Ming Pao Group's policy shift. For fiction authors, it's obviously a huge plus.

From a global perspective, those with film and television adaptations and animation and game adaptations are mainly novels. Fiction can be upstream of all entertainment resources.

During the years of peace, the vast majority of the progress of science and technology and culture was for the benefit of people. If a country solves the problem of eating, the people will demand better medical care, entertainment and other resources, and in order to meet the people's consumption needs, related industries will continue to innovate, and then promote the development of social science and technology.

For example, the development of the computer industry was originally intended for scientific, technological, military, telecommunications, commercial, and so on. However, what really promotes the leapfrog development of computer hardware and software technology is to meet people's entertainment needs such as games, music, movies, and communication. The public's demand for entertainment is the first factor to promote the progress of the computer industry and the film industry!

And embodied in the level - poetry, prose and other themes, the original purpose is to express personal feelings, art, thoughts, etc., not to entertain the public. And essays, reports, and the like are all for the sake of ideology, or to expose a certain event or history in society. It's not popular with the mainstream public, either.

There are only novels, and the main function of the birth is to entertain.

Before the publishing industry was not popularized in Western countries, it was the aristocracy that funded some novelists to write stories to meet the spiritual and cultural needs of the aristocratic class for reading novels and listening to stories.

In China, printing became popular in Western countries. With the emergence of newspapers, publishing and other industries, Western novelists began to gradually get rid of the status of aristocrats funding captivity, and instead submitted articles to be serialized in newspapers, or published physical books to make money. At this time, the mainstream novels of the West returned to the demand for mass entertainment.

The emergence of Chinese novels was based on folk tales, storytelling, etc., which was originally intended to meet the entertainment needs of the common people. Three of the four famous novels, "Journey to the West", "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", and "Water Margin", were all written as commentaries. Therefore, "Journey to the West", "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", and "Water Margin" are quite marketable in China and the world even now.

After the transformation of the Ming Pao Group.

Its "Martial Arts and History" magazine quickly purchased various adaptations of some of its valuable serialized novels. For example, "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" of "Thirty-two Changes", and "Qingcheng Sword Immortal" of "Taihu Overlord".

At the suggestion of Zhang Shaojie, their novels were funded by the Ming Pao Group, and they purchased the copyrights of their films, television, games, animations and so on.

The author of the pen name "Thirty-two Changes" looked at the 100,000 yuan copyright transfer fee paid to him by Ming Pao in his hand, and was both happy and crying: "What if the adaptation of movies and games sells well in the future, but I chose to sell all the adaptation rights at one time?" ”

Of course, these are all happy troubles!

Although there was a column in the serialization of "Thirty-two Changes" before, he wrote 300,000 words a year, and the remuneration was only 15,000 yuan.

Now that he has received a huge sum of 100,000 yuan, the "thirty-two changes" are full of pride: "I finally raised my eyebrows, go home tonight and beat my wife to celebrate!" ”

The young man who is the overlord of Taihu Lake is only twenty-five or sixteen years old, because he heard that Ni Kuang, Gu Long, Jin Yong, and other major masters have praised the majestic writing of the "Legend of Shushan Swordsman" by the lord of Huanzhu during the Republic of China, and no one has been able to surpass it so far.

So I bought a set of more than 5 million words of "Shu Mountain" and it took half a year to read it, and after reading it, I was still unsatisfied, because the "Shu Mountain" of the owner of the Pearl House was written to more than 5 million words, and it was actually a eunuch

The overlord of Taihu Lake decided to write a story in the world of Shushan himself. The owner of Huanzhu Mansion has been dead for decades, and the copyright is not protected, so the Shushan theme he wrote can also be serialized in "Martial Arts and History", and even get a good manuscript fee. The overlord of Taihu Lake, originally thought that the remuneration of 40,000 or 50,000 yuan a year was not small in Ming Pao. Unexpectedly, this time Ming Pao actually gave him 150,000 Hong Kong dollars to buy the film and television and animation rights of his adaptation of "Qingcheng Swordsman".

