Rebirth 2004: A lone figure in the literary world

Chapter 38 The Unwilling Lu Jinbo

As they all work in the media industry, the editors understand that a beautiful sedan chair is carried by everyone, so even if they did not get the copyright of "Better Days" this time, they all wanted to establish a good relationship with Zhang Chao, so they were very cooperative.

The focus is of course Zhang Chao and Zhu Yanling who obtained the copyright, as well as the principal Wu Xingyu.

Not long after, the cafeteria brought in midnight snacks and beer, and everyone's mood immediately became high again. However, this occasion was not suitable for Zhang Chao to stay, so he also went to the small reception room in the office with Zhu Yanling to discuss in detail.

Zhu Yanling called the leader of Huacheng Society and held a small meeting with Zhang Chao to preliminarily confirm the relevant details.

100万册内，版税从 10%提高到 12%；超过100万册，15%的版税不变；首印由30万册，提高到 40万册。以及最重要的：
The time required to achieve sales of 100 million copies was extended from 18 months to 30 months.

What Zhang Chao cares most about is the 30-month sales target. It’s not that Zhang Chao has no confidence in the sales of “Youth Like You”, but the fact that Huacheng Publishing House can put forward this condition shows that they will basically not play any tricks with Zhang Chao in terms of print run and channels.

It is too easy for publishers, especially those with their own printing houses, to use printing tricks, so concealing the number of copies printed has always been a major problem for writers.

Especially for best-selling books, concealing the number of copies printed can bring the publisher hundreds of thousands of extra income. Who wouldn't be tempted by profit?

That is to say, the state-owned large companies are much better in this aspect. Because in state-owned companies, after the printing number is approved, there is still a long process, involving paper adjustment, printing, storage, transportation, warehousing, delivery... and every aspect, and there is also an audit department to check at the end of the year.

The power structures in large publishing houses are so complex and intertwined that even the president finds it hard to control everything, let alone the editor-in-chief or chief editor.

But Zhang Chao's "betting agreement" was too special, and the interests involved were calculated in millions. Even if the publishing house did not conceal the number of copies printed, delaying the sales statistics would threaten its own income.

Therefore, Huacheng Publishing House was particularly considerate during these 30 months, which basically saved Zhang Chao the trouble of competing with the publishing house in this regard.

The three of them had a very good chat, and the leader of Huacheng Society promised to draft the contract within a week. After Zhang Chao confirms that it is correct, Zhu Yanling will bring it over and formally sign it with Zhang Chao.

After hanging up the phone, Zhu Yanling was about to leave. She stood up and shook hands with Zhang Chao, saying, "Our Huacheng Publishing House is the cradle of young writers. Lu Yao's "Ordinary World" was first published in our magazine, as well as Bi Feiyu's famous work "The Lonely Island" and Wang Xiaobo's "The Silver Age"... I believe that "Youth Like You" will be the beginning of our pleasant cooperation."

Zhang Chao said: "I believe it too. I will finish writing the novel as soon as possible."

After seeing Zhu Yanling off, Zhang Chao did not say goodbye to everyone who was eating supper and chatting in the small conference room. Instead, he quietly went downstairs alone and prepared to return to the classroom to study.

Just as he walked downstairs, a person walked out from the shadows, which scared Zhang Chao. When he looked closely, he found that it was Lu Jinbo.

Lu Jinbo was no longer depressed, and said to Zhang Chao with a smile: "Student Zhang Chao, I still want to sign your book."

Zhang Chao said: "Hmm? I have already discussed it with Huacheng Society..."

Lu Jinbo said: "It's not "Youth Like You", but your miscellaneous reviews, those that were posted on blogs and newspapers before."

Zhang Chao understood and asked with a smile, "I have only written 9 articles in total, which add up to more than 2 words. It's not even enough for half a book."

Lu Jinbo said, "Just keep writing. My requirements are not high. No less than 10 words. It would be good if you can give it to me this year - of course, the sooner the better. It would be best if there are a few works that have not been published publicly." Zhang Chao thought about it and thought it was not difficult, so he agreed and asked Lu Jinbo what conditions he could offer.

