Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 379 Royalty 12
No matter how Li Shifei and Su Chen complained in their hearts, they had to admit that Lin Chaoyang did have the confidence.

Without mentioning such empty things as the quality and influence of works, just talking about the actual sales of works, Lin Chaoyang has never tasted failure since he entered the literary world.

There are many published works whose sales have exceeded one million copies. Works such as "The Garland under the Mountain" whose sales have exceeded ten million copies have created a sales myth in contemporary Chinese literature.

To be more realistic, publishing houses are supported by best-selling writers like Lin Chaoyang. Without best-selling works like them, many publishing houses would have to rely on grants. How could they live such a comfortable life now?

Huacheng Publishing House is a typical example. Since the publication of "Crossing the Boat" last year, Huacheng Publishing House has been reaping the rewards.

One issue of the magazine sold two million copies, and with the publication of the book "Crossing the Boat", the publication volume of the novel reached a huge amount of four or five million.

You have to know that if a general publishing house publishes a contemporary literary work that is not very popular, the print run is usually a few thousand copies, and the sales cycle may be calculated in years. Many times, the publishing house cannot even make back the printing and binding costs and the author's royalties.

However, "The Crossing" can bring millions of yuan in revenue to Huacheng Publishing House. After deducting various costs, the net profit of Huacheng Publishing House is as high as 1.7 million yuan. The profit of Huacheng Publishing House in the past year was not necessarily as high as that created by this novel.

The difference between heaven and earth is actually a best-selling work, which is also the most real situation in the publishing industry.

So, even though the two of them represented Huacheng Publishing House, a provincial publishing unit, they were still in a passive state when facing Lin Chaoyang.

If a store is big, it will bully its customers; if the customers are big, they will bully the store. It's the same principle.

"Not bad, not bad. "Crossing the Boat" and "Crossing the Guandong", Chaoyang's two novels were published in our "Huacheng" one after another. The cooperation between our two sides has a solid foundation.

This time we came to Yanjing with great sincerity..."

Su Chen had a smile on his face and his tone was sincere.

He said a few polite words, and finally, under Lin Chaoyang's expectant gaze, he mentioned the most crucial issue.

"Regarding the idea of ​​'royalty payment' that you discussed with Lao Li before, this should be the first time in our Chinese publishing industry.

To be honest, we discussed it for a long time but still didn't dare to make a decision on our own.

Finally, I reported it to the higher-ups..."

Su Chen talked a lot, all about how they had petitioned their superiors and how many difficulties they had overcome.

In negotiations, posing difficulties and setting conditions are common tactics.

At the end, he made his position clear, "After the final discussion, our publishing house has decided that as long as you can give us the publishing rights of "Crossing Guandong", we will pay you royalties at a royalty rate of 12%!"

Su Chen's tone was firm at the end, which surprised Lin Chaoyang greatly.

Originally, after listening to Su Chen's previous words, he thought that there would be another round of tug-of-war today, but he didn't expect Su Chen to offer a 12% royalty rate right away.

This figure is not considered low even in the publishing industry of later generations, let alone now when the royalty payment system has not yet been implemented?
The surprise came so big and so suddenly that Lin Chaoyang didn't know what to say.

Su Chen was originally full of confidence when he mentioned the royalty rate of "12%". However, when he saw Lin Chaoyang remained silent and did not react for a long time after hearing the number, his original confidence was gradually eroded.

What? Still not satisfied?
Su Chen and Li Shifei looked at each other again, asking with inquiring eyes: This is too dark!

Su Chen dared to say with confidence that the royalty rate they set was based on the royalty standards of Hong Kong, Japan and the United States, and was absolutely fair. However, Lin Chaoyang did not seem to be satisfied.

Li Shifei said anxiously: "Chaoyang..."

Lin Chaoyang only reacted when he heard his voice, "This royalty..."

Upon hearing this, Su Chen and Li Shifei immediately became nervous, fearing that Lin Chaoyang would make even more excessive demands.

"…You seem quite sincere. It's settled then."

