The lofty Random House has taken a fancy to a science fiction novel from China, which is equivalent to adding a scoop of water to this science fiction desert, which should be a natural thing in their opinion, and the other party can't even say no. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

What more could a Chinese science fiction writer ask for? Publishing a novel in English is the greatest reward for a writer, and if you want more royalties, you have to come up with more valuable works.

Although Qin Jun himself is also a Chinese, he feels that there is nothing wrong with it, how can a Chinese science fiction novel be published in English without making some sacrifices.

It has always been Random House's refusal to be submitted by others, and it is rare for him to be rejected by others when he hands out an olive branch, which was originally just a commercial matter, but it touched the sensitive area of Qin Jun's heart.

As a publisher worker, many famous writers from the outside world have to be kind to themselves, and the English version of the novel is not so easy to publish.

And Lin Han is also confused, does Random House really have sincerity to seek cooperation? 50,000 US dollars want to buy so many copyrights together, although he can participate in the sharing later, but this proportion is too low, it is simply to give alms.

The novel "I, Robot" has saved the time of the publisher's translation, and the rest of the types of books still have to be translated, and the novels directly translated by the original author are both accurate and propaganda gimmicks, no matter how you look at it, it is more than $50,000.

In fact, the novel "i, Robot" has sold 180,000 copies of the novel in Amazon's electronic sales share of well more than $50,000 at $4.99 a piece.

According to Lin Han's 70% share ratio, he can get hundreds of thousands of dollars in income, and he can't afford to sell the copyright of the novel at a low price for tens of thousands of dollars.

Publishing a novel in an Amazon online bookstore is almost cost-free, and Lin Han has set aside the publishing house before and signed an agency agreement with Amazon in his own name, and the sales of these 180,000 copies are real, and there is no agency to help inject water.

One of the marketing strategies and secrets of foreign books is to be good at "hitting the charts" for new books, which is a bit similar to music charts, rushing to the charts to gain greater popularity.

In the United States, there are marketing companies that specialize in book "charting" business, and they work with people in the publishing industry to plan and find ways to squeeze new books into the bestseller list.

If a new book is guaranteed to get enough pre-orders before it is released, for example, 10,000 copies will be on the Wall Street Journal bestseller list, and 50,000 copies will be guaranteed to be on the biggest bestseller list, the New York Times bestseller list.

Of course, this is only to ensure that they are in the top 100, and it cannot directly parachute into the top 10 or even higher. Through the book advertising benefits created by the list, more books have become bestsellers, and bestsellers have great market influence.

Publishers can make a profit from bestsellers, authors gain credibility and prestige, and book "charts" marketing companies do a booming business, and such wonderful bestsellers become a huge incentive to drive book sales.

Lin Han has also been cheated under such large-scale publicity, a novel called the-alchemist (The Fantastic Journey of the Shepherd Boy) played the banner of "240 consecutive weeks on the New York Times bestseller list", but after reading it, I found that it was a bit exaggerated, although this is a classic, but I always feel like something is missing.

There's a magical power to the New York Times bestseller list that crowns a good book or a bad book and keeps readers coming for it.

Even for authors, such rankings are very interesting, and everyone from publishing companies to the general public is staring at them. If you are an author of a fictional work, you will receive a steady stream of invitations to manuscripts after being on the list, and even the book will be reprinted, which can also drive the sales of old books in the past.

If you are a fiction writer in the reality category, you will be invited to participate in various lectures, trainings, and consultations after being on the list, which can increase higher exposure and higher prestige.

Returning to the topic, because "i, robot" has not been published in English, it has not been included in the bestseller list of the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, which is not only a potential business opportunity for publishers, but also a missed publicity position for Lin Han.

"Are the people at Random House trying to pick up the slack?"

Chen Jiaxuan thought for a long time before coming to such a conclusion, but have they really seriously inquired about Amazon's sales? Obviously, after the double test of word-of-mouth and sales, "I, Robot" has become a sweet and sweet.

Lin Han waved his hand, he took the tablet over, opened the official website of Amazon America with his hand, and then said, "I don't know what that side thinks." The revenue of the English version of the e-books I sell through Amazon is almost higher than that in China, and if it is really promoted, the sales will definitely increase. ”

"I've calculated that with the current sales volume, you can get $500,000 after tax! This is too high, we have worked hard in China to get hundreds of thousands of yuan in royalties. ”

The result of this calculation strengthened Chen Jiaxuan's thoughts, and she muttered: "Since the electronic version is selling so well, the English publishing rights can't be sold casually, we have to plan well, how can more publishers find us." ”

Random House and Penguin are the biggest, but there are also many competitors, and publishers will not miss a chance if they can make money on books from any country.

"I hope the rest of the publishers don't follow this trap, it's too cost-effective, can you use it to fight for a false name, or the money you get is the most affordable. ”

Lin Han searched carefully in Amazon's rankings, and he found that in fact, his book had been placed in Amazon's novel recommendation catalog, because the more novels were sold, the more money Amazon could receive, so the sales could quickly rise to 180,000 copies.

At present, the total sales of Amazon novels have entered the era of millions, and books with cumulative sales of a single e-book exceeding one million can truly become bestsellers, such as Swedish writer Stig Larsen's trilogy "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo", "The Girl Who Played with Fire" and "The Girl Who Smashed the Hive" have all entered the era of millions, as well as the American thriller mystery novel King James Patterson's "The Spider is Coming", "The Kiss of Death" and other series of novels have sold amazingly.

Now there are many books on the new book sales list where "I, Robot" is located, and Amazon is basically ranked according to sales, and no matter how many copies a person buys, it will be counted, which is convenient for many opportunistic people to operate.

With monthly sales of 180,000 copies, it ranks 8th on the new book sales list, which is not far from the previous sales volume. At the top of the list is "All-the-Light-We-Cannot-See," which was widely praised by critics and is even expected to win a Pulitzer Prize this year.

On the top of the novel sales list, "I, Robot" is inferior, and the sales of other types of books are very high, even hundreds of thousands. But in the science fiction category, it is going to be more outstanding, directly climbing to the 10th place in the science fiction sales list, second only to those science fiction masters.

It stands to reason that such a good result should prove his potential, but no one cares about it except Random House, and the conditions of Random House are so harsh.

"We need a higher sales rank so that more publishers see the novel. Chen Jiaxuan tapped her finger on the screen, and she said, "Otherwise, we will also go to find that kind of special ranking company?"

However, Lin Han shook his head, and he said with a smile: "I don't think it's so troublesome, just contact Amazon directly, and say that we are willing to join the ranks of promotions." Entering the discount promotion, the sales will definitely increase. ”

"Originally, it was only $4.99, how much money can I have after the discount. ”

"Even if it's 6% off, it's $2.99, so it's a small profit and quick turnover, and the number of buyers should increase, depending on where we can rush. ”

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Many book lovers don't understand the description of Random House in the previous chapter, but that's basically the reality. The publishing house is the boss, and you authors are all small shrimps who rely on us to eat, and the author has contacted the Taiwan Traditional Chinese Publishing House, and the other party's tone is worse than this.

Even after a friend passed the review of traditional Chinese publishing, the price he gave was not as much as one-tenth of his monthly manuscript fee, which was completely for his dream of publishing, not to make money.

The relationship between the publisher and the author should be mutually beneficial, and the author is really a vulnerable group. Random House accounts for 25 percent of the world's publishing market, will they particularly fancy a science fiction novel? At most, they will make routine inquiries and cast a wide net to catch a fish.

This kind of attitude should be normal, in the face of ordinary authors, in the face of best-selling authors will change to a different attitude.