The overlord of Taihu Lake said proudly: "The lord of the Pearl Mansion is big, and I worship you too much!" Wrote the same people in Shushan, not only will they not infringe, but they can even sell film and television, animation, and game copyrights! Hey, it's a pity you didn't come at the right time! If you were born in Hong Kong and Taiwan after World War II, the Chinese writer with the highest remuneration may not be that stinky Zhang Shaojie, but you! Essay words, "Shu Mountain" is better than "Tang Dynasty", in terms of imagination, "Shu Mountain" is the most majestic since the ages! However, don't worry, since I imitate your "Shushan", I must fight for breath, there is always one point, I want to use the setting you conceived to defeat that Zhang Shaojie! ”

Under Ming Pao, many novel authors thought that this was Jin Yong's kindness, but they didn't know that this was Zhang Shaojie's decision. If they knew that Zhang Shaojie not only now owns 15% of the shares of Ming Pao Group, but was also selected by Jin Yong as the next head of Ming Pao Group, would they be shocked?

―――――――――――― this era, novels from Hong Kong and Taiwan were published.

It is generally divided into two different parts - newspaper serialization and physical publishing.

The threshold for newspaper serialization is generally lower than that of physical publishing, and the average author of a novel, if he wants to gain the recognition of readers, usually submits his manuscript to newspapers and magazines, and if he gets the opportunity to publish in newspapers, he generally only sells the newspaper serialization rights of the novel, rather than selling the physical book for publication, with other adaptation copyrights.

Serialized in the newspaper, if it did not get a response, it was either cut in half, or it was hastily ended.

The works that become popular in newspapers and periodicals and cause market repercussions are generally published by publishing companies that sign contracts with authors. The income from physical book publishing is usually more generous than that of serialized articles in newspapers and magazines.

Now, Ming Pao has acquired the copyrights of its authors at a high price - physical book publishing, film and television adaptation copyrights, animation games, translation copyrights, etc., all copyrights are Ming Pao's goal.

"This is the new policy of the "Ming Pao" group, those who are fast can make money, and those who are slow can only make money by other writers!" An editor of Ming Pao explained to the author of the street, "It's not because your work is favored by companies such as film and television, animation, etc., but because we analyze it in Ming Pao, there may be adaptation value in the future." It's just possible, you know.? It's like venture capital, buy 100 works, maybe only one will be able to get an adaptation! ”

"Alright! I agree to sell the copyright. However, what is the explanation of the two different ways of selling, sharing and buyout? "A certain author of the street asked.

The editor of Ming Pao patiently explained: "The buyout is a one-time payment of cash to you, and it has nothing to do with you no matter how much you make from the adaptation of the work in the future." The share means that you entrust the adaptation right of the work to the Ming Pao Group, and the Ming Pao Group will find a buyer for you, and if you get the income from the adaptation, Ming Pao will share it with you."

There are more than 10 authors contacted by Ming Pao Group in the first batch.

The vast majority of them choose the form of buyout, and get the money first. There are also a small number of authors who bet on the future and signed a five-fifty cooperation model.

In fact, Ming Pao Group prefers a 55-5 partnership model, in which the author and the company share the risk and the future benefits equally.

Ming Pao contributes to the development of more benefits for the author, and the works created by the author also provide the profit of Ming Pao. This win-win approach is the way to long-term benefit cooperation.

Ming Pao Group's full copyright acquisition of the copyright of novels, films, television, animation and games is mainly based on novels serialized in "Martial Arts and History" and "Ming Pao".

The first selected list, with 10 novels, cost a total of HK$700,000. Most of them are martial arts novels, but there are also a small number of science fiction and romance novels.

The most valuable of these is undoubtedly Ni Kuang's early martial arts classic "Six Fingers Qin Demon".

"Six-Fingered Piano Demon" is half sold and half given away, if you really want to make a price, it will cost 700,000 or 800,000 Hong Kong dollars.

In the early days, in the 60s, Ni Kuang did not write science fiction novels at the beginning, but also tried to write some martial arts novels. Later, I deeply felt that no matter how I wrote martial arts, it could not reach the level of Jin Yong and Gu Long, so Ni Kuang began to write science fiction novels.

Although Ni Kuang's science fiction has been criticized by countless people, it is not rigorous at all, nor does it conform to scientific common sense, and there is no scientific surname and rigorous surname that science fiction should have. However, it did not affect the popularity of Ni Kuang's science fiction novels, and Ni Kuang's book could sell more than two or three hundred thousand copies once it was published. Moreover, Ni Kuang's novels and dramas are very strong, and the adapted movies and TV series can often be very successful.

