Zhou Yan talked to Xu Feng on the phone, changed his clothes, and prepared to go to the studio.
But as soon as he stepped out the door, the phone in the living room rang again, so he turned around and picked up the phone.
"Hello?"
Yu Hua's voice came from the other end of the phone: "Are you at home?"
Zhou Yan looked at the door that had been opened, and then nodded, " Well, what’s wrong at home?”
"Going to play with you." Yu Hua said.
"You want to play with me? You are the only one."
"With Tiesheng."
Zhou Yan thought for a while and said, "Don't come to my house, go to me Over there at the studio, you wait at home and I’ll pick you up.”
“I’d rather have you pick me up. When will you arrive?”
"In a moment."
"Then I'll wait for you at home."
After hanging up the phone, Zhou Yan drove to Yu Hua's house.
Yu Hua and the others now live near the Yanjing office of Zhou's company. It's a convenient way for Zhou Yan to go to the studio. He has to take a detour to pick up Shi Tiesheng.
A few minutes later, Zhou Yan picked up Yu Hua.
Sitting on the co-pilot, Yu Hua said with a smile, "It's more comfortable to have a private car to pick you up. I'm wondering if I should also learn to get a driver's license."
"You can learn it if you want to, that stuff is Isn’t it easy to learn?”
Among the writers Zhou Yan knows, Yu Hua is relatively receptive to new things. He now uses a computer, and he uses it more frequently than Zhou Yan.
“It’s easy to learn a driver’s license, but it’s difficult to buy a car. How much does your car cost?”
“The company provided it, I don’t know the details, but it’s about more than 200,000? ”
Yu Hua gasped, "Tsk tsk, isn't this a house on the road? Is there any cheaper car?"
Hearing that Yu Hua was researching about buying a car, Zhou Yan said with a smile, " It seems that you have a lot of money recently."
"Thank you for that. I got some licensing fees for the last video. Recently, Neon asked me for "Going Away at the Age of Eighteen". And "The Mistake by the River" paid more." Yu Hua asked again, "Don't you know about this?"
Zhou Yan was surprised, "Why should I know?"< br>
“They told me that they want to make a collection of our three novels.”
"Really? They didn't contact me."
Writing matters are basically handled by Zhou Yan himself. If Neon really has a publishing house to do this, they will definitely contact him personally.
Even if the publishing house did not know the situation and contacted Tomson, then Tomson would definitely tell him about the matter as soon as possible, but so far, he has not received the news.
Yu Hua frowned, "That's strange. Logically speaking, the reason why they made this collection must be because of you. Tie Sheng and I both benefit from it. In this case, they should first Looking for you, and then looking for us, I thought you knew about this. I went to find you today because I wanted to talk about this."
"I never heard of it, when did they find you. ?”
"You called me the afternoon before yesterday and Li Xiaoling helped contact you."
Li Xiaolin is the chief judge of "Harvest" and the daughter of the famous writer Ba Jin. She has a very good relationship with Yu Hua. Now Yu Hua's The first choice of works is also given to "Harvest". It was normal for the other party to contact Yu Hua through Li Xiaolin.
"Did Tiesheng receive the news?" Zhou Yan asked again.
Yu Hua nodded, "I got it. He was later than me. He received it yesterday afternoon. Before I called you, I called him first. He said that this happened."
Zhou Yan pondered, not understanding what was going on.
Could it be possible that Yu Hua and Shi Tiesheng were deceived?
This possibility is very small, because Yu Hua said that it was Li Xiaolin who helped the other party contact him.
Moreover, if this was a scam, Zhou Yan couldn't figure out what the other party was trying to deceive.
Seeing Zhou Yan frowning, Yu Hua also became worried, "Will there be any problem?"
Zhou Yan shook his head, "I don't know, but don't rush to sign it first. If there is If it’s a contract, bring it to me and I’ll ask our company’s legal affairs officer to take a look at it.”
"Then if they don't come to you, there is no need for us to sign a contract."
"That's not the case. If there is a Neon publishing house that really wants to help you publish your novel, I won't be able to do it with or without me. Same."
"Okay, I understand."
The two stopped talking about this matter. Zhou Yan took a detour to pick up Shi Tiesheng, and then the three of them went to the studio together. .
