Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 407 The First Million
The publication and publication of "Crossing the Guandong" undoubtedly brought the greatest benefits to Huacheng Publishing House as a publishing organization, especially from an economic perspective.

In just three months, Huacheng Publishing House earned 600 million yuan. Excluding the ordering discounts given to the Xinhua Bookstore system, various costs, and royalties paid to Lin Chaoyang, Huacheng Publishing House can still reap a net profit of more than 240 million yuan.

The most terrifying thing is that this is just the beginning. With the popularity of "Crossing the Guandong", the sales of this novel will definitely remain high in the next three to five years.

With 3 million copies sold in 200 months, everyone knows how great the sales potential of this novel is.

There is a discussion within Huacheng Publishing House now that "Crossing the Guandong" might become the second "The Wreath under the Mountain".

This "second" naturally refers to sales volume.

Of course, in terms of influence, "Crossing the Guandong" is not inferior to "The Garland under the Mountain", and even surpasses it.

After all, this novel has gained great fame in the contemporary literary world, and such a work is destined to go down in literary history.

Therefore, whether in terms of fame or sales, "Crossing the Guandong" will only get bigger and bigger after the baptism of time.

After talking about the achievements made after the publication of "Crossing the Guandong", Li Shifei's face turned red and he was very excited.

His excitement is understandable. Which publishing house would not be happy and excited with such achievements?
"And then there are your royalties..."

At this point, Li Shifei paused, and seeing Lin Chaoyang's indifferent expression, he asked, "Aren't you curious?"

"If you're curious about anything, you can figure it out."

Li Shifei was disappointed, but finally said, "The total amount of royalties this time is 72."

Lin Chaoyang nodded slightly when he heard the number. After writing novels for so many years, he finally got the royalties, which was more than 700,000 yuan at once.

Royalties are still more attractive!

"With this novel, you will become the first millionaire in Chinese literary world!" Li Shifei said in a deep voice.

Lin Chaoyang joked: "What's the matter, are you jealous?"

"It's not that I'm jealous, I'm just afraid that the media will be jealous."

After Li Shifei said this, Lin Chaoyang immediately reacted. If the news of his royalty settlement was exposed, it would inevitably stir up a bloody storm in the media.

Lin Chaoyang looked at Li Shifei, trying to get a reassurance from him.

But Li Shifei's eyes dodged left and right, and he didn't dare to look him in the eye. Lin Chaoyang sighed dejectedly.

"It's harder to expect you to keep a secret than to expect a sow to climb a tree!"

Li Shifei changed the subject awkwardly, "It's been almost a year since the manuscript of Crossing Guandong was completed. Do you have any ideas recently?"

This is the main reason why Li Shifei came to find Lin Chaoyang this time.

"Crossing the Guandong" has achieved such a huge success that Huacheng Publishing House can be said to be reaping the rewards, and naturally hopes to continue cooperating with Lin Chaoyang.

"Ideas..." Lin Chaoyang's tone was thoughtful, which made Li Shifei's heart beat nervously.

"No?"

"There is one, but it's still in the works."

Lin Chaoyang was not lying, he did have an idea.

Some time ago, Li Hanxiang asked about the script for Xu Guanwen. Li Hanxiang offered a price of 20 Hong Kong dollars, but when he saw that Lin Chaoyang didn't respond, he tactfully didn't mention it again.

But this incident gave Lin Chaoyang some ideas. Xu Guanwen's face was both serious and humorous, which made Lin Chaoyang think of the representative work of a movie emperor in later generations.

Regardless of whether he writes the script for Xu Guanwen or not, at least it would be a good story to turn this work into a novel.

"Good, good! It's good that you have an idea!" Li Shifei's tone was full of relief.

For a writer, every creation requires his or her all-out effort, especially when completing a grand epic like "Crossing the Guandong", the effort and talent required are difficult for ordinary people to estimate.

Many writers will fall into a long period of lows after completing such works. Either they can't write anything, or what they write is terrible.

