Chapter 539 If You Don’t Take It, How Can I Take It?

This year is the first year of Lin Weimin and Tao Huimin's marriage. The etiquette of returning home for the New Year cannot be missed. Now there are only three days off for the New Year. Lin Weimin can only take two more days off at the beginning and end, making a total of one week's vacation, and he will have to waste four days on the road.

I traveled thousands of miles back to Rui'an to celebrate the New Year, and then returned to Yanjing and immediately got back to work.

After intensive preparation, the second issue of Contemporary Magazine in 1990 appeared in bookstores, post offices, and newsstands across the country just a few days after the start of work after the New Year.

Because of the groundbreaking publication of "White Deer Plain" in the first issue of "Contemporary" this year, and the promising sales of this issue, the editorial department was full of confidence.

Everyone has full confidence in Lin Weimin's judgment. If "Contemporary" can continue to produce high-quality and widely influential works, then even if the overall environment is not good, "Contemporary" can still maintain its sales.

The Chinese New Year has just passed. Although the holiday is over, people are still feeling the festive spirit. Lin Weimin always attends a party every one or two days.

On the tenth day of the first lunar month, Wang Shuo called and said he would treat everyone to a meal at Jimen Hotel. When Lin Weimin arrived at the place, he found that only he and Wang Shuo were there.

"What's going on? Are you inviting only me?" Lin Weimin asked puzzledly.

Wang Shuo was a little depressed, and said, "Too many people will make it more noisy!"

Lin Weimin was even more curious. Didn't he know what kind of character this Sun thief was? Was he still complaining about the trouble?

"What's the matter? Master Shuo, are you depressed again?"

"You are just looking down on others. Can't I just pursue a simple and elegant life?" Wang Shuo said dissatisfiedly.

"I'm not stopping you from pursuing me, the key is that your change was a bit sudden, and I couldn't accept it for a while!" Lin Weimin joked.

The two ordered three dishes, and while waiting for the dishes, Wang Shuo talked about the reason why he was treating them today.

It turned out that Huayi Publishing House contacted Wang Shuo a few years ago and planned to publish a collection of novels for him. The title of the book was "Die After Getting High", which was taken from Wang Shuo's novella "Die After Getting High". It collected several of Wang Shuo's more popular novellas. The publishing contract was just signed in the past few days.

"The first print run is 300,000 copies, and the manuscript fee is 100 yuan per thousand words!" Wang Shuo was beaming with joy as he shook his head and wagged his tail.

Teacher Lin commented: A dog’s stomach cannot hold two ounces of sesame oil!

"I was wondering why I didn't see anyone else today. It turns out that Master Shuo has made money and wants to take the elegant route. He can't stand seeing so many vulgar people!" Lin Weimin joked.

"Get lost!"

Wang Shuo's happiness was wiped out by Lin Weimin's words, "You're really good at spoiling people's fun."

After joking for a while, Lin Weimin became serious, with a look of regret on his face, "You've lost money on this!"

"Loss?"

"That's right, it's a loss!" Teacher Lin said again with certainty.

"Why?" Wang Shuo was puzzled.

Lin Weimin's expression was probably similar to that of the old man or old woman who sells health products. "Look, your novel collection has at most 300,000 words, and 100 yuan per thousand words, which is only 30,000 yuan. But the publisher's commission is at least 500,000 or 600,000 yuan, and the royalties are only 5 or 6 percentage points. Tell me, is it a loss?"

Wang Shuohuan opened his eyes wide and looked at Lin Weimin, thinking for a long time.

“It seems like a bit of a loss!”

He then asked Lin Weimin, "You publish abroad, and the royalties are about 10% right?"

Lin Weimin nodded, "Yes!"

“But our domestic publishing houses don’t calculate based on royalties, they only pay manuscript fees!” Wang Shuo looked embarrassed when he said this.

"That's because they haven't met you long ago!" Lin Weimin put his arm around Wang Shuo's shoulders and continued to seduce him, "Who are you? The hottest star in Chinese literary circles, the founder of rogue literature! Count how many times your works have been adapted in the past few years? This is popular among the people, so how can the sales be bad?

How many copies did you say you published? Three hundred thousand, right? Look, what does this mean?"

"What does it mean?" Wang Shuo asked subconsciously.

"It shows that the publishing house is very smart. If they didn't have confidence in the sales of your work, would they dare to print 300,000 copies right away? If they didn't know that this is a 100% profitable business, would they dare to do this?"

Wang Shuo pondered, what Teacher Lin said makes sense!

If you don't make money, why do you print so much?

You earn so much money, and you only give me this little? Is that appropriate?

Lin Weimin's few words opened the Pandora's box in Wang Shuo's heart. He felt very upset when he thought that the publishing house made a lot of money from his novels, but he, the author, could only get a few cents.

"But... the contract has already been signed!"

Fortunately, Wang Shuo still had some rationality left, and said somewhat depressedly.

Lin Weimin smiled and said, "I'm not asking you to go and break the contract with them. I'm just reminding you not to sell your things too cheaply!"

Wang Shuo nodded and said with emotion: "Weimin, if you hadn't reminded me, I really wouldn't have understood this."

Teacher Lin smiled kindly and nodded, saying that this boy is teachable.

“Weimin, it’s time for you to get royalties for your novel. You can’t make a lot of money abroad while we can’t make any money here, right?” Wang Shuo reminded again.

Teacher Lin looked at him deeply and asked, "Don't I have to rely on you for this?"

It was the 1990s now, and prices were soaring. Writers could no longer just earn a few pennies from their writings; they had to earn some royalties.

We can’t let the publishing houses always eat the meat and drink the soup. We, the writers, have to smell the smell!

Teacher Lin has a far-sighted vision and has taken great pains to ensure that his colleagues in the literary world have strong creative motivation.

