After the college entrance exam, he began to become a male god of extraction.

Xu Qin replied to the other party: "Hello."

"If I were to sell the exclusive simplified Chinese publishing rights to 'The First Year of the New City' to your publishing house, how much royalty would you be willing to pay me?"

Xu Qin got straight to the point.

Authors receive royalties when they publish their works with publishing houses.

New authors and regular authors receive 6% to 8%.

Authors with best-selling works can receive 8% to 10%.

Top writers, 12% to 15%, or even higher.

However, the royalties here are not profit sharing.

For example, if Xu Qin's book is priced at 100 yuan per copy and sells 10000 copies, and he takes the royalty rate for new authors, calculated at the minimum of 6%, then it would be 100 × 10,000 × 6%, which equals 60,000 yuan.

A few minutes later, Zheng Fanghong replied:

"Young Master Xu, what do you think of 15%?"

15%?

This is a privilege usually reserved for top-tier writers.

[At this point, I hope readers will remember our domain name 12199.99]

When Xu Qin saw this number, his first reaction wasn't excitement, but rather, as before: Is this number for real?

It's like someone telling you that you only have a junior high school education, and then someone tells you that there's a job abroad that can make you 100,000 a month, allowing you to easily own luxury cars and be with a rich and beautiful woman.

At this point, anyone with a modicum of logical thinking would know it's unreliable, because your educational level simply doesn't justify such a high salary.

So Xu Qin checked out this Tianhuo Publishing House to see if it was legitimate.

Upon investigation, it was discovered that Tianhuo Publishing House does exist, but this publishing house has gone from being a mid-to-upper-tier publishing house to now suffering losses year after year and barely surviving.

Moreover, the other party offered 60 for exclusive publishing rights. What will happen to my publishing rights if the publishing house goes bankrupt?

A few minutes later.

Zheng Fanghong's message: "Young Master Xu, what do you think?"

Xu Qin: "Mr. Zheng, I have looked into your publishing house, and the situation doesn't seem very good. For example, it is operating at a loss. Therefore, I have reservations about the future of your publishing house."

Zheng Fanghong: "Mr. Xu, this is indeed a situation at our publishing house. (Sighs helplessly)"

Tianhuo Publishing House was indeed doing quite well. It had climbed from a small publishing house to the middle and upper ranks, and at that time it had more than a dozen talented contracted writers.

However, in the past few years, the contracted writers were poached by a large publishing house at high prices, which interrupted their upward momentum. Later, they suffered losses year after year because they could not buy good works.

The phenomenon of big fish eating small fish is no exception in the publishing industry. Large publishing houses have almost monopolized the publishing landscape of the entire industry, making it difficult for small publishing houses to survive. Only a small number of publishing houses can keep to themselves and thrive.

However, Zheng Fanghong did not try to elicit sympathy from Xu Qin.

Zheng Fanghong said, "Young Master Xu, if you want to acquire the exclusive simplified Chinese publishing rights to your book, what conditions would you like? Perhaps I can provide them."

Zheng Fanghong is very optimistic about Xu Qin's book. He feels that whether his publishing house can survive may depend on this book.

Based on his twenty years of experience in the publishing industry, Zheng Fanghong knew that he had found a gem in the rough.

This rough gem has yet to be discovered by major publishing houses, or at least it hasn't been acquired.

Therefore, Zheng Fanghong was unwilling to give up this opportunity; he wanted to take one last gamble.

Otherwise, his publishing house might not survive this year. Investors are now preparing to withdraw, and Zheng Fanghong doesn't have much time left.

Xu Qin thought for a moment and replied, "Eight hundred thousand, plus the royalties you originally mentioned, but it's only for a one-year trial period with your publishing house. After a year, we'll see how the sales go and decide whether to renew the contract."

Xu Qin: "Mr. Zheng can consider it."

Xu Qin didn't expect the other party to agree. He had added 200,000 yuan in one go and only wanted the book to be published by the other party's publishing house for one year. The conditions he proposed could be described as harsh.

But Xu Qin didn't expect that half a minute later, Zheng Fanghong's message came: "Okay!"

Eh?

So decisive?

I should have said one million, to round it up.

Of course, this was just Xu Qin's thought; raising prices arbitrarily is not a virtue.

Zheng Fanghong: "Mr. Xu, are you free tomorrow?"

"have."

"Young Master Xu, shall we meet in person tomorrow?"

"Mr. Zheng, are you in Xincheng? I'm not going to Xincheng."

Tianhuo Publishing House is a publishing house in Xincheng, which is quite far from here.

"Young Master Xu, I can set off for your location. Just give me an address."

Xu Qin then sent the other party an address in a town.

"No rush, right? I'm still in town."

"Young Master Xu, are you sure this is the address?"

"Yes, this address."

"Young Master Xu, shall I head over now? Is that convenient?"

Are you really coming over?

"It's convenient," Xu Qin replied.

With a publishing right costing 800,000 yuan and a 15% royalty, Xu Qin felt it was definitely worth a try.

Putting everything else aside, 800,000 is an astronomical figure for Xu Qin right now.

Moreover, I was only granting them a one-year exclusive simplified Chinese publishing and distribution right.

So no matter what, Xu Qin won't lose out.

Finally, there's the personal factor. This Zheng Fanghong seems quite sincere; we'll just have to see how his character is when we meet him in person.