There are even people who will never be able to write a work that satisfies themselves and their readers throughout their entire life.

This is the case with Cheng Zhongshi who wrote "White Deer Plain".

Lin Chaoyang is only in his twenties and is extremely talented. Li Shifei is not worried that he will run out of ideas. However, after creating such a large work, he will definitely need to take a break, both physically and mentally.

For many writers, this time is usually measured in years.

Therefore, in the nearly one year since the manuscript of "Crossing the Guandong" was completed, he did not mention any new works.

But now he has no choice but to urge it, because the first royalties after the publication of "Crossing the Guandong" are about to be settled, and this news will definitely not be concealed by then.

Some time ago, news about the royalty payment system caused a sensation in the publishing industry and the literary world.

Although Lin Chaoyang has gained the upper hand in the war of public opinion, in fact most publishing houses are still on the sidelines. Everyone is curious about the effectiveness of the royalty payment system.

At that time, Li Shifei didn't need to worry about anything, because Huacheng Publishing House was the only publishing house in the country that was willing to agree to Lin Chaoyang's condition of paying royalties.

Even if other publishing houses just want to poach employees, Lin Chaoyang will ignore them.

But if the sales and sales value data of "Crossing the Guandong" are released after its publication, the situation will be different.

Money is a great asset. As we can see, even though the royalties paid are more than the manuscript fees, the publishing house also earns more!
There is no guarantee that these peers will not follow in the footsteps of Huacheng Publishing House. By that time, Lin Chaoyang will be surrounded by a group of gorgeous fairies, and Huacheng Publishing House will face great competitive pressure.

"So when do you plan to start writing?" Li Shifei asked.

Lin Chaoyang thought for a moment and said, "Let's wait until after the New Year and have a good New Year."

"Of course, of course. A work like Crossing the Guandong takes a lot of energy, so it's right to take a break for a while. I'll talk to you about the new work after the New Year."

Guangzhou and Yanjing are thousands of miles apart, and an ordinary manuscript collection is definitely not worth Li Shifei's trip, but Lin Chaoyang's work is different.

As long as time permits, it would be no problem for him to commute by plane between Yanjing and Guangzhou.

Lin Chaoyang naturally understood Li Shifei's thoughts and said, "Old Li, I may not give you the novel." Li Shifei immediately said, "Understood. Let's talk about royalties. Under the same conditions, Huacheng has priority."

After knowing each other for two or three years, Li Shifei already understood Lin Chaoyang's character. Friendship is friendship, and royalties are royalties, and they cannot be confused.

With the successful cases of "Crossing the Boat" and "Crossing the Guandong", it is not easy for other domestic publishing houses to reach a cooperation with Lin Chaoyang before them.

At noon, Li Shifei had a meal at Lin Chaoyang's house and prepared to leave.

As the editor-in-chief of Huacheng and the editor-in-chief of Huacheng Publishing House, it is impossible for him to only meet Lin Chaoyang when he comes to Yanjing. He also has to visit other writers with whom he has collaborated.

The day after Li Shifei left, the royalties from Huacheng Publishing House arrived, a total of 72 yuan.

Not only is this the largest amount of income Lin Chaoyang has ever earned since he started his creative career, it is also almost equal to the total income he has earned from his creative work over the years.

With such a large income, when Lin Chaoyang took the receipt for such a large sum of royalties to the savings bank, the staff were shocked.

What does it mean to receive more than 700,000 yuan in royalties when the average payment per person is only a few dozen yuan?
After a lot of trouble and coordination with the branch, Lin Chaoyang's royalties were finally deposited into their family's passbook.

Seeing that the first digit on the passbook had changed to "1" and the number of digits had become seven digits, Lin Chaoyang sighed in his heart: What a shame for the other time travelers!
When he returned home in the evening, Lin Chaoyang showed the passbook to Tao Yushu, and she flipped through it in disbelief.

"More than one million? We both have more than one million?"

"It's true. I am a millionaire now."

In later generations, if your family had one million, you wouldn't even be able to afford a fully paid house, but in 1984, it was undoubtedly an astronomical figure.

