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Chapter 120 I want to set this precedent, Hetu takes action

"You want a share of royalties? No! We don't have such a precedent over there!"

Evergreen frowned and rejected it.

Cao Sheng was not surprised.

When he wanted to increase his royalties from 4,000 to 10,000, Chang Qingshu responded to him in the same way.

What's more, his appetite is even bigger this time. He wants a share of the royalties?
Fixed remuneration is preferred by authors who are unsure about the sales of their works, while authors who are confident about the sales of their works hope to get a share of the profits.

Instead of only getting a fixed fee regardless of sales.

He has tasted the sweetness of royalties. He received royalties from the works he published in the mainland.

For example: "Living with a Flight Attendant" has a total word count of only 28 words, but he has already received hundreds of thousands of advance royalties. It should be noted that the advance royalties are less than the actual royalties.

Once the final actual sales volume comes out, the publishing house will have to compensate him for the difference.

In comparison, the traditional Chinese version of "I Want to Become an Immortal" has been published to the 26th episode, so how much royalties did Xinchang pay him?

Previously it was 4,000 yuan per episode.

It was only from the tenth episode that the price increased to 10,000 yuan per episode.

The total amount is less than 210,000.

But 26 episodes have almost 170 million words.

If "I Want to Become an Immortal" was not also published in simplified Chinese, and the simplified Chinese version had not also received royalties, then the money he earned from writing such a long book would not be far less than that from "Living with a Flight Attendant", which only has 28 words.

Therefore, when Cao Sheng published his new book in traditional Chinese, he also wanted to get a share of the royalties, and he was determined to get it.

So, facing Chang Qing Shu's rejection, Cao Sheng smiled and said, "It's okay! Since your company doesn't have such a precedent, I will ask other publishing houses. Maybe if I'm lucky, a publishing house will be willing to give me a share of the royalties! Right?"

Chang Qingshu frowned slightly, "This is the rule in our publishing house. There is no precedent for this!"

Cao Sheng smiled, "Really? I don't believe it."

Chang Qingshu nodded, "It's true! For example, Gu Long used to receive a fixed royalty. When you read Gu Long's works before, did you find that many of his works were laid out in a way that each sentence was replaced by another line? Do you know why it was laid out like this?"

Before Cao Sheng could answer, Chang Qingshu answered his own question, "It was because Gu Long's works were charged by line, and each line was charged a certain amount of money. So, in order to get more royalties, Gu Long often changed a line for every sentence he wrote, or even changed a line for every modal particle he wrote. Of course, he was very famous at that time, had many readers, and his works sold very well, so the publishing house didn't dare to argue with him about this. Gu Long wrote this way, and the publishing house published this way. In fact, it was not only Gu Long who did this. Most writers at that time calculated their royalties by line or by word count."

Cao Sheng nodded.

He had heard about this.

But he doesn't believe that all works published in Taiwan have fixed royalties.

Even though all the works published there receive a fixed remuneration, this time he wants to try to find a publishing house that dares to break the convention and give him a share of the profits.

Just like Wang Shuo back then, he broke the mainland's way of settling royalties and was the first to demand a share of royalties.

The fixed remuneration model in the mainland can be broken and changed into royalty sharing, so why can't it be done in Taiwan?
Cao Sheng felt that he was now qualified to make such a request.

His confidence comes from his own book review section.

In the book review section of "I Want to Become an Immortal" serialized in Under the Banyan Tree, there are often Taiwanese book fans who speak in traditional Chinese characters.

He has seen more than once in the book review section that Taiwanese book fans say that "I Want to Become an Immortal" is very popular in Taiwan and has been at the top of the sales list for a long time.

Yuan Shao in Romance of the Three Kingdoms once said: The affairs of the world depend on the emperor and his loyal ministers.

Cao Sheng believes that the various rules of the publishing industry apply to both publishing houses and top-selling authors.

Today, his book "I Want to Become an Immortal" has been the sales champion in Taiwan for a long time, and he feels that he is qualified to talk to the publishing house about the method of settling royalties.

The publishing house can no longer have the final say unilaterally.

Chang Qingshu saw Cao Sheng nod, so he smiled and said, "So, brother! How much do you want the remuneration for your new book to increase? Just tell me the number and I'll help you apply to the headquarters. As for the royalty sharing, don't talk about it. There's really no precedent for this."

Cao Sheng chuckled and said, "I want to set this precedent."

Chang Qingshu's smile froze on his face, and he looked at Cao Sheng in disbelief. He wondered if he had heard it wrongly. Cao Sheng's tone was so calm and his smile was so warm, how could he say such arrogant words?
Do you want to set this precedent?
Why do you set this precedent?

When this thought flashed through his mind, he suddenly remembered the sales of "I Want to Become an Immortal" in Taiwan, and then he was unable to say anything to refute it.

He suddenly felt that with the sales of "I Want to Become an Immortal", if Cao Sheng insisted on sharing the royalties this time, even if Xinchang did not agree to this condition, other publishing houses might be willing to agree.

He suddenly became less worried about the quality of Cao Sheng's new book.

Because he felt Cao Sheng's confidence in the new book from Cao Sheng's words.

If Cao Sheng didn't have enough confidence, would he have the confidence to say such domineering words?
——I want to set this precedent...

How many authors dare to say this to a publisher?
Evergreen's expression calmed down.

