Lin Chaoyang blocked Dong Qiao until he was speechless and looked embarrassed.
The royalty system is a commonly used royalty settlement method in various countries and regions around the world. Each country and region has different royalty ratios based on its own circumstances.
In many countries with many readers and considerable book sales, this proportion is usually between 5% and 15%.
However, the population of Xiangjiang is only a few million, and there are even fewer potential readers, so the royalty ratio here is much higher than that in other countries and regions, usually 10% to 20%.
The 5% royalty is indeed low, but this is not the first time his boss has done this.
In the Hong Kong news and publishing circles, Ming Pao's reputation as a stingy newspaper has long been spread, and it has always been hated by everyone.
However, there are still many people who are willing to cooperate with it. The reason is the unique appeal of "Ming Pao" in the minds of readers.
For creators, having their work published or published in Ming Pao itself means a kind of recognition.
Especially for many young writers, it can be regarded as a shortcut to fame.
"Mr. Lin, Xiangjiang is not as good as the Mainland. With only a few million people, the sales volume of literary works has never been very high, and it is not easy for publishing houses to operate..."
"Editor-in-Chief Dong, with all due respect, if this is the sincerity of your newspaper, it will be difficult for us to reach cooperation."
Lin Chaoyang did not give Dong Qiao a chance to speak again. They were all too embarrassed to bid, so Lin Chaoyang would not be embarrassed to refuse.
The price of books in Xiangjiang is generally around 20 to 30 Hong Kong dollars. According to a 5% royalty rate, he can get up to 1.5 Hong Kong dollars for every book sold, and only 15,000 Hong Kong dollars for selling 10,000 copies.
For the same printing of 10,000 copies, the original manuscript fee for 1,000 words from the Chinese University of Hong Kong Press was 300 yuan for 1,000 words, totaling 66,000 yuan.
Of course there is a reason why the Chinese University of Hong Kong Press does not consider profits, but it is also true that the royalties paid by Ming Pao are low.
The co-author, Lao Cha, sent me a signed copy of the complete works of Jin Yong, just to defraud me of tens of thousands of royalties!
Seeing Lin Chaoyang's tough attitude, Dong Qiao couldn't help but blame his boss.
It is true that Jin Yong is stingy, but he is not convinced that Lin Chaoyang's novels are only worth 5% of the royalties.
He just instructed Dong Qiao to negotiate a low price as much as possible out of the businessman's instinct to spend every penny.
But after this trial, it was clear that Lin Chaoyang was not the kind of person who was easy to fool, and this showed that Ming Pao was a coward.
"What do you think of Mr. Yilin..." Dong Qiao asked tentatively again.
"At least 15%." Lin Chaoyang said firmly.
Dong Qiao fell silent after hearing this figure. The price Lin Chaoyang wanted was already within the standard of famous artists in Xiangjiang, and was not something ordinary writers could get.
Lin Chaoyang is somewhat famous in the cultural circles of Hong Kong, but it is only spread among small circles. The price is beyond the scope of Dong Qiao's decision.
He observed Lin Chaoyang's expression and tried to continue negotiating with Lin Chaoyang, but Lin Chaoyang refused to let go, which gave Dong Qiao a headache.
In the end, he had no choice but to say: "Then I'll go back and discuss it."
After Dong Qiao left, the delegation carried out activities as usual the next day. They stayed in Xiangjiang for a day, and then went to Haojiang next door.
One of the facilitators of this delegation's visit was Mr. Ma from Macau, so the trip to Haojiang was appropriate.
After spending three days in Haojiang, the delegation returned to Xiangjiang by boat on the morning of the fourth day. It was almost noon when they arrived at the hotel.
The official itinerary of this visit has also ended, and the delegation will fly back to the mainland tomorrow morning.
The remaining half of the day was everyone's free time. After everyone dropped off their luggage at the hotel, they went out directly, preparing to buy some gifts to take back.
Everyone didn't have enough foreign exchange, so they had to make calculations before buying anything. Those who didn't have much money focused on food.
Gartonley's biscuits, colorful Swiss candies, triangular chocolate bars...
