My art is too advanced.

Chapter 345 The Absolute Core! (Seeking monthly votes!!!)
He soon returned to Ningda University.

In fact, for him, going to Peking University to give lectures, do projects, do academic research, and recruit people to engage in interdisciplinary research was all part of his work.

However, doing projects is one thing.

Ningbo University suits his taste better, and it's actually quite large. In terms of various disciplines and campus construction, although it may seem much inferior to Beijing University, that's only from the perspective of Ningbo University's academic level.

In fact, for most professors, Ningbo University is still a very good place to go, and it can be considered one of the more advanced first-class universities in China.

It's already pretty good, but it's still a bit lacking for some people.

It's not too bad for him, since I'm here. He can get money when he wants it, and he can get projects approved, whether it's for academic development or other things, like literature-related projects.

In fact, Ningbo University only has a few A+ disciplines.

However, if all of them are utilized, the potential they could unleash is limitless.

Take Dean Chen for example. He still hasn't returned from Jinghua University and is continuing to hold meetings there. This is actually quite normal, since he can come back after the meetings because he has already finished speaking.

But others are different. They don't have his decisive academic qualifications, nor the ability to persuade people with just a few words. So, it's mostly discussion.

Although many of the things he said have already been confirmed, it doesn't stop them from continuing to delve deeper into the things behind these words.

Moreover, Dean Chen and his team's dictionary project was nearing completion, so it was perfectly normal for them to go there and work on the project.

Jinghua University has its own hotel on campus, so they can stay there at any time.

This project has actually attracted a lot of attention.

In particular, some linguistic disciplines within the field of literature, as well as some historical disciplines focusing on historical documents and archaeology, are very interested in this dictionary.

The previous comprehensive dictionary of classical Chinese has been a bestseller for a long time.

That dictionary was compiled by an old gentleman based on several novels from the Ming and Qing dynasties, and it also contains many grammatical structures and linguistic features.

What they are working on now is ancient scripts, even some script types that are older than Classical Chinese.

It can be said to be an extremely niche field, but it is both niche and popular. It is niche because very few people study this field, and many scholars in this field do not have high status. Only a few top scholars have truly enjoyed all the benefits of this field, and they have basically monopolized the industry.

It is considered popular because ancient scripts can be applied in many disciplines.

So it's in a very awkward position; ordinary people can't study it, and not many people are willing to delve into these texts.

It's as niche as phonology.

These are all kinds of knowledge that only a few people know, and after they are passed down to their generation, it is probably difficult to make any new discoveries. They basically learn from their predecessors, and being able to learn what their predecessors have already been considered a great success.

Most professors don't have this ability.

so.

It's quite difficult for niche and obscure fields to be passed down and transformed back into popular ones; some subjects simply never become popular in the first place.

How have your academic achievements been lately?

"Not bad, you've completed two projects." Lin Ning handed him the two project proposals.

It contains two papers, both of which are published in the Architectural Journal, the architectural journal of the Architectural Institute of America, which has recently been promoted to the top tier. Both of these journals are under review by the Institute itself.

"It looks pretty good." Zhou Yue nodded, quite pleased.

It seems that keeping him busy with so many things, including design work and other tasks, hasn't too much interfered with his continued scientific research and experiments, and that's enough.

"What about the comic book companies?"

"It's already running normally."

"Xu Xuan has already hired a few people, and they are discussing making some simple comics in preparation for purchasing a large number of copyrights."

"A few people might not be enough, right? After all, you're building a platform."

"It's alright, these people can use it for now. After all, once your IPs are available, the platform can start operating. They are currently discussing some materials to fill the library."

"So what can you come up with?" Zhou Yue shook his head with a slight smile. "It all requires spending money to buy warehouses."

Moreover, the price will definitely not be low. After all, even for comics of not very high quality, importing them in large quantities requires a high price.

"It doesn't matter. They're discussing drawing some things first. Otherwise, there's nothing for them to do even if we bring them in. Your IPs haven't been licensed yet."

“Okay, then I’ll just transfer it to you.” Zhou Yue said.

He then thought about it for a moment.

I dialed a number.

"Why are you looking for me? I'm annoyed!"

"Who owns the comic book rights to your new book?"

"Of course it's with me. Authors at our level mostly keep their copyrights themselves; we only collaborate with platforms when we can't sell our work." But then Chengfeng's attitude softened. "What? You want to use it to draw?"

"Yes, name your price."

"Then I want thirty percent."

"Deal made, but let's make it clear beforehand that we're a newly established platform, so there won't be much traffic in the early stages."

"It doesn't matter. It's just a comic copyright. Even if I sell it to someone else, I'll probably only get two or three hundred thousand plus a share, but the share will be very low, maybe only ten percent. The thirty percent I just mentioned is already outrageous. The domestic comic market is only so big. The last book, 'A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality,' was so popular, but I only got about 150 copies."

"So that means they made over a thousand yuan off your book?"

"It might be more, but after being divided up layer by layer, this is about all I get."

"After all, it's not released on all platforms, only on one. How much can it earn?"

"Then it's settled, 30%. We can take your book directly to make the changes. I'll send you the contract to take a look later."

"Change it however you like."

Zhou Yue nodded.

After that, I contacted Lao Hei again.

There's almost no need to contact Wangchuan about copyrights anymore; he owns the copyrights to every book, and they're all just handed over to him directly.

Old Hei agreed readily.

It was still a 30% cut. When Lao Hei heard this number, his eyes widened.

He thought it was too high.

Even for a supreme god like Chengfeng, it might only be around 10%, because the platform takes the majority, and the remaining small portion goes to the artist.

