Chapter 203 True Friends
The process of soliciting articles was much more difficult than I had imagined.
Lu Yanhe originally thought that no matter what, Li Zhibai and Yan Liang would definitely agree immediately, but to his surprise, Li Zhibai refused without hesitation.
"You want me to write an article? Come on, the article I wrote was grammatically incorrect, full of typos, who would read it?" Li Zhibai shook his head without hesitation, "Find someone else."
Lu Yanhe said, "Who else can I turn to?"
Li Zhibai: "Don't try that on me. You know more than just a few of us."
“But if you don’t write it, who will write it for me?” Lu Yanhe said.
Li Zhibai: "..."
Lu Yanhe: "Please help me out."
Li Zhibai: "I really can't write it. If I did, everyone would laugh at me."
"We'll definitely help you revise it, and we won't let you be laughed at," Lu Yanhe said. "You write a first draft first, and then I'll revise and supplement it based on your first draft, how about that?"
Li Zhibai: "Why don't you just write it for me and sign my name?"
"That's not how you slack off."
"Xiao Lu, it's not that I don't want to help you, it's just that you've really come to the wrong person," Li Zhibai said helplessly. "I really can't write."
Seeing Li Zhibai's predicament, Lu Yanhe decided not to offer any further advice.
Despite the setback at the start, Yan Liang readily agreed without any hesitation.
This finally put Lu Yanhe at ease.
Lu Yanhe told Chen Siqi about Li Zhibai's reaction and said, "If all else fails, he can dictate it and I'll write it down for him?"
Chen Siqi said, "You already have a lot on your plate, okay?"
“Okay, the first issue needs to be written.” Lu Yanhe said.
“Okay, I plan to revise our plan today and make it into a Mook format,” Chen Siqi said. “I’ve gathered some relevant information. There are quite a few Mook books published by domestic publishers, and they have been releasing them for a while. The concept of e-magazine may sound outdated to the platform. The concept of Mook is more acceptable to everyone, and it will also make it easier for me to create a comparable product.”
“Okay, I’ll do whatever you say. The format doesn’t matter. Whether it’s a magazine or a Mook, the content is essentially the same,” Lu Yanhe said. “I’ll contact everyone I can today and then tell you.”
"good."
After hanging up the phone, Lu Yanhe began searching his contacts.
Cheng Hai, Chen Jing, and Tu Song are all artists from the same company. He has a relatively good relationship with them and can ask them for help.
I've also had dealings with Song Linxin, the talented female singer who became an overnight sensation after covering "Remembering" in "A Song Comes to Respond".
Peng Zhixing, a contracted host for Aurora Video, had met me at the graduation party.
Jiang Yuqian and Huang Kairen, the main characters in "The Golden Era," were also among the most popular stars in Lu Yanhe's opinion.
As for Wang Yunfan and Li Qian, their relationship is too casual, so I won't bring it up.
All told, there are only these people.
Who else do you know?
Should we invite them all in the first episode? Putting aside whether they would agree, if they did, the first episode would be the last, because Lu Yanhe would have no one else to invite.
The column "Celebrities' Student Days" has come to an end.
Lu Yanhe thought for a long time and finally kept the names Jiang Yuqian, Tu Song, and Song Linxin. Let's ask these three people first.
However, when these people's names are put together, apart from Song Linxin, they are all from Xingyu Entertainment, just like the Xingyu Entertainment special.
-
"You're inviting me to write an article about my student days?" Jiang Yuqian was taken aback. "Yan He, why are you suddenly asking me to write an article?"
Lu Yanhe explained to her what he was doing.
"You're going to make an e-book?" Jiang Yuqian's tone was incredulous. "What are you going to do? Be the editor-in-chief?"
“Yes,” Lu Yanhe said. “My classmates and I want to do this together this summer. We also met with Yemai.com yesterday and reached a preliminary cooperation agreement. The book will be available for sale on Yemai.com.”
Jiang Yuqian hesitated for a moment, then said, "Yan He, I'm really not comfortable agreeing to this right away. I've never written anything like this before. I'd be very willing to have you ask me to write this, but—"
Lu Yanhe understood why Jiang Yuqian was hesitating.
He said, "Sister Yuqian, I know that you usually give interviews and others write the interview content into articles, but we want to make a book like this and invited you to write this article. We want to look back at that era from your perspective. Is that okay? I have compiled a few similar articles written by other actors for you. Please take a look and then consider it, okay?"
“Alright.” Jiang Yuqian smiled helplessly. “Since you’re the one who asked me to write it, I can’t just refuse. I’ll take a look first, but let me make this clear, Yan He, if I really feel I can’t write it, then I will still refuse.”
