According to the sales volume in this half-year, Lin Chaoyang received a royalty income of HK$84,600 in this royalty settlement, which is a decrease compared to the previous figure, but it is still considerable.
Moreover, the Hong Kong dollar has appreciated this year. If 84,600 Hong Kong dollars are converted into RMB, it will be about 25,500 yuan.
The sales volume of just over 30,000 copies brought Lin Chaoyang nearly 200,000 Hong Kong dollars, equivalent to an income of more than 50,000 RMB. The royalties from Xiangjiang are still very profitable!
After sighing with emotion, Lin Chaoyang continued to read the letter.
After talking about the sales and royalties of "The Death of Van Gogh", Dong Qiao actually mentioned "Enter Guandong" in his letter.
"Half a month ago, I was delighted that Brother Wen's new work "Crossing the Guandong" had been published in the mainland in recent months. It caused a sensation in China. Paper in Luoyang was expensive for a while and it quickly sold well in the north and south. I specially asked my friends to buy a copy of "Flower City" on my behalf.
After reading it, I was astonished. This work is truly a rare book in the world of contemporary Chinese novels, with rich epic character..."
Dong Qiao's compliment was very elegant, but it obviously had an ulterior motive.
Sure enough, at the end of the letter, Dong Qiao mentioned that he hoped that Lin Chaoyang could hand over the publication of "Crossing Guandong" to Ming Pao Publishing House in the Xiangjiang area.
After reading the letter, Lin Chaoyang pondered for a while. At this moment, Tao Yushu was about to go out to work. Seeing him standing there after reading the letter, he asked: "What's wrong? Who wrote the letter?"
"Ming Pao Publishing House. The royalties for "The Death of Van Gogh" have to be settled again, and then they want the publishing rights for "Enter Guandong"."
"You said before that their royalties were a bit low, right?"
"Yes, that's why I'm hesitating."
Tao Yushu combed her hair, tied it with rubber bands, and prepared to go out, "Then you can think about it yourself, I'm going to work."
She said and walked out the door.
Tao Yumo hugged Xiao Dongdong and approached Lin Chaoyang, and asked curiously: "Brother-in-law, your royalties have been settled again? How much is this time?"
"Not much, more than 20,000."
The ordinary words made Tao Yumo speechless. More than 20,000 yuan was the same as more than two yuan. She didn't know how to respond to Lin Chaoyang's words.
So she changed the topic again and asked: "Brother-in-law, if "Enter Guandong" is to be published, can it be made into a movie for a film company in Hong Kong?"
In the past few months, she has been visiting Du Feng's video studio whenever she has free time, and is very fascinated by Hong Kong movies.
"For the film company in Xiangjiang?" Lin Chaoyang glanced at her in surprise, "They can't shoot this kind of thing!"
"Oh. If "Enter Guandong" is published, it will definitely make a lot of money."
"Um."
Lin Chaoyang was thinking about Dong Qiao's request and agreed to her absently.
After a while, he said hello to Tao Yumo and went straight to the telegraph building in Xidan.
Nowadays, making and receiving phone calls is a troublesome thing. Short-distance calls are easier to say. Work phone calls and public phones are a bit more troublesome, but there is always a way.
Long distance calls, especially international long distance calls, are really troublesome to make.
Long-distance calls can generally be made from larger post offices. International long-distance calls are even more difficult and can only be made at telegraph buildings.
And because there were so many people and so few telephone calls, the telephone lines in the Telegraph Building were extremely busy and often jammed.
So many people who want to make international long-distance calls from the Telegraph Building to contact relatives and friends abroad often have to queue up with lunch, which can take half a day.
In addition to the time cost, the money consumption is also expensive. It costs more than ten yuan a minute. If you play for three to five minutes, the average salary earner will earn a month's salary.
Guangzhou is close to Xiangjiang, so it is not surprising that the craze caused by "Enter Guandong" spread there, but Lin Chaoyang did not expect Ming Pao Publishing House to be so decisive in proposing the publication.
You must know that "Crossing Guandong" has not yet been published in the mainland.
But with the searching style of Ming Pao Publishing House, Lin Chaoyang certainly couldn't agree to them easily.
What's more, with the smooth publication of "The Death of Van Gogh" in Hong Kong, Lin Chaoyang has also gained some fame. This time it was Dong Qiao who took the initiative to request publication. Naturally, he could not get such a low royalty rate as last time.
We arrived at the telegraph building, lined up, filled out the form, paid, and waited... It was almost noon before Lin Chaoyang made the call.
It's too troublesome to write a letter, so it's faster to make a phone call.