This is Xu Qin's first time interacting with people from the real world. He prefers to cooperate with reliable people rather than seasoned veterans, otherwise he won't even know if he's being taken advantage of.

"Young Master Xu, see you tomorrow!"

In fact, Xu Qin underestimated the other party's determination.

He didn't realize that for a middle-aged man with elderly parents, young children, and a wife, his career was a matter of his life's work and family.

After talking with Zheng Fanghong, Xu Qin continued to upload new chapters as always.

At this point, the total number of words uploaded to "New City Year One" exceeded 300,000, with just over 40,000 words remaining to finish.

Xu Qin plans to upload everything tomorrow, thus officially concluding the first part.

As for the second part, I'll write it next month, or maybe after school starts.

He uploaded it at noon and then ignored it.

Little did he know that a famous writer on the science fiction channel had discovered his book.

As the ancients said, "A fine horse is easy to find, but a discerning eye is rare."

The talent of a county is enough to govern a country; capable people are everywhere, but those who can recognize your talent are few and far between.

The ancients also said, "First is fate, second is luck, third is feng shui, fourth is accumulating good deeds, and fifth is studying."

Luck and good fortune are ranked second, which shows their importance.

Xu Qin's luck has arrived.

The renowned author, writing under the pen name Li Daoran, posted an article titled: "Soaring like an eagle in its youth, ink dances like dragons on paper! This book has grand ambitions, so why is it not gaining popularity?"

Li Daoran gave a comprehensive evaluation of Xu Qin's book, praising its science fiction elements, storytelling, writing style, character development, and core themes, ultimately awarding it an 8.1 rating. He also said he would give it another evaluation after the finale is released.

8 points is already very high; it's an excellent work.

A score of 9 or higher is considered a masterpiece, which is rare even on this forum. Even great writers don't often produce masterpieces that score 9.

Even a great writer might only produce one book in their entire life.

Li Daoran is a big writer on this forum, attracting a large following.

"Since it was Li Daoran who recommended it, I have no choice but to go and take a look."

"Is Li Daoran's evaluation too high? Is it somewhat subjective? Does this newcomer have the potential to become a literary giant?"

"I was saying that someone has finally discovered this gem of a work! The author didn't sign a contract with the forum, so he hasn't had much traffic all this time. He's been hiding his talent, but even so, he now has over 300,000 people who have added it to their collections. I always said his writing is good; he just hadn't had the chance to shine yet!"

"I've been following this book closely. The author is truly talented. Li Daoran is right; Xu Gongzi certainly has a grand vision. On the surface, it's hard science fiction, but at its core, it's about national righteousness, family, country, and the world, yet it's different from others."

"What I find terrifying is that in 300,000 words, he has created more than 20 vividly portrayed characters! Moreover, his writing is exceptionally concise, able to explain a whole story in just a few words, and this style becomes even more apparent as he progresses; he is constantly improving!"

……

That evening, Xu Qin learned that Li Daoran had recommended his book, and it was Xia Qingyun who told him.

"Xu Qin, your book has been recommended by a famous author!"

"What was recommended by a great writer?"

Xu Qin was puzzled. After updating his game today, he went to play with the children in the village and chatted with his grandfather while watching the moon and stars in the evening.

Xia Qingjun sent over a screenshot, and Xu Qin suddenly realized what was going on.

When he logged into the forum, he found that the number of favorites for "New City Year One" had increased by more than 40,000 in less than ten hours.

It's a pity it wasn't paid, otherwise Xu Qin might have made a fortune.

Xia Qingyun said, "Xu Qin, you might be about to become famous!"

"This is nothing!"

"By the way, about the beauty mark under my eye, I have something to tell you. If nothing unexpected happens, I'm going to sell the copyright tomorrow."

Xu Qin briefly explained the situation to the other party.

"Eight hundred thousand for a publishing right?"

Xia Qingyun was quite surprised.

Xia Qingyun comes from a well-off family; her father is at least a department-level official. However, their economic situation cannot be described as very good.

Because Lao Xia didn't dare to embezzle.

Eight hundred thousand, that's a huge sum of money.

"right."

"Xu Qin, you've succeeded! You're going to become a great writer!"

"It's far from good enough, but I will continue to work hard."

"Keep going! I believe that day isn't far off!"

The next morning, Xu Qin met Zheng Fanghong in town.

Zheng Fanghong was a 45-year-old middle-aged man with a small belly, dressed in a black suit, with a somewhat unkempt hairstyle, looking travel-worn.

Xu Qin was dressed in a short-sleeved shirt, shorts, and slippers, and was riding an old motorcycle borrowed from a relative. He looked a bit disheveled, but he was clearly different from Zheng Fanghong.

"Young Master Xu?"

Zheng Fanghong tried to confirm that although he knew Xu Qin was a soon-to-be college student, the current Xu Qin, while not exactly dashing and imposing, was certainly out of place in this town, making him seem different from everyone else.

"It's me!"

"Hello, Mr. Xu, it's a pleasure to meet you!"

"Just say 'you,' no need for 'you,' it's too formal."

The two shook hands.

"Haha, then I'll call you 'you'!"

"Mr. Zheng, let's find somewhere to talk!"

"it is good."

This town is not a wealthy town, so there are no upscale places, not even teahouses.

Finally, the two found a relatively clean and quiet milk tea shop and talked inside.

No one would have known that in this small, no-name milk tea shop in a rural town, the two were about to discuss a business deal starting at 800,000 yuan.