The author was the last to be introduced.

Moreover, the market is actually not very large.

The popularity of "A Mortal's Journey to Immortality" actually stems from its animation, not its comics.

The call was quickly disconnected.

Lin Ning looked at him, "That's it?"

"Yes, let's go sign the contract. Their books are..."

Zhou Yue directly listed the titles of several books, "And my four books. You don't need to look for other IPs to draw. Finish these books first, and then you can discuss buying a library."

Buying a library is actually quite simple; it just involves acquiring most of the books in a comic book website's library.

Others certainly won't sell you good stuff, and buying a warehouse also requires a huge price, probably at least tens of millions in investment.

Zhou Yue was already prepared; in any case, he would leave everything to Lin Ning.

His understanding of comics wasn't much better than Lin Ning's. As for business acumen, he knew absolutely nothing about it.

He's not exactly cut out for business.

But Lin Ning can do it.

Lin Ning is quick-witted and knows all the ins and outs of these things.

Most importantly, he really enjoys doing this kind of work, and he hardly ever complains. He's been busy doing so much, which speaks volumes.

He takes comics quite seriously.

Or perhaps they are particularly interested in this industry and enjoy the feeling of entrepreneurship.

In fact, even if we lose money, it's just a loss of tens of millions, which can be fully recovered through the comic book copyright.

There's absolutely no need to worry about that.

Therefore, he told Lin Ning and the others not to feel any pressure, as it was completely unnecessary. If they made money, they would share it with everyone; if they didn't, that was perfectly normal. In short, they wouldn't lose money.

Lin Ning did a count and found that, including Zhou Yue's four books, there were ultimately some mysterious elements involved.

There are three other books.

There are seven books in total.

After signing the contract, Lin Ning went directly to Xu Xuan.

Tell them to assign tasks to all seven books.

"Are they all made at once?"

Xu Xuan frowned slightly.

He planned to create the storyboards for him first, and then have everyone else draw them. After all, he definitely needed to create a version himself, otherwise it would be difficult to control the final quality and direction of the comic.

He felt that doing all seven books at once would be quite difficult.

After all, brainstorming takes time, and then I have to draw storyboards, which are the kind of draft images frame by frame.

It can be difficult, but it can also be very simple.

However, seven books might be a bit of a challenge.

"let me try."

He felt that even if he could draw a comic book storyboard in a day, it would still take at least a week to complete the draft.

Then the draft he prepared might only be enough for these people to use for a week.

Those people might be like perpetual motion machines, producing a draft every week, along with revisions. He, too, was like a perpetual motion machine, producing seven drafts in seven days.

He felt he might have to work overtime.

Others may have enough rest time, but he may not.

Moreover, on a new platform, they may not receive much money at the beginning.

"Done!"

Xu Xuan nodded solemnly, "It's alright, leave these to me. I'll show the finished products to Teacher Zhou next week."

Actually, the time cost of this back and forth, whether it's drafting a sample or getting them to draw all these things, is quite high, but there's no other way.

I'll definitely have to show these things to Teacher Zhou.

Otherwise, even if these people are working hard on it, they might not actually meet the standards.

If something is not up to standard, it can be modified; if that doesn't work, then you'll have to replace the person.

After all, in the early stages, quality was still a crucial factor for this group of people.

Soon, half a month passed.

Xu Xuan submitted the first draft of the seven books.

Zhou Yue took a careful look and then nodded slightly.

These seven openings are actually not particularly impressive.

"I'll point out the shortcomings briefly, and you can use them to make revisions later. You'll still need to do the first three chapters yourself."

“Of course, I know you must have a lot of work to do. How about this, we can do it together,” Zhou Yue said with a smile.

The drafts were actually quite good, but the final product might only be around an A grade.

Because these people may not be very familiar with comics, and they need to hone their skills to achieve success in many areas.

But it's already very good; he just wants to perfect it.

So he didn't make things too difficult for them.

in the office.

An extra seat for Xu Xuan has been added.

Zhou Yue turned down many jobs, but the one he couldn't refuse was the dictionary project. Of course, he could multitask.

After all, he is still young and in good health.

It allows for uninterrupted work.

Episode 1.

He and Xu Xuan kept revising it.

He discussed the shortcomings with Xu Xuan, and in short, the final goal was to change it to Xu Xuan's style, since the final product had to be closer to Xu Xuan's style.

Xu Xuan was truly impressed.

He didn't know where Teacher Zhou got this professional knowledge from, and he always felt that Teacher Zhou's comic skills were definitely no less than those of the world's top artists.

This is a terrifying realization.

Teacher Zhou is still relatively unknown in the comics industry, but he has such an amazing level of skill.

hard to imagine.

Someone's drawing skills can be so high that you can spot the shortcomings in the comic at a glance.

He didn't even notice these shortcomings.

Of course, it's not to say that fixing these shortcomings will elevate the entire comic to a very high level, but it is indeed more harmonious and better suited to the theme and Xu Xuan's own style.
A style that even he himself hadn't noticed.

"I'm not just making empty promises, but if you can lead your team to finish these books within a year or two, you should be able to buy an apartment in downtown Ningling City without any problem."

"However, you may still not have enough manpower right now. With the level of people you've recruited so far, why don't you bring in a few more?"

"Have them assist you and build this team around you."

Zhou Yue circled the flaws in the comic while smiling and speaking.

Xu Xuan smiled and said, "That will really take a lot of effort."

"No rush, you can make them one by one, for example, start with three."

"Then we can save the remaining four books for next year. We don't need that many finished products right now. Even just three books will be enough to make a good impression."

"it is good!"

(End of this chapter)