Chapter 82: Physical Publishing
Unlike the "entry" micro-novel, which itself carries a public meaning, "The Long Journey" is an unpublished novel. According to the author's habit, irrelevant people are never allowed to read it.
At most, give it to some close friends.
Although he wanted to do something for Zhai Da, Lu Siwen still stuck to his principles.
Although it is true that Lu Zetao considers himself a writer, he would not have made a special trip to extend this olive branch if Lu Siwen had not begged him.
Curiosity about Zhai Da is also one of the reasons.
He was also curious about what kind of person this young man, whom his wife and daughter had mentioned, was and what he had written.
But to Lu Zetao's surprise, he thought the young man would be excited to hear that his work had a chance to be published, but Zhai Da's face only showed an embarrassed expression.
"Uh... I've only written half of it, and I don't plan to write any more before the college entrance exam..."
Lu Zetao didn't seem to expect to be rejected, but he quickly continued the topic:
"In fact, after submitting the manuscript to a publisher, reviewing it, contacting them, confirming it, and typesetting it...it takes a long time for a work to be published. Even if we start now, it may not be published until after the college entrance examination."
"Also, everyone will post part of the content first, or even just the beginning, so you don't have to worry about that."
Zhai Da instinctively felt that it was unnecessary. Firstly, he was not familiar with Lu Zetao. Suddenly, on the overpass, he said, "I plan to recommend your work for publication."
To be honest, it's a bit awkward.
It’s like a fifty-year-old woman with long hair suddenly turns to you and asks, “What is your musical dream?”
Secondly, he hasn't finished writing "The Long Journey" yet, and he's under a lot of academic pressure lately because he needs to improve his grades...
While he was organizing his words to decline, Zhai Da suddenly thought of his own little plan.
That is during the summer vacation, do some business...
Zhai Da was still quite concerned about the sticky notes posted on the "blackboard tree" that day.
He wanted to do something, to pilot the idea of “getting rich first and then sharing the wealth”.
He hasn't done any research yet, so he's not sure how much money he needs to invest. Currently, he only has 30,000 yuan in prize money from the micro-fiction competition. As for the income from blog readings, it is paid out monthly.
The next time I settle my accounts, the college entrance exam is approaching, and the next time will be in the middle of summer vacation...
If physical publishing does not take up more energy, perhaps you can consider making some time difference to prepare for a rainy day.
Let your wallet be a little fatter.
Lu Siwen waited for Zhai Da's reply, his almond-shaped eyes full of anticipation.
She knew that asking her father to come forward was a bit abrupt, but if she said it herself, Zhai Da would probably just brush it off...
Sometimes being abrupt isn't due to stupidity, it's just due to being eager...
Lu Siwen stepped forward, took Zhai Da's school uniform sleeve, and shook it slightly.
"Mr. Zhai, I'll be in charge of communicating with the editor and finalizing all the necessary matters. It won't take up too much of your time."
Lu Zetao looked at his daughter pulling Zhai Da's sleeve and his face twitched.
But in the end, he didn't say a word.
Although the whole thing doesn't seem to be of any benefit to Lu Siwen.
But...the ease of wealthy families lies in their ability to support and allow their children to do some "right but useless" things.
Hobbies, broadening horizons, paid work...eventually this ease will be ingrained in the child's character.
Finally, in Lu Siwen's moist and expectant eyes, Zhai Da finally nodded.
"Thank you for your help. It would be great if 'The Long Journey' had a chance to be published. However, I'd like to ask how the royalties for physical book publishing are calculated. You should have some experience with this."
Lu Zetao thought to himself, of course I have experience, I have already published seven "masterpieces".
"The portion of a physical book that belongs to the author is called royalties. You can think of it as a 'tax' the publisher pays the author. It's usually 5% to 10%. For example, if a book is priced at 20, the author's share of 5% is... one dollar."
Zhai Da: ...
How many?
Damn, Green Mood is only one dollar and fifty cents a stick!
