Chapter 70 Tomb Robbery Novel, I can’t sleep at night! (Seeking for further reading)
The royalty rate for books is generally between 5% and 10%. The more famous the author, the higher the royalty rate will definitely be.
The royalty rate for best-selling authors or well-known writers can reach 10% to 15%. Popular and best-selling writers like Han Han can get up to 20%.
If you publish at your own expense, the royalties are generally 50% to 70%. The 50% price offered by Editor Wang to Zhang Wei was considered the lowest price for self-publishing.
Of course, if you don’t need the sales channel of a publishing house and go to bookstores to sell it yourself, then there is no such thing as 50% to 70%, and all the money you make is yours.
Commercial publishing houses, of course, prioritize making money. They cannot make money from readers, nor can they make money from authors.
In Editor Wang's opinion, Zhang Wei is just a rich second generation who has nothing to do. He wrote a book in his spare time and wanted to become a writer. This kind of fat sheep is not a scam. Who is he cheating on?
Zhang Wei also knew that Editor Wang was trying to trick people, but he felt that 10,000 copies could be sold for 200,000 yuan at most, an increase of 10%, which was a difference of 20,000 yuan. For Zhang Wei now, 20,000 yuan is not a big sum of money and he can afford it.
For a mere 20,000 yuan in exchange for publicity and channels in the 21st century, Zhang Wei does not feel that he is at a disadvantage.
If the sales volume of "Dead Ghost Blows Out the Lamp: The Ancient City" reaches full sales, the contract will not be negotiated at this price. This is a long-term plan to catch the big fish!
Both sides felt that they were plotting against the other, so the deal was naturally concluded.
Zhang Wei kept the first draft of "The Dead Ghost Blows Out the Lamp: The Ancient City", initialed a preliminary agreement, then directly paid a deposit of 20,000 yuan, and went back to the hotel to wait for the publishing house to go through the process.
......
In the 21st century, editors at large publishing houses like this are also very busy. It was not until the end of get off work that Editor Wang remembered that the rich second generation had handed over the I haven’t read the manuscript yet!
Editor Wang immediately picked up the manuscript and thought to himself, as long as the content does not involve sensitive issues and there is no pornographic violence, even if it is written as shit, it will be approved.
Publishing houses are under pressure to make profits. The more self-publishing scammers there are, the better.
""The Dead Ghost Blows Out the Lamp: The Ancient City", does the title mean a ghost story? The ancient city of "The Ancient City" seems to be quite large in scale."
Editor Wang subconsciously looked out the window. It's not dark yet, so reading a ghost story in broad daylight shouldn't scare you.
At that time, Ah Piao was still allowed to appear in non-film and television publications, and the approval standards were relatively loose.
There is even a program on the radio called "Chang Chen Tells Ghost Stories", which openly scares you and has become popular all over the country.
At night, the radio was turned on in the dormitory and ghost stories began to play. Everyone huddled under the covers and screamed loudly in excitement. They had nightmares again at night. This sour feeling is a memory that many people cannot erase!
According to current standards, this type of program must promote feudal superstition and should not be broadcast. But there was no problem at that time, and it could be published officially.
So when Editor Wang saw the words "Dead Ghost Blows Out the Lamp", he thought this novel was a ghost story.
Opening the first page of the text, the introduction is about the grandfather Hu Guohua, and the time is also set in the Republic of China.
“It seems to be a ghost story from the Republic of China. Many of the popular zombie movies in Hong Kong in the past few years were from the Republic of China. There may be a market for telling a ghost story from the Republic of China! Can you think of this? At one point, it seems that this rich second generation is not without merit.”
At this time, Editor Wang felt that with such a setting, at least the book would not be a piece of shit.
The previous section was all about introducing things about my grandfather. There were no fancy words or sentences, it was just a simple introduction to the background. It seemed ordinary. It wasn’t until the mouse appeared that Editor Wang became more interested.
After a few pages, the scene changed and the protagonist narrated from the first person of "I".
