"Knock Knock"

There was a sudden knock on the door, Huo Yaowen glanced at his watch, it was already more than six o'clock in the evening, he turned around and opened the door, and the visitor outside the door was Uncle Wang.

"Teacher Huo, I'm sorry to disturb you. Uncle Wang saw Huo Yaowen in the dormitory, and hurriedly said: "Just now, the editor-in-chief of the literary world called to look for you, but you were not there at the time, and he said to call him back when Mr. Huo came back." ”

Dunmace looking for himself?

Huo Yaowen raised his eyebrows, although he didn't know what Deng McKee was looking for, but it was past six o'clock now, and the newspaper must have already left work, so he thought about it and nodded: "I know Uncle Wang, the Literary World Newspaper should be off work now, and it's not too late to call back tomorrow." ”

"Okay, Mr. Huo. Uncle Wang didn't care, chatted with Huo Yaowen a few more words, then went downstairs and went back to rest.

Seeing off Uncle Wang, Huo Yaowen sat back at his desk and continued to write the second part of "1999", preparing to finish this one. Continuing the plot of the previous part, this one tells the story of controlling the space battleship to approach the Earth after Alpha destroyed the Martian civilization and the Saturn civilization one after another.

Different from Da Liu's Three-Body Problem, although this book Huo Yaowen draws on the laws of the dark forest, the overall story is completely different from the Three-Body Problem, in addition to telling about the dark laws in the universe, the remaining parts will tell about the various reactions of human beings in the face of extraterrestrial civilizations, and more contact with extraterrestrial civilizations in the rapid development of science and technology.

There are extraterrestrial civilizations with good intentions, and there are also extraterrestrial civilizations with malice like Alpha Star, each civilization moves forward in the dark in the silent and claustrophobic universe, and human beings will take the last step out of the universe of human face after the earth is almost destroyed by alien civilizations, shatter the dark forest, and conquer the entire sea of stars.

This one will tell the story of the invasion of alien civilizations on Independence Day, and it is also the darkest and most painful period for human beings on Earth.

......

......

It only took two days for Luo Cheng to figure out some potential rules of the American publishing industry, and he also asked someone to learn that Huo Yaowen's "1999" is not only a big seller in the United States, but also favored by many American science fiction writers, and even the most famous science fiction magazine in the United States, Analog, has printed the cover of Huo Yaowen's book on the cover of the magazine, with the title reading: " In the silent and dark universe, extraterrestrial civilizations lurk in this forest-like universe, holding shotguns, waiting to reveal their prey. ”

When Huo Yaowen heard the news from Luo Cheng, his heart was very calm, no matter how intense the reports from others in Hong Kong and the United States were, they couldn't affect his life, but it felt quite good to be touted by the Americans, at least Huo Yaowen had been in a good mood for the past two days.

After learning more about Huo Yaowen's book in the United States, when Luo Cheng negotiated with Mark on the third day, he cautiously proposed that the manuscript fee for the second part of "1999" be divided into 14%, and the two sides had a heated conversation.

I don't know if Mark has been a little bored in the hotel these days, but when Rod took a step back and proposed a 13.5% share, Mark directly agreed.

However, for the sharing of manuscript fees for the next few parts, Luo Cheng insisted on making a decision according to the situation after the publication of the second part, which Huo Yaowen must support, after all, even if there are more than 0.1 shares, the more money will naturally be more if it is sold.

Mark saw that Luo Cheng and Huo Yaowen insisted, but he didn't dwell on this matter too much, but just thought about signing an agreement on priority cooperation.

For this agreement, Huo Yaowen did not refuse, as long as the price offered by the other party at that time is appropriate, there is nothing bad about continuing to cooperate, so he directly signed his English name and Chinese name on the paper.

After Mark collected the agreement on priority cooperation, as well as the manuscript and contract for the second part of "1999" that he had signed, he stretched out his hand and congratulated with a smile on his face: "Mr. Evan, congratulations in advance, after the publication of this book, I hope that it will not be long before you will become a new generation of writers in the United States with millions of manuscript fees this year!"

The share of the first Huo Yaowen is only 6%, and he can get a share of 300,000 US dollars in manuscript fees, and this time the sharing contract is 13.5%, if it sells a million copies again, it may be a little difficult to sell a million US dollars, but 780,000 or 800,000 is definitely there.

"Hopefully, as you say. Huo Yaowen smiled lightly and shook Mark's hand, if the second part is as popular as the first, the million-dollar manuscript fee is really too tempting.

At noon, Mark was in a hurry to bring the manuscript and contract back to the United States, preparing to arrange the publicity and publication of the second part as soon as possible, Huo Yaowen did not keep him, and personally sent him to the airport and got on the plane.

Mark had just finished signing the contract and sent people away, and several directors of Thames Publishing Company from England on Lilith's side also flew to Hong Kong in the past two days.

With the contract signed with the American Bantan Book Publishing Company and the deposit certificate paid by Mark to Huo Yaowen, although the negotiation process was a little twisty and twisty, it was relatively smooth on the whole, after all, the science fiction book "1999" has passed the test of the American science fiction book market, even if it is a change of country, the sales volume must not be much worse, let alone the United Kingdom, which is almost the same origin.