"Six-Fingered Piano Demon", Ni Kuang's early martial arts masterpiece, was actually adapted into a movie for the first time in 65 years. Later, in the 80s, 90s, and 21st century, it was also adapted into movies and TV series many times.

Lin Qingxia, Hui Yinghong and other popular movie stars later acted in "Six Piano Demons", and they were also quite popular at the box office.

It can be said that among Ni Kuang's martial arts works, in addition to "One-Armed Knife", "Six-Fingered Piano Demon" should be the most classic martial arts work!

Zhang Shaojie contacted Ni Kuang by phone, Ni Kuang is also an old man of Ming Pao, the editorial department of "Martial Arts and History" was established by Ni Kuang, he was the editor-in-chief for a long time, and Gu Long was invited by Ni Kuang from Taiwan to Hong Kong to publish novels. Later, Ni Kuang introduced Gu Long to Shaw Brothers Film Company as a screenwriter, Gu Long was able to develop, and Ni Kuang was also very helpful to him.

In addition, Huang Zhan once wrote a yellow meat joke in a magazine, and the editors and reporters of the newspaper at that time only had a monthly salary of several hundred or thousand, but Huang Zhan could not help but boast about the monthly salary of 8,000 Hong Kong dollars for writing articles. Ni Kuang said directly: "8000 uses yellow dipping, it's too cheap, I will use him!" It can be seen that Ni Kuang did have an extraordinary status in "Ming Pao" back then, whether it was the introduction of Gu Long, or the desire to invite Huang Zhan at a high monthly salary of 8,000, he was able to call the shots.

Although, now Ni Kuang is a professional writer, and he no longer works in the "Ming Pao" group. However, for "Martial Arts and History", which he has edited for more than ten years, there are still those who have feelings, so he replied to Zhang Shaojie with a smile: "If you want to sell "Six Fingers Qin Demon", how about 10,000?" ”

Zhang Shaojie said with a smile: "It's really cheap to buy "Six Finger Qin Demon" for 10,000, 100,000!" ”

Ni Kuang didn't care either, and signed the copyright agreement of "Six-Fingered Qin Demon": "In the future, whether "Six-Fingered Qin Demon" is made into a movie, film and television drama, or any comics, animation, or games, it has nothing to do with me Ni Kuang. Ha, I have been published and sold once before, and I have sold movies again in 65 years, but I didn't expect that it would be completely sold now, and "Six Fingers Demon" will finally not be able to sell anymore in the future! ”

"Originally, I was going to ask you to buy Wesley or something, but," Zhang Shaojie said.

Ni Kuang was stunned and said with a smile: "Go, what about buying Wesley?" I sold this novel thirty times or fifty times as a film adaptation, I don't remember anyway! If you make money every time and want to buy it at one time, how can you sell this big gold mine if you don't have 30 or 50 million? ”

Zhang Shaojie smiled: "This is too expensive." Now the copyright investment business of "Ming Pao" belongs to the experimental stage of small fights, and the purchase of copyrights is based on quantity! First buy a number of copyrights cheaply, and wait until some of those copyrights can be successfully developed commercially, and film and television, comics, and animation companies are familiar with cooperating with us, and then they will have the confidence to buy more valuable copyrights! ”

The total assets of the "Ming Pao" Group are only a few hundred million Hong Kong dollars, and it is rare to earn 30 million a year. And buying out the Wesley series, a masterpiece that earns tens of millions of dollars just for publishing and sells five or six million Hong Kong dollars for film and television adaptation licensing, is still unaffordable.

"Actually, I say! Less master, your "Legend of Double Dragons of the Tang Dynasty" is the most valuable, why don't you sell it to Ming Pao Group to enrich Ming Pao's copyright library? Ni Kuang teased.

Ni Kuang is Jin Yong's friend, so he naturally knows that Jin Yong gave Zhang Shaojie 15% of the shares of Ming Pao Group, and intends to train Zhang Shaojie to be the next head of Ming Pao Group!