"If sales reach 10,000 copies, the writer will receive 10,000 yuan in royalties... Usually the first print run is 500-1,000 copies, and then additional copies can be made depending on the sales volume."
Of course, self-publishing does not include this. He can print as many copies as he wants. The warehouse in Lu Zetao’s home is full of his own "masterpieces".
Zhai Da was speechless and said, "Then for someone like me who has never published a book, what sales level can I achieve?"
Lu Zetao smiled gently and said, "That's hard to predict. The sales of literary works are hard to predict."
Just like him, such a good work can't be sold...who can he turn to for justice?!
As a handsome old man with financial freedom, Lu Zetao was willing to explain to the young man entirely because of Lu Siwen's self-identification with the identity of a "writer". He felt that it was somewhat of a way to help the younger generation.
But younger generation writer Zhai Da expressed disappointment with the financial prospects of being a writer...
Although the royalties fluctuate between 5% and 10%, he is not a well-known writer, so he must be challenging the lower limit of the industry rather than the upper limit.
"How many copies of 'The Three Gates of Worship' were sold?"
Lu Zetao was not impressed by the "rebellious writer", but after all, Han Han was now very popular, and the entire publishing industry and writers' circles were discussing him, so he had heard some rough data.
“It’s said that the sales volume is one million.”
In other words... Han Han, the market's most cutting-edge, phenomenal work, a title that might not even appear once a year, only earned around a million yuan purely from physical books... That's not a small amount at that point in time in 2008, but it was the ceiling.
..
So why don’t people write books and make movies anymore? Because writing books doesn’t make money!
Even a dozen years from now, writers' incomes will likely still be far from comparable to those of celebrities and directors. That's why so many writers are desperately trying to get into the entertainment industry...
Other celebrities can earn 208 yuan a day just to cut out a picture, and even if they write books with their pens smoking, they can’t compare to that!
Of course, Zhai Da knew that there would be hidden profits from film and television adaptations in the future, but that was still further away for Zhai Da. Unless a literary work was left to settle for several years or even more than ten years, there would generally be no opportunity for adaptation.
Zhai Da suddenly lost a lot of interest in publishing physical books.
But now that we've come to this, let's just take those 50,000 words and try it out.
No matter how small a fly is, it is still meat, and pig's trotters are also jade feet, right?
"Then I'll leave it to you. Please help me take a look at the previous 50,000 words."
Seeing that the matter was finalized, Lu Siwen became visibly excited. He pulled Zhai Da's sleeve and jumped around, and his fluffy and smooth short hair turned into the shape of small mushrooms again and again.
Lu Zetao's face twitched again.
Endure..
He could see that Zhai Da was very dissatisfied with his income as a writer, but the young man would find out later.
No matter what era or country, the word "writer" brings more than just "money".
It may not be wise to treat it as your "lifelong livelihood", but treating it as "icing on the cake" will benefit you for a lifetime!
Lu Siwen handed the notebook he had prepared in his schoolbag to his father, then took Zhai Da and trotted away: "Dad, we're going to school. If we don't leave now, we'll be late!"
Lu Zetao could only wave his hands helplessly, even though his daughter didn't see it at all.
After the two of them walked away, Lu Zetao looked down at "The Long Lu Road" in his hand, thinking to himself, I want to see what kind of work can make my daughter obsessed... Why isn't she so fascinated by her own father's books?
Subconsciously turned the page...
...
"Mr. Lu? Mr. Lu?"
Lu Zetao raised his head and felt his neck stiff: "What's wrong?"
The driver got on the overpass at some point:
"Since you didn't answer the phone, I came to remind you... You're going to be late. I have a meeting today..."
Lu Zetao looked at his watch...
Half an hour has passed?
When I looked down at my notebook again, I no longer had any contempt...
A complete and profound story, a gradual buildup of conflict, simple yet brilliant writing... and most importantly, overflowing emotions...
A little jealous.
He was quite well-mannered, and subconsciously couldn't help but swear:
"This is fucking awesome!"
"Han Han? This is a genius!"
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