Lu Jinbo had already thought about it and said, "This book will definitely not be as good as "Youth Like You", but it should be a bestseller. How about this, if the unpublished content in the book reaches 30%, I will give you 11% royalties; if it reaches 50%, 13%; if it exceeds 70%, 15%. What do you think?"

Zhang Chao silently calculated and felt that it was acceptable, so he said "OK" and shook hands with Lu Jinbo. A preliminary verbal agreement was reached.

Lu Jinbo said with emotion: "When I was famous for my work 'Li Xun Huan', I thought I was the youngest person who understood online literature and online public opinion the best. But after seeing your operation today, I have to admit that I am old now."

Zhang Chao smiled and did not respond. Instead, he said, "I'm going back to attend evening self-study. Goodbye." After that, he turned and left, and his figure quickly disappeared into the night.

Lu Jinbo lit a cigarette and while smoking it, he looked up at the window of the small conference room where people were gathered, shook his head, and slowly walked out of the campus of No. 3 Middle School.

Zhang Chao has a complicated attitude towards Lu Jinbo.

First of all, Lu Jinbo's offer naturally had the highest economic return among all publishing houses - based on the calculation of achieving sales of 100 million copies, Lu Jinbo's proposal would allow Zhang Chao to earn 150 million more than Huacheng Publishing House's proposal.

Zhang Chao wavered between Beirong Culture and Huacheng Society several times. After all, 150 million was a huge sum of money in 2004. Even in Yanjing, it could buy two or three commercial houses in the second ring road, or a smaller and more shabby courtyard house.

However, as a publisher, Lu Jinbo was overly keen on commercial packaging and hype, and he exploited the author's literary reputation in pursuit of quick market returns, which was also criticized and was also what worried Zhang Chao the most.

As a newcomer, although Zhang Chao has already created a sensation on the Internet and in the media, the publication of his first book is his official debut in the literary world, which also affects the outside world's perception and positioning of him.

If he chooses Beirong Culture, Zhang Chao can imagine how many titles Lu Jinbo will give him——

“A literary genius that appears once in a decade”, “a lonely teenager who reads a lot of books”, “a rebel who challenges authority”, “a freak who is good at one subject”, “a masterpiece of youth literature”…

Then there are a lot of commercial activities, such as variety shows, entertainment magazines, national book signing tours... I guess I will miss any of them. It makes my scalp tingle just thinking about it. It is very likely that I will only be able to follow the path of an entertaining and celebrity writer in the future.

In this regard, choosing a traditional large society like Huacheng Society would surely be much more stable, and I would not have to get involved in too many complicated affairs. Moreover, Huacheng Society, with its decades of operating channels and media resources, should have stronger sales potential than Beirong Culture.

After much consideration, Zhang Chao reluctantly chose Huacheng Publishing House. But he was also unwilling to break off the possibility of cooperation with Lu Jinbo, after all, Lu Jinbo was famous for his generosity to authors. Therefore, signing "Youth Like You" to Huacheng Publishing House and the collection of essays to Beirong Culture was the best choice.

The next day, the news that Zhang Chao's unfinished novel caused a scramble among publishers and was eventually signed to Huacheng Publishing House with an extremely high royalty standard shocked the people who followed him and the literary world.

Although Zhu Yanling remained tight-lipped and did not reveal the exact number, other editors did let the public know that it was approximately 15%, which is the ceiling ratio in the publishing industry.

Suddenly, many old writers who had never received royalties in their lives and could only earn 50 yuan per thousand words were filled with indignation, and they wrote articles to denounce the publishing house for its lack of moral integrity and bottom line, and for not hesitating to serve a new literary talent in order to promote him. This also formed a large wave of "anti-Zhang".

Unfortunately, this trend mostly remained in print media. Zhang Chao was on campus and although he could occasionally access the Internet, he knew nothing about it.

(End of this chapter)