Chapter 609: Teacher Lin
Li Xin said: "Yu Qiuyu called and said he wanted to discuss royalties."
Li Xin looked a little hesitant when he said this.
It has been more than four months since Guowen Publishing House published Yu Qiuyu's "Cultural Journey". At the beginning of publication, no one at Guowen Publishing House was optimistic about this collection of essays.
Firstly, the author Yu Qiuyu has no reputation in the domestic literary circles, and secondly, Yu Qiuyu's prose style is different from that of his predecessors.
But no one expected that such a collection of essays would sell 500,000 copies in just over four months on the market, and the Guowen Publishing House had to urgently reprint it six times.
During the process of reprinting, "Cultural Journey" repeatedly broke the perception of everyone at Guowen Publishing House about essay collections.
Reprint 30,000 copies, 50,000 copies, 100,000 copies, 150,000 copies, 150,000 copies...
The readers of "Cultural Journey" seem to be a bottomless pit. No matter how many copies Guowen Publishing House prints, they can buy out this collection of essays in a short time.
In the 40-year history of the Guowen Publishing House, there has never been such a monstrous book.
The author is not very famous, and his style is unique, but the genre is not popular either. So how could he have sold 500,000 copies in just four months?
This question is not only a question that lingers on the minds of everyone at Guowen Publishing House, but also a knot in the hearts of all publishers across the country.
No, why should it?
However, even if you don’t understand it, it doesn’t stop everyone from following the trend and making money.
Ever since "Cultural Journey" became popular, even Guowen Publishing House has taken advantage of the opportunity to launch several collections of essays, not to mention those publishing houses outside.
In just two months, the number of essay collections published by major domestic publishing houses has exploded. For a time, a hundred flowers bloomed, forming a powerful trend that left readers dazzled.
Not to mention the prose trend triggered by "Cultural Journey", just say that Yu Qiuyu was happy at first when he saw his prose collection selling well.
He is a cultural scholar. Although he has published books before, they were all academic works, so don't even think about their sales.
The essays in "Cultural Journey" were all written during his many years of lectures and investigations at home and abroad. It was also his first time to publish literary works. He never dreamed that this collection of essays would be so enthusiastically welcomed by readers.
But his happiness didn't last long as he started to feel depressed again because of a conversation he had with a good friend.
His friend was an editor at a publishing house in Shanghai. The two had dinner together that evening. During the meal, his friend talked about the hot sales of "Cultural Journey" after its publication, which touched Yu Qiuyu's heart and made him very proud.
But after praising him, the friend asked casually, "Qiu Yu, the royalties that Guowen Publishing House paid him for publishing your book must be very high, right?"
Yu Qiuyu smiled and said, "Guowen Publishing House is very fair and gave 8% royalties."
The friend said: "8%, that's a lot. But..."
When his friend said this, he pretended to be hesitant. Yu Qiuyu couldn't help but ask, "But what?"
"But judging by the current sales of Cultural Journey, the royalties that Guowen Publishing House is giving you are really not high. It should be at least 10%!"
Yu Qiuyu smiled and waved her hands when she heard this, "Who knew that books could sell so well?"
My friend laughed and said, "Yeah, I just thought it was simple."
After saying this, Yu Qiuyu did not take the conversation at the table seriously.
But when he returned home, Yu Qiuyu lay in bed in the middle of the night, but couldn't fall asleep. He tossed and turned, and all he could think about was his friend's words, "It has to be at least 10%."
His "Cultural Journey" was priced at 3.2 yuan, and 500,000 copies would amount to 1.6 million yuan. The difference of 2% in royalties is 32,000 yuan. With 32,000 yuan, one can no longer dream of buying a new house, but one can easily buy a house in Shanghai, and even have some left over.
After thinking about it for several days, Yu Qiuyu finally couldn't help it and called the Chinese Literature Publishing House.
The call was to Li Xin. The editing of "Cultural Journey" was undertaken by the Contemporary Literature Editorial Department 1.
After listening to Yu Qiuyu's thoughts, Li Xin was also scratching his head.
In the past, when the works sold well, Guowen Publishing House did give the authors extra royalties. During Lin's tenure alone, there were many cases of changing contracts to give writers a profit.
But what makes him puzzled about Yu Qiuyu's matter is that the share of royalties given to him by Guowen Publishing House is actually not low, but Yu Qiuyu now wants a higher amount, which is not easy to deal with.
Li Xin wanted to reject Yu Qiuyu, after all, his share of royalties was not low before, but "Cultural Journey" was a big seller now, so he couldn't refuse directly.
He asked Yu Qiuyu to wait for his news while he went to discuss it with his leader, who was naturally Lin Weimin.
After listening to Yu Qiuyu's request and Li Xin's thoughts, Lin Weimin said with a relaxed look, "What's my problem? Promise him to give him 10% of the royalties, not only for this book, but also for the next one. In addition, make up the difference in royalties from the last reprint."