Zhang Shaojie smiled: "Just like Wesley, who can't afford you, the current cash flow of "Ming Pao" can't afford to buy "The Legend of Double Dragons of the Tang Dynasty"!" In addition, the teacher's 14 novels have also been priced, one is 50 million, and 14 are 700 million! In the future, if there is an opportunity, I may sell all the rights to Ming Pao! ”

Ming Pao is worth about 300 million Hong Kong dollars at this time, and taking into account the future development prospects of brand value, it is good to be able to give a valuation of about 500 million now.

The commercial value of Jin Yong's 14 novels, valued at 700 million Hong Kong dollars, is indeed not an exaggeration at all. Because, even Jin Yong has not written novels for many years. However, these 14 books are published every year, and they are published again and again every year, which can still bring Jin Yong 2 million Hong Kong dollars in manuscript fees.

Plus the interests of Jin Yong's novels, film and television adaptations, games and animations and other industries. Now Jin Yong's copyright can bring him about 3 million Hong Kong dollars a year.

If the copyright value of Jin Yong's novels is fully developed, games, comics, animations, movies, and TV series can be operated with full copyright, and at least 300 million yuan of operating income can be obtained every year, as well as a profit of no less than 30 million Hong Kong dollars!

Jin Yong's painstaking management of "Ming Pao" all his life, in the end, is actually not as valuable as the 14 novels he wrote single-handedly! Therefore, if Jin Yong had chosen to only write novels and not run newspapers, he might have been richer than he is now

Of course, even if Jin Yong is the controlling shareholder of Ming Pao, Ming Pao is a regular company. The interests of Ming Pao belong to Ming Pao, and the interests of Jin Yong himself belong to Jin Yong. This clear distinction between public and private is what gives Ming Pao the impetus for development.

Zhang Shaojie and Ni Kuang exchanged views on the future plans for Ming Pao, including the gradual transformation of Ming Pao from the traditional newspaper and magazine publishing industry.

If the transformation can be successful, then Ming Pao's main business in the next ten years will be based on the copyright of various works in its hands.

The imagination of the written form provided by its authors is adapted into various forms such as comics, animation, games, movies, TV series, dramas, etc., to increase the value and connotation of the work.

Once this model is successful, the influence of Chinese characters in the world will be greatly enhanced. Because, foreigners may not understand the connotation of Chinese characters.

However, when the text is adapted into manga, anime, games, movies, etc., it will become more easy to understand! At that time, all of Hong Kong's cultural and entertainment industry chains will become a strong whole. At that time, the novel industry, animation industry, game industry, and film and television industry were no longer alone, but formed industrial clusters, which doubled the connotation and creativity of major industries

"We're still old, and our thinking isn't as lively as young people like you!" Ni Kuang smiled, "If it really happens, I will thank you for the future Hong Kong writers!" ”

Zhang Shaojie nodded, he knew that the situation of Hong Kong authors at this time was indeed not optimistic. Hong Kong's traditional publishing business is only HK$500 million or 600 million a year. The total remuneration paid to authors will not exceed HK$50 million. How many writers can be supported with a remuneration of 50 million Hong Kong dollars?

What's more, Zhang Shaojie alone is estimated to account for 15 million of the 50 million Hong Kong dollars in manuscript fees. Ni Kuang, Yishu, Jin Yong, Li Bihua, Gu Long, Qiong Yao and other famous artists are paid at least 15 million. Really ordinary authors add up to only about 20 million remuneration.

On average, an author has to earn HK$10,000 to barely live an ordinary life. That means that the whole of Hong Kong can support up to 2,000 writers. In fact, the figure is even lower. This is because more than eighty percent of the works published in publications and newspapers are part-time.

The mainstay of professional writers, two or three hundred people is good!

In a city of 5 million people, there can only be two or three hundred writers, who can make a living from words, and the proportion should be quite sad!

You must know that Hong Kong in the 60s and 70s was an era when the literary style was at its peak and works were endless! It didn't take long for Hong Kong to see fewer and fewer new authors

In any case, words are the basic raw material of all entertainment industries - just as there needs to be enough iron ore to develop the steel industry!

If you want the entertainment, games, and animation industry to develop, you must have a lot of high-quality text!

If Zhang Shaojie wants to realize the grand plan of the cultural and entertainment industry in his heart, he must not let Hong Kong's novel creation resources have shortcomings at this time! This is because it will take too long for the mainland writers to really begin to return to the essence of fiction -- the correct path of "entertaining the public".

(To be continued)