These snacks are exquisitely packaged, and the words on them are either traditional Chinese or English. They give people a high-class feeling at first glance, and they are perfect to buy home as gifts.
Those who have a little more money focus on electrical appliances, radios, electronic watches, televisions, microwave ovens...
However, I still see more and buy less. The main reason is that after looking at it, I always feel that the money is a bit short.
Compared with other people's struggles and hesitations, Lin Chaoyang's shopping was much more enjoyable.
He originally took a fancy to a Commodore 64 at the store, which was considered the most successful home personal computer in the early to mid-1980s.
It comes with a 1541 single floppy disk drive, a C2N cassette tape drive, a keyboard and 7 software disks, with 64kb of accessible memory. The price in the United States is only $595, which is mainly a low price.
The Internet era is still many years away, and Lin Chaoyang plans to buy this thing to try it out first.
He asked the salesperson and found out that the Commodore 64 cost 4,500 Hong Kong dollars. He could afford it, but the software still cost money. Counting the software, he didn't have much money left. He couldn't buy gifts for his family. Think about it.
Just forget it.
He walked around the electronics counter again and found two interesting little things. One was the Haoguang camera, which was highly praised by the literary youth in the future. This plastic-body camera looked like a toy, but it was surprisingly durable.
The other is a game&watch with the Nintendo logo printed on it, and it also has discounts.
These two things would be good to take back as children's toys.
Then I bought two pocket-sized atomic particle radios made by the Champagne Company. These radios are smaller than an adult's hand. They can be listened to using AA batteries and are easy to carry.
Father Tao and Father Lin both have the habit of listening to the radio. Giving this thing to them will definitely make them the most handsome old men on the street when they go out.
Then Lin Chaoyang went to the watch counter and bought a pair of women's watches from Longines and Seiko. They were bought for the Tao Yushu sisters.
Tao Yumo wanted a Citizen watch, but there were only Seiko counters in the surrounding shopping malls, so he was too lazy to bother with it, mainly because he didn't have enough time.
He ran around all afternoon and bought more and more things. For the sake of convenience, he bought only small items, but he couldn't bear the large number of things!
Except for the watch I bought for Tao Yushu, which cost thousands of yuan, most of the remaining items cost one or two hundred yuan. In the end, I bought a big bag of things.
After he finished shopping and was waiting for the big guys, he found Jin Ying walking around at the electrical appliance counter.
"What do you see?" he asked.
Jin Ying pointed to a metal rectangular box on the shelf.
“I heard that this microwave oven can heat up rice in one minute. It’s really a good thing, but it’s too expensive!”
Lin Chaoyang took a look at the price, 2,200 Hong Kong dollars, which was indeed a bit expensive.
After he finished shopping, he still had a few hundred dollars left in his hand. He originally wanted to do a favor, but unfortunately the thing Jin Ying was interested in was too expensive.
Jin Ying said regretfully: "You should buy a microwave oven."
Lin Chaoyang blurted out, "Why did you buy that thing? It's all for cattle and horses."
"What are cows and horses?"
Lin Chaoyang realized that he had made a mistake and said: "I learned it from talking to the people in Xiangjiang. It is a self-deprecating saying of the migrant workers here. They use this thing just for convenience. Everything that goes in it will change the taste."
Jin Ying looked at him with strange eyes, I was just looking for convenience, what else was I pursuing?
She thought of Lin Chaoyang's cultural salon and his cooking skills that had been rumored in the literary world, and complained in her heart. Everyone is a writer, but you are the only one who knows how to live!
After saying a few words, Lin Chaoyang donated the remaining Hong Kong dollars he had.
Of course, this is not free, everyone has to give him corresponding RMB.
The things everyone wants to buy are all based on the money in hand, but they can't be exactly right. They are all a bit off. If there is more, it's okay, but if it's not enough, it's depressing.
Lin Chaoyang's few hundred yuan saved the lives of several people and made everyone express their gratitude to him.
After everyone had finished shopping and spent all the foreign exchange in their pockets, everyone headed back home.
After returning to the hotel, Lin Chaoyang had just put down his things when he received a call from the front desk, saying that there was an outside call.