Lin Chaoyang's words made the two of them feel relieved. Su Chen excitedly shook his hand and said, "Comrade Chaoyang, happy cooperation!"

"Happy cooperation!"

Lin Chaoyang had a slight smile on his face and looked relaxed.

In later generations, the royalty standards in China's publishing industry were generally between 6% and 10%. When Han Han published Triple Door, the royalty was only 8%.

Later, as his fame grew, the royalty rate he enjoyed increased to 12% and 15%. At that time, a group of top best-selling authors including Yi Zhongtian, Shi Kang, and Zheng Yuanjie also enjoyed this treatment.

The 12% standard is an average number compared to the royalty rates received by later best-selling authors. However, it was 1984 after all, and the royalty payment system was still a strange thing for the domestic publishing industry.

It is not realistic to achieve everything in one step. For now, we should first solve the problem of whether there is something or not, and then solve the problem of whether it is good or not.

The two parties reached an agreement and Su Chen was very happy.

Huacheng Publishing House has made a great determination to offer a royalty rate of 12%. It not only needs to convince internal comrades and superiors, but more importantly, it needs to produce tangible results.

After all, royalties are calculated based on the sales volume. If the work is a bestseller, even if it is only a point, it will be a considerable profit.

If more than ten percentage points of the sales volume are transferred but the corresponding results are not achieved, Su Chen, as the president, will have a hard time explaining himself.

"Chaoyang, I have a favor to ask!" Su Chen said.

"You said."

“You should also understand that agreeing to pay you with royalties is indeed a major decision for our publishing house, and it is also related to the future development of our publishing house to a certain extent.

I hope you can promise us that the next work can still be handed over to our publishing house."

Su Chen's words made Lin Chaoyang fall into silence. After a moment, he said, "I can only promise you that under the same conditions, I will give priority to your Huacheng Publishing House."

Su Chen nodded vigorously, "Your words are enough!"

"But..." Lin Chaoyang spoke again, and the pause made Su Chen feel worried again.

"I'm afraid my works will rarely appear in literary magazines in the future."

Su Chen immediately understood what Lin Chaoyang meant. The market for literary magazines has been booming in recent years, but the payment method is still in the form of a thousand-word manuscript fee.

With Lin Chaoyang's current fame and influence among readers, it would be a big disadvantage if he still published his works in magazines first and then in print as before after he got the royalties. The biggest advantage of magazine publishing is to increase the writer's fame and influence of the work. It gives the work an opportunity to be exposed in advance, but it is disadvantageous for subsequent publishing and sales.

In the past, due to the lack of royalties, publishing houses only earned money from the number of copies printed, and a little more or less did not have much impact, but the situation is different now.

Every dollar earned from the publication and sale of a work is income for the author, so it is only natural to give up magazines as a publication channel.

"I understand." Su Chen nodded.

Then he added: "I'll find a place tonight and we can have dinner together to celebrate the entry of our cooperation into a new stage!"

Lin Chaoyang was about to speak when a baby crying suddenly came from the next room. Lin Chaoyang quickly apologized to the two of them and went into the house to check on Xiao Dongdong.

The child had just woken up and if there was no adult around, he would feel like he was abandoned by the whole world and would cry non-stop. Lin Chaoyang had to hold him in his arms and coax him for a while before he stopped crying.

"Let's eat at home tonight. I'll make something for you!" Lin Chaoyang said to Su and Li while holding his son.

Seeing that Lin Chaoyang still had to take care of the children, Su Chen and the others did not insist on going out to eat. Su Chen said with a smile: "I have heard that you are a great cook, so we would be disrespectful to refuse you!"

They signed the publishing contract first, then chatted for a while. In the evening, when Tao Yushu got off work, Lin Chaoyang prepared a table of dishes. After the meal, Su Chen and Li Shifei left contentedly.

After the two men left, Tao Yushu took the publishing contract and looked at it curiously.

"So you'll earn royalties from now on?"

"Yes."

“Hey, can other writers get royalties too?”

Lin Chaoyang hesitated and said, "It's possible, but I'm afraid the publishing industry still needs a process of acceptance."

