Back to 1997, I became the originator of online literature

Chapter 119 I Want a Share This Time!

Cao Sheng took Chang Qingshu for a stroll around the old street. At first, Chang Qingshu looked at the shops and goods on the street with great interest. For him, who was visiting this street for the first time, this old street was quaint and full of all kinds of novelties, and it was very distinctive.

But after the novelty wore off, he no longer had the heart to continue strolling around. He wanted to quickly find a suitable place to talk, to persuade Cao Sheng to continue writing "I Want to Become an Immortal" and to ask about the status of Cao Sheng's new book.

So, after walking around for a while, he said that he was not in good health and was a little tired, and hoped to find a quiet place to sit down.

Not feeling well?
Cao Sheng looked at his tall stature and thought the joke was a bit funny.

However, since Chang Qingshu said that he was not feeling well and wanted to find a place to sit down, he naturally could not refuse.

I took Changqingshu through an alley, out of the old street, and came to Binjiang Road not far away.

This road is bordered by Xin'an River on one side and shops on the other.

The scenery along the river is beautiful and the air is fresh, so there are many teahouses, hotels and restaurants on the roadside where guests can enjoy the scenery outside the window while spending money.

Cao Sheng led Chang Qingshu into a two-story teahouse.

This teahouse is decorated in an antique style.

They ordered a pot of high mountain cloud tea, and the two of them chatted while drinking tea and admiring the scenery outside the window.

After chatting for a few words, Chang Qingshu began to persuade Cao Sheng not to finish "I Want to Become an Immortal" so quickly.

But Cao Sheng had made up his mind and refused to give in.

Evergreen didn't understand the urgency in his heart.

In Chang Qingshu's opinion, the current sales and reputation of "I Want to Become an Immortal" are so good that he can continue writing it for another half a year or a year.

It’s all money when it’s written.

But Cao Sheng knew the development history of online literature in the original time and space. He knew that after 2002, with the establishment of Qidian, the number of people writing online literature would increase rapidly, and then among these people, a group of outstanding people would quickly emerge, and these people would become the first batch of great gods in the online literature circle.

Almost all of these great gods are very young, very energetic, have strong learning abilities, and progress very quickly. Their creative inspiration and passion are stronger than each other, and they will soon reach their respective peaks. As long as any work becomes popular, they will quickly learn its strengths and then innovate. It is difficult for people who have not experienced this era to imagine how terrifying these great gods are.

And now it is 1999.

There is really not much time left for him to write various new topics first.

The sense of urgency in his heart made him unwilling to spend his precious time on endlessly writing the book "I Want to Become an Immortal" just to earn more royalties.

Chang Qingshu tried to persuade Cao Sheng for more than half an hour, but seeing that he could not persuade him, he could not help but sigh and felt a little discouraged.

The look he gave Cao Sheng was also helpless.

I think young people are just stubborn and hard to persuade! Or they are just too young! They can obviously make money but they just don’t make it, which is simply unreasonable.

Chang Qingshu lowered his head, picked up the teacup, took two sips of tea, forced a smile, and began to ask about Cao Sheng's new book.

"Brother! Since you are determined to finish "I Want to Become an Immortal" this month, then... do you have an idea for the next book? In other words, have you already written the beginning of the next book?"

Hearing this, Cao Sheng nodded, then shook his head, "I have an idea, but I haven't started writing yet."

I've just written the outline and detailed outline.

Chang Qingshu's eyes lit up, and he leaned forward subconsciously, and asked quickly: "Oh? What are you going to write about in your new book? Can you tell me the general idea? What is the title of the book? Have you decided on it?"

Cao Sheng did not hide the title. "The title is 'Shen Mu', which means 'god' in Chinese and 'mu' in Chinese. The specific idea is hard to explain in a few words. You can think of it as a sequel to 'I Want to Become an Immortal'! The worlds of the two books are on the same timeline, but the characters in the two books are not the same people. You can think of it as the relationship between 'Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils' and 'The Return of the Condor Heroes'."

Is there any connection between "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils" and "The Return of the Condor Heroes"?

Anyone who has read these two books or watched the TV series knows that there is not much connection between the characters in these two books, but some of the martial arts sects and martial arts in these two books are related.

For example: Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms and One Finger Zen are both in these two books.

For example, martial arts sects such as Shaolin and Wudang also exist in these two books.

Cao Sheng was inclined to continue cooperating with Xinchang.

Therefore, he was willing to reveal some information about the new book to Evergreen.

Saying that the new book is a sequel to "I Want to Become an Immortal" is also for the purpose of asking for higher royalties.

This is to give Xinchang confidence.

A new book that has nothing to do with "I Want to Become a Fairy" and the sequel to "I Want to Become a Fairy" will definitely give the publishing house different confidence.

But when he said this, suspicion appeared in Changqingshu's eyes.

He seriously suspected that Cao Sheng was repeating his old tricks and wanted to use his last outrageous move to force them to increase his royalties.

He couldn't help but doubt it.

After all, Cao Sheng had a previous record of this.