Li Xinwen's face was full of surprise, "Teacher Lin..."
"What's wrong?"
Li Xin hesitated to speak, but finally couldn't help but said: "You are too easy to talk to."
Lin Weimin laughed and asked, "Do you mean to say no to Yu Qiuyu's request?"
Li Xin hesitated. He actually knew very well what might happen if he didn't agree to Yu Qiuyu's request.
If Yu Qiuyu's request for royalties is not granted this time, then his next book will most likely not be given to Guowen Publishing House. With the popularity of "Cultural Journey" and Yu Qiuyu's current fame, it is a foregone conclusion that his next work, or even the next few works, will be big sellers.
For the sake of 2% of the royalties, such writers may be turned away, which is obviously not a cost-effective deal.
However, Guowen Publishing House obviously treated Qiu Yu well. When his collection of essays was first published, no one was optimistic about it. It was Mr. Lin who took the initiative to invite him and gave him a good share of the royalties.
When Li Xin thought of this, he felt suffocated.
Lin Weimin looked at Li Xin standing there, his face changing, and asked with a smile: "What do you think? Do you agree or not?"
Li Xin said with difficulty: "From the perspective of the society, we should agree to it."
Lin Weimin nodded slightly.
“We work in a publishing house, not only for cultural work, but also for business. Since it is a business, the most important thing is to make money through harmony.
Suppose "Cultural Journey" doesn't sell well, do you think he has the confidence to ask us to increase royalties?
The biggest advantage of the royalty system is that, to a certain extent, publishers and writers share risks. If the work sells less, the writer gets less and the publisher also earns less, and vice versa.
I know why you feel uncomfortable. In the past, the publishing house took the initiative to increase writers' manuscript fees and royalties, but now someone suddenly takes the initiative to propose it. Don't you think this person is a bit too snobbish?
But have you ever thought about this problem? In fact, writers in the past had considered asking the publishing house to raise their prices, but many people were just embarrassed to ask.
Active or passive, this matter is not important and it is not something we should consider.
What's important is that we have the resources of writers and works in our hands. As long as his works sell well, what does it matter if we give him a higher royalty? It's not sky-high, after all, it's within a reasonable range.
If he is angry for a short time and submits his book to another publishing house, his fame will have spread and his works will have no problem selling. What benefit will it bring to our publishing house?"
Lin Weimin's tone was neither hurried nor calm, but it convinced Li Xin.
He knew what Lin Weimin said, but in his heart, his anger towards Yu Qiuyu's greed and snobbery overwhelmed his rational consideration of the publishing house as a whole.
This is also the trap that many people fall into most easily when thinking about problems, being swayed by emotions rather than prioritizing reason.
Li Xin thought of Lin Weimin's suggestion to give Yu Qiuyu the difference in royalties from the last reprint. He couldn't help but ask, "Teacher Lin, do you think someone like him would be moved by our actions?"
Lin Weimin asked back: "Who said I was trying to impress him?"
Li Xin looked at Lin Weimin and didn't react for a moment.
Lin Weimin smiled and asked, "What kind of person is he in your mind?"
Li Xin's lips trembled but he didn't say anything.
But Lin Weimin already knew what he was going to say, and continued to ask: "Have you ever heard of petty gains?"
Li Xin's mind suddenly became clear and he immediately understood Lin Weimin's intention.
Yes, for a short-sighted person who is greedy for small profits, what could be more attractive to him than the small bargain in front of him?
Yu Qiuyu is now very famous, and there must be many publishing houses that want to cooperate with him, some of which will offer high prices. But how can Guowen Publishing House retain someone like him?
It's this kind of petty profit that they rely on.
When Li Xin thought of this, another idea came to his mind.
Teacher Lin did this not only from a business perspective, but also from a righteous perspective.
You see, we agreed to your proposal to amend the contract. Not only did we agree, we also gave you a little more, which was very kind of us.
When this news gets out, who wouldn't praise the Guowen Society for its unparalleled benevolence and righteousness?
From now on, if Yu Qiuyu thinks of something strange again, he will be drowned in saliva.
Teacher Lin is so tall!
Li Xin thought about it for a moment, and looked at Lin Weimin with eyes full of admiration.
"Teacher Lin, I understand!" he said excitedly.
Lin Weimin nodded, "I understand. I'll call Yu Qiuyu back later and ask him to come to Beijing to revise the contract, and include the priority right to sign the next book in the contract."
Li Xin immediately showed a tacit smile, "Yes."
No wonder Teacher Lin managed Tongwen Publishing House so successfully in just one year. Look at his brain.
"Okay, go ahead."
Li Xin strode back to the office with great vigor and called Yu Qiuyu back.
"Oh! Old Yu, you have to treat me to a meal this time!"
(End of this chapter)
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