In the early days of reform and opening up, there was gold everywhere, which is not an empty talk. In these days, as long as you are brave, making money is not a problem.
The difficulty is not to be cheated, not to be cheated, not to be caught, and to continue to develop steadily.
There were so many trendsetters in the 1980s who started out in vain. Many people always regarded the gifts of the times as a reflection of personal ability. After achieving some results, they became confused and ended up dismal.
At this time in 1981, if Du Feng had the courage to retire and start a business, he would definitely make money. Whether he could become bigger and stronger would depend on his own destiny.
But looking at this kid's airy appearance, he is bound to fall down a bit.
It is a good thing to suffer a setback and gain wisdom when you start. It is better than to stumble later when you become big.
"Brother-in-law, stop cooking tonight. I'll invite you to Lao Mo for dinner."
"If you make a little money, you won't be able to win!"
Tao Yushu scolded Du Feng and refused his invitation. Lin Chaoyang also said: "We have accepted the gifts, but don't eat anymore. Your business has just started, so you have time to focus more on this."
Being struck down by the couple, Du Feng's smug attitude when he arrived was much lowered, and he left after having a meal at home.
"It's true that a dog can't keep two ounces of sesame oil in its belly!"
After Du Feng left, Tao Yushu summarized his cousin's condition.
"Before, I was earning a dead salary, and now I am making so much money all of a sudden. I must go through such a stage." Lin Chaoyang said.
Tao Yushu looked at him, "You earn so much royalties, but I don't see you being so proud that you forget to act like him?"
"That's because I know that I will definitely earn more in the future than I do now. If you give me one million now, I might be even better than him." Lin Chaoyang said with a smile.
Tao Yushu also laughed, but she did not take her husband's words seriously because she believed that even if her husband really made a million now, he would not be so complacent.
She thought of Du Feng's state, "His temperament is really worrying."
"Young people, it's not a bad thing to fall down early."
Lin Chaoyang firmly believes in a saying: When people teach others, a hundred words are useless;
Two days later, Lin Chaoyang received the royalties for "The Wrangler" and "Little Shoes" from the Humanities Society. They were going to publish an anthology of novels and publish them in the friendly country of Yugoslavia.
The manuscript fee is not much, six yuan per thousand words, which is four hundred and fifty yuan based on the word count of two novels.
In the past year, Lin Chaoyang received royalties every one or two months, sometimes even several times a month, even when he had no new works published.
Publishing fees, printing fees, reprinting fees... all added together, these fees alone amount to thousands of dollars a year.
This is the advantage of a high output of works. Like other famous writers, because the output is not high, one or two thousand yuan a year is considered too much.
After the royalties were received, Zhu Changsheng approached Lin Chaoyang and said that the company leaders wanted to see him.
Last time, the Humanities Society said that it would publish "The Death of Van Gogh", and Lin Chaoyang made a request for a fee increase. The Humanities Society agreed to meet for a meeting, which showed that it was willing to increase the price.
This morning, he happily came to No. 166 Chaonei Street.
First, I went to sit in the "Contemporary" editorial office in the back building for a while. During the chat, I heard the news that the entire editorial department of "October" had been taken to D School to study.
The reason why the editorial department of "October" received such treatment was because the magazine published the script "Bitter Love" in its third issue in September 1979.
The content of the script tells the life experiences of painter Chen Chenguang. Because of the sensitive content, the script has been controversial since its publication.
Last year, the script was spotted by director Peng Ning of Changying Film Studio and made into a movie. Together with "Legend of Tianyun Mountain" directed by Xie Jin, it became one of the two films that were criticized by the film and cultural circles at the end of last year.
Among them, "Bitter Love" was named and criticized by "Liberation Army Daily" and "Times Report·Supplement".
Xie Jin has been famous for many years, and with the support of many celebrities, "Legend of Tianyun Mountain" successfully passed the review and was released, and also won the first Golden Rooster Award and the fourth Hundred Flowers Award.
In contrast, the fate of "Bitter Love" was not so good. The film could not pass the censorship. Even if it was renamed "The Sun and the People", it would not help. In the end, it had to be shelved by Changying Film Studio.
Two years after the script was published, the movie could not be released, the script and screenwriter were criticized, and even "October", which published the script, also suffered.
The entire editorial staff was sent to school D to study. Zhang Zhong'e from the editorial staff of "October" had to take "sick leave" because he had different opinions on criticism from the outside world.
The editors of "Contemporary" are discussing this matter today because Zhang Zhong'e will be transferred to "Contemporary" after his "rest".
After chatting with everyone for a while, Zhu Changsheng led Lin Chaoyang to the editor-in-chief's office in the front building.
"You should talk to the editor-in-chief about the royalties."
After Zhu Changsheng said this, he threw Lin Chaoyang to Wei Junyi.
Wei Junyi, nicknamed Mrs. Wei by people. She was an old revolutionary in the A period, so she has great prestige in the humanities society.
There is a troika in the Humanities Club, namely the president, editor-in-chief and secretary. The current president, Yan Wenjing, has a relatively detached personality and is aloof from the world. The secretary travels around and goes to work every day, but people in the club usually don't know what he is doing.
Speaking of which, among the troika, only Wei Junyi, the editor-in-chief, has some sense of presence in the society. She shoulders all the difficult, troublesome and trivial matters, which further enhances her prestige in the society.
Wei Junyi was reviewing the manuscript when Lin Chaoyang entered the office. She looked up at Lin Chaoyang and said, "Sit down for a while." Then she lowered her head and continued reading the manuscript for a long time.
Lin Chaoyang thought to himself, this is to give himself a show of strength!