Dong Qiao was very surprised when he received Lin Chaoyang's call. The two chatted for a while, and then Dong Qiao started talking about "Crossing Guandong".
He knew that it was inconvenient to make phone calls in the mainland, so if Lin Chaoyang could call him, it must be to discuss "Crossing Guandong".
Prior to the publication of "The Death of Van Gogh", Ming Pao Publishing House gave Lin Chaoyang a 12% royalty rate, which is not a high standard in the Hong Kong literary world.
Dong Qiao had contacted Lin Chaoyang twice and knew his character, so he also expected that he would definitely raise royalties.
However, Lin Chaoyang suddenly raised the royalty standard to 20%, which actually surprised him.
Because the publishing market in Xiangjiang is small, the royalty rate has always been relatively high compared to some countries and regions with larger markets. The royalty standards for famous artists are between 15 and 20%.
Lin Chaoyang suddenly reached the top standard, which really put Dong Qiao in a dilemma.
Lin Chaoyang did not quarrel with him, he just expressed his attitude, not to mention the 20% royalties, his attitude was very tough.
Lin Chaoyang was not afraid that his tough attitude would anger Ming Pao Publishing House or Dong Qiao, and everyone was discussing business.
Since you dared to offer a 5% royalty rate because I was not famous before, it is not unreasonable for me to offer a 20% royalty rate now.
Of course, this kind of thing cannot be decided on the spot. Dong Qiao said that he should think about it, and Lin Chaoyang hung up the phone.
After making the call, he settled the account and found that the fifty yuan he paid was not only not enough, but he had to make up an additional six yuan.
Lin Chaoyang's heart was bleeding because even for the phone bill, the 20% royalty rate could not be reduced by one cent!
A few days later, Lin Chaoyang received a call from the south, from Li Shifei of Huacheng Publishing House.
"Crossing Guandong" was successfully published, and the novel caused such a sensation that it is rare in today's literary world.
In the next period of time, Huacheng Publishing House will prepare for the publication of the novel, so it plans to hold a seminar on "Crossing Guandong" at the end of July.
The seminar was held in Huacheng, but the standards were very high. Li Shifei mentioned several names to be invited.
If large publishing houses such as the Humanities Society and Yanjing Publishing House hold seminars in Yanjing, it would not be unusual to invite these people to appear. However, Huacheng Publishing House is located in Guangdong and can invite so many seniors at once. This is not a sign of sincerity.
It's not big.
"Guangdong is a long way away, are you sure they can accept the invitation?" Lin Chaoyang asked Li Shifei with some uncertainty.
"Maybe they won't come to seminars for other works, but they will definitely come to the seminar for "Enter Guandong"."
Although Li Shifei's words were suspected of being flattering, Lin Chaoyang was still very happy. Who doesn't want to hear good things?
The work seminar held by Huacheng Publishing House was of high standard and involved publishing. After all, Lin Chaoyang had signed a royalty contract, so he would definitely attend such an occasion.
After agreeing to Li Shifei's invitation, Lin Chaoyang did not expect that Li Hanxiang would suddenly come to their house just one day later.
"When did you come to the mainland?"
"I've just been here a few days and I've finished writing the first draft of the script. Come over and talk to CCTV about cooperation."
After breaking up with the co-production company, Li Hanxiang hooked up with the China TV Drama International Cooperation Company.
His new film "Fire Dragon" is adapted from "The Second Half of His Life" written by Li Shuxian, Puyi's wife after liberation. It describes the second half of Puyi's life as an ordinary person after liberation, and his love life with his wife Li Shuxian.
.
After chatting for a while about the movie, Li Hanxiang suddenly stared at the official chair he was sitting on. He rubbed the armrests of the chair, as if a salty man had seen a naked beauty.
The official hat chairs are named because their appearance is similar to the top hats worn by officials in ancient times. The pair of official hat chairs in Lin Chaoyang's study have a comfortable and elegant shape, exquisite carving, and excellent appearance. Li Hanxiang was moved when he looked at them.
His biggest hobby is collecting furniture from the Ming and Qing Dynasties. In the past two years of filming in the Mainland, he has picked up a lot of pieces.
"Is this chair from Huanghuali? When was it made?"
"During the late Ming Dynasty."
Li Hanxiang stood up again and took a closer look, "Oh, you're holding up really well. Are you just going to let people sit down like this?"
When he said this, his face was full of distress, "There are few people in my study, and you are the third one to sit in it."
Li Hanxiang's hand stroked the wishful-shaped consecration light of the chair, and a look of greed flashed in his eyes, "This chair is really a waste of natural resources following you, why not give it to me."
Faced with his unreasonable request, Lin Chaoyang only replied: "You are ugly, but you think you are quite beautiful!"