For a period of time after they got married, Tao Yushu was very concerned about the family's income, mainly because at that time both he and his wife had a low income and lived in their parents' home.

Tao Yushu was looking forward to the day when he and his wife could have their own home and move out.

After she bought the house in the Overseas Chinese Apartment, her sense of urgency became less and less.

Later, Lin Chaoyang's income became higher and higher, and she rarely paid attention to the family's income and passbook. As long as it was enough for spending, it was enough.

But she could never have imagined that in just a few years, her family would have more than 100 million in savings.

Although I no longer have that sense of urgency about how much savings I have, no one would complain about having too little money, right?

Tao Yushu looked at the numbers on the passbook happily and hugged Lin Chaoyang.

"Chaoyang, you are really capable!"

Lin Chaoyang felt the softness of his chest, his index finger moved vigorously, and he whispered in her ear: "There are still many things I can do!"

After he finished speaking, before Tao Yushu could react, Lin Chaoyang picked her up and threw her on the bed.

a long time.

The couple leaned against the head of the bed, and Tao Yushu even had the energy to get the manuscript back to read. This action immediately made Lin Chaoyang feel greatly insulted.

He reluctantly tried to rush to the heights again, but Tao Yushu slapped Lushan's claws away.

"Stop messing around, I need to finish reviewing this manuscript quickly."

"As the responsible editor, you are busier than the chief editor. Don't be too efficient. Let your colleagues take a break."

Lin Chaoyang's complaints caused Tao Yushu to roll his eyes, "Don't slander me, we have a good relationship as colleagues."

She further explained: "It's mainly because I'm in charge of the supplement now, and I'm a little too busy."

"Then I'll go and complain to Lao Wang tomorrow. You work from morning till night every day, but your salary is not one cent higher than others, and you don't have much chance of promotion. It's really not worth it."

"In our line of work, it's impossible to expect to get promoted or make a fortune, but seeing my works being loved by millions of readers after they pass through my hands, that sense of accomplishment is something that cannot be replaced by promotion or wealth."

Tao Yushu has not been working for a long time, less than three years at most, but all the publications he has worked for are well-known literary magazines.

There are also many works by famous artists, such as Wang Zengqi, Deng Youmei, Lin Jinlan, Zhang Yigong...

In addition to these famous writers, Tao Yushu also discovered many young writers, such as Zhong Acheng, Yu Hua, Mo Yan...

This was more or less due to Lin Chaoyang’s help, but her own efforts cannot be erased.

She has been working for almost three years, and her briefcase is always filled with manuscripts, and a considerable part of her spare time is spent on reviewing manuscripts.

When it comes to dedication to her job, she is the first not only in Yenching Literature but also in People's Literature.

After talking about work for a while, Tao Yushu suddenly handed the manuscript in his hand to Lin Chaoyang, "Can you help me take a look at this manuscript?"

"What? Can't bite it?"

"No, I just want you to see it."

"Let me see?" Lin Chaoyang didn't understand what she meant, but he still looked at it patiently.

After reading it, he understood what was going on.

Seeing that he had finished reading, Tao Yushu asked expectantly, "What do you think of this novel?"

"Good!"

As a couple for many years, Tao Yushu knows very well that in Lin Chaoyang's evaluation system, the word "very good" is already a very high affirmation.

But the reason why she asked Lin Chaoyang to read this novel was not to hear Lin Chaoyang say it was "very good". Hearing him say that, Tao Yushu couldn't help feeling a little disappointed.

Seeing her reaction, Lin Chaoyang teased, "What? Do you want me to make some bad comments?"

Tao Yushu looked mischievous, "Shouldn't I post a few bad reviews? I think this novel is digging up the roots of your 'root-seeking literature'!"

"You're trying to sow discord, huh? I think you shouldn't be an editor. You should be a tabloid reporter."

The couple chatted and laughed, and Lin Chaoyang flipped through the manuscript in his hand again, considering how to evaluate the novel.

(End of this chapter)