A widower's entertainment

Chapter 132 [The book has its own golden house] (please subscribe)

Decheng, Chunfeng Lane.

Because Lin Youcheng has publishers from the island country and Xiangjiang here, this naturally needs to be discussed separately. It is impossible to negotiate the royalties in front of other publishers. After all, it is not appropriate.

Lin Youcheng asked Zhang Jiefang to help accompany him. Naturally, he first discussed publishing with Kimura Yamai from the island country.

"Youcheng, do you want me to come with you?"

Zhang Jiefang was worried that Lin Youcheng did not understand some things about overseas publishing and that Kimura Sani would lower his royalties for Lin Youcheng. However, Lin Youcheng refused.

"No, I'll talk to Mr. Kimura here."

Lin Youcheng actually knows very well that in island countries, manuscript fees are usually calculated in units of 400 words, and the commonly used manuscript paper is 400 words. Column poems and other poems are calculated in units of one article. The fee paid by the publisher is usually 400 words. It’s about 5 yen, which is equivalent to more than 300 yuan. This price has not changed much in the past thirty years, which has also led to journalists from many island countries often expressing dissatisfaction.

This price is basically the standard for general freelance writers, but there are no relevant regulations on the price of manuscript fees. There are also fees for less than 400 RMB for 200 words, more than 1200 RMB or even as high as 3000 RMB. This depends on the author's level, popularity, The level and professionalism of the media in which the article is published has a lot to do with it, and there is no unified standard.

As for publishing, then we have to talk about royalties.

Although domestic writers may find contracts and royalties difficult to understand and complicated, Lin Youcheng did not find it complicated, and naturally he did not find it troublesome. He signed a contract with Kimura Sani and agreed to pay the royalties in full in one go, which is the so-called " "Buyout", although the price offered was very attractive, Lin Youcheng still firmly refused, choosing to pay an 8% royalty on the first edition, which would be extended in the future.

Lin Youcheng is naturally very clear about the meaning behind a hen that keeps laying eggs and a plucked chicken.

The key point is that "The Devotion of Suspect X" is not an ordinary chicken that lays golden eggs.

Stamp tax is equivalent to stamp tax. The author stamps his private seal on each book or affixes a sticker with the seal. The publisher settles the royalties based on the tax rate percentage multiplied by the number of copies of the book. Censorship is unique to the island country's publishing industry and will not be used until the 21st century. However, the pricing method of tax rate multiplied by the number of prints is still used today. The original manuscript materials are paid in one lump sum, which is equivalent to a salary for the "writer". After the book is published and sold, the stamp tax is calculated according to the circulation volume and tax rate, and is settled and paid in installments, which is equivalent to a bonus, which remains unchanged to this day.

The 8% royalty paid by Kimura Sani to Lin Youcheng is not high. You must know that in 1907, Natsume Soseki's literary fame was at its peak, and a publisher published a collection of Natsume's works. Since Natsume Soseki had studied in England for many years and was familiar with the Western publishing system, he and the publisher The dealer signed a detailed royalty agreement: 3000% for the first edition of 15 copies; 20% for reprints to the fifth edition; and 30% for the sixth edition. From then on, Natsume Soseki and his publishers generally used this royalty model whenever they published books. The tax rate is 30%, and the benefits are unprecedented. After all, the profits of some booksellers are only 31%, and Mr. Natsume Soseki alone takes 30%! But publishers are smart people, and Natsume Soseki’s works are rare and valuable. Even if they only earn 1%, the publisher will still make money.

Natsume Soseki's creative career lasted only ten years. During his lifetime, the total number of prints of his works was about 10, and his royalties earned more than yen, which was a huge sum of money at the time.

Now that Lin Youcheng is paying 8% royalties for the first edition, this Kimura Yamai is not considered cheating Lin Youcheng. After all, Lin Youcheng is still a new writer in the island country, and a translator is still needed to translate Lin Youcheng's novel. Naturally It won't be particularly high.

You must know that the island country previously published the novel "Strange Tales of Strange Worlds" by domestic writer Feng Jicai. The president of the publishing house came to visit the country. When meeting, he bowed, thanked, and sent sample books and some small gifts, all of which were carefully packaged. Knowing that Feng Jicai was a painter, he gave me a box of colored pencils but refused to negotiate remuneration.

In that era of just opening up, Feng Jicai was embarrassed to talk about money when he met foreigners, and he didn't know how to talk about it. After all, domestic royalties are very low, and foreign publishers know this very well.