“I’m sure many of your fans want to read this article about your memories of your student days. I’m sure Sister Yuqian also has many people and things she misses,” Lu Yanhe said. “Yemai.com is a place with many real users. Many people write diaries and write about their lives there. Sister Yuqian, you can also take a look at this website when you have time and publish your articles there. People will get to know you better.”
“I know Yemai.com. None of the dramas I starred in have scored higher than 8 points on that website,” Jiang Yuqian said with a smile.
“Then we need to let them know more about you,” Lu Yanhe said quickly, sweating profusely as he finished speaking, never expecting such a thing to happen.
-
After talking with Jiang Yuqian, Tu Song and Song Linxin were next.
Lu Yanhe made phone calls one after another, explaining the situation to them and inviting them to write an article.
Upon hearing this, Tu Song exclaimed, "My goodness, I haven't written an article in years!"
"Just treat it as writing something on a social media platform."
"There's not much to write about. I didn't pay attention in class, I always wanted to sing, and I participated in all sorts of singing competitions. At first, my parents stopped me, scolding and hitting me, but I insisted on singing, and in the end they agreed."
Lu Yanhe's eyes lit up, and he said, "Then you should write about the part where you insisted on singing?"
Tu Song: "Huh? What's so interesting about writing about this? It's all unbearable memories."
"It allows everyone to understand how passionate you are about singing."
"Can you really understand it from just one article?"
“An article is a record. Your fans will know it, and people who have heard your songs and want to know about you will also know it,” Lu Yanhe said. “When others want to know about you, if there is an article you wrote yourself, they can learn about you through your own article, rather than through something written by someone else.”
"What you said makes a lot of sense; I'm starting to believe you."
"Write one."
"Let me try writing it down," Tu Song said.
Lu Yanhe put a checkmark under Tu Song's name and breathed a sigh of relief.
Only one person is missing: Song Linxin.
Lu Yanhe originally wanted to call her directly, but when he was about to make the call, he reflected on his relationship with Song Linxin and felt that it would be presumptuous to suddenly call her. She would probably feel it was very abrupt, since they had only met twice before and had hardly ever talked.
After thinking about it, Lu Yanhe sent her a text message, which roughly described what he was doing and concluded by asking her to write an article on the theme of her student days.
Less than five seconds after sending the message, Song Linxin replied: Okay.
Lu Yanhe was taken aback.
Song Linxin asked again: When should I give it to you?
Lu Yanhe stared wide-eyed in shock.
wipe?
So you agree?
Without the slightest hesitation!
Lu Yanhe hadn't expected Song Linxin to respond so readily.
He was stunned.
-
After receiving everyone's responses from Lu Yanhe, Chen Siqi was somewhat surprised and said, "So, basically everyone is still willing?"
“Yes.” Lu Yanhe nodded.
"You're quite popular," Chen Siqi couldn't help but say.
Lu Yanhe was also somewhat surprised. Although he had refused most of the time during the communication process, he eventually agreed instead of directly refusing.
Chen Siqi thought for a moment and said, "If Jiang Yuqian is really willing to write about celebrities and writes an article for us, then with her in charge, this section will be enough. Now we need to send invitations to the writers. Have you talked to Liu Jiazhen and Mingyin about it?"
“No, they are writers. Asking them for manuscripts is different from asking others. I also want to ask you, what is the standard for manuscript fees?” Lu Yanhe asked.
Chen Siqi said, "That must be the market standard."
“But there are basically no market standards now, and there aren’t many to refer to,” Chen Siqi said. “Since we’re not trying to make a book just for fun, we need to consider the costs and benefits. Have you thought about how many copies of this book we can sell?”
"No." Lu Yanhe shook his head.
Chen Siqi said, "Have you thought about the maximum budget we can allocate to producing this book?"
"No." Lu Yanhe continued to shake his head.
Chen Siqi said, "Xin Zixing reminded us of something: we didn't make a detailed budget. I made one first, take a look."
Chen Siqi sent the budget she had prepared to Lu Yanhe.
Lu Yanhe opened it on the computer.
The production cost was 50,000 yuan.
The fiction section alone pays 20,000 yuan in royalties, with five stories expected to be published, averaging 4,000 yuan per story.
The student days of celebrities, expected to be between 1500 and 3000 words, with a payment of 2000 yuan per article, and 6 articles expected, for a total of 12,000 yuan.
There were also various other miscellaneous royalties, totaling approximately 10,000 yuan.
The royalties alone amounted to 42,000.
The remaining eight thousand will all be used for layout design, and that's still not enough.
Chen Siqi said, "This is very unprofessional. I just wrote down whatever came to mind and estimated a number myself. I didn't even consider any editing or other labor costs."
