Witness of the film and television world

Chapter 16 Ready for Publication
……

"This is Uncle Josie." Mr. Chris quickly introduced to Peyton.

"Uncle Josie." Peyton called out politely.

Josie Frost nodded with a smile, and looked at the boy in front of him with some amazement.

If he hadn't known what his old friend was like, he would never have believed that such a wonderful novel, containing so many hints of humanity, would be written by a child.

However, thinking of his old friends who have always emphasized that his child is a "child prodigy" and precocious since he was a child, he began to accept it in his heart.

Prodigy Well, it's always different.

After World War II, under the background of great economic development, all kinds of child prodigies flooded all over the Federation.

As a professional in the media industry, he has a reasonable understanding of these prodigies.

I know that most of them are just packaged, but there are also a few who are really talented, such as the future bomber Ted Kaczynski, Saul Alan Kripke in Chicago...

The son of my old friend should be such a gifted child.

"Josie is my comrade-in-arms, and now he is the editor-in-chief of the Montgomery Times. I showed him your novel, and we agreed that it deserves better. Maybe we need to change our previous plan." Mr. Chris said .

Josie Frost nodded. In his opinion, it would be a waste if such novels were not published but serialized in newspapers.

Peyton looked at the two of them with some doubts: "Don't you want to find the Annabama Hot News?"

Mr. Chris shook his head and said with a smile: "Josie suggested that we contact the publisher directly. Your Uncle Josie has much more confidence in the novel than you, the author."

Josie Frost said seriously: "Peyton, this book will definitely drive those publishers crazy, and direct publishing is the best choice."

"But I'm not famous?"

"There is no need to worry about fame. The author only needs to be responsible for writing the work well. The publisher will naturally arrange the rest for you. You have to trust the publisher's hype and distribution capabilities..."

Hearing Josie's words, Payton was also persuaded, and chose to trust professionals.

It should be reliable for Mr. Chris to find someone.

"Then we choose to publish directly."

……

Publishing a book has never been easy.

Every editor may have different tastes, and rejections are commonplace for most authors.

Therefore, most authors choose not to put their eggs in the same basket from the very beginning of submission, and submit in multiple lines.

The same is true for Peyton. After consulting Josie Frost, a professional, he submitted manuscripts to half a dozen publishers.

These publishers are undoubtedly large publishers, capable of running a best-selling book.

From the perspective of Josie, an industry insider, as long as these publishers are not fools, they will never reject this book.

Because books of the suspense reasoning type actually don't have much taste at all.

Stunning, logical, brain-burning, and reversal are all the secrets of best-selling, not to mention that the creativity and connotation of this book are top-notch, and it can satisfy both refined and popular tastes, and the sales volume and awards will fly.

Of course, if these editors are all blind, Josie can only find some friends in the industry to help.

It's just that most of his friends work in small and medium-sized publishing houses, so this can only be a last resort and the last choice.

But fortunately, everything was not as bad as they expected, and these editors can be regarded as "wisdom eyes".

"The University of Chicago Press, Harper Collins Press... and other five large publishing houses have all given them conditions. Among them, Random House is the most sincere. It not only gives 9% of the royalties, but also guarantees as much as possible Do your best to publicize some of the mainstream awards next year."

"The Edgar Allan Poe Award...even the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction."

"In other words, even if you fail to win an award, nominations should be indispensable."

A middle-aged man introduced Mr. Chris and Peyton.

The middle-aged man's name was Ivoni Bernard, and it was Josie's recommendation that they had looked for an agent from the industry.

He has been in charge of the distribution of several books. Although they are only books of small publishers, he is also experienced and can take care of related matters for Peyton.

Looking at the boss in front of him, Ivoni Bernard looked very enthusiastic. Although his boss was young, he had a bright future.

It was the first time that Ivoni Berner met a "genius writer" like Peyton whose first book was recognized by a big publisher, who gave him high royalties and agreed to publicize famous awards for him.

When Yvonne Berner was found, he immediately realized that this was his opportunity.

From obscurity in the industry to instant fame, this is his opportunity.