After the transfer, I heard that it was Dong Qiao.
After the last negotiation collapsed, Lin Chaoyang thought that there would be no result in publishing "The Death of Van Gogh", but he did not expect that Dong Qiao would contact him again.
"Mr. Lin, it's not easy to contact you!"
The delegation went to Haojiang in the past few days, and Dong Qiao was naturally unable to contact him. Fortunately, Lin Chaoyang and the others stayed at the same hotel after returning to Xiangjiang.
The two chatted for a while, and Dong Qiao got straight to the point and said on the phone: "We have discussed it over the past two days and the royalties can be raised to 12%. This is our greatest sincerity. What do you think?
?”
Listening to Dong Qiao's words, Lin Chaoyang was silent. The price actually met his psychological expectations.
He knew very well that as a mainland writer, he was not well-known in Xiangjiang. It was almost impossible to get top-notch royalties or royalties here. A mid-level royalty would be pretty good.
Dong Qiao, who was on the other end of the phone, saw that he was silent and thought he was not satisfied yet, so he said helplessly: "Mr. Lin, this price is already the standard for many powerful writers. After all, this is our first time to cooperate, so we have a long time to come!"
His implication was that we could discuss future cooperation. Lin Chaoyang did not believe this, but the 12% royalty was indeed not low.
It’s always good to have more income, and no matter what, it’s much more than what you earn from publishing in the mainland.
"Okay, I agree."
Hearing Lin Chaoyang's affirmative answer, Dong Qiao was very happy and planned to sign a publishing contract with Lin Chaoyang tomorrow, but Lin Chaoyang said: "You'd better come tonight, our delegation will go back tomorrow."
Upon hearing this, Dong Qiao immediately went to prepare the contract and hurriedly came to the hotel to sign the contract with Lin Chaoyang.
After Lin Chaoyang finished signing, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"The Death of Van Gogh" is just a novel. Logically speaking, the boss Jin Yong and him, the editor-in-chief, should not work.
This is mainly due to some ideas of the boss Jin Yong. On the one hand, Jin Yong wanted to use the opportunity of publishing "The Death of Van Gogh" to show his goodwill to the mainland cultural circles.
On the other hand, it is also because "The Death of Van Gogh" has an excellent reputation in the cultural circles of Hong Kong. If Ming Pao Publishing House can publish this novel, it will also be helpful to enhance the influence of the publishing house.
It's just that his boss is too shrewd. He wants to take advantage but doesn't want to spend money. After spending a few days in vain, he might as well give him the ideal price early in the morning.
No matter how much he complains in his heart, Dong Qiao is still a gentle and gentle gentleman on the surface.
"Mr. Lin, happy to cooperate!"
“A pleasure to work with!”
He collected the contract and said goodbye to Lin Chaoyang again and again before leaving the hotel.
A night of silence.
Early the next morning, the delegation flew back to the mainland. After getting off the plane, entering the customs was a troublesome matter.
Everyone brought back a lot of things from Xiangjiang, nothing else, but publications must be checked. In the past few days, everyone has received some gifts more or less during exchanges, many of which are books.
Fortunately, these publications have been reported to WS staff in advance, so there will definitely be no mistakes, it is just a formality.
When they exited the passage, there were reporters surrounding them.
The visit of a delegation of mainland writers to Xiangjiang can be considered a relatively large-scale cultural exchange between one country and two places in recent years. They came from mainstream official media such as the People's Daily, China Youth Daily, and Literary News.
After dealing with interviews with reporters, the delegation disbanded on the spot.
These days, taxis are the exclusive preserve of foreign guests. There are taxis available only at the airport and outside foreign-related hotels. Everyone waited for a bus that went between the airport and the city and got on the bus.
It was already past four in the afternoon when Lin Chaoyang got home from all his work.
When he appeared in the courtyard with his luggage, Tao Yumo was walking at the door with Xiao Dongdong in his arms. When he saw him, his face was filled with excitement and joy, as if his beloved was looking forward to returning home.
"You are back!"
This sentence was so sincere that Lin Chaoyang almost thought she was Tao Yushu in a trance.
Chapter completed!