Chapter 296 Is it Gu Lu? !
"President Wang, are you busy?" Gu Lu called.
Although there are exchanges of "group blessing text messages" during holidays, there has been no contact with this emerging writer for a long time.
President Wang was confused by the sudden greeting.
"I'm not busy. Teacher Xiao Gu called me. Even if I'm busy, I'm not busy." President Wang responded. He stopped writing and started to turn the pen cap. The pen cap rotates like Simon. But directionless.
"It's like this. Is the royalty rate that President Wang and I discussed before still considered digital?" Gu Lu said, "I have written a new book and want to submit it to President Wang's publishing house."
President Wang pointed his finger when he heard this Holding down the pen cap, "Submit to our New Youth Publishing House?"
"Is it convenient?" Gu Lu asked.
"Of course," President Wang said neatly, "What work? I'll read it right away."
The two of them stopped chatting and immediately hung up the phone.
Gu Lu sent the novel manuscript to President Wang.
Seriously speaking, although the manuscript was sent to the Children's Publishing House first, Gu Lu was not worried at all that the manuscript would be misappropriated. First, Gu Lu's current reputation is no longer that of an ordinary writer. Secondly, if the newly appointed President Yuan dares to do this, he will no longer be able to work in the publishing industry.
Writers who don’t feel at risk?
To show respect for Gu Lu’s works, President Wang temporarily put down what he was doing and closed his pen.
""Flowers for Algernon"? Isn't it because the work is not very good and Children's Publishing House won't accept it?" President Wang suddenly thought of this.
But no matter how bad it is, just the word "Gu Lu" is worth money. Vice President Wang and President Jian are not familiar with each other, but they feel that the latter is not such a short-sighted person.
How should I put it, there are also barriers in the publishing circle. The New Youth Publishing Headquarters is in Bingcheng, which is still far away from Sijiu City.
President Wang has not received the news that President Jian has been transferred.
The thoughts in my mind were spinning a thousand times, but the movements of my hands were not slow at all. President Wang received the email.
Download the attachment, President Wang looks at it.
The story of the novel is very simple. Professor He Cheng's scientific experiment has made progress on the white mouse Algernon.
The next step is to conduct human experiments, and the volunteers recruited for human experiments are kind and optimistic deer. The key is that he has a strong desire to become smarter.
After the operation, Xiaolu's IQ jumped from 68 to 185, and at the same time, he had emotions he had never experienced before, and memories that he could not see clearly before.
For example, I was teased by my friends.
For example, the reason why I was abandoned by my parents.
The mother never accepted the fact that the child she gave birth to was a child with abnormal brain. So I took Xiaolu around to see doctors and even used folk remedies.
There is a plot that President Wang found very immersive.
There are two types of sense of substitution. The first is the most common one, because I have experienced similar things. The second is the plot, so that people who have never experienced it can relate to it.
Xiaolu recalled that when he was a child, the first compliment he received came from a liar. A liar who can make people smart by lying to their mothers.
The liar praised the fawn and did not dislike the fawn's incontinence - precisely because of this incident, even if the fawn became smarter later, when he thought about it, he still did not blame the liar.
"No matter how smart you are, you can't escape the prison of childhood memories." President Wang felt like his heart was being stabbed.
The starting point of "Flowers for Algernon" is different from ordinary abuse stories. Along with Xiaolu's experience, it is published bit by bit in the form of a report.
President Wang’s hand is holding the pen harder and harder. Being smart is not a good thing.
Why is Xiaolu so aware of learning? Why does he want to be a genius? Because that was his mother's wish.
The mother wants the fawn to become smart.
Why did Gu Lu say that this book is very close to the original person?
Because I won an award for my first composition in elementary school when my mother and father were quarreling, he went back with the certificate to show his parents. When the parents were happy, they stopped arguing for a while.
So the original person, like the protagonist of "Flowers for Algernon", thinks to himself that as long as he can win more certificates in composition competitions, his parents will not quarrel every day.
Of course, Gu Lu will not tell reporters this. It is enough for reporters to know what kind of people Gu's mother and Gu's father are. There is no need to reveal this anymore, so as not to make Gu's mother and Gu's father "proud".
While reading, an editor knocked on the door, but was sent away by President Wang. The importance of the matter is completely inferior to the work in hand.
President Wang did not cry earlier. As the president, I have seen too many sharp-edged writers. But when the deer discovered that his IQ had dropped rapidly, and he could not even complete the ordinary pattern test again, the protagonist collapsed.