He smiled slightly and nodded to Cao Sheng, "Okay! Since you insist on sharing the royalties, please wait for me for two days. I will report your request to the headquarters as soon as possible. When the headquarters makes a decision, I will inform you as soon as possible."

Cao Sheng nodded and raised his teacup, "Thank you very much!"

Chang Qingshu toasted with him with mixed feelings. He was no longer confident that he could get the contract for Cao Sheng's new book.

Because he knew that there would definitely be many people within the company who would oppose giving Cao Sheng a share of the royalties.

This is more than just breaking convention.

The key point is: if Cao Sheng’s new book sells well, then their publishing house will have to pay Cao Sheng a lot more fees.

It is possible that the amount could be multiplied several times or even dozens of times.

This is tantamount to stealing the meat from their bowls.

There will definitely be many people who are reluctant to give up.

After talking about the new book, Cao Sheng saw that it was already past 10 o'clock, so he suggested going out for a walk. This time, Chang Qingshu did not say that he was in poor health and could not walk.

When it was almost 11 o'clock, Cao Sheng took Chang Qingshu into a restaurant to show his hospitality.

But Chang Qingshu took the opportunity to go to the toilet and paid for the meal first.

He didn't dare let Cao Sheng treat him as he hadn't yet signed the contract for Cao Sheng's new book.

What's more, he doesn't need to pay for the meal out of his own pocket. He can ask the headquarters for reimbursement later.

……

Cao Sheng and Chang Qingshu were eating and drinking in a restaurant.

A passenger plane lands at Shanghai Airport.

Kang Yuming, a man of medium build, with gray hair on his temples and about 40 years old, walked down the gangway accompanied by a tall and long-legged male assistant.

They are the representatives of Hetu coming to the mainland.

Their mission on this trip was to come to the mainland to collect manuscripts and try to sign Zhongyuan Yidianhui's new book.

In the future, they will also be stationed in the mainland and establish Hetu’s office in the mainland.

As a publishing house, they need a large number of manuscripts from high-quality authors.

The authors in Taiwan are not only few in number but also have varying levels of skill, and their royalties are high.

Because the prices and living expenses in Taiwan are much higher than in the mainland.

In comparison, the mainland's population is many times larger than Taiwan's.

As the population increases, the number of authors who can write excellent works will naturally increase.

Moreover, the living standard here is low, and the average salary is also low. The remuneration of two to three thousand RMB per episode is considered too low for Taiwanese authors, even third-rate authors would think it is too low.

But if it is given to mainland authors, they will be very surprised and then work hard to write without their editors urging them to submit.

Let me ask: Which publishing house doesn’t like such an author?

In addition, Xinchang's performance in accepting manuscripts in the mainland over the past year, especially the book "I Want to Become an Immortal", which has been at the top of the sales list for a long time, has been tempting many publishing houses including Hetu.

It just so happened that the plan recently reported by the Adventurer to come to the mainland to collect manuscripts and poach Zhongyuan Yidianhui finally prompted Hetu and other publishing houses to make up their minds to follow Xinchang's example and set up offices in the mainland to collect manuscripts on a long-term basis.

Before Kang Yuming and his assistant walked out of the airport corridor, they saw someone holding a sign with the words "Hetu" written on it in the distance.

The assistant pointed over there, "Boss Kang, over there! It should be someone sent by Banyan Tree to pick us up."

Kang Yuming nodded and walked over with a smile on his face.

The person who picked us up at the airport was indeed sent by Banyan Tree.

After the two sides met and exchanged brief greetings, they left the airport and got into the car sent by the banyan tree. The car drove out of the airport and headed straight for the banyan tree.

When they arrived, Zhu William, the owner of Under the Banyan Tree, showed up in person to entertain Kang Yuming and his friends.

Kang Yuming and his friends were soon taken to a nearby hotel and hosted a banquet.

During the dinner, William Zhu asked with a smile: "Mr. Kang, you said in your email that Hetu is going to set up an office in Shanghai and is interested in long-term cooperation with us?"

Kang Yuming nodded with a smile, "Yes! Although I have always been in Taiwan and have never been to the mainland, I still often visit some websites in the mainland, such as your website. I recently noticed that your website has changed its website page and the type of works it focuses on. It should be determined to focus on long serial novels, right?"

Zhu William nodded, "Yes! You are absolutely right."

Kang Yuming smiled, "Very good! If that's the case, we can indeed cooperate for a long time. Your website cultivates excellent authors and works, and we at Hetu give these works the opportunity to be published in Baodao. I wonder if Mr. Zhu is willing to cooperate with us for a long time?"

Zhu William was very surprised and quickly stood up and raised his glass, "Of course I am willing! This is a win-win situation! Come on! Mr. Kang, I'll toast you and wish you a happy cooperation!"

Kang Yuming also stood up, raised his glass with a smile, and after clinking glasses, they each drank it all in one gulp.

After both parties sat down again, Kang Yuming said with a smile: "Mr. Zhu, I know that Zhongyuan Yidianhui has been serializing his works on your website. I believe that your website has a good relationship with him and should have his contact information. We want to sign the traditional Chinese publishing rights of his new work. If your website can help us facilitate this, I can promise that after we sign Zhongyuan Yidianhui's new work, within one month, we will select at least five works from your website to sign, and then take them to our Baodao for publication. I wonder if Mr. Zhu is willing to help?"

(End of this chapter)