Lu Yanhe hesitated for a moment and said, "The production cost of 50,000 yuan is definitely a conservative estimate."
“Yes.” Chen Siqi nodded. “That’s why I asked you how many copies you think could be sold on Yemai.com, and what price we should set?”
"It would be better to communicate with Yemai.com about this."
“We need to have our own estimate. If it’s ten yuan a copy, we need to sell five thousand copies to cover the production cost of fifty thousand yuan,” Chen Siqi said. “Can we sell that many copies through just one channel, Yemai.com?”
Lu Yanhe said, "But besides Yemai.com, are there any other channels to make this book available?"
“Mooks can be listed in many places, and there are still many platforms that sell e-books,” Chen Siqi said. “If we exclusively distribute it through Yemai.com, or distribute it with multiple platforms, the market we have will be different. So I think we need to have an estimate and a bottom line before we talk to Xin Zixing about this.”
"From what she said, she definitely wants YeMai.com to have this book exclusively available online."
“If it were an exclusive release, they would have to offer us more favorable terms,” Chen Siqi said. “Now that we have such a creative team, our books will at least attract attention. We also have the confidence to negotiate collaborations with various platforms. An e-book with sales potential will definitely be of interest to many platforms.”
Lu Yanhe nodded.
Chen Siqi said, "Do you think we should contact other platforms first before talking to Yemai.com, or talk to Xin Zixing again first and then see how things go?"
"Let's talk to Sister Zixing again. I asked her for help before, and she gave me feedback immediately. Let's not be too businesslike when we work with her."
"Okay." Chen Siqi nodded.
-
Because of this incident, Lu Yanhe suddenly had a lot of things to do these past few days, and even his live streaming time decreased.
Lu Yanhe went to a used bookstore and bought a lot of old magazines, flipping through them one by one and making various notes.
The same applies to Mooks. If it's just a collection of articles, then it's just a portfolio. Compared to a regular portfolio, magazines and Mooks have a significant difference: they have a distinct concept of "theme" and "topic".
In the live stream, everyone was puzzled when they saw Lu Yanhe suddenly start looking at those old magazines. They wondered why Lu Yanhe had suddenly started looking at old magazines.
-
When a notification popped up on her phone that Lu Yanhe had started a live stream, Chen Ziyan was still driving. She clicked on it and played the video as background noise the whole way home. Lu Yanhe was still flipping through the magazines next to him, and because the sound was muted, only the video was playing.
The idea that Lu Yanhe wanted to make a magazine with his classmates sounded a bit far-fetched, but no matter how unreliable it seemed to Chen Ziyan, she didn't stop him.
At nineteen, she could do whatever she wanted. That was Chen Ziyan's thought.
No matter how much trouble it caused, it was all a valuable experience for Lu Yanhe.
Chen Ziyan doesn't want Lu Yanhe to become an artist whose life consists only of performing arts, nor does she want him to distance himself from real life.
Chen Ziyan has the style of an old-fashioned agent. She doesn't want to treat artists as commodities, nor does she want them to be mass-produced products. She hopes that they will have their own style and characteristics.
If Zhou Ping'an hopes his artists will cause less trouble and be 100% obedient, then Chen Ziyan hopes her artists will cause as much trouble as possible on non-principle issues.
These are agents who grew up in different eras, each with their own unique characteristics.
Despite the significant changes in the current environment, Chen Ziyan still hopes that her artists, like those superstars of the past, will unleash their personal charm and maximize it, rather than packaging, labeling, and simply pursuing popularity.
Chen Ziyan felt that it was a good thing for Lu Yanhe to want to make magazines and Mooks. He was good at taking risks, and whether he succeeded or failed, it was all good. More life experiences would greatly enrich a person's character.
Chen Ziyan felt that Lu Yanhe was too much of a "model student." He was excellent, but he seemed a bit lukewarm and not very distinctive.
Chen Ziyan would rather he go through more trouble.
In reality, how much could Lu Yanhe have really accomplished during his four years of university? Lu Yanhe is too young, and for a male actor, being too young isn't a good thing; there aren't many suitable roles available. In the film and television market, the mainstream male roles are still between thirty and forty years old.
Young male characters are either in genre films or idol dramas.
Chen Ziyan didn't have high hopes for Lu Yanhe winning any awards in the past four years, so she might as well use this time to do other things and accumulate life experience for herself.
-
When Zhou Ping'an heard that Lu Yanhe was going to make a Mook, he was stunned and asked, "What is a Mook?"
Li Zhibai said: "Magazines and books."
Upon hearing the word "magazine," Zhou Ping'an realized he had grasped the situation a little and asked in surprise, "Is Lu Yanhe really planning to transition into the cultural field?"
