Chapter 590: Half a Year Has Changed More Than Ten Years
There is no distinction between upstream and downstream industries. Printing houses are downstream industries of publishing houses, but that does not mean that their status is low or their role is small.
Especially for large publishing houses like Guowen Press, which distributes tens of millions of books and periodicals every year, if the quality and efficiency of printing and binding cannot keep up, it will have a huge negative impact.
Since its establishment, the printing and distribution of books and periodicals of Guowen Publishing House have all been handed over to Xinhua-affiliated companies. The printing business is handled by Yanjing Xinhua Printing Factory, and the distribution business is handled by Xinhua Bookstore. The main business of Guowen Publishing House is publishing.
Twenty years ago, this would certainly not be a problem.
However, under the situation of reform and opening up, handing over the two key businesses of printing and distribution to others is not a good thing for the development of Guowen Publishing House.
There is no way to deal with distribution for the time being, because Xinhua Bookstore is still the largest book distribution channel in the country.
But the printing business can be taken back into our own hands. The printing of books seems simple, but it is actually a very delicate job. If Guowen Publishing House's printing business is with others, it will consume a lot of manpower and energy to communicate and coordinate. Taking back the printing business can achieve the effect of reducing costs and increasing efficiency.
The business of reprinting old books alone can save Guowen Publishing House at least 300,000 or 400,000 yuan in costs every year, not to mention other things.
After a detailed discussion with Lin Weimin, Cheng Zaochun also agreed with his idea.
At another meeting a few days later, the proposal for Guowen Publishing House to build its own printing factory was brought up for discussion.
I heard that the company was planning to buy machines eliminated by the Xinhua Printing Factory for production, and some people raised the same question as Cheng Zaochun had at the beginning.
"Why doesn't our Guowen Press printing factory catch up with the times and start with computer printing, but instead use outdated equipment to build a factory?"
“Yeah, that’s a bit contrary to reform, isn’t it?”
The opinions of colleagues were a bit sharp, but Cheng Zaochun said calmly: "It is certainly a major trend to launch computer printing, but we should not ignore an important issue."
He glanced at everyone, "How many books does our Guowen Press reprint every year?"
After he asked the question, everyone looked at each other.
The Guowen Society was established for forty years ago and has a profound heritage. Every year, a large number of books are reprinted, numbering in the millions. Everyone knows this, and they also understand what Cheng Zaochun means.
“This newly built printing house will first meet the printing needs of the reprinted books of the publishing house, and then the business of Tongwen Publishing House.
The company's new book business is still jointly handled by Xinhua Printing Factory and several other printing factories. Their new equipment and technology can just meet the printing and binding requirements of new books.
My idea is to first solve the problem of whether it exists or not, and then solve the problem of whether it is good or not.
For our Guowen Society, this is the most practical reform.”
After hearing his words, everyone had subtle expressions on their faces.
These words don't sound like something Lao Cheng would say.
The president, Cheng Zaochun, is a bookish person. People usually have a good opinion of him. The only thing that is criticized the most is his conservative style. Many policies that have been implemented by other publishing houses have yet to be implemented in Guowen Publishing House.
This situation has improved a lot since the beginning of this year, and everyone understands that this has a lot to do with Lin Weimin taking over as editor-in-chief.
Lin Weimin has been on the same page with Lao Cheng for many years, and Lao Cheng strongly supports him as editor-in-chief. For this reason, he even dragged Old Mrs. Wei to the office to confront the leaders.
Now, you have to pay for your own sins.
He pushed Lin Weimin to the front, and all Lin Weimin thought about every day was how to cause trouble.
The editorial department’s performance appraisal system was implemented at the beginning of the year, and then the collection of Jin Yong’s works was introduced. Now we are building our own printing factory.
The changes in Guowen Society in the past six months are greater than in the past ten years, but everyone is happy to see this happen.