“There is a lot of foreshadowing in front of Daqing, and ‘I’ am the real protagonist! This rich second generation also plays the same trick as "The Legend of Heaven and Sword of the Dragon" with the readers! It seems that he has read some books." Wang The editor thought to himself.
In "The Legend of Heaven and Dragon Sword", Zhang Wuji did not appear until the tenth episode. The previous generation was full of love and hatred. Editor Wang continued reading and saw the fire ladybug and the nine-story demon tower, and was gradually drawn into the novel.
The frightening plot expected from Ah Piao did not come. Instead, it was the kind of compact and exciting plot that made Editor Wang deeply involved and unable to extricate himself.
Especially after entering the ancient tomb, the tense atmosphere of exploring the unknown world and solving various problems made Editor Wang unable to help but continue to turn to the next page.
For humans, the unknown is always the most deadly temptation! Exploration is always human instinct!
This is the charm of tomb robbing novels. You never know what the protagonist will encounter or discover after taking the next step. The sense of curiosity and expectation will make you continue reading. If some historical and cultural background is added, it will be easier for readers to get involved.
Finally, Editor Wang saw the last page. The ghost story in his imagination never appeared. Instead, there was a feeling that he had just experienced an adventure, and that he was in a surging mood and could not calm down for a long time.
“At first I thought it was a ghost story, but it turned out to be an adventure novel similar to the American movie "The Mummy"! The theme of tomb robbing has appeared in many Hollywood movies, and there have been similar film and television dramas in Hong Kong , but this is the first time I have seen it in domestic literary works.”
If nothing else, this subject alone is worthy of being published.
Although the writing style does not seem very mature, the compact story rhythm smoothes this out, and the constantly emerging new scenes can make readers deeply involved.
"This book is really well written! It's more than enough to meet the standards for publication!" Editor Wang sighed and stretched. Only then did he realize that it was pitch black outside the window. .
Editor Wang looked at the time and was shocked.
“It’s already nine o’clock in the evening, and I actually read it for more than four hours straight!”
As an editor of a large publishing house, Editor Wang must have read countless books, including many by well-known authors. There are not many works like this that can make him sit here for four hours without moving and read them in one sitting.
And even after reading it, I still have the feeling that it is not yet finished, and I am very much looking forward to the content of the next part.
This can only mean one thing, the quality of this work is really good.
Suddenly, Editor Wang felt a little regretful.
“Oops, this work was self-published by the author. If I had known it was of this quality, I would never have signed a self-publishing contract with him! It’s a loss!”
In business, you make less money It’s just a loss, nothing wrong with it!
......
That night, Editor Wang was always in a sleepless state, repeating the plot of "The Dead Man Blows Out the Lamp" in his mind.
Early the next morning, Editor Wang came to the editor-in-chief's office and reported the situation to the editor-in-chief.
“An adventure novel about tomb robbing? The subject matter is quite novel. Since you think it’s pretty good, just keep the manuscript and I’ll take a look at it later.” The editor calmly said said.
"Leader, this author has signed a self-publishing agreement with us. I think the quality of this work can be published by us. Can you take a look first? If it can be published, I will go Discuss the royalty ratio with this author. "
"Look, I still have so many manuscripts to read!" The editor pointed to the pile of manuscripts in front of him and continued: "And the day after tomorrow, I will. I have to go to Germany and discuss cooperation with the Youth Literature Research Institute there. How can I have so much time?
Lao Wang, you are also an old employee of our publishing house. I believe in your vision. Well, I'll give you an 8% royalty, and you can talk to the author
If the author is willing to accept this 8%, we will help him publish it. If he is not willing to accept it, let him publish it at his own expense! Anyway, if he publishes it at his own expense, we can make 30,000 yuan! ”
Thank you for your monthly tickets and rewards. At the critical moment of advancing to the next round, I hope you will support me again. Thank you for passing the test! On the last day of the month, I would like to remind you not to expire your monthly tickets. It is really impossible. Throw it to pass!
(End of this chapter)