However, Huo Yaowen's book has never been tested in the British market, and even if it sells well in the American book market, it still makes the die-hard Thames publishing company think that the book can only get a share of only 8% at present.

This share ratio is better than that of new writers, but it is not as good as first-rate and second-rate writers, and at best it should be third-rate.

As a former student in the United Kingdom to study law, although he did not help people deal with this kind of publishing affairs, he also knew that since World War II, as a once disdainful of the United States, after the fall of the empire, many things have gradually converged with the United States, especially in the middle of the fifties, the United States set off a wave of popular wigs, this wave swept all the way along the Pacific Ocean to the whole of Europe.

So strictly speaking, the books that sell well in the United States also have a large market in the United Kingdom, and this is a science fiction, although Luo Cheng has not read it, he knows that science fiction has no borders, and the science fiction fantasy of the future world should not be limited to one region.

With the insistence of Rod Cheng and the help of Lilith from time to time, the people of Thames Publishing Company finally gave a 10% share and a commitment to print no less than 100,000 copies in the first batch.

In other words, even if the book does not sell 100,000 copies in the UK, the people of Thames Publishing Company will pay Huo Yaowen according to the sales share of 100,000 copies.

Huo Yaowen is very satisfied with the result of this negotiation, the share of the first part in the UK is 10%, which has exceeded the previous share ratio in the United States, although this may seem to be a loss, but the British market is a new market, "1999" has not been tested, and it is naturally impossible for the Times Publishing Company to be the same as the share given by the people of Bantan Book Publishing Company.

Waited out of the hotel.

Luo Cheng followed behind and said: "Mr. Huo, as your lawyer, I think you should hire a professional agent to be responsible for the contract and copyright of the books you created abroad, although I am proficient in British law, but I think that in the future, your works will definitely have other national publishing companies to seek cooperation, which I may be a little powerless." ”

Luo Cheng is still self-aware, although he is a lawyer, but for the publishing business negotiation is still much weaker, negotiations with Bantan Books and Thames Publishing Company, let him understand his weaknesses, if it were not for the help of many lawyers in his own law firm, he may not be able to negotiate with these two companies smoothly.

Huo Yaowen thought about Luo Cheng's words, he was right, now it is only the United States and the United Kingdom, and if there are people from other national publishing companies who want to cooperate with him in the future, there will be a professional agent to take care of these things, and he will avoid running around after him.

Huo Yaowen asked: "I know Lawyer Luo, thank you for reminding me, I really want to find a professional agent to take care of these things, and I don't want to personally negotiate with the people of the publishing company in the future." By the way, I wonder if you have any good suggestions and candidates?"

Luo Cheng smiled and said: "I definitely don't have a candidate, but I have a suggestion." Since the entry into force of the World Intellectual Property Convention in 1955, the most formal countries for international intellectual property are the United States and the United Kingdom, and these two countries can apply for international copyright. ”

"Well, Lawyer Luo, your law firm should accept this commission, right?" Huo Yaowen raised his eyes and asked with a smile at Luo Cheng.

Luo Cheng promised: "Of course, if Mr. Huo needs to entrust us, we will find a headhunting company as soon as possible to find a professional agent." ”

In Hong Kong, the profession of a lawyer is not only about understanding the law or arguing with others in court, as long as you have money, a lawyer can do a lot of things for you.

......

......

At night of the same day, Aberdeen Typhoon Shelter Haikou, outside Taibai Seafood Boat.

"Wow!" Lilith looked at this huge ancient Chinese wooden ship, her eyes were full of shock, since the Industrial Revolution, wooden ships have gradually been eliminated, and today, there are very few large wooden ships in Britain.

Lilith, a native of London, grew up near the River Thames, and although there was a stench in some areas in the summer, it still looked good on the whole, so she often took boats in the Thames, but almost always took a steel ferry, where did she see this kind of wooden boat like an oriental palace.

Lilith smiled and took Anna's arm and asked Huo Yaowen, "Evan, are we going to the sea to play?"

"No, no, it's a gourmet ship at sea. Huo Yaowen shook his head, Taibai Seafood Restaurant had been there once when he came to Hong Kong in the future, but at that time it had been renovated into a treasure kingdom, which was much bigger and more luxurious than the current one.

"The food boat on the sea?" Anna shrugged her nose and smelled a hint of tantalizing fragrance from the huge wooden ship, and her eyes lit up, "This is for seafood?"

"Yes, the seafood in Taibai Seafood Restaurant is delicious, and it is the best place to eat seafood in Hong Kong. ”

Huo Yaowen stood on the periphery of the Taibai Seafood Restaurant, glanced at Anna and Lilith, originally wanted to ask Lilith to come out alone to see the night view of Hong Kong today, after all, the other party will go back to the UK with his colleagues tomorrow, and if he misses today, it is almost impossible to see the night view, but who knew that Anna actually followed, which made him feel frustrated for a while, and secretly thought that this time the opportunity to open foreign meat was probably going to be lost.

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