Last time, I submitted the manuscript of the tenth episode to them as the first episode of the sequel. If Cao Sheng could do it the first time, he could naturally do it the second time.

What puzzled him was - since it was for the purpose of increasing his royalties, then... I had just advised him for so long not to finish "I Want to Become an Immortal", and I had already told him that he could ask for any conditions and his royalties could be increased, so why did he keep refusing?

Is it because his appetite this time is much bigger than last time?

"Are you sure the characters in these two books are not the same group?"

To confirm his guess, he asked Cao Sheng for confirmation.

Cao Sheng nodded.

Evergreen frowned.

I thought: Did I guess wrong?
Is this really the case with "The Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils" and "The Return of the Condor Heroes"? Are they different stories that happened in the same world at different points in time?
"Have you written the outline? Can you show it to me?"

he asks.

Cao Sheng shook his head. "I'm not in the habit of writing an outline. Sorry. I'll write the first few tens of thousands of words before sending it to you for review!"

He never had the habit of showing his outlines to anyone.

I won’t give it to anyone who wants it.

Because once that thing gets into the hands of other people, they can modify some of the settings in the outline and immediately use it to write another work that looks different but actually has the same core.

How could he show something like this to others?

Especially the outline of "God's Tomb" he wrote this time, which took him several months to write and was revised N times, and it has become very detailed.

If such an outline were to be circulated, anyone with a little writing ability could create a work based on it.

"You don't have the habit of writing an outline? Don't you?"

Evergreen couldn't believe it.

How could a work like "I Want to Become an Immortal" with such high reputation and sales be written without an outline?
Cao Sheng nodded. "Well, I'm not a professional author. I'm a self-taught writer. I never wrote an outline from the beginning."

Evergreen: “???”

This road is really wild!

Chang Qingshu was speechless for a moment. After a moment of silence, he smiled and asked, "When can you write the first tens of thousands of words?"

Cao Sheng: "I will start writing after I finish writing I Want to Become an Immortal. I will probably start next month."

Evergreen raised his right hand and pressed his temple with his thumb.

He felt like he had a headache.

He encountered the situation he was most worried about before coming to Huizhou this time.

The new book has no outline or beginning, just a title. It will take some time before the beginning is written. However, people from competitors such as Hetu, Gaia, and Adventurer will soon come to the mainland to ask Cao Sheng to write for them.

In this case, he, Evergreen, had to take risks.

Without knowing the quality of Cao Sheng's new book, they took the risk of offering a high price in order to sign Cao Sheng's new book before people from other publishing houses found Cao Sheng.

Some people might think: What kind of risk is this? The sales of "I Want to Become a Fairy" were so good that Xinchang must have made a lot of money. Now give Cao Sheng's new book a high price. Even if the book doesn't sell well in the end and the publisher loses some money, "I Want to Become a Fairy" made the publisher so much money before. If the income from the two books is combined, what's the loss?
but……

Publishers don’t think that way.

Other commercial companies would not calculate accounts in this way.

Everything should be treated separately.

No one is willing to give up the profits that have already been earned.

Everyone just wants to make more money on new projects. Making less money or no money is unacceptable, let alone making a loss?

"Brother! How about this? I believe in your ability. Although your next book currently only has a title and no outline or text, I will help you apply to the company and sign your new book according to the current remuneration standard of "I Want to Become an Immortal". What do you think?"

After a moment of silence, Chang Qingshu stated this condition with a smile.

He felt that this condition was very sincere.

"I Want to Become an Immortal" currently costs 10,000 RMB per episode, which is already a very high price.

However, Cao Sheng’s new book currently only has a title.

In this case, if I give him the same remuneration for his new book as for "I Want to Become an Immortal", isn't this sincerity?

Cao Sheng laughed.

He shook his head repeatedly, "Sorry! I can't agree to such conditions."

Not only did his previous book not fail, its sales and reputation were also very good.

Now that he has published a new book, according to market practice, his royalties must increase.

Evergreen frowned and smiled bitterly.

He could understand Cao Sheng's refusal.

But he hoped Cao Sheng could understand him, "Brother! Your new book only has a title now. I am very sincere in helping you apply for such a contract from the headquarters. If you already have an outline or text, I can definitely help you apply for a better contract, but you don't have one now, right?"

Cao Sheng smiled, "Then wait until I have a start, then we can talk! Anyway, it's still early, no rush!"

Evergreen: You are not in a hurry, but people from other publishing houses are about to come to you.

Of course he didn't dare to tell the truth.

I was afraid that after Cao Sheng heard this, he would raise the price even more.

"I also think we should talk about it after you write the beginning, but the task given to me by the headquarters this time is to make sure I sign the contract for your next book, so, brother! Just give me a favor and help me complete this task assigned to me by the headquarters. How about you tell me how much you want for the royalties? Just tell me a number and I'll help you apply for it with the headquarters, is that okay?"

Cao Sheng looked at Chang Qingshu, who seemed very sincere, squinted his eyes, pondered for a moment, and smiled: "I don't want to take a fixed remuneration this time, I want a share of the royalties."

"what?"

Evergreen's face changed.

(End of this chapter)