That's it. Foreign publishers know very well that the domestic manuscript fees are very low, so naturally they will not give high prices. Sometimes those publishers will give an envelope with a few colorful foreign currencies inside. They often feel like they have found a treasure, and then look at the face value. There are so few of them that they can only be used as souvenirs.

Lin Youcheng did not reject Kimura Yamai's publishing royalty figures, but the royalty agreement for reprints would need to be re-signed later.

Lin Youcheng will not underestimate the lethality of the novel "The Devotion of Suspect X" at all.

It is very likely to cause a sensation in the entire island country!

He believes that even a new foreign writer will make a mark in the island country's literary world with the novel "The Devotion of Suspect X". I am afraid that by then Kimura-Sani will really have to re-examine his character. Chinese writer.

Even though Kimura Yamai personally likes "The Devotion of Suspect X" now, he doesn't know the status of this novel in mystery literature.

At least now Kimura Yamai has not thought about the reprint of "The Devotion of Suspect X".

Compared with Kimura Yamai's sincere cooperation, Xiangjiang Sanlian's Zhou Ping seems to be more stringent. After all, mainland China's manuscript fees are very low. Not only foreign publishers are very aware of it, but Xiangjiang's publishing houses are also aware of it.

The price offered by Yiping Ping to Lin Youcheng here was 300 yuan per thousand words, and the manuscript fee was only paid once.

In fact, this royalties can be regarded as a one-time buyout.

It has to be said that this price is much higher than the manuscript fee for "The Devotion of Suspect X" published by "Novel Monthly", with a gap of more than 20 times.

But Lin Youcheng knows very well that it is nothing in Xiangjiang. You must know that after the 1980s, the fee for the science fiction writer in Xiangjiang was as high as 2,000 to 3,000 yuan per 1,000 words. Writing Wesley for "Ming Pao" The monthly cost of serialization is about six to seven thousand yuan, and the reprinted version of Dongfang Yuan Zhenxia's serialization is ten thousand yuan a month. Later, I wrote more than ten columns every month and earned more than 100,000 yuan. Later, he became the screenwriter for the great director Chang Cheh. A script started from 10,000 yuan to 20,000 to 20,000 yuan. He could write four scripts in a month and earned more than 100,000 yuan.

In the early 1990s, Ni Kuang was about to immigrate, and he made up his mind to cut off all manuscripts. Ms. Liang Fengyi, the boss of Qinjiayuan, asked him to continue writing Wesleyan. After much begging, he finally got the approval. To show his sincerity, during the banquet, Liang Fengyi begged for payment. Ni Kuang said calmly: He said that his books usually sell between 20,000 and 30,000 copies. Even if it is 20,000 copies, as for the royalties, it is 20%, and the price is 50 yuan, which is ten yuan a book, 20,000 copies, 20 Hong Kong dollars. Ten thousand dollars. An 80,000-word novel costs HKD 200,000, and a 1,000-word novel costs HKD 2,500. It is an absolutely sky-high price. But Liang Fengyi made the deal without saying a word, and said there was one condition, please pay the royalties first.

It can be said that the whole audience was in an uproar, the royalties were so high, and Ni Kuang was asked to collect the money first. This business was done too shrewdly.

Of course, among famous writers in Xiangjiang, Mr. Cha has the highest royalties. After all, Mr. Cha only writes for Ming Dynasty publications. The royalties are calculated based on the sales volume of single volumes. His martial arts novels are published at a 10% discount, with a volume of tens of thousands, excluding printing and paper. If it all falls into Mr. Cha’s pocket, that’s a truly astronomical figure.

Lin Youcheng was not embarrassed to negotiate the price. He looked at Zhou Ping and said directly: "Editor Zhou, although the price you gave is high, I still want to negotiate royalties."

As soon as Zhou Ping heard what Lin Youcheng said, he understood that Lin Youcheng was very confident in "The Devotion of Suspect Same, the royalty rate is 8%.

Lin Youcheng knew in his heart that this was also because he was not well-known in Xiangjiang. If he really had a status like Mr. Cha or Ni Kuang, naturally he would not be entitled to 8% royalties. However, Lin Youcheng did not think that the few novels he wrote before would be ignored in Xiangjiang.

Lin Youcheng couldn't help but think that if "The Devotion of Suspect Publishers from other regions came to discuss publishing matters.

For example, in addition to Xiangjiang, there is also Treasure Island, but there is no need for translators to translate there.

In fact, some domestic writers have already published books on the island. However, due to the barrier between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait and the vast distance between them, the authors themselves do not know which books have been published.

