Chapter 296: Money Can't Be Spended
After a pleasant exchange, Qiao Sen finally obtained the publishing rights of the three works "The Horse Catcher", "The Murderer" and "The Lover" on behalf of Random House.
After signing the agreement, Qiao Sen said to Lin Weimin: "Lin, there is another good news I forgot to tell you!"
"What good news?"
“Farewell My Concubine is coming to several Commonwealth countries!”
The agreement signed by Lin Weimin and Random House includes some of the more important English-speaking countries in the world, because Random House has publishing and distribution channels in these countries.
However, for nearly two years before that, "Farewell My Concubine" was only released and sold in the United States.
The expansion of distribution and sales now also shows that Random House is optimistic about this novel.
"This is indeed good news. It seems that I will be able to receive a considerable amount of royalties in the future."
Qiao Sen said proudly: "Lin, it's not just the royalties. You have to understand that with the influence of our Random House, in the near future, your reputation will be internationally renowned and you will become a world-renowned writer!"
I don't believe you!
These Americans really brag without thinking.
"Farewell My Concubine" has only sold a few hundred thousand copies in two years since its publication, and you dare to boast that you have made me famous internationally. How do you make those later writers who have sold tens of millions of copies feel?
However, Qiao Sen's words were not groundless.
First of all, as a multinational publishing group, Random House does have this capability.
When they first started working on the novel Farewell My Concubine, they took very small steps. To be more precise, they were trying their best.
In the past two years, "Farewell My Concubine" has consumed almost no publicity and promotional resources from Random House in the United States.
Under such circumstances, the fact that this novel has achieved the minimum bestseller standard of more than 100,000 copies for two consecutive years is enough to prove the potential of this novel.
Now, after two years, the market popularity of "Farewell My Concubine" has been preliminarily verified, and Random House is naturally unwilling to sell this novel only in the United States.
Because of its language and cultural advantages, Random House has strong publishing and distribution channels in other English-speaking countries around the world, so there is no reason not to use them at this time.
They believe that as long as it is managed properly, the novel "Farewell My Concubine" will definitely bring considerable profits to the company.
After all, in the past two years, with almost no investment of resources, "Farewell My Concubine" has generated hundreds of thousands of dollars in net profit for the company.
Compared to the United States, English-speaking countries around the world account for the majority of their book sales.
That is why Qiao Sen said that Lin Weimin's Farewell My Concubine has the potential to become a best-seller.
In the U.S. book market, there are many best-selling books every year, but only those books that have been on the best-selling list for many years are called "permanent bestsellers."
This type of book is the lifeblood of almost every publishing house. With such a book, the publishing house is equivalent to having a stable cash flow, which plays a great stabilizing role in the development of the company.
After the agreement was signed, Lin Weimin only had two things to do.
The first step is to wait for Random House to translate the manuscript and confirm the content, including the book cover and binding design.
The second is to wait to receive the manuscript fee.
Compared with the cautious approach it took when it first published Farewell My Concubine, Random House is taking a much bigger step this time.
"Farewell My Concubine" will soon be sold to most English-speaking countries. Including the reprints in the United States, the number of reprints this time has reached an astonishing 600,000 copies.
Coupled with the further increase in the standard of royalties, this reprint alone brought Lin Weimin nearly 780,000 US dollars in income.
Old Meng almost choked when he heard Lin Weimin talking about his income from writing articles.
"You...you said...how much?"
Lin Weimin stepped forward to support him, "Don't let this pass you by."
"How much?" Lao Meng didn't care about his own health, he only cared about Lin Weimin's royalties. He had never cared so much about Comrade Weimin.
"780,000 dollars, aren't we discussing raising the standard of royalties this time? It's more than half higher, so won't the royalties increase all of a sudden?"
Meng Weizai looked at Lin Weimin. The royalties for Farewell My Concubine when it was published in the United States were more than 100,000 US dollars before, but this time it suddenly jumped to 780,000 US dollars. It's not that fast to rob money!
"Oh! How do you think we should spend this money?" Lin Weimin was a little worried.
Meng Weizai looked at his expression and felt as if he had been fed up with the defense.
How to spend?
Throw it into the water and listen to the sound!
Virtue!
Qin Chaoyang asked, "Aren't they going to take away several of your novels this time? Where are the royalties?"
"Those novels haven't been translated yet. The earliest I can receive royalties is in the second half of this year. If all the royalties for the three novels are paid, it would be the middle of next year."
Qin Chaoyang gossiped, "How much money can it have?"
"I guess it's about 200,000 or 300,000 yuan in total."
Qin Chaoyang was surprised, "Why is it only this little?"
"Just this little?" Lin Weimin looked at Comrade Lao Tan.
Comrade, let me give you a chance to organize your language!
"I mean compared to your book Farewell My Concubine," Qin Chaoyang explained.
"You can't compare them like that. How long has Farewell My Concubine been published? This time, the reprint alone is 600,000 copies. The other three novels haven't been tested by the market yet. Qiao Sen and his team plan to start with a first print run of 100,000 copies to test the waters.
Considering that the first print run of Farewell My Concubine was only 30,000 copies, this is already a huge improvement.”
Qin Chaoyang nodded after listening to Lin Weimin's explanation, "Then the time for you to collect the manuscript fee is still to come!"
"Not necessarily. If the market response is not good, they may not reprint it, so why charge for the manuscript?"
At this time, Meng Weizai said quietly, "So, this time, the royalties you received from Random House exceeded one million dollars?"
Qin Chaoyang was shocked, it seemed to be true!
Lin Weimin said, "If we add them together, it's definitely there, but you can't calculate it like that. I received my royalties in batches, so it will take at least a year to get all of them."
