Chapter 137: Loosened (Asking for a Monthly Pass)
Chapter 137 of the text volume has been loosened (ask for a monthly pass)
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In mid-September, Lin Zixuan received a call from Hubei Province from an editor of Changhe Literature and Art Publishing House who wanted to publish the novel "Alive".
Changhe Literature and Art Publishing House is well-known in China, and their publishing philosophy is "popular culture, elite taste, and common people's feelings", and they are good at publishing best-selling books.
The reason why they fell in love with "Alive" this time has a lot to do with Zhang Yimou.
Zhang Yimou's next film is adapted from "Alive", which is not a secret in the literary circle, with the influence of Zhang Yimou's film, it is difficult to publish this novel when the film is screened nationwide.
The publisher estimates that at least 100,000 copies will be released, and if the film really causes a national sensation, hundreds of thousands of copies are possible, which is to be expected.
In this way, it is quite important to get the publishing authorization of "Alive".
There are many publishing houses in Beijing, and the competition will be quite fierce, and the editor of Changhe Literature and Art Publishing House heard that Lin Zixuan had returned from abroad, so he called and hoped to negotiate publishing matters in person.
It's just that they didn't expect that the publishing house in the capital would not move at all.
One is that the subject matter of the novel "Alive" is too sensitive, even if it is published in "Hundred Flowers" magazine and Zhang Yi is filmed into a movie, there is no guarantee that there is no risk in publishing the novel.
The publishing houses in the capital have always been cautious, because they are in the capital, and it is easy to check them up.
Another point has to do with Lin Zixuan, last time several publishing houses wanted to publish "The Stubborn Master", Lin Zixuan proposed to take royalties, which has no precedent in China, and no publishing house is willing to open this opening, which involves the interests of the publishing house.
Publishing houses pay authors remuneration for publishing novels, and the remuneration is calculated according to the number of words in the novel.
The remuneration of unfamous authors is low, and the remuneration of famous authors is relatively high, and the remuneration of high is limited.
Take the novel "Alive" as an example, there are only 100,000 words, which is not considered a long story, according to Lin Zixuan's fame in the literary world, he will be given one or two thousand yuan at most, and the rest of the money earned will belong to the publishing house.
So what did writers at this time do for a living?
There are two major organizations in the Chinese literary circle, one is the Writers' Association and the other is the Federation of Literary and Art Circles, and as long as writers join these two organizations and participate in the work in them, they can earn wages to support their families.
Writers also have their own workplaces, such as local cultural bureaus or newspapers and magazines.
They can usually get a manuscript fee, and they can also get an adaptation fee when their works are adapted into film and television dramas, so as long as a well-known writer has no problem in life, it is even much better than ordinary people.
Only those young people who are not famous will be more down, but these people are part-time.
Lin Zixuan's royalties are undoubtedly cutting meat from the publishing house, especially this kind of novel that may be a bestseller.
This is the reason why the publishing house in Beijing is reluctant to contact Lin Zixuan, once there is a precedent, other writers will follow suit and have to take royalties, then the future work of the publishing house will not be good.
"You may not know, I want to get royalties for publishing my novels. On the phone, Lin Zixuan kindly reminded.
He felt that the publishing houses in Hubei Province might not know much about this matter, and he had to bring it up first, so as not to make a trip in vain.
Sure enough, there was silence on the other side of the phone, as if something was being discussed.
"This can be discussed, let's meet and talk about it, okay?" After a while, the phone responded.
"Okay, I have time this week, I'm going to Hangzhou next week to participate in the Golden Oriole Festival, you can tell me before you come, or come directly to the TV Art Center. Lin Zixuan agreed.
Novel publishing is a good thing, and it would be better if you could get royalties, and writers who don't get royalties are actually no different from cheap labor.
Changhe Literature and Art Publishing House held negotiations, and in China's publishing industry, royalties are a sensitive topic.
In the publishing industry in Hong Kong, Taiwan and abroad, it is normal for writers to receive royalties, which is the rights and interests of writers, and only China has caused this unique publishing model due to historical reasons.
Whether to break this situation, whether it will be besieged by other publishing houses, and how to deal with the next new form are questions that the president of Changhe Literature and Art needs to consider.
Now that the market economy has been invigorated, everyone is looking to money, writers also have their own living needs, and it is no longer suitable for the development of society, even if there is no Lin Zixuan, there will be other writers who will ask for royalties in the future.
They did market research on Lin Zixuan's novels.
The novel "The Stubborn Master" is short and regional, and it may sell well in the north, but not in the south.
Although the subject matter of "Alive" is sensitive, it is a shocking work, and with Zhang Yimou's movie, there is no problem in selling well across the country, and it may create a miracle.
Since the publishing houses in the capital did not take action because of various concerns, they could not miss this opportunity.
Two days later, Lin Zixuan met a deputy editor-in-chief of Changhe Literature and Art Publishing House at the Beijing Television Art Center, named Li Hongbo, a middle-aged man with a gentle face.
The two sides had a good exchange, and as long as there was no dispute over royalties, it was easy to talk about it, and they quickly signed a publishing agreement.
According to the agreement between the two parties, Lin Zixuan received 8% of the royalties.
This royalty is neither high nor low, and best-selling authors abroad can generally get about 15 percent of the royalties, and extremely famous writers can even get more than 20 percent of the royalties.
Based on the royalty of 8%, the price of "Alive" is five yuan, and if 100,000 copies are out, Lin Zixuan can get 40,000 yuan, deducting personal adjustment income tax, which is much more than simply getting paid.
The better the sales of the novel, the more royalties he gets, which is the real market economy.
"This time, we really don't have to worry about money. Lin Zixuan took the contract home and said to Mu Shanshan.
This incident is too sensational in the literary and artistic circles to hide it at all.
Within a few days, the writers in Huaguo basically knew about it, and for a while, everyone was talking about it, whether they were familiar with Lin Zixuan or not, many people called to ask about the authenticity of the matter.
This is undoubtedly great news for Chinese writers, and they see the possibility of getting rich through writing.
Many writers have begun to negotiate with publishers about royalties, which involves their financial interests.
Writers are also human beings, they have families to support, they are not saints who don't eat or drink, and the interests that should be fought for must be fought for, no one has raised them before, but now someone has stood up and really got royalties, this is the power of example.
A vigorous royalty turmoil spread in the literary and artistic circles of China.
A famous writer of the older generation in China expressed such feelings at a gathering of the Writers' Association, and we should thank Lin Zixuan for loosening the restrictions on Chinese writers. (To be continued.) )