So he immediately put all his body and mind into it, running for it, striving for better conditions, looking forward to holding the thigh of a popular writer and becoming a well-known agent.

Mr. Chris and Payton glanced at each other. These days, they have seen the results of Ivoni Bernard's work.

At the beginning, the royalties given by these publishing houses were uniform 6%, and only Random House gave 7%, which is also the usual newcomer price.

Afterwards, the current conditions came about after the broker's negotiations and trials.

Judging from the current situation, the manager's working ability is not bad.

"Okay, then choose this one."

Peyton nodded. They are all large publishing houses, and they are all the same.

Mr. Chris stood up and stretched out his hand to Ivoni Berner: "Thank you, Mr. Berner."

After the two shook hands, Payton also extended his hand: "Thank you, Mr. Manager."

With a smile on his face, Ivoni Bernard bowed his body slightly and shook hands with him, "Just call me Ivoni, this is my job."

A few days later, at the negotiating table, six middle-aged people sat together.

Three of them were representatives of Random House, and the other three were Mr. Chris, his agent Ivoni Burner, and the lawyer they hired to deal with the contract.

"Mr. Chris, you have no objections to our publicity plan!"

Mr. Chris nodded: "We allow you to properly hype about age, and we will also give some cooperation."

Regarding this point, both Peyton and Mr. Chris have long expected it.

To write a book, Payton has an advantage that no one else has-his age.

The title of "genius writer" is still a good gimmick nowadays, and publishers are willing to give generous treatment, which also values ​​such an identity.

After thinking about it, they also intend to make full use of this identity.

The publicity of Random House is perfect, and they didn't intend to hype this character from the beginning.

True readers of mystery novels will never pay for a child's work.

Even if this kid is a genius!

They plan to do their best to publicize and get nominated for heavyweight awards after the book has been released for a period of time, and then announce and hype the matter to expand their influence.

A child's suspense reasoning work, the author of a work with outstanding sales and awards is a child.

That's a completely different concept.

The former may be hyped as a genius, but the latter is more convincing because it has awards and sales endorsed by it.

After the early readers paid the bill, they realized that the novel was wonderful, and through publicity, they learned that the author was a child, which was easier for people to accept.

As a result, word-of-mouth and gimmicks are available, further increase the publicity, bind the name of the genius of the Federation, and the sales will definitely increase steadily.

At the same time, several editors-in-chief of Random House are very optimistic about the quality of this book, which is why they gave such favorable conditions.

Several people sat together talking and laughing happily, discussing the specific matters of the novel's publication.

From time to time, Mr. Chris asked one or two key points of the publicity. He still didn't want Payton's privacy to be leaked too much.

Wearing gold-rimmed glasses, the lawyer on the side checked the contract carefully and responsibly, looking for possible sensitive points in it.

Ivoni Bernard looked at the way the lawyer was dawdling. Although he suspected that the other party was wasting time, he did not urge him.

Before signing contracts with small publishers, as long as those authors can publish books, there are absolutely no other requirements!
They don't hire professional lawyers either, and Ivoni Bernard, the manager, is often responsible for checking the contract. He is not a professional, as long as he is in charge and there are not too many pitfalls.

But this time is different, in order to protect the rights and interests of one's own side.

Ivoni Bernard spent a lot of money to hire professional lawyers in related fields.

It costs $60 an hour to hire someone, plus money to sign certain contracts, what a fucking legal robbery!
Lawyer Quote: "Sir, stop talking nonsense, the clock is ticking..."

These days, a worker's monthly salary is about 80 to 150 US dollars, and the lawyer's income from signing this contract is the average worker's salary for several months.

However, the lawyer did not live up to his high salary and pointed out four or five issues worthy of discussion.

These problems are typical text loopholes, and non-professionals will never see them.

Usually there is no loss, but in case of corresponding problems, it is very disadvantageous to the author.

In the end, under the righteous protest of the agent, the representative of Random House seemed to be prepared, and took out a new contract from the briefcase.

After once again confirming that there was no problem with the contract, Mr. Chris successfully completed the signing under the authorization of Peyton.

(End of this chapter)