[The Monkey’s hired army: QAQ It’s so hard to work, I’m so angry. ]
[The disappeared Mr. L: Are you angry? It just so happens that I was also out of breath because of someone else... When you encounter the peak of your career, you will fall to the bottom. ]
[The monkey’s hired navy: You actually have a career! ]
[The missing Mr. L: If someone like you who keeps talking about "online dating" and crawled out of some ancient tomb can have a career, why can't I? ]
[The Monkey's hired Marines: Oh, your tone is very aggressive. It seems you are really angry.]
【Disappeared Mr. L: Yes, I am so angry. Excuse me, I even want to be angry with the air now.】
[The navy hired by the monkey: …]
He did not get any comfort from Mr. L. Instead, he had to say a few more words to comfort this guy who was so angry that he wanted to fight with the air... It was not until he stood in front of the office building of Yuanyue Publishing House that Chu Li put away his mobile phone, took a deep breath, and walked into the office with his head down.
…I don’t know if it was an illusion, but Chu Li felt that the whole office became quiet when she walked into it. As she walked towards her seat with her head down, Lao Miao from next door suddenly laughed out loud: “You’re back from the field so soon? A typical return without success.”
Although everyone in the office was still busy with their own things, Chu Li could feel that everyone had actually pricked up their ears and paid attention to this place. Chu Li took out the contract from the bag and ignored Lao Miao's ridicule: "I don't even have the chance to hand the contract to Zhu Chuan and let him throw it in my face."
Lao Miao laughed even more miserably: "Did he let the dog bite you?"
Chu Li glanced at Lao Miao and carefully reminded him, "That's an Alaskan, not a Tibetan Mastiff."
Lao Miao: “They look the same.”
Chu Li: “Not at all the same.”
Lao Miao: "What did Zhuchuan say?"
Chu Li was silent for a moment, then raised the corners of his lips in a mocking tone, imitating the tone of the man behind the big iron gate: "'Forty-five thousand seals, who are you insulting? Do you think I'm a beggar!'"
Lao Miao turned around and laughed wildly, causing everyone else in the office to laugh as well. Another new editor didn't dare laugh too loudly, and her face turned red from her snorting laughter... Chu Li didn't see what was funny at all, and only felt frustrated. She put the contract on the table and whispered, "Lao Miao, I don't think I can do this job - Master Zhechuan didn't even let me open the gate to his yard, and his dog is ten thousand times more enthusiastic than him."
Lao Miao: “Is he fierce?”
Chu Li: "Very fierce."
After all, it is "Eighteen Forms of Longyang".
Lao Miao turned his chair and played with the marker in his hand: "That's because you don't know how to negotiate."
Chu Li: "..."
Look how powerful you are. Why don't you go? Go and face that lunatic! Face him head on!
At first, I dared to be angry but not to speak.
Lao Miao ignored Chu Li’s silence filled with resistance, rocked back and forth in his chair, crossed his legs and said lazily: “You really know nothing about the publishing industry, and you know nothing about the nature of these authors. I also want to know why the boss hired you? (Yu Yao: “Because of passion.”) Because of passion? Boss, what you said makes me want to vomit. It’s not like the heroine in a Japanese drama can win the author’s heart with passion without knowing anything...Okay, come on, kid, sit down. Today, since I’m your senior, I will give you some guidance on the negotiation direction——”
Chu Li: "..."
Chu Li told herself that this was the helplessness of the adult world. She couldn't pick up the chair and put it on the person in front of her who was shirking his responsibilities for no reason and wanted to teach her a lesson, because no matter how unreliable this person looked, he was still her boss, her predecessor, her mentor... So she took a deep breath and sat down, wanting to listen to what Lao Miao had to say.
Surprisingly, Lao Miao actually released a lot of useful information. He first explained the current situation of the publishing industry to Chu Li.
First of all, the formula for the author's remuneration is: first print run x book price x royalty points (a few points means a few percent) = final remuneration.
In 2013, the current situation in the publishing industry was that the first print run of romance novels and youth books was 8,000 to 50,000, and the authors were generally paid 6 to 8 points. Generally speaking, those with more than 20,000 were treated as great romance authors, and those with lesser-known titles generally received 8,000, which was about the same. Occasionally, some publishing houses would bully lesser-known authors and even spend 3,000 to 5,000 yuan to buy out the entire book without paying royalties.
A book with sales of more than 30,000 can be called a bestseller;
Going up further, there are the big names at the top of the pyramid. Generally, it is possible to get a first print of one hundred thousand to three hundred thousand. These people can get a maximum of 15 points of royalties, but there are only a few authors in the country who can do this.
- In other words, the kind of monthly magazines that Chu Li thought could easily achieve sales of hundreds of thousands only existed in 1913, not 2013.
Lao Miao: "Zhechuan is the guy who just touched the top of the pyramid. In the past two years, his first print run has generally been set at 80,000 to 100,000, 9 points."
Fuck, eighty to a hundred thousand!
Two to three times thirty-two thousand!