Tao Yushu thought for a moment and said, "That's not right. Implementing a royalty payment system should be a good thing for publishing houses.

Every penny of royalties they pay corresponds to sales volume. Although they pay more royalties if the books are best-sellers, they also earn more.

Likewise, if the book doesn't sell well, they won't pay much in royalties, right?"

Lin Chaoyang looked at her gently, "That's the theory. But you have to understand that what's really preventing publishers from changing is not the issue of efficiency, but inertia."

Tao Yushu immediately understood what he meant, "Is this inertia so strong?"

"Anyway, it's not small. After a person has been in a boiling frog environment for a long time, even if he knows that the water outside is cold, he may not be willing to change the environment."

Tao Yushu listened thoughtfully, then became happy and said to him: "Now you get the royalties, and other writers will definitely get them in the future. They must thank you very much!"

Lin Chaoyang laughed and said, "No need to thank me, it's more economical to take a cut."

"I think you are crazy about money!"

A few days later, Lin Chaoyang received a notice from Chen Huaikai, saying that "The Chess Master" had just been completed and he wanted to invite him for a drink.

Lin Chaoyang first came to Yanying Studio, where Chen Huaikai was busy editing. He took him to the editing room to watch some rough cuts.

The initial cut simply spliced ​​the filming materials together in the order of the script. There was no narration, no music, no dubbing, and the atmosphere was very poor.

But Lin Chaoyang could still feel the hard work Chen Huaikai put into this movie. At the beginning of the movie, a large panoramic shot captured the prosperous and lively scene near the City God Temple after the Spring Festival.

Then a long shot continuously moves through the streets, showing the bustling markets, vendors hawking their wares along the street, and crowds of tourists. In the first few seconds of the long shot, a joyful and peaceful festival scene is presented.

But as the camera continues to move forward, this scene fades away little by little.

Street performers risked their lives to make the audience laugh, and the audience applauded loudly, but few people donated money.

At the entrance of the restaurant, the waiter was chasing a beggar at the door. The beggar was so weak from hunger that he fell to the ground after being pushed by the waiter.

"You stinky beggar, you still want to blackmail me? See? The police are right in front of us!"

Following the direction pointed by the waiter, a uniformed policeman had just overturned a newly arrived stall, and a dirty, tender hand picked up the straw hat that had rolled on the ground and put it on his head.

He seemed to be running and jumping along the street in a happy mood, and accidentally bumped into a middle-aged man in a gown, who was dressed neatly. The middle-aged man yelled at him: "Don't you have eyes to look at when you walk? You little beggar!"

Ignoring the middle-aged man who looked fierce but was actually weak, the little beggar ran to a straw target, which was covered with crystal clear candied haws. The little beggar was drooling with greed.

The short man selling candied haws shouted, "Go away!"

The little beggar said with a playful smile: "You can't sell it anyway, so why not let me have a taste."

"You little bastard! I won't give it to you even if it's to feed the dog!"

The short man pretended to fight, and the beggar ran away quickly, then went to the chess stall nearby.

A well-mannered and gentle young man wearing a half-worn robe was sitting in front of a short stool, thinking hard in front of a chessboard. The little beggar looked at the black and white game on the board in a daze and began to point and criticize.

The scene ends here, about two minutes into the plot. Chen Huaikai says, "The sound recording is not good, so we can add some hawking sounds and voiceovers for this part, which is the introduction to the current situation in your novel."

Lin Chaoyang nodded without saying anything. Chen Huaikai asked, "How do you feel?"

"If nothing else, the long shot at the beginning was very well arranged, capturing the difficult life and turbulent political situation behind the prosperity."

Listening to Lin Chaoyang's praise, Chen Huaikai had a somewhat complacent look on his face, "In the whole film, except for the shot where Jiang Nansheng was shot at the end, this shot is the one I am most satisfied with."

At this point he said with a hint of boasting: "This shot was taken by your eldest nephew!"

Lin Chaoyang praised: "Old Chen, a good father will have a good son!"

"Just average, just average." Chen Huaikai spoke modestly, but he couldn't hide his smile at all.

(End of this chapter)