"Last time, Hong Kong wanted to publish your novels, and the royalties must have been 400,000 yuan, right?" Meng Weizai asked again.
"Hey, those are all Hong Kong dollars, not worth much, only tens of thousands of dollars. Besides, I have only received two payments from Sing Tao Evening News so far, and the rest are still not moving."
Qin Chaoyang thought to himself that the word "talent" was used well and was very spiritual.
"In our Chinese Literature Society, no one is richer than you!" Meng Weizai concluded.
"Leader, what you said is not accurate." Lin Weimin smiled with a bit of arrogance, "It should be said that there is no one richer than me in the domestic literary world!"
The two old comrades looked at Lin Weimin.
This kid really deserves a beating!
"Okay, it's enough for us to know about the royalties. Don't go out and talk nonsense about it in the future." Meng Weizai warned.
Lin Weimin said nothing and looked at Qin Chaoyang.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
Comrade Lao Tan, you have no self-awareness at all. Why do you seem to have no idea what is going on?
Unfortunately, Comrade Lao Meng still underestimated the speed at which gossip spread within the Guowen Society.
Just one day after Lin Weimin signed the agreement, news that he had received a million-dollar manuscript fee had spread throughout the Guowen Publishing House.
After hearing the news, all colleagues were so shocked that they were speechless for a long time.
In 1983, the country's foreign exchange reserves reached 14.7 billion US dollars.
One million US dollars is equivalent to one-tenth of 14,700 of the country's foreign exchange reserves.
The income from Lin Weimin's royalties of more than 10,000 times is equivalent to the foreign exchange reserves of this great country. Can you believe it?
If we use this as an analogy in later generations, Lin Weimin's royalties alone would be at least 200 to 300 million US dollars.
And this does not include the royalties that Lin Weimin has received in the past and may receive in the future. If all were counted, what a terrifying number it would be!
The astronomical amount of royalties had a huge impact on outsiders, but for Lin Weimin, he continued to do what he was supposed to do, and his life did not undergo any special changes because of the appearance of these royalties.
Comrade Yan worked hard. He had to report to his superiors for this foreign exchange.
These days, foreign exchange remitted from overseas must be compulsorily sold to the Bank of China. According to the official exchange rate, individuals will suffer huge losses.
In the past, whenever Lin Weimin received royalties from abroad, he would report it and exchange it for foreign exchange coupons through special channels. This time was no exception.
The issuing bank of foreign exchange certificates is the Bank of China, which is also the foreign exchange management bank.
When people see this situation, they also feel confused.
In the past, when we wrote a report, the most we could get was about 200,000 foreign exchange certificates.
The first payment of royalties that Lin Weimin received this time was as high as 780,000 US dollars. It is said that there will be more in the future. By this calculation, the number is likely to be over one million US dollars.
If all of them were exchanged at once, and if these foreign exchange coupons circulated on the market in a short period of time, it would have a certain impact on the domestic foreign exchange coupon market. In serious cases, it would even directly affect the circulation and use of foreign exchange coupons.
You must know that foreign exchange coupons are directly linked to the RMB, and if you don't handle it properly, it will be a big deal.
But if we force Lin Weimin to sell this foreign exchange, it would be a bit unreasonable. His overseas royalties are more than this amount, and it can also be regarded as earning foreign exchange for the country.
Not only is it inhumane to do so, but Mr. Lin is also very influential as a writer. If he is dissatisfied and makes a fuss, it will be even more troublesome.
After much discussion, the bank came up with a solution for Lin Weimin.
Don't exchange this foreign exchange certificate. I will open a foreign exchange account for you and deposit the money there.
In the future, you can exchange up to 200,000 foreign exchange certificates in China each year. If you go abroad, the amount of money in this account will also be 200,000 US dollars a year.
Lin Weimin was overjoyed. He didn't expect there would be such an unexpected surprise.
He now has more than 300,000 foreign exchange certificates deposited in the People's Bank of China, and he doesn't know what to do with them. If he exchanges them all for foreign exchange certificates, he will actually have a headache.
But there is no other way. If I sell it to the bank, I will lose more money. After weighing the pros and cons, exchanging the royalties into foreign exchange coupons is also a helpless move.
Now that the bank is willing to open an account for me, that’s the best thing.
Individuals cannot keep foreign exchange these days, let alone trade it. Only some units and institutions involved in foreign trade have the right to keep foreign exchange, which is also subject to supervision.
If I had this foreign exchange account, I would no longer have to file reports every time I received overseas royalties, and I would no longer have to go to the People's Bank of China to deposit foreign exchange certificates. I don't know how convenient this would be.
As for the annual limit of 200,000, Lin Weimin doesn't care.
In the past year, he spent lavishly, buying antiques and paintings, and only spent a few hundred thousand foreign exchange coupons. The 200,000 foreign exchange coupons were enough for him to squander in China.
"Well, I still have more than 300,000 foreign exchange certificates in the safe at the People's Bank. Do you think it can be exchanged for foreign exchange and deposited in my account?"
Sitting in front of Lin Weimin was the president of the Yanjing Branch of the Bank of China. The matter involved an amount of one ten-thousandth of a country's foreign exchange reserves, which was enough to alarm someone of his level.
Governor Zhou was speechless. Are you here to take advantage of us?
"This is unlikely."
Lin Weimin felt a little disappointed after getting this answer.
It seems that those foreign exchange coupons will have to be kept in the safe for a long time.
He sighed and said, "Well, to be honest, I have money but can't spend it, which is really worrying!"
Governor Zhou: ???
(End of this chapter)
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