Li Hanxiang was not angry when he was scolded by Lin Chaoyang. He was prepared to be scolded when he made this request.
It's a pity that Lin Chaoyang refused too firmly, otherwise he would have really wanted to beg for nothing.
After chatting for a while, Lin Chaoyang saw that he had no intention of leaving, so he asked: "Is this what you came here for?"
"Invite me to dinner tonight and I'll tell you."
Lin Chaoyang sneered, "You feel so confident in doing so while doing so."
All joking aside, it is etiquette when a guest comes to have a meal, so you must not neglect it.
For Li Hanxiang's sake, Lin Chaoyang bought a few more dishes in the evening. Li Hanxiang ate with all kinds of meat, and his mouth was full of oil as he stared at the red braised meat on the table.
"Huizai told me before that many people said that your cooking skills are good, and I regret not having tasted it earlier." Li Hanxiang chewed the meat in his mouth, eating with joy, and asked: "How do you make this meat?"
It’s more delicious than what the restaurant chef makes.”
"Is it delicious? It's simmered with a bottle of Xifeng wine." Lin Chaoyang said with some distress.
In entertaining Li Hanxiang, Lin Chaoyang showed his sincerity.
Red braised meat is seasoned with sweet sauce and simmered with pure wine. When it comes out of the pot, the meat is as red as amber.
"... You can also simmer it with water, but you have to boil out the water vapor. Do not lift the lid during the process, otherwise the fat will be lost and the flavor will be lost.
The time to cook the pot must be just right, too early for it to turn yellow, late for it to turn purple, and the meat will become hard and woody..."
Li Hanxiang's interactions with Lin Chaoyang had always been casual, and he rarely looked at him differently because of his status as a writer. But today, when he listened to Lin Chaoyang's diet, he felt a bit of respect in his heart.
"If you go to Xiangjiang, you can become a gourmet!"
Lin Chaoyang smiled and said: "Is the threshold for gourmets in Xiangjiang so low?"
"It's really not that high. They are all literati who have nothing to do with anything. When it comes to their views on food, they may not be as good as cooks."
Lin Chaoyang nodded when he heard this. If you don't know how to cook, you can't be called a gourmet.
After chatting for a while, Lin Chaoyang remembered the topic of the afternoon and asked: "What else do you want to do today?"
Li Hanxiang picked up a piece of red braised meat with chopsticks, put it into his mouth, and spoke slowly.
"You didn't come to the premiere of "Curtain Curtain" last time. The Academy Awards will hold an awards ceremony early next month. "Curtain Curtain" has a great chance of winning the award this time. You are a screenwriter, so come and participate."
The "Awards" in Li Hanxiang's words are the Hong Kong Film Awards, which were born in 1982 and are only held for the third time this year.
The two parts of "The Curtain" were released last year and occupied two of the top five box office positions in Hong Kong movies. The audience responded strongly and the film critics also received rave reviews.
In this awards ceremony, "The Curtain" was nominated for eight awards, including Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Actor and Actor. It can be said to be the most powerful contender for this Hong Kong Film Awards.
Lin Chaoyang is the screenwriter of the movie and is very likely to win the award, so Li Hanxiang invited him to Hong Kong.
"When is the award ceremony?" Lin Chaoyang asked.
"August 4th."
Lin Chaoyang happens to be going to Guangzhou at the end of the month to hold a seminar on the work of "Enter Guandong". The two are so close, so it doesn't hurt to go there.
He explained the situation to Li Hanxiang, and Li Hanxiang said happily: "Okay. Then contact me when you arrive in Shenzhen, and I will pick you up."
We agreed to go to Xiangjiang, and after finishing the meal, Li Hanxiang left.
Lin Chaoyang said to Tao Yushu: "At the end of the month, go out with me. Go shopping in Guangzhou, and then go for a stroll in Xiangjiang."
"No. The editorial department is too busy with work. I can't leave."
After the start of the new year, Wang Meng plans to set up a creative correspondence center and a supplement "Friends of People's Literature" for "People's Literature". The correspondence center is about to open in August, and the supplement is also going to be launched. Tao Yushu is the executive deputy editor, and the work is really not easy. easy.
Asking someone like her to give up her job and go on vacation might be more uncomfortable than killing her.
Knowing Tao Yushu's temper, Lin Chaoyang stopped trying to persuade him.
At this time, Tao Yumo came over with Xiao Dongdong in his arms, "Brother-in-law, brother-in-law, I'm fine, take me there!"
Lin Chaoyang glanced at her sideways, "Are you going? Who are you going to look after the child?"
Tao Yumo:......
Chapter completed!