[No, you don’t understand, because it didn’t happen to you, and no one can understand except myself. I don't blame you. You have your job to do, your Ph.D. to get, and...
I passed your floor on my way up, and now I pass it again on my way down, but I don’t think I’ll do it again Take this elevator. So let's say goodbye to each other right now. ]
"Irresistible despair. Once the elevator goes down, it will never come back up again." President Wang's eyes turned red because of this desperate emotion.
Especially this time, it will land lower than before. Just look at the fate of Algernon, the white mouse.
In the last two days before its death, the white mouse manically attacked its own species and ended up standing in a daze among its own feces and urine.
“Maybe children as young as two or three years old can learn to solve their three emergencies, and even younger children can do it. But for patients with intellectual disabilities, it requires multiple practices.” President Wang could not imagine it. , how much effort Xiaolu put in.
But...
Alas! This author must have a heart made of stone.
Being able to penetrate the old world is enough to prove that this article is quite tearful.
[Finally, I would like to thank the Major SPF Laboratory Animal Center for its support], postscript after reading this.
In three hours, President Wang read the entire book. He is relatively fast.
“Take a protagonist who was originally weak and become even weaker through experiments. Is this Gu Lu really the author who wrote “The Little Prince” and “Yesterday’s Park”?”
“ Friends are Xiaolu’s only concern in this world, but those people just want to mock him.”
“It’s so uncomfortable. Even if a person has absolute IQ, he can’t survive without matching emotional support. .”
President Wang has too many comments that he wants to say, because there are too many things worth discussing in this book.
But even after reading the entire article, President Wang still has questions like "Is it really good to make a person smarter?" lingering in President Wang's mind.
A few minutes later, President Wang came out of his book mood.
The first reaction was, "How could a children's publishing house miss the signing of such a good book?"
Immediately, President Wang thought that it didn't matter what happened specifically. This overwhelming wealth, It was finally his turn.
He must sign the book 100%!
In other words, it is time for the publishing house to show its sincerity.
Immediately call the president of New Youth Publishing House. Without asking, President Wang knows that the president is not at the publishing house.
As mentioned earlier, New Youth is a publishing organization prefixed with "中" and is directly affiliated with the Communist Youth League. Therefore, the position of president has always been held concurrently by the second-in-command of the Communist Youth League, a senior official... To be honest, the president has a nominal intention, and all major matters of the publishing house are handled by President Wang (who is also a cadre of the Communist Youth League).
Just to give a very high price, this kind of thing needs to be reported.
While on the phone, President Wang was still making arrangements. Notify the assistant and ask the publishing house management to hold an emergency meeting.
Don’t be surprised why President Wang attaches such great importance to it. Gu Lu contributed to "The Little Prince" and "Flatland" during his two years of cooperation with Children's Publishing House. They are all works that can support small and medium-sized publishing houses!
Look again, the New Youth Publishing House has been very shabby in the past two years...forget it.
"President Xiang, I just received a good book, and I plan to offer an 18% royalty rate." After getting through, President Wang knew that the other party was very busy, so he got straight to the point.
"Eighteen percent, this ratio is too high, right? Even if you are a famous writer, there is no need to give such a high ratio." Although President Xiang is listed, he still knows a lot about the publishing business.
"As a Qing brand publishing house, our goal is to 'enlighten ideas, spread knowledge, and serve the growth of young people.' We don't need ordinary bestsellers. Such a high royalty rate will have bad consequences. "Generally speaking, President Xiang would not refuse directly, but his words were no different from refusal.
To be honest, what kind of book is published by New Youth Publishing House? "Popular Philosophy", "History of the Southern Ming Dynasty", "White Gate Willow", "The Complete Biography of Mei Lanfang", "A Brief History of Dunhuang Grottoes Art", etc. Got it? Not of one world. Therefore, I didn’t say nonsense to the president. What he conveyed was indeed the purpose of the publishing house.
Besides, for New Youth Publishing House, it is better not to make any mistakes. The 18% royalty rate requires a guaranteed sales volume of 500,000 yuan! You can't go wrong if you don't do it.
"But Gu Lu's new book "Flowers for Algernon" is really good. If you don't come up with this royalty rate, you may not be able to sign it." President Wang also wanted to work hard, "And …”
"Wait, whose new book is it?" President Xiang rarely interrupted others on the phone, "Is it Gu Lu who wrote "Young China"?"
