1979: Literary Master, Starting from the Return of Educated Youth

Chapter 40 "The Horse Herder" is published! (Please read it later)

Wang Chaoyin reached across the table and pressed Director Zhang's hand down.

"Add a few more, a hundred thousand copies."

Wang Chaoyin said confidently, "Printing only 80,000 copies is too conservative, just like a woman with bound feet walking."

Director Zhang was stunned for a moment, then he slammed the table and said, "Okay, I'll do as you say, Lao Wang."

"The magazine has employed so many educated youth in the past two years. We have to find a way to generate income."

In the past two years, a large number of educated youth have returned to the cities, and the authorities have required all state-owned units to expand recruitment to solve the employment problem.

The implementation of the policy by People's Literature has caused the number of internal employees to nearly double and operating expenses to rise sharply.

Director Zhang essentially also wants to explore new profit points to deal with this situation.

"That's the truth."

Wang Chaoyin snapped his fingers excitedly and said, "And Lao Zhang, I was just making an analogy just now, it wasn't directed at you. I hope you don't mind."

"No matter where, it's all for the development of the magazine."

Director Zhang waved his hand and said without any concern, "I also have to thank you for discovering Comrade Chunfeng and contributing so much to us."

"I'm lucky."

Wang Chaoyin said with emotion, "I met such a good seedling."

After discussing the print run with Director Zhang, Wang Chaoyin poured out the remaining tea and went to the telegraph room to send a message to Xu Yuexin, inviting him to come and discuss reprinting.

……

On Xueyuan Road Street, after sending Chen Qiaoqiao back to school, Xu Yuexin went to the telegraph room of the Street Office with "The Wreath under the Mountain" in his hand.

Ever since his book became a hit, Xu Yuexin has developed a habit of visiting the telegraph room every two days to ensure that he can receive telegrams as soon as possible when magazines and other relevant parties contact him.

The telegraph room was filled with the sound of beeping. Several radio operators wore monaural headphones, recording the codes they heard, and some were translating the messages.

"Hello, comrade. Is there any message for me?"

Xu Yuexin asked an idle radio operator.

He had been to the telegraph room several times and had become familiar with the staff there; everyone recognized his face.

"Xu Yuexin, right?"

The radio operator stood up from his seat and said, "I'll look for it for you."

After that, the radio operator took Xu Yuexin to a pile of translated telegrams, searched for a while and took out a page: "Here, this is yours. Remember to sign the receipt after reading it."

"Thank you."

Xu Yuexin picked up the telegram and saw that it was sent from the People's Literature Magazine.

"Please come to add the seal."

It meant that "The Garland under the Mountain" needed to be reprinted, and he was asked to go to the People's Literature Publishing House to discuss the matter.

Reprinting so soon?
Xu Yuexin didn't expect the reprint would come so quickly.

Every extra copy meant real money to him! With an excited heart and trembling hands, Xu Yuexin put away the telegram after reading it, borrowed a pen from the telegraph operator, and signed his name on the telegram receipt, indicating that he had seen the telegram.

After signing, Xu Yuexin set off for People's Literature. Soon a taxi carrying him stopped at the gate of No. 166 Chaonei.

Compared to early April, the trees in the compound have become more lush, and some fruit trees have grown green fruits, hidden among the dense branches and leaves.

Xu Yuexin walked into the compound, went upstairs and found Wang Chaoyin. The two greeted each other and walked into the reception room together.

"I asked you to come over, but I didn't expect you to arrive so soon."

In the reception room, Wang Chaoyin said with a smile on his face, picking up the kettle to make tea for Xu Yuexin, "It's just right, I'm also impatient, we're a good match."

"I came here after seeing the telegram."

Xu Yuexin sat in front of Wang Chaoyin, took the teacup with both hands and said, "You want to talk to me about printing more, right?"

"Yes, we printed 30000 copies last time, and they sold very well."

"We plan to print an additional 100000 copies to meet the needs of our readers."

After Wang Chaoyin put down the teapot, he sat on the chair and said excitedly, "The price remains the same, still 2 cents."

"As for the royalty ratio, my initial consideration is to increase it to 9%, which still needs approval from the leadership."

"What do you think of this plan?"

Has the profit sharing ratio increased?
Xu Yuexin was very surprised when he heard Wang Chaoyin's plan.

The royalty rate increased from 8% to 9%, which is not an increase of one percentage point, but 12.5%.

One hundred thousand copies, 2 cents per copy, multiplied by the 9% royalty rate, that's 1800 yuan.

I’m really going to make it big!

As for what Wang Chaoyin said about needing approval from the leadership, it was probably just a formality. Xu Yuexin could see that his words were very effective within the magazine.

“Thank you for your care, this is a good plan.”

Xu Yuexin agreed immediately, "And The Horse Herder, do you have any plans to publish it?"

When Wang Chaoyin heard this, he knew that Xu Yuexin had his own ideas.

"Why, you want to publish The Horse Wrangler as well?"

"That's exactly what I meant. The only problem is that The Horse Herder is too short to be published as a separate book. I plan to add a few more short stories and publish them together."

It was necessary for Xu Yuexin to share his plans with Wang Chaoyin in advance, because publishing requires a book number, which is a limited resource.

Of course, he doesn't have to worry about lack of book numbers. If he just gives Wang Chaoyin a heads up, he can arrange it in advance and save the time needed to publish the book.

"Combine them together and publish a collection, right?"

Wang Chaoyin thought for a moment and replied, "I think it's OK. The overall length should be controlled at 10 to 15 words, and it should be short and concise."

"I think so too."

Xu Yuexin said that he has begun to think about which novels can be put together with "The Shepherd".

(End of this chapter)