"Mr. Xiao, I have a foreign friend who wants to meet you, do you have time today?" Li Tianran said directly on the phone.

Xiao Fei was very strange.

How can any foreigner want to see him?

He immediately thought of a question, that is: Is his work getting the attention of foreign publishers? Foreigners want to get the copyright from themselves?

It's entirely possible.

After all, if you are so popular in China, you will definitely be noticed by foreign cultural circles.

Especially after the reform and opening up, more and more foreign scholars have come to China, and the number of foreigners who are proficient in Chinese culture is also increasing.

People abroad are also becoming more and more interested in the mysterious ancient oriental country, and they are eager to learn more about China.

At this time, the translation of Chinese literary works became more and more important.

Xiao Fei also knows that the reason why Mo Yan won the Nobel Prize is inseparable from the fact that his works have been widely translated and published abroad.

According to relevant information, Mo Yan is likely to be the one among domestic writers whose works have been translated and introduced abroad.

I won't speak English.

Translations of Mo Yan's works abound in French, German, Japanese, Italian, and even Swedish.

This has accumulated a high level of popularity for Mo Yan abroad, making him a Chinese writer with a world reputation.

In particular, the publication of the Swedish version in Sweden brought Mo Yan closer to the vision of the Nobel Prize in Literature judges, and added a lot to his award.

Counting up, Xiao Fei has been popular in China for nearly two years.

It should be that some foreign publishers have taken the initiative to contact them.

Thinking of this, Xiao Fei said, "Teacher Li." What's going on? ”

Li Tianran smiled: "Anyway, it's a good thing, the other party is a professor at Berkeley University." His name is Andrew. Jones, he's a sinologist. Very interested in Chinese literature, he said that he has signed an agreement with Random House that he wants to translate your "Brothers" into English and publish it in the United States. ”

Sure enough, it was the translation and publication of his own works.

Moreover, this man named Andrew. Jones's has actually signed a publishing deal with Random House.

Random House is one of the most powerful publishing institutions in the United States, and it can be called a giant in the publishing industry.

"Okay. Mr. Li, thank you, you bothered, you ask Andrew, see if he has time tonight, if so, let's meet in the evening and talk. Xiao Fei said.

"Andrew is right next to me, Xiao Fei. Tell him yourself. Li Tianran said.

"That's fine." Xiao Fei said.

Immediately, a voice came out of the microphone that was quite fluent but still a little awkward: "Mr. Xiao Fei, hello, hello!" I have time tonight. It's better for me to be the east, let's go eat Hong Bao Zhai. ”

I speak Chinese very well.

This foreigner seems to have put a lot of effort into learning Chinese.

Xiao Fei said, "Mr. Jones, let you be the east." What's so embarrassing about that? Or should I come into the friendship of the landlords, then let's just say it? See you in Hong Bao Zhai tonight? ”

"Oh. Thank you then, let's just say that. Andrew said.

"Then I'll book a private room first."

After Xiao Fei hung up the phone. Immediately called Liu Xinming and asked him to help him order a small bag in Hong Bao Zhai.

It is not easy for the works of Chinese writers to be translated abroad.

Even if it is translated to a foreign country, it is even more difficult to sell well. Like Yu Hua's works, they have also been widely translated abroad.

However, in developed countries, the fact that his books can sell tens of thousands of copies is considered a very powerful performance.

The gap between cultures is sometimes so huge.

Especially today, when Western culture is strong, it is difficult for the works of Chinese writers to sell well in developed countries.

But even so, Xiao Fei wants to try his best to make his works open up in Western countries as soon as possible and be welcomed. Especially if it can be recognized and appreciated by cultural elites from all over the world, it will be of great help to win a Nobel Prize in this life.

Winning the Nobel Prize is a very slim thing.

Even the representative writers of the developed countries of the West are not sure that they will win the Nobel Prize in their lifetime.

But if you don't fight for it, how can you feel at ease?

That night, Xiao Fei arrived at Hong Baozhai at half past six.

It was about seven o'clock in the evening, and Xiao Fei felt that he was half an hour early, which should be about the same.

But as soon as he arrived at the hotel, he received a call from Li Tianran.

"Teacher Xiao, where are you?"

"Mr. Li, I'm here in the hotel parking lot, I just parked the car, where are you going?"

"We're already in front of the hotel, oh! I see you. ”

Xiao Fei got out of the car, locked the car door, and when he looked up, he saw Li Tianran standing at the foot of the hotel steps with a blonde white man of medium stature, waving to him.

Okay! The two of them came early enough.

Xiao Fei strode over.