"It's his new book, he seems to We broke up with Children's Publishing House." President Wang nodded.
Hearing that it was Gu Lu, I made a U-turn to the president on the phone, "Gu Lu is an outstanding representative of young people in the new era. His works are very suitable for the tone of our publishing house. As for the royalty rate - at least 17% can be signed? If not, 18 points is no problem."
I then thought that there might be something wrong with the president, and finally said: " Waiting for your good news.”
It went so well?
Soon President Wang came to his senses, he was blinded by a leaf. In the eyes of the official people, Gu Lu is not a best-selling author at all, but an outstanding representative of the new youth!
Now that I agree, the rest is easy.
President Wang is busy.
Around eight o'clock in the evening, when the publishing house usually gets off work.
Returned the call to Gu Lu.
"Can the royalty rate be higher?"
"If it's 18%, no problem. Signing time? It doesn't matter, I have no problem."
"Okay, okay, no problem Question, I will definitely cooperate with the publicity. Thank you, President Wang.”
After a brief exchange, the two parties reached a verbal agreement. A specific signing time has been agreed upon, and matters such as promotion and translation into Japanese need to be discussed in detail in person.
Gu Lu hung up the phone, very happy. Currently, he has received the top royalties in the country.
"Today is a good day." Gu Lu sent the message to President Jian, and then set off for the airport.
When you travel to the West Lake, you can meet many famous people.
What novels are there about West Lake?
"The Legend of White Snake"...exists in this world.
Anything else? Gu Lu scratched his head, unexpected. The amount of reading in my previous life was still too little.
Shaqu is quite far from the airport. In order not to delay his flight, he always leaves three hours in advance.
Zhang Zhizhi, Dong Hao, Alai...
Many writers that Gu Lu was familiar with, such as Zhang Zhizhi, had studied his "Antelope Wood Carving" when he was a child. Of course, for children, the more familiar one should be Perak Beibei.
At the moment, he still bought economy class, which did not affect his rest at all.
Gu Lu is imagining the West Lake.
I never thought that he was also someone else's fantasy.
"Old Dong, you never participate in these activities. If you don't have a job, you will take care of your family. I didn't expect you to come today." Zhang Zhizhi asked his friend curiously.
As a gold medal host, Dong Hao is also a painter and writer, but he is covered by his hosting career and is not that famous.
“I came with a heavy task today.” Dong Hao said.
“What task?”
"Ask the writer Gu Lu for an autograph," Dong Hao said.
“I am also curious about this talented writer.” Zhang Zhizhi also said after hearing this.
No way, the reputation is too loud. The deeds are so legendary that even writers are curious.
——
“I hope that the publishing house can create greater glory under the leadership of President Yuan.” President Jian said a dignified farewell.
"Don't worry, I will definitely make our Children's Publishing House a century publishing house with a revenue peak. I also wish President Jian to make further progress in the new place." President Yuan also retained his dignity.
Why was President Jian replaced? It's definitely not a matter of picking peaches and pushing Yuan Mingjie to the top. And why did Yuan Mingjie take over? These questions can be summed up in two words.
Revenue!
The annual book sales of Children's Publishing House have always been ranked among the top three publishing houses in the century, and have even topped the list many times. But the net profit is only in the second echelon, about a dozen.
The core reason is that the share ratio and publicity cost given by President Jian are too high. President Yuan is an expert at controlling costs.
This is the core issue.
Scheduling related to Children’s Publishing House and Magic City People’s Publishing House has been completed.
But even with the support of the parent company, Yuan Mingjie still failed to quickly grasp the children's publishing house. The intricate internal relationships cannot be achieved overnight.
"Could it be that he was causing trouble behind the scenes?" Yuan Mingjie rubbed the bridge of his nose, unable to attack Gu Lu for a long time.
Other best-selling authors from the publishing house have fully negotiated new books. We pursue the goal of increasing royalties as long as they can, but the goal of increasing costs is really not feasible.
After all, it is one of the top three children's publications in China, so the writers still have to give it some face.
It’s just that this is equivalent to using the reputation and prestige accumulated by the publishing house in exchange for money-wait, why is this operation a bit like Trump?
Sure enough, there is nothing new under the sun.
"President Jian, you'd better not do this, otherwise you will be in trouble." Yuan Mingjie did not panic at all.
(End of this chapter)