Chu Li was confused: "How can we pay the initial 32,000? No wonder he was so angry, why didn't Chu Chuan burn down Yuanyue Society... Ah, do you have Chu Chuan's contact number? I want to apologize to him: I'm sorry, Mr. Chu Chuan."
Lao Miao: "Do you know what contrast creates beauty? This is the way of negotiation I want to tell you - we are a new magazine. Although the publishing house is very old, this is our first time to publish oriental fantasy youth books. We offer ordinary authors 8,000 yuan, and if they don't come out, get out. But we offered Zhao Chuan 32,000 yuan... and finally raised it to 45,000 yuan."
Lao Miao: "Do you know what this means? If we give him a first print run of 100,000, 10 points, he will be very happy - suppose each book is priced at 35 yuan, we will have to pay him 350,000 in royalties! 350,000, my friend! We will also have to bear about 22% of the cost of each book, you can calculate how much that is - we are a publishing house, the boss is a businessman, not Lu Xun, businessmen have to make money, we are not a dream welfare club, the boss has to pay you wages so that you can eat, give all the money to Zhuo Chuan's dream, what will you eat?"
Chu Li: "..."
Lao Miao: “Doesn’t it make sense?”
Chu Li: "..."
There is a fart.
Lao Miao: "So, the first print run is 45,000. Our company is sincere and sincere, and the sun and the moon can bear witness to it."
Lao Miao: "You have to tell Zhechuan this. When he compares himself with other authors, he actually earns several times more than them. His vanity has already shaken him. You can also paint a big picture for him and tell him that our publishing house has a new project and we will do our best to sell this book. When it sells well, we can print more copies. You see, once you say this, he will agree..."
First ceremony black question mark face.
Lao Miao: "That's all I have to say. You can try it again tomorrow."
Led by Chief Editor Yu Yao, the office suddenly erupted in applause, with only Chu Li continuing to have a question mark on his face.
She always felt that Lao Miao would not let it go until he saw her being beaten by Zhuo Chuan with his own eyes and then had her packed and sent back via SF Express with cash on delivery.
………………I don’t know where the hatred between the new colleagues comes from.
…
But this did not prevent Chu Li from standing outside the door and ringing the doorbell of the Chaochuan family the next day.
Fortunately, Zhaochuan seemed to have gotten up quite early today and was not in a bad mood, so Chu Li sat down smoothly on the sofa in his house ten minutes later; unfortunately, after the man opened the door, he just made coffee, drank coffee and read emails. Apart from rewarding Chu Li with a cup of freshly ground coffee made by the master, he completely ignored Chu Li who was sitting on the sofa shoulder to shoulder with Ergou.
Chu Li felt insecure about the publishing house and himself, so he sat on the sofa with his head down, not daring to say a word.
then.
An hour later.
When Zhuchuan finished his coffee and dealt with his emails, he turned around and saw the little girl sitting on the sofa with her head hung down, sitting shoulder to shoulder with the Alaskan dog whose cross-sectional area was exactly the same as hers, looking a little pitiful.
Zhuchuan: “…”
Feeling his master's gaze, Ergou raised his paw and poked the little girl beside him.
Chu Li: "..."
Zhu Chuan cleared his throat and said indifferently, "Is my grumpiness when I woke up yesterday not scaring you?"
Chu Li: "..."
I was so scared, thank you.
Now that I see you, I want to pee.
Chu Li shook her head against her conscience, thinking that it was Chu Chuan who took the initiative to start a conversation, and there seemed to be something going on, so she moved her lips... But after struggling for a long time, she still felt that she couldn't bring herself to talk about Lao Miao's big pancake technique, so she had to push the buns on the table in front of her and started talking: "Teacher, have some buns. Drinking coffee on an empty stomach in the morning is not good for your health. You even have a cold, you know."
Zhuo Chuan took the bun, looked at it for a while, ate one, and stared at Chu Li with his brown eyes: "Not bad, thank you. But I remind you, this bun is not worth hundreds of thousands of royalties."
Chu Li: "..."
Chu Li paused as she was about to take out the contract, then silently stuffed the contract back. After hesitating for a moment, she sat up straight and stammered to repeat what Lao Miao had said. She became more and more fluent as she spoke, and she almost believed it herself. So she began to make half-truthful promises at the end: "Teacher, just sign this book for us. Give us a chance, and we will definitely work very hard to make this book well. As long as it succeeds, in the future, let alone 100,000 copies, we will also work hard to get you 200,000 copies!"
Zhuo Chuan pinched the remaining bun, weighed it, and smiled: "...This big bun is painted, do you think you are the magic painter Ma Liang?"
Chu Li: "..."
Dad, if I take a picture of your style and post it on Weibo, it will be forwarded a million times, crushing Do Min Joon from the stars. Do you believe it? Let's talk about #Shocked! You from Mars! The real face of the gentle and jade-like Mr. Chuan is full of bitch spirit#.
Unaware that he was being criticized, Zhao Chuan handed the remaining buns to Chu Li and said simply, "Eat."