Li Tianran introduced to Xiao Fei: "This is the professor of the Department of East Asian Studies at the University of Berkeley. Mr. Jones. ”

He asked Andrew again. Jones said: "Mr. Jones, this is Mr. Xiao Fei, a dazzling new star in our country's literary circle, his books are very popular in my country, each of them is a million-level hot seller, and is well received by readers!" ”

Andrew. Jones stretched out his hand to Xiao Fei: "Mr. Xiao, hello, hello!" I have admired the daimyo for a long time! ”

"Hello Mr. Jones! Nice to meet you. ”

Xiao Fei shook hands with Jones.

The three of them entered the hotel and sat in a private room.

The dish was ordered, and before the dish was served, the three of them began to talk.

Li Tianran told Xiao Fei about the process of getting to know Jones. He said that Jones got in touch with him through a teacher at Beijing Foreign University, and Jones hoped to contact Xiao Fei himself through the publishing house, and then talk about the English copyright of the book "Brothers."

Jones, on the other hand, said that when he came to China last year, he saw the novel "Brothers" and was hooked upon it.

Jones said that Xiao Fei's brother writing is very smooth, with the beauty of rhythm, and it is a pleasure to read.

He believes that the masterpiece "Brothers" is very thick and has high literary value.

More importantly, it is easy to read and has a strong story, which indicates that it has a lot of commercial prospects, and if it is translated well, it will be very popular with readers if it can maintain the charm of the original work intact into the English translation.

Jones said he started translating "Brothers" last year.

At first, he was just out of interest and affection.

But at the end of last year, he showed a part of the translation of this book to Random House, and Random House took a fancy to it.

And Langdon also paid attention to Xiao Fei, knowing that he is the hottest young writer in China in recent days.

It didn't take long for Langdon to decide to sign Jones's translation of the book, and at the same time, they commissioned Jones to travel to China to negotiate copyright with Xiao Fei.

"Mr. Xiao, the U.S. copyright of your "Brother" shouldn't have been sold, right?" Andrew. Jones asked.

"No, Mr. Jones." Xiao Fei said.

"Well, I would like to get the copyright authorization of your work on behalf of Random House, of course, you can choose the form of cooperation, one is that you package and sell all the copyrights of your work in the English language to Random House, and the other is that you can give Langdon a license for a certain number of years. I look forward to working with you successfully. "Andrew. Jones said.

Xiao Fei knows that if it is a top famous writer in an English-speaking country, its copyright value is quite amazing.

The U.S. publishing houses with top rights are doing quite well.

However, even if his work is sold out by Langdon, it is estimated that it will not be sold for a few dollars, right?

He is not unfamiliar with that little royalty.

So, he didn't like to sell out.

He just hopes that his work will be translated abroad and open up a world-class influence, nothing more.

Of course, he will not be so generous that he will not surrender his interests to American companies that have nothing to do with him, which is not in his interests.

"Mr. Jones, I'll choose the second way of cooperation, and we can talk about it in detail." Xiao Fei said.

"Oh? Why doesn't Mr. Xiao like to sell out? Langdon's buyout price is quite good, and if you sell out the rights, you can also make a considerable profit every time Langdon reprints, and this sellout is just to prevent bad faith competition from other publishing companies in the United States. Jones said seriously.

"Really? Mr. Jones, what exactly are the terms of the sellout? Xiao Fei asked.

"Well, if you sell the novel 'Brothers' to Langdon, you can get a one-time proceeding of $20,000, and you will receive 2% of the royalties on each book of Langdon's publication proceeds in the future." Andrew. Jones said.

Xiao Fei smiled in his heart.

This price is not as good as the conditions given to it by the writer's publishing house.

"Forget it, Mr. Jones, I think it's better to grant Langdon Company the exclusive rights to publish in the U.S. market for five years." Xiao Fei didn't want to transfer the copyright to others at such a low price, and it would be better to hold the copyright in his own hands.

Xiao Fei's answer surprised Andrew. Jones's surprise.

He thought that the conditions he proposed would impress Xiao Fei.

He is not a businessman, he is just negotiating with Xiao Fei on behalf of Langdon, and the buyout price just now was given by Langdon.

"Mr. Xiao, if you don't agree to sell out, then you have to talk about the issue of exclusive licensing, Langdon wants the exclusive publishing rights of "Brothers" for at least ten years, and it will pay you two thousand dollars a year for the copyright fee, ten years is twenty thousand dollars, and you have no other income, do you think it's okay?" Andrew. Jones said.

"Although your novel "Brothers" is very popular in my country, it is estimated that it is unlikely to sell well in the United States because of cultural barriers, and the publishing house cannot make too much money, so please be considerate." Jones explained. (To be continued.) )