang Chao said, "When I get rich, I can have eighty, not just eight. Unfortunately, I don't even have an independent room right now - all the stuff in my house is piled up there."

Lan Ting said: "By the way, I've read your novel 'Youth Like You', it's really well written. How did you come up with this story? Is it, is it from our school..."

Zhang Chao hurriedly explained: "No! This article is purely fictional. Any similarities are purely coincidental!"

Lan Ting laughed and said, "I just want to ask you why you are so nervous. But the school bullying you wrote about is something I have actually experienced as well."

Zhang Chao asked curiously, "Who dares to bully you, Miss Lan?"

Lan Ting's eyes darkened, and after a while she said, "Before I was in the third grade of elementary school, I went to kindergarten and elementary school in the provincial government. The teachers there were very discerning, and my classmates followed suit. At that time, my dad was not doing well at work and had a lot of free time, so I was bullied by my classmates."

Then he smiled with relief and said, "But compared to Hu Xiaodie and Cheng Nian in your novel, my experience is just a drop in the bucket... I won't talk about it anymore."

Zhang Chao also tactfully did not ask any further questions.

Lan Ting then asked: "How many words do you plan to write in this novel?"

Zhang Chao replied, "The current plan is to have about 20 words. It could be longer or shorter, but it will be about this length." Lan Ting was surprised and said, "20 words! That's a novel. I thought it was a novella of or words. Are you going to publish such a long novel on the Internet?"

Zhang Chao said: "Of course I won't post everything online. I have a principle when writing, I don't do voluntary work!"

Lan Ting asked, "So you want to publish a book?"

Zhang Chao said: "Yes, in fact, before I came to school, a publishing house had already contacted me to discuss terms." Then he gave a brief account of what Lu Jinbo had done to him.

After listening to this, Lan Ting counted on her fingers and began to calculate:
"10% royalties, 20 first print... Now a 20-word novel is priced at at least 20 yuan, which means that the royalties for the first print alone are 40 yuan. And how could it be possible to sell only 20 copies? They must have reprinted. Han Han's "Three Congmen" is said to have sold 200 million copies. Even if you only sell half of it, there will be 100 million copies... That's 200 million yuan!
Oh my god, Zhang Chao, you will be a millionaire if you sign it!"

Zhang Chao was amused and said, "Unfortunately, I didn't agree. So now I'm still a pauper!"

Lan Ting asked: "Why don't you sign?"

Zhang Chao replied: "10% royalty is too low, and 20 first prints is too small. Moreover, he wants to sign all my works for the next two years under this condition. I think I am worth more than this price."

Lan Ting said: "You have ambition...but I believe in you!"

While chatting and laughing with Lan Ting, Zhang Chao began to open and read the letters.

He carefully searched through the pile of letters and picked out a particularly thick envelope, which felt like it contained two thousand dollars in cash.
Zhang Chao said: "Just take it apart. It's so thick, he must be a loyal fan of mine!"

Lan Ting was quick to snatch the envelope from his hand, tear open the seal, and said, "I'll take this one!" Then she took out a thick stack of...

Photo!

In each photo, it is the same young woman who has twisted her body into different "S" shapes, with a big face, almond-shaped eyes, long flowing hair, and jeans.

On top of the stack of photos was a thin piece of letter paper with a few lines of pretty words written on it. Zhang Chao saw that the situation was not good and wanted to snatch it back, but Lan Ting was very agile and jumped behind the table. While playing hide-and-seek with Zhang Chao around the table, she read out the contents:

"Dear Midnight Tide:

See Xinan.

Please allow me to take the liberty of calling you "dear". This seems a little too early for you and me. But since I read the three articles you wrote to me, I understand that in this world, you are the only one who understands me!
……

I know you are still too young and the love between us is not allowed by the world.

But I can wait for you. Until the end of time; until the seas run dry and the rocks crumble; until your shoulders are strong enough to withstand all the ups and downs for us.

……

love you

Sister Furong

At the end of the letter, there was a big red lip print.

In the radio station, Lan Ting burst into the most exaggerated and unladylike laughter of her life, startling Song Shiyu who had just arrived at the door.

(End of this chapter)