He sat calmly for a while, then took out a book from the bookshelf and read it.
After an unknown amount of time, he raised his head when he heard the noise and saw Wei Junyi lowering her head, looking over her reading glasses and staring at him with raised eyebrows.
"You are quite calm."
Lin Chaoyang smiled and said, "What you said, I didn't do anything wrong. Why should I be upset?"
"I feel a little guilty when I say this."
Lin Chaoyang said calmly: "You can say whatever you want."
After a few detours, Wei Junyi got down to the topic, "I heard the response from "Contemporary" was that you want to increase the royalties?"
Lin Chaoyang nodded calmly, "Yes. Our Humanities Society has published several of my works. You should know how the sales are. My works have created a lot of benefits for the society. I think it is reasonable to increase the royalties."
"The standard of royalties we give you is based on the royalties stipulated in the royalties."
"The regulations don't say that you won't be allowed to increase your salary. Besides, the sales of novels are both good and bad. How can we stimulate the creative enthusiasm of the majority of writers and comrades?"
Wei Junyi's eyes were sharp, "You have a lot of reasons."
"All reasonable reasons."
"Nowadays, publishing houses and magazines implement the above-mentioned remuneration regulations. Why do you think you can increase the remuneration? What if I don't agree? If you go to another publishing house, they will also give you the same remuneration standard."
Wei Junyi's expression was serious and unsmiling.
Lin Chaoyang said nonchalantly: "That's not necessarily the case. The humanities publishing house has a great cause, and a novel like mine is not inferior to this. Other publishing houses may not necessarily do so. I heard that Huacheng Publishing House in Guangzhou treats its writer friends the same way.
Very friendly.”
Hearing this, Wei Junyi's eyes narrowed, "A publishing house that has just been established in Huacheng has limited resources. Giving your novel to them is probably a secret investment."
"It doesn't matter, I don't have to worry about selling my novel!"
As soon as these words came out, a strong sense of confidence came over her, causing Wei Junyi to fall silent on the spot.
After a while, she slowly said: "You have been cooperating with our Humanities Society for such a long time. If you have any requirements for manuscript fees, our society will definitely try to meet them as much as possible... The manuscript fee for a thousand words will be mentioned at 12 yuan for you."
Lin Chaoyang shook his head, "This standard is a bit low."
"Twelve yuan for 1,000 words is still low? Go and ask, how many people in the Chinese literary world can achieve this standard?"
"It has nothing to do with whether anyone can achieve this standard, but I have created value for the publishing house, and there should be corresponding returns.
Chief Editor Wei, with all due respect, our current publishing remuneration regulations seriously underestimate the value created by our writers..."
Wei Junyi waved her hand, "Stop saying these words. We don't set the rules."
Lin Chaoyang stopped the topic, "Okay, let me tell you the truth. I don't ask you to increase my basic royalties, but in terms of the royalties for the number of print runs, I hope that the publisher can consider the sales performance of the novel and increase it as appropriate."
Listening to his words, Wei Junyi's eyes flashed with softness.
Basic royalties and print royalties are both royalties paid by publishers to writers, but the difference is that basic royalties must be paid after publication, while print royalties are settled based on the sales performance of the work.
Some works do not sell well after they are published. In addition to the royalties from the first printing, the authors do not earn a penny from the royalties from the first printing.
If the work sells well, the writer can get royalties for the number of print runs and the publishing house can make more money. Lin Chaoyang's request is equivalent to sharing risks with the publishing house.
"Discretion?" Wei Junyi picked out the words in Lin Chaoyang's words.
"6% of 10,000 copies." Lin Chaoyang said a number.
"Impossible! 6% is too much." Wei Junyi said firmly.
According to the current royalties regulations, royalties for printing runs are based on the basic royalties, with a royalties of 2% for every 10,000 copies. The figure proposed by Lin Chaoyang is equivalent to a 200% increase from the existing standards.
"You said I want more, isn't it because my works sell well? Doesn't the company make money?"
Lin Chaoyang's words caused Wei Junyi to fall into silence.
"In terms of creation, it is true that the writer is the soul of the work. But in the book publishing industry, every process of a book from planning to publishing, editing and proofreading, printing and binding, transportation and shelving... has a cost.
"
"I understand what you said. But the remuneration paid to our writers by the publishing house is not based on cost, but based on the basic remuneration, right?
No matter how well my novel sells, the calculation standard is based on the basic royalties, so the publisher will not suffer any loss."
Lin Chaoyang's argumentative attitude gave Wei Junyi a headache. She had long heard that this young writer valued manuscript fees, but she didn't expect it to be so difficult.
Not satisfied with the manuscript fee of 12 yuan per thousand words, the manuscript fee was actually increased for the number of prints, and not just a little bit, but a direct increase of 200% on the original basis.
"Your request is too high, 3% at most."
Lin Chaoyang smiled bitterly and said: "I've been talking for a long time, and you just give me a 1% increase. Then I might as well ask for 12 yuan for a thousand words."
"In this way, let's each take a step back, 5%. If my novel sells one million copies, I will pay an extra few thousand yuan in royalties. Your publishing house will make hundreds of thousands."
"That's nonsense. If it really sells one million copies, our publishing house will only earn tens of thousands of yuan."
"You can always lie to me, but don't lie to yourself."
Lin Chaoyang said a wisecrack, and then Wei Junyi glared at him.
After being silent for a long time, Wei Junyi finally said: "Okay! I can agree to your 5% condition."
Lin Chaoyang had a winner's smile on his face when he heard this.
At this time, Wei Junyi said: "But you have to agree to one condition."
Chapter completed!