Hogwarts: I'm Harry's older cousin

Chapter 73, Section 72: The Witches and Poisons (Publisher)

The submission process is destined to be anything but smooth sailing. Even if you have a good manuscript, it's all in vain if no one is willing to publish it. A discerning mentor is rare, especially for a wizard like Teacher Jerry who currently has no reputation in the wizarding world.

The Prophet Publishing House explicitly rejected Dudley's request.

Prophet Publishing is a subsidiary of the Daily Prophet and is currently one of the leading large publishing houses in the European wizarding world.

Dudley wasn't surprised by this, after all, everything is difficult at the beginning.

Malfoy said he could contact his father, who, given his father's status in the wizarding world, would certainly be able to easily resolve such a problem.

Dudley politely declined, as he had never met Lucius and was unsure of his character. However, based on descriptions of Malfoy's personality and deeds, Dudley could roughly guess that Malfoy was someone he could befriend, but Lucius was not, unless Draco became the head of the family.

She is definitely not an easy person to get along with.

So he approached another person.

"Mr. Dursley, you mean you're planning to publish a book?"

Carlo was somewhat surprised that Dudley had come to find him.

"Yes, Your Excellency Carlo."

"I hope you can do me this small favor."

The Carroll family also owns another large publishing house, Witch & Poison Publishers, which is second only to Prophet Publishers. The novel by Lockhart was published by this publishing house, from which they made a fortune.

Even if you find me, if the quality isn't up to par...

Carlo stopped there and didn't continue.

He may be trying to be friendly, but when it comes to interests, he won't back down; after graduation, he's going to inherit the Carlo family business.

"You may take a look."

Dudley wasn't angry when he heard this, and gently pushed the completed manuscript to Carlo.

Carlo didn't pay much attention at first, just flipping through a few pages to appease Dudley, but he was deeply attracted after reading only a section of the story.

Dali wasn't in a hurry. He took a small sip of black tea, then popped a small piece of pastry into his mouth, and waited quietly for Carlo.

He's incredibly experienced in negotiating.

As time ticked by, Carlo's reading speed slowed down, and he read almost every passage repeatedly for a long time.

The world-building and vivid character descriptions of DND's Western fantasy novels are deeply captivating.

Fortunately, the manuscript was not very long, and Carlo finished reading it in no time.

"What happens next?"

Carlo's tone was impatient, and he asked Dali a question, clearly engrossed in the film.

"That's it." Dudley spread his hands. "I hadn't even gotten to that part yet."

"Lord Carlo, how is it?"

Carlo's expression turned serious: "The book is very good, but..."

After rambling on and on, it all boils down to two words: price reduction.

A common tactic used by publishing houses.

It must be said that Carlo has a very keen eye; he saw the huge commercial value of Dragonlance Chronicles at a glance.

Once he makes a name for himself, he might just become the next Lockhart.

No! Even above him!

"I've heard that the 'Singing the Dissent' publishing house is quite good. If you don't think it's a good fit, I think I can try my luck there."

Dali wasn't in a hurry.

The art of negotiation lies in who holds the power of discourse.

Dudley was muscular, but he was more than just muscular.

In fact, he initially favored Witches & Poisons Publishing House. His submission to the Daily Prophet Publishing House was merely to secure their willingness to accept the manuscript before negotiating with Carlo. Unfortunately, the editor at that publishing house didn't recognize its value.

He knew about Witches & Poisons Publishing House and its dire straits; Lockhart was both its greatest asset and its greatest liability.

The huge success of Lockhart's books initially made them a fortune and revealed a huge business opportunity. As a result, they focused on publishing Lockhart's books and became less proactive in discovering new authors. If they had continued to work with Lockhart like this, things would have been fine.

Just a month ago, just as Lockhart was about to release his next book, he made the request to redistribute the proportions.

Lockhart is already a well-known author, so his value naturally increases. It's understandable that he wants to increase his share of the profits with publishers. Otherwise, he can switch to another publisher. After all, with his reputation, any publisher would be willing to take him on.

A simple price increase would be fine, but the main reason is that Lockhart is asking for far too much, far too much for Witch & Poison Publishing to afford.

Once Witch & Poison Publishing loses Lockhart as its financial backer, it will face bankruptcy if it cannot produce any decent works to support it in the short term. This is to blame the previous person in charge, who expanded too rapidly, causing a break in the funding chain.

Taking too big a step can easily lead to trouble.

"No, Mr. Dursley, it's not suitable for that place."

As Dali expected, Carlo interrupted him impatiently as soon as he finished speaking.

Whoever is more anxious will be at a disadvantage.

"The 'Singing a Different Tune' publishing house is, after all, not a legitimate place."

Singing the Nonsense Publishing House is the publisher of Singing the Nonsense magazine. It is indeed not a legitimate publishing house because this magazine never pays contributors.

"But I've heard that the Contrarian sells better than the Daily Prophet."

"That's true, but..."

Dudley tapped the table lightly, interrupting Carlo: "It can be suitable for 'dissidents'."

"It can also be suitable for 'Witches and Poisons'."

"That's up to you, my Lord Carlo."

"The publishing house must be in a terrible situation right now."

After Dudley finished speaking, he put down his teacup and quietly looked at Carlo.

To be honest, even Carlo felt a lot of pressure under Dali's watchful eye, even though he was already in seventh grade.

He finally let out a long sigh of relief.

They saw right through me.

Carlo thought with a touch of dejection.

Truly, he's Mr. Potter's brother. I really want to know how their parents raised them.

If Penny were here, she would definitely tell him that she didn't teach Dudley anything; he taught himself everything.

Now that a consensus has been reached, the distribution of benefits becomes much easier.

The percentage that Dali takes is neither intended to make things difficult for the publisher nor to make itself lose out; in fact, it can even help the publisher overcome its difficulties.

Of course, all of this has a premise.

If sales are good.

So here's the question: Will Dragonlance Chronicles sell poorly?

Of course not

About three days after the contract was signed, The Witches and Poisons Publishing House began to build its reputation.

A week later, the novel, titled "Dragonlance Chronicles: Dragons of Autumn Twilight," was officially released in major wizarding bookstores such as Flourish and Blotts.

Sales were, unsurprisingly, exceptionally strong.

It sold out almost immediately.

The story of the continent of Anseron deeply captivated every wizard.

"Print more, print more! Get moving!"

Accompanied by the shouts of the manager of the Witch and Poison Publishing House, the wizards working inside began their crazy daily work overtime routine.

Of course, they all receive overtime pay.

It's an official fact that the magazine doesn't pay contributors to "Singing a Different Tune," and I originally wanted to write about it, but I found out that this magazine likes to freeload, so not paying contributors is really too much.

(End of this chapter)