The editorial department's performance appraisal system has been fully implemented for more than three months, and the results are very good. Except for a small number of old comrades who have complaints about it, most people in the company support this policy.
Distribution according to work, more work more pay, less work less pay, more fairness.
Especially the young people in the community, they now want to support Lin Weimin. Once the performance appraisal system is implemented, these people will receive dozens or hundreds of yuan more in salary every month than before.
It has been more than two months since the publication of Jin Yong's collection of works. The first print run of 100,000 copies was almost sold out in April. Guowen Publishing House immediately printed an additional 200,000 copies, bringing the cumulative circulation to 310,000 copies. It will definitely take some time for these books to be delivered to various places for sale.
But the sales volume is not deceiving. In just two months, the sales volume was 17 million. In the history of Guowen Publishing House, perhaps only the performance of Lin Weimin during the period when he won the Goncourt Prize can be compared with it.
Of course, this momentum will not last long, that is, in the next few months, when the sales of Jin Yong's works enter a stable stage, it will become another long-lasting set of books for Guowen Publishing House.
When building your own printing factory, the first benefit that comes to mind is cost reduction. The printing cost of your own printing factory will definitely be lower.
In addition, communication costs will also be reduced. For publishing houses, dealing with printing houses is a chore.
After understanding these benefits, no one will object to building their own printing factory.
Cheng Zaochun and Lin Weimin already had a tacit understanding, and they were extremely happy to see that they had convinced everyone so smoothly.
After the meeting, Yu Hua excitedly approached Lin Weimin and asked, "Teacher Lin, I heard that the new printing factory in the company will be used by our Tongwen Company?"
Lin Weimin looked at him in surprise, "You are well-informed, right? Who told you that?"
"Who else do you need to listen to? Not long after you held the meeting, the news spread throughout the company. Everyone said that in the six months since you took office as editor-in-chief, the changes in the company have been greater than in the previous ten years."
Yu Hua's flattery did not win Lin Weimin's praise, "Don't spread such rumors."
"I really didn't spread it. Go and listen to the people's voice yourself!"
Lin Weimin shook his head. If this guy were in ancient times, he would definitely be a traitor.
"Is there anything important to do? If not, go to work!" Lin Weimin said impatiently.
"Yes, yes, yes. Well, the sample books are out. Look at my royalties..." Yu Hua said hesitantly.
The sample book he was referring to was the sample book of "To Live". The publishing contract for "To Live" was just signed some time ago, and the sample book only came out in the past two days.
"Can I still owe you the royalties?"
"It's royalties." Yu Hua corrected in a low voice, and then said: "I don't have any money, the situation is really difficult."
Lin Weimin reluctantly called the finance department, and then said to Hua: "Go get the manuscript fee slip."
"Thank you, Teacher Lin!" Yu Hua left the office with a happy face.
"To Live" is not long. This time it is published as a single volume with an initial print run of 100,000 copies. Yu Hua's share of royalties is 10%, which means he can get 18,000 yuan.
This is the largest single amount of royalties Yu Hua has ever received since he started writing.
Before the publication of "Crying in the Rain", the total amount he received over the years was less than 10,000 yuan.
Now that he had changed from receiving basic remuneration + remuneration for the number of copies printed to receiving a share of royalties, his income had skyrocketed. Yu Hua skipped work to get the money and came back again before leaving get off work.
"Teacher Lin, are you free tonight? I'd like to treat you and Teacher Tao to dinner!"
"No need, just go celebrate with your friends."
"How can that be possible? This is the first payment I received for my writing since I came to Beijing. It is of commemorative significance."
Unable to refuse such a kind offer, Lin Weimin had no choice but to agree.
When it was time to get off work, Lin Weimin wanted to drive Yu Hua away with him, but Yu Hua refused. They made an appointment to meet at Dasanyuan at 6 o'clock.
Lin Weimin drove to the People's Art Theatre to pick up Tao Huimin. When he heard that Yu Hua was going to treat her to a meal in the evening, Tao Huimin asked curiously, "It's not a festival, why is he treating her to a meal?"
