Chapter 140 Royalties
Gu Jianguo had just graduated from junior high school. Although he could understand what Yu Jianbai said, he could not grasp the meaning behind it. He humbly exchanged a few words with Yu Jianbai, and the three of them went into the newspaper office together.
Arriving at the office and sitting down, Yu Jianbai said, "Two newspapers have contacted me before, wanting to publish 'Whose Childhood Is Untroubled'. One is Kyoto People's Publishing House, and the other is Workers' Publishing House. These two publishing houses are the largest publishing houses in Kyoto. I roughly negotiated with them about the remuneration, and both quoted 30 yuan per thousand words."
Gu Jianguo knew that his daughter's book had about 100,000 words, and at 30 yuan per thousand words, that was 3,000 yuan. He thought that was already a lot.
Although this amount of money cannot be compared with what they earn from business, a teacher's salary is only 30 or 40 yuan now. 3,000 yuan is almost a teacher's salary for nearly ten years, which is definitely acceptable.
But he heard his daughter say, "Is there no other way to settle the bill?"
Gu Siqing only now realized that there was no such thing as royalties in this era. 30 per thousand words was equivalent to buying out the copyright of her book for 3,000 yuan. How could she possibly agree to that?
Yu Jianbai frowned after hearing her question and said, "There's no other way to settle the bill right now. What do you suggest?"
Gu Siqing considered her words and said, "I don't want royalties, I want a cut."
Yu Jianbai had never done business before, so he couldn't help but understand what this commission meant. But Gu Jianguo's eyes lit up. Although he was unfamiliar with book publishing, his intuition told him that a commission was definitely more cost-effective than a lump sum payment.
"Commission means that if my book is priced at three yuan per copy, the commission I take for each book sold by the publishing house is 45 cents," Gu Siqing explained to Yu Jianbai.
"Royalties? Is that what you mean?" Yu Jianbai asked.
Royalties existed before the founding of the New China, just as many writers in the Republic of China relied on royalties and royalties for their livelihoods. However, after the founding of the New China, the royalty system was abolished, and writers' only income was royalties.
However, now that we have reform and opening up, it is not impossible to restore the royalty system, but it should not be an easy task.
According to Gu Siqing, the royalties were 15 yuan, and he took a commission of 45 cents per book. If 6,000 or 7,000 copies were sold, that would be enough for 3,000 yuan. Furthermore, he estimated that "Whose Childhood Wasn't Troubled" would definitely sell even more.
But the people at the publishing house are not stupid. Why would they settle with her in this way?
Gu Siqing knew this was a difficult problem, but nothing was certain. Only after discussing it could we know if it would work out. She said, "Let's talk about it after we meet with the publisher."
"Okay," Yu Jianbai said, "I've made an appointment with Director Wang from Kyoto People's Publishing House. We can go there now. If you have any requests, you can discuss them with him in person when the time comes."
With that settled, the three of them headed to Kyoto People's Publishing House. Yu Jianbai was very familiar with the place, so he went straight to Director Wang's office.
Wang Chengji was in his forties, wearing black-framed glasses and a serious expression. He didn't smile when he saw Yu Jianbai. After asking them to sit down, he said, "If you're sure you want to publish 'Whose Childhood Wasn't Troubled' with our publishing house, we can go through the formalities now."
His tone was very serious. Gu Siqing and the other two had other thoughts in their minds. For a moment, the air in the room seemed to be still.
Wang Chengji didn't seem to notice the aversion in the atmosphere. After a while, he said, "Thirty per thousand words is the best price I can offer. Even if you find the president, I'll still pay you the same price."
He thought Gu Siqing and the others wanted to raise the price.
But then Gu Siqing said, "Director Wang, I want to settle the bill another way."
Wang Chengji looked at Gu Siqing. He had heard from Yu Jianbai that the author of "Whose Childhood Is Not Troubled" was a child under ten years old. When he met Gu Siqing just now, he felt that this child was different. She was very calm.
Now he felt that this child was not only calm but also courageous. He had a paralyzed expression and never smiled, and even his own children were afraid of him.
But not only was the child not afraid of him, she also told him that she wanted to settle her royalties in another way. There was only one way to settle royalties, so what other method did she want to use?
"This is the only way we settle accounts." Wang Chengji said in an unquestionable tone.
Yu Jianbai knew his temper, so he kept silent. In fact, he was just a middleman, and some things were not suitable for him to say.
Gu Jianguo's face looked a little unhappy. He felt that Wang Chengji was too disrespectful and should at least listen to what his little fourth son had to say.
In fact, he himself did not realize that he did not regard Gu Siqing as a child at all. This was also the result of Gu Siqing's subtle influence.
"I know you only have one settlement method, but I own the copyright to the book, and I hope you'll listen to my suggestions," Gu Siqing said. Wang Chengji once again felt that the child before him was not simple. His words were not childish at all. But come to think of it, to be able to write a best-selling novel at such a young age, this child must be extraordinary.
Gu Siqing didn't know what he was thinking, and even if she knew, she wouldn't care. When she first decided to write a novel, she knew that she would probably be known as a genius for the rest of her life.
I have been reborn, so what does the reputation of a genius mean?
She added, "I don't want royalties, I want a commission. Just give me a commission for every book your publishing house sells."
Wang Chengji adjusted his sitting position after hearing her words and said, "There is no royalty system in China right now. Book publishing is all paid in one lump sum."
Gu Siqing: "Just because there isn't one now doesn't mean there won't be one in the future."
Wang Chengji said without hesitation: "At least there is no way to change it here."
Having said this, there was no need to continue. Gu Siqing stood up first, then Gu Jianguo and Yu Jianbai also stood up, and the three of them said goodbye to Wang Chengji.
After leaving the publishing house, Yu Jianbai said, "Getting royalties is really difficult. Not to mention whether Wang Chengji would agree, even if he did, I still have to report it to the higher-ups and go through layers of approval. It's too much trouble."
Gu Siqing understood that employees in state-owned enterprises were paid a fixed salary. Their work ethic was to work according to the rules and get paid. However, reform meant disrupting the existing rules and potentially harming the interests of some individuals, making it difficult to implement.
She didn't know Wang Chengji, so there was no reason for Wang Chengji to do something thankless for her.
Gu Siqing also didn't want to go to the other Workers' Publishing House. She thought all state-owned publishing houses were the same. She asked Yu Jianbai, "Are there any private publishing houses in Kyoto?"
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