"Of course not." Li Zhibai shook his head. "Anyway, I'm just letting you know in advance. Yan Liang and I are both going to write an article for him. Don't blame us for not informing you later."
Zhou Ping'an was speechless and said, "If you two have this much energy, you might as well record another program."
"Anyway, we've already agreed to this, so don't try to stop us. Didn't you say yourself that you have no personal grudge against Lu Yanhe?"
“I have no personal grudge against him, but that doesn’t mean I’m happy to see you two constantly following him around. How come you two are still so close to him?”
"We were teammates for three years and lived in the same house for three years. How could our relationship not be good?" Li Zhibai asked rhetorically.
Zhou Ping'an was speechless.
“You two can write, but you have to let me see the drafts first before you can publish them.” Zhou Ping’an looked at them with great distrust and said, “Don’t write anything inappropriate and publish it. Lu Yanhe needs a gimmick for this. You two are like brothers now, so I’m too lazy to persuade you anymore. Anyway, I’ll leave the review to me.”
We'll see.
"What do you mean 'say again'? There's no room for discussion!"
"If you have that energy, you might as well spend it on your favorite things." Li Zhibai rolled his eyes. "You think I'll trust you after you bring Ma Zhiyuan along? Give me a break."
Zhou Ping'an was speechless.
"How many times do I have to emphasize this? Even if I bring Ma Zhiyuan, it won't affect you," Zhou Ping'an said earnestly.
Li Zhibai chuckled, "Go ahead and try to fool Cheng Hai with that. I'm too lazy to talk to you. Anyway, I'm telling you in advance that I'm going to find a new agent. I don't get along with Ma Zhiyuan, so it's absolutely impossible for us to work under you at the same time. If you want to manage him, then don't worry about me."
Zhou Ping'an was a little annoyed and said, "This isn't up to you! I've been taking care of you for four years. Don't act like a spoiled brat. Honestly, haven't I been good enough to you?"
“I don’t feel that way anymore,” Li Zhibai said confidently. “Ma Zhiyuan can take jobs if he wants, or not if he doesn’t. When have I ever received that kind of treatment?”
Zhou Ping'an: "..."
"I'm leaving." Li Zhibai said he was leaving.
"Wait a minute!" Zhou Ping'an called out to him angrily. "Li Zhibai, I'm asking you seriously, are you really going to change your agent? You absolutely refuse to stay under my management with Ma Zhiyuan."
“Yes,” Li Zhibai said, “I’ve never been treated like this before! Don’t you know how much I hate that idiot? Let me tell you, I’m only being kind to you by not hiring anyone to smear him. Otherwise, I would be hiring trolls to smear him every day.”
Zhou Ping'an's forehead veins bulged, "Don't do anything reckless!"
“I’m not kidding you,” Li Zhibai said.
Zhou Ping'an was silent for a moment, then said, "Two years. I'll only mentor him for two years. Don't be foolish. I'll tell you again, I personally mentored you all. I took over Ma Zhiyuan halfway through. The boss asked me to take over, and I had no choice but to. But I promise you, I'll only mentor him for two years. After two years, I won't mentor him anymore, okay?"
"Who knows if what you're saying is true or false?" Li Zhibai sneered.
“I admit I’m not a good person, and I don’t tell the truth to everyone, but I don’t think I’ve ever lied to you, have I?” Zhou Ping’an said.
Li Zhibai: "Who knows?"
"In two years, I will make you even more famous than Ma Zhiyuan. In fact, you could have done it a long time ago. If you weren't so lazy, you would definitely be no worse than Ma Zhiyuan. Think about it, in what way have I wronged you? You're so lazy, and I let you rest when you wanted to. I didn't let you take the jobs you were extremely unwilling to take, right?" Zhou Ping'an said. "Even if I kept telling you not to associate with Lu Yanhe, and you really did continue to associate with him, what did I do?"
"What can you do about it?" Li Zhibai retorted. "Now that he's left you, he's doing very well. So what if Ma Zhiyuan is famous? The Beijing TV gala will invite Lu Yanhe, but will it invite Ma Zhiyuan? The social image is completely different, okay?"
Zhou Ping'an: "..."
“However, since you are so sincere and have made a two-year agreement, I am not unwilling to compromise,” Li Zhibai said. “But if you do anything that would harm our interests for Ma Zhiyuan’s benefit, I will immediately change agents.”
Zhou Ping'an was furious at Li Zhibai's nonchalant attitude, but there was nothing he could do.
Li Zhibai had the confidence to say that, and he had nothing more to say.
"Also, don't try to sow discord anymore. We're true friends with Lao Lu, and you can't change that. He's gone now, so stop thinking about him," Li Zhibai said.
(End of this chapter)
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