At the end of the interview, Lin Zixuan met with his literary agent. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

The agent's name was Christopher Ritter, in his forties, and he had the air of an English gentleman.

Ritter has a certain reputation among British literary agents, he is not only Lin Zixuan's literary agent, but also responsible for many British writers, including many well-known figures in the British literary world.

Literary agents earn money from writers' royalties, which generally range from 10 to 15 percent.

For example, Lin Zixuan's "Little Snow's Big Adventure", if he can get 100,000 pounds in royalties a year, Ritter will take 12% of it, that is, 12,000 pounds.

Lin Zixuan's actual income was only 88,000 pounds.

The more countries in the world the more novels in this series are published and the higher the sales, the more Ritter earns.

Therefore, literary agents will take the initiative to promote potential novels for their own income, and there is no need for writers to urge them.

At present, there are no professional literary agents in China, and there are many reasons for this.

The main problem is the concept, domestic writers are reluctant to submit their works to the market for testing, they feel that the value of literary creation should not be determined by the market and profits.

They value a system of literary criticism composed of literary critics and professional scholars.

In other words, domestic writers care more about the opinions of experts than the opinions of readers.

However, under the influence of the market economy, this concept is changing, and young writers are willing to face the market and pursue profits.

Besides, most writers in China can't afford to support literary agents.

Although China is a big publishing country and publishes a large number of books every year, the price of books is generally low, the royalties paid by publishers to writers are not high, and there will be concealment and arrears of royalties.

Writers need to go to the publishing house from time to time to ask for accounts, even to the point of going to court.

This leads to writers' unstable incomes and the inability to financially afford to hire professional literary agents.

Only a small group of writers like Lin Zixuan, who are at the top of the writers' group, can have a literary agent.

This shows that the domestic publishing industry is not professional and mature enough.

Ritter is very optimistic about the publication prospects of "Little Snow's Great Adventure" in Europe and the United States, and he has brought publishing contracts from more than a dozen national publishers, some of which are in the process of negotiation.

As the agent of Lin Zixuan's works, he is responsible for negotiating with publishers in various countries.

The conditions offered by each publisher vary greatly, with some publishers offering fixed royalties and others offering different royalties according to the number of books printed.

The royalty is 10 percent for the first printing of 10,000 copies, 12 percent for the second printing, and 15 percent for the third printing.

That is, the more printed, the better the sales performance, and the higher the royalties.

Some publishers divide the books into paperback and hardcover editions, each with different pricing and royalties.

In addition, there are differences in the tax rate of royalties for writers in each country, and in some countries there are tax breaks for writers, or support programs for writers' creation, so as to encourage writers' creation.

Only by clarifying these legal provisions can the interests of writers and literary agents be guaranteed.

It can be said that literary brokering is a fairly specialized industry.

Lin Zixuan didn't have the energy to figure these things out, and professional things were left to professional people.

He handed over the documents to be signed to the lawyer he brought with him, and it was also difficult for domestic lawyers to be proficient in the laws of various countries, mainly to check whether there were any loopholes in these documents.

Especially when it comes to copyright, it must not be taken lightly.

Lin Zixuan and Ritter met to talk about film adaptation rights.

"I'm in the film industry, and I want to make this novel into a movie, and through the release of the movie, the story can have a wider and far-reaching impact." Lin Zixuan said directly, "I would like to ask Mr. Ritter to promote this novel to Hollywood studios, and strive to put the novel on the big screen as soon as possible." ”

"It's too early, I think we should start with the adaptation into a play, and then move on to the film field." Ritter suggested.

A novel can be adapted into a stage play, a radio play, a film and television play, and so on.

The British are quite obsessed with stage plays, like to watch plays, and regard drama as an elegant art.

"This kind of magical children's story can only fully show its charm through the means of film, turning the fictional world into reality and bringing joy to children." Lin Zixuan insisted.

"We also have good studios in the UK, and we don't need Hollywood to make great films." Ritter said proudly.

Lin Zixuan had heard that the British were conservative and stubborn, but he didn't expect to run into him.

The British film industry is long gone, otherwise British actors would not have run to Hollywood, and it is okay to shoot ordinary feature films, but it is difficult to make the kind of big-budget films that require special effects technology.

Magical themes such as "Little Snow's Adventure" must be supported by a large number of special effects, and Hollywood is the best choice.

Lin Zixuan didn't want to ruin the whole story with that kind of five-cent special effect.

"Mr. Ritter, your country does have good studios, but it's a smart choice to make a film that can break into the North American market, and it would be wise to involve Hollywood studios." Lin Zixuan persuaded, "We can work together to shoot, what do you think?" ”

The tripartite co-production of Hollywood Studios, British Studios and Good Dreams guarantees the revenue of the film in three countries.

"Mr. Lin, this is a good proposal." Ritter agreed.

"In terms of the copyright of the film, I hope to control it in my own hands, at least part of it, to ensure that I have the initiative in the future." Lin Zixuan put forward his own requirements, "The film adaptation rights of this series of novels are best negotiated separately, rather than negotiated all at once, you know, when the movie becomes famous, the follow-up value will become greater and greater." ”

He knew that working with a Hollywood studio would make it difficult to secure the full rights to the film.

If those companies don't have the copyright in their hands, they won't be interested in investing, and they are not so kind to take money to make Lin Zixuan famous.

Lin Zixuan had no choice but to settle for the next best thing, to have part of the copyright, so that he could take the initiative when filming the sequel.

The film adaptation rights of the novel are best discussed episode by episode, and the price of the sequel must be higher.

Of course, Hollywood studios are not fools, they pursue profits and will not allow an episode to be blackmailed by Lin Zixuan once.

This requires the agent to negotiate a mutually acceptable outcome, which is Ritter's forte.

"Hollywood businessmen are not easy to communicate, I'll contact them, let's give it a try." Ritter agreed. (To be continued.) )