"I guess he's happy that he got the royalties."
Tao Huimin left her car at the office and got into Lin Weimin's car.
Dasanyuan is located in the center of the three major scenic spots of the Forbidden City, Jingshan and Beihai. Looking from the Dasanyuan Tower, one can have a panoramic view of the royal buildings and gardens. Among restaurants in Yanjing City, this geographical location is considered to be a first-class golden location.
This place has been famous for its Cantonese cuisine since it opened in 1983, and is known as "the number one Cantonese restaurant in Beijing."
Many of the raw materials, such as seafood and suckling pig, are transported from Guangzhou, and the chef is a famous chef specially invited from Guangzhou. With such attention to detail, the consumption is naturally not cheap. When the restaurant first opened, the average consumption per person was 40 or 50 yuan, and now the average consumption per person has exceeded 100 yuan.
Therefore, Da Sanyuan has another nickname in the Yanjing catering industry, but this nickname is not for a single restaurant, but together with the other three restaurants, it is called "Three Knives and One Axe".
Da Sanyuan is one of the three restaurants, the other two are Mingzhu Seafood next to Di'anmen and the Beef Hotpot Restaurant north of Nancheng Oriental Hotel. However, some people say that the other two restaurants are Xiangjiang Food City in Wangfujing and Shunfeng Headquarters next to the Agricultural Exhibition Hall.
The other one refers to the Shanfu Restaurant near Xinjiekou, which is on the small hill above the gap in Xinjiekou.
The people of Yanjing use the metaphor of "knife" and "axe" to describe these restaurants. They are naturally ruthless when it comes to overcharging their customers. The average consumption per person starts at one hundred to eighty yuan. In recent years, they have been the representatives of high-end dining in the minds of the people of Yanjing.
Lin Weimin seldom invites guests to these places. It's not that he can't afford it, but he is afraid of burdening others.
If you treat someone, they have to treat you back. If a meal costs one month's salary, how can you make ends meet?
When the couple arrived at the restaurant, they saw Yu Hua waving at them, with a good-looking woman standing next to him.
"Teacher Lin, Teacher Tao, this is my girlfriend Cheng Hong." Yu Hua introduced the woman next to him to the two of them.
Lin Weimin looked at Cheng Hong and felt that she looked familiar. Yu Hua then said, "Cheng Hong and I were classmates in the College of Arts, one year younger than me."
Lin Weimin nodded and said with a smile: "No wonder, he looks familiar."
After they sat down, Lin Weimin joked, "You picked Da Sanyuan to treat us. It looks like you're going to bleed a lot today!"
"When inviting Teacher Lin to dinner, of course we have to pick a good place. I was planning to go to Beijing to become a 'blind migrant', thanks to you for helping me." Yu Hua said with a somewhat grateful tone.
In the 1990s, people’s minds were not so open and they attached great importance to work.
It took Yu Hua nearly ten years to go from being a dentist at Wuyuan Town Health Center to working for the JX City Literary Association and becoming a full-time writer.
It takes tremendous courage to abandon everything in Jiaxing and come to Yanjing.
Lin Weimin glanced at Cheng Hong opposite him. She must have contributed a lot to this great courage.
Cheng Hong has a bright and elegant appearance and dresses very fashionably, even more fashionable than actress Tao Huimin.
Therefore, it is not surprising that Yu Hua fell in love with her.
She was a literary and artistic soldier of the Air Force Political Department. Because she was good at writing poetry, she entered the Academy of Literature for further studies, which led to her meeting Yu Hua.
Yu Hua invited everyone to dinner today not only to thank Lin Weimin for rescuing him, but also to introduce Cheng Hong to Lin Weimin and his wife.
When a man brings a woman into his social circle, the meaning is naturally self-evident.
Judging from the status of the two, Lin Weimin estimated that it would not be long before they would get married.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