To be honest, if Baodao publishes books by mainland writers, there cannot be a direct relationship. A Xiangjiang agent is required. The agent can only sign a contract with Baodao Publishing House with this power of attorney. Moreover, the Baodao authorities emphasized that there must be a contract and royalties must be paid. Contracts, royalties, agents, commissions, these words are quite unfamiliar to mainland writers who have lived in the planned economy environment for a long time, and they will need to slowly adapt to them in the future.

Of course, Lin Youcheng doesn't need to consider Baodao's publisher yet.

Although Zhang Jiefang didn't know the specific royalties negotiated by Lin Youcheng, he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Lin Youcheng, Kimura Sanjing and Zhou Ping had already reached an agreement, and he and Lin Youcheng sent Mucura Shanjing and Yi Ping away together. , he did not inquire about Lin Youcheng's royalties, but simply said: "The publishing in the island country and Hong Kong have a royalties system, which is different from ours."

Lin Youcheng smiled and said, "It's different, but maybe it will become the same in the future?"

Hearing Lin Youcheng's words, Zhang Jiefang shook his head and did not hold out much hope. After all, in his opinion, the current manuscript fee was much better than that of that special period. After all, that special period was a period of real literature. In the cold winter, you must know that writers also need bread to live.

Lin Youcheng saw Zhang Jiefang and didn't seem to have any special expectations. He didn't take it seriously and didn't say much.

After all, it was only after the 1990s that royalties appeared in China. There is no need to talk about it now. After all, what Lin Youcheng said was groundless and unfounded.

Zhang Jiefang suddenly asked again, "By the way, Youcheng, both Bayi Film Studio and Shanghai Film Studio came to talk to you about the film adaptation of "The Wind". Which one filmed it?"

Zhang Jiefang still remembered that Bayi Film Studio and Shanghai Film Studio had come to see Lin Youcheng before, so he was naturally a little curious and wanted to know who filmed the piece "The Wind" written by Lin Youcheng.

Lin Youcheng shook his head and said: "I don't know, it's up to the two of them to decide on their own. It's possible that they will join forces to work together, but no matter which one it is, I will be the screenwriter."

When Zhang Jiefang heard what Lin Youcheng said, he couldn't help but smile and said, "You are still awesome. This novel is not only going to be made into a movie, but also to be published by an island country. It's really amazing."

Zhang Jiefang said this with full admiration, not jealousy, because in Zhang Jiefang's view, whether it is Lin Youcheng's "The Wind" or the love mystery novel "The Devotion of Suspect X", they are all Absolutely stunning work.

Regarding Zhang Jiefang's words, Lin Youcheng was naturally modest.

Lin Youcheng naturally thanked Zhang Jiefang and wanted to keep Zhang Jiefang at home for dinner, but Zhang Jiefang refused. He also knew that Lin Youcheng still had several children to take care of at home, so naturally He wouldn't think about staying and adding burden to Lin Youcheng.

After Zhang Jiefang left, Luobotou, who had been watched over by Lin Zhaoxi and had not come to disturb him, ran up to talk to Lin Youcheng at this time.

"Dad, are so many people coming to see you today?"

Lin Zhaoman ran up to Lin Youcheng, held his head high, and asked curiously, "Why?"

When Lin Youcheng heard this, he looked at Lin Zhaoman and the few carrots standing there. They all looked at him with curious eyes. He couldn't help but smile and said, "Because they want to publish the novel written by dad, so I want to ask dad for his opinion."

The most important thing is to give money.

Putting aside the royalties for the film adaptation of "The Wind", Lin Youcheng is very clear about what this publication means to him.

The one-time payment of royalties from Kimura Yamai that he initially refused was really a very tempting sum, but Lin Youcheng knew better what was waiting for him behind it.

Just like the manuscript fee of 300 yuan per thousand words originally given by Yi Ping, for a novel of 150,000 words, that is equivalent to 45,000 yuan.

The key point is that Lin Youcheng directly rejected this considerable figure very simply and decisively.

Lin Zhaoman opened his curious eyes with innocent expressions. Naturally, they had no idea what Lin Youcheng had just talked about to them. Although it seemed that the publication of the novel he just talked about had nothing to do with them, some things did not. It's not irrelevant.

What does it mean to have a golden house in a book?

This is the real golden house in the book!

Lin Youcheng's eyes looked at the little carrot heads around him. He knew very clearly that there was more than one golden house for these little carrot heads in this book.

Yes, there really is more than one golden house.

(End of this chapter)