The most important thing is that the price of books has become more and more expensive in recent years, and Teacher Lin’s works also have to be sold!

We can't just keep accepting the meager royalties, we have to keep up with the international standards.

But Mr. Lin, who is highly respected and has both moral integrity and artistic talent, can he take the initiative to ask for royalties?

No, isn’t that materialism?

So, Shuozi became the most suitable candidate.

What did Teacher Xue Jian say?

"If you don't take it, how can I take it? If I don't take it, how can Commissioner Geng take it? If Commissioner Geng doesn't take it, how can you and I make progress?"

In order for Teacher Lin to get his share of the profits, Shuozi must take the royalties!

Teacher Lin said this, and even Jesus couldn’t stop it!

A few days later, after the second issue of "Contemporary" was on sale, the influence of "White Deer Plain" continued. More than a month was far from enough to digest the shock that this novel brought to the Chinese literary world and readers.

Cheng Zaochun urged Lin Weimin to take advantage of the opportunity to organize a symposium for "White Deer Plain" to boost its popularity. Lin Weimin had no choice but to ask the editorial department to start contacting various literary predecessors and critics.

"Oh my! The film "Dust Settles" just came to Yanjing to hold a seminar a few years ago, and now "White Deer Plain" is coming again. It's really unbearable!"

In the office, Liu Yin made a few phone calls and started spreading rumors.

Zhu Changsheng joked: "If your colleagues from other publications heard this, they would be furious. Their publications may not produce a work worthy of a seminar in a year, but our publication has held seminars for two consecutive months, and you are still not satisfied. This is like a full man not knowing the hunger of a hungry man!"

Works seminars don’t require any rigid conditions to be held, but there are usually some unspoken rules. For example, the works to be held in seminars must at least be works that have aroused widespread discussion, right? At least they must be popular among readers, right?

These potential soft rules may seem insignificant, but in fact they block 99% of the opportunities for journals to publish works and hold such seminars.

If the work is not well-known or influential enough, and the publication or the author himself insists on holding the exhibition, regardless of whether others will support it or not, the key point is that this will cause people to laugh at it, and it will be embarrassing if it is made public!

Of course, this was in the late 1980s and early 1990s. If you waited until 2000, anyone who published a novel could hold a symposium on the work, and it would no longer be a rare thing.

The editorial department of Contemporary Magazine just held a work seminar for Dust Settles in December. Now in February, they are going to hold another work seminar, this time for White Deer Plain, which has sparked a lot of discussion in the critics and domestic literary circles.

Different from the small-scale symposiums held by regional publications, a nationally top-notch publication like Contemporary Magazine would hold a symposium for a work of the level of White Deer Plain, and the standards would naturally be top-notch in the country.

The interval between the two work seminars was so short, but no one raised any doubts. Instead, a group of seniors and experts responded to Contemporary.

The editorial department of Contemporary Magazine even received calls from some people who asked to participate in this work seminar.

This is the benefit of a work that can convince the audience.

While the editorial office of Contemporary Magazine was preparing for a symposium on White Deer Plain, Cheng Zhongshi, who was far away in Xi'an, felt very distressed.

During the more than one month since the publication of White Deer Plain, Cheng Zhongshi felt as if he were in a dream.

After finishing "White Deer Plain", he felt free and returned to his home in Xi'an around the New Year, ending his ascetic creative life and planning to take a good rest for a while.

Soon after, "White Deer Plain" was published in "Contemporary" and received rave reviews.

His home was first besieged by his friends from the XA City Literary Association, then by people from the Provincial Literary Association, and then by various reporters and readers. The crowds were so huge that he, who was used to a hard life and no one cared about him, felt very uncomfortable.

He never dreamed that his first novel, which he had spent six years working on, would be so popular.

"I can't stay at home any longer. Let's go back to the countryside!"

One day after the New Year, after seeing off the last guest at home, it was already past seven o'clock in the evening, Cheng Zhongshi said to his wife.

The next morning, the couple packed their belongings and prepared to leave for the countryside to find some peace and quiet, but they didn't expect to receive a call from Contemporary Magazine.

"Old Cheng, there will be a seminar on White Deer Plain next week, so hurry up and go to Beijing!"

Lin Weimin's words caught Cheng Zhongshi off guard. When he heard Lin Weimin introduce the lineup of this work seminar, he was even more ecstatic.

He has been writing books for many years and has held seminars on his works before, but this is the first time that a major magazine like Contemporary has held one with such a high standard.

Cheng Zhongshi really felt like an old man reminiscing about his youth. He returned home, unloaded all the luggage his wife was carrying, and said excitedly, "We are not going back to our hometown! Let's go to Yanjing!"

"Going to Yanjing? What for?" asked his wife.

"'Contemporary' is going to hold a symposium for 'White Deer Plain' and asked me to go to Yenching University!" Cheng Zhongshi said this with some excitement.

The wife was excited at first, then happy for a while, and then a little disappointed.

"Go ahead, I'll pack your things for you."

Cheng Zhongshi felt a little embarrassed when he heard this. He had been writing "White Deer Plain" for all these years. If it weren't for his old wife supporting the family, how could he have been so calm and focused all his energy on writing?

She also owns half of this medal!

"You come too!"

"Really?" the wife asked happily.

Cheng Zhongshi regretted it after blurting it out, but he still said calmly: "Really. Okay, you cook first!"

"Okay!" The wife happily went to cook, still muttering, "I haven't been to Yanjing in so many years..."

Cheng Zhongshi looked at her guiltily, then returned to the Writers Association office and called Contemporary Magazine.

"Old Cheng, what's the matter?"

"Weimin, I need your help with something..."

If you have any problems, find Weimin, you can’t go wrong!

(End of this chapter)