Chu Li glanced at the bun in his hand, and felt as if it was sprinkled with rat poison. His face turned green and he waved his hand: "I've eaten it. I bought it specially for you. It's not good to come to you empty-handed-"
So you only brought two buns?
The man raised his eyebrows and began to look up and down at the little girl sitting on another sofa: she was a little silly, but maybe because of the still warm bun in his hand, she seemed more pleasing to the eye than Lao Miao, that effeminate sissy.
Especially the six words "bought specially for you" sound particularly pleasing to the ear.
The man's tone finally softened when he spoke again: "Little girl, don't waste your time. 45,000 is too low. This is not about money. If this gets out, I will be laughed at. Yuanyue Publishing House is a big publishing house, but what will people say if it gets out? They will only say that I, Zhaochuan, lowered myself to cling to you."
It was rare for the man to say something serious. As he spoke, he waved to the dog next to Chu Li. Er Gou jumped off the sofa and came to his legs. He slowly stuffed the extra bun in his hand into its big mouth... The man was generous and gentle when treating his pet, and Chu Li just stared at him with his eyes wide open.
Chu Li felt something was wrong when she heard what Zhuo Chuan said... She stared at the handsome face of the man not far away, and suddenly she felt that she had grasped a life-saving straw.
This straw was not given by Lao Miao's twisted logic, but was handed out by Zhuochuan himself.
Chu Li suddenly thought that the reason why Chu Chuan felt offended and insulted by the low print volume and became furious was probably because he was a very proud person.
And such people...
Chu Li suddenly sat up straight. "But if the first print run of 45,000 copies is sold out immediately, it is possible that the contract can be temporarily changed to double the price. Teacher, your previous books were all printed in batches of 100,000. Don't you have the confidence to sell that many copies this time?"
Zhuochuan was stunned.
Then he raised his head and glanced at her, smiling with his white teeth showing: "Are you trying to provoke me?"
Chu Li froze for a second and moved her butt back. She was so amused by Qing Cheng's smile that she wanted to hug the dog who was squatting beside her again with the bun in his mouth and press him down: "I remember you said that "Luohe Divine Book" is your latest masterpiece."
Zhuochuan did say that.
If he says no now, wouldn't that be slapping himself in the face?
So he remained silent.
Chu Li carefully peeked into his face.
Unfortunately, no emotion could be seen on his face.
Ten minutes later, Zhuo Chuan stood up and said to the little girl who was sitting on the sofa and looking up at him, "Of course I have confidence in myself, but it still doesn't work. Yuanyue Society is not so attractive that I can play this game with you guys. Thank you for the buns, although my coffee is not cheap either. Ergou, show me out."
Ergou: "Woof!"
Chu Li: "..."
Today, Chu Chuan is very gentlemanly.
It is so repulsive that it makes people despair.
Chu Li knew that saying anything more at this point would only make her annoying, and she didn't have the confidence to begin with, so she had no choice but to stand up, put down her contact card, and said something like "If you change your mind, please feel free to contact me" and then whispered goodbye to him, and then walked out with her head down as the man saw her off...
Just as she was about to walk out of the entrance, she suddenly caught a glimpse of something very familiar. She paused, frowned, took two steps back, and squatted down. Then she couldn't help but reach out to a pile of packed waste that was probably going to be thrown away next to the entrance, and pulled out something that looked like a picture book.
As soon as she saw the familiar cover, Chu Li was dumbfounded. She never thought that she would see such a thing in Zhuchuan's house: ……………It turned out to be Niangniang's personal art collection, and it was a limited edition signed for the first fifty people.
Chu Li and Mr. L had been jumping around for four or five days to get this art book, and couldn't sleep well every night. In the end, they got it and cried all night with Mr. L, and were so excited that they could hardly control themselves... Until this art book later became the proof of her identity as a "crazy fan of Empress Zhu".
——How come Chuchuan has this art book?
Holding a corner of the painting album, Chu Li turned around in bewilderment and glanced at Zhu Chuan with surprise, "Teacher, you also like cocoons..."
The words haven't been finished yet.
Chu Li once again witnessed Chu Chuan's transformation in a second -
The man's expression changed instantly. He supported the sofa with one hand and jumped over the sofa at a height comparable to Liu Xiang. Then he transformed into Bolt and sprinted in front of her with a 100-meter knife-like gesture and snatched the book!
...Chusheli had never seen an otaku with such agile movements.
At this moment, the otaku stood in front of her with an expressionless face. He quickly bent down and stuffed the book back into the waste paper pile. "My niece likes it and came to play at my house during the summer vacation. As for this inferior painter, humph, he is not even worthy of washing my feet."
After saying that, he sneezed again.
The tip of the nose is red.
Chu Li was still in shock and hadn't recovered. She just stared at Zhu Chuan's calm, elegant, indifferent, and sarcastic face.
[Not even worthy of washing my feet. ]
[Not even worthy of washing my feet. ]
[Not even worthy of washing my feet. ]
Chu Li: "..."
Awesome.
This great guy, the ever-changing Sakura in the literary world?