Arrived downstairs, Yu Hua looked at the building and said to Zhou Yan, "Rock, paper, scissors."
Zhou Yan wondered, "What for?"
"Whoever wins will carry Tiesheng."
Zhou Yan understood immediately, and he said with a smile, "No need to carry it, I There is an elevator here."
"Is there an elevator?" Yu Hua looked surprised. This building didn't look like there was an elevator.
"Take you to see it."
Zhou Yan pushed Shi Tiesheng forward to the first floor, and then walked to the west side of the building.
“There really is an elevator.” Yu Hua looked up and down and asked curiously, “Why is there an elevator here?”
“Originally there was no elevator, but it was added later.”< br>
“Can the elevator be installed at the back? I’ve never seen it before, it’s high-tech.”
“What kind of high-tech, the elevator is not complicated, let’s go.”
This elevator is rarely used because the building has only three floors and the elevator is on the west side. People who go to the second floor will basically not go to the west side to take the elevator.
Even if you go to the third floor, you rarely go around to the west side.
In most cases, this elevator is used to transport goods.
When I took the elevator before, I took into consideration the need to transport things, so the elevator was made very big. In the past, instruments used to go upstairs through the elevator.
After going upstairs, Zhou Yan took them around the recording studio and practice room.
Now the studio has hired a lot of people, including a front desk girl. However, there is basically nothing to do at the front desk now, so Xiao Li at the front desk also works part-time as a life assistant for Zhou Yan and the studio general manager.
After visiting the studio, Zhou Yan asked Xiao Li to make three cups of tea, and then took Yu Hua and the others to the office.
Entering the office, Yu Hua sighed, "The recording studio and practice room are so luxurious, I didn't expect your office to be so simple."
Zhou Yan took out two packets from the drawer Hongtashan threw it to them, "I don't come here often. It's a waste if the decoration is too good. It's time to spend money and save money."
Yu Hua was not polite and directly opened a pack of Hongtashan and gave it to Shi Tiesheng I lit one, and I lit one too.
Shi Tiesheng took a puff of cigarette and said with a smile, "Zhou Yan has always been like this. He has always been very low-key. It's not like you don't know it for such a long time. When we first met, I really thought he was just an ordinary college student. "
Yu Hua shook his head and expressed his disapproval, "He said it would save money, do you really believe it? Although there are not many things in this office, look at this sofa, this coffee table, and his office The tables and chairs are not cheap at first glance."
As he said this, he touched the sofa and said, "This is a good sofa that is very comfortable to sit on."
Zhou Yan joked, "Comrade Yu Hua. , why have you become material now?"
Shi Tiesheng also laughed, "This guy was already material, you just discovered it."
Regarding Shi Tiesheng's comments, Yu Hua readily accepted, "Yes, this is my true face. Before I went to pick you up, I was still telling Zhou Yan if there were any cheap cars. Buy one. If you want to buy a car, you can go there later. Come here, Zhou Yan doesn’t need to make a special trip to pick you up. I’ll bring you here in my car.”
“If you want to buy a car, don’t use me as an excuse.”
"If you want to buy a car, it should be soon. Didn't Director Zhang and the others go to Cannes? When the movie "Alive" wins the award, the sales of the novel will definitely increase greatly. By then the novel will be published in Europe, and the royalties will be enough for you to buy a car."
“I do hope to win the award, but it’s not that easy to win. I don’t expect this novel to make me much money.”
Hearing this, Zhou Yan I couldn't help but smile.
The popularity of the novel "Alive" has been rising since the movie won the award at Cannes. It not only sold well in China, but also sold very well in France. Later, Yu Hua himself said that he lived by "living".
Although this is an exaggeration, it does illustrate how popular the novel "Alive" is.
Throughout the history of modern Chinese literature, no pure literary work has ever been able to achieve the results of "Alive". The key is that this novel is selling better and better. After thirty years of sales, the sales volume every year has been unparalleled. Numbers that most productions can never match.
The three of them chatted for about half an hour. The Piano Youth Band came over to rehearse, and Zhou Yan took Yu Hua and the others to listen to the music for a while.
After listening for a while, Zhou Yan's pager received Hua Yang's message, so he told Yu Hua and the others, and returned to the office to call Hua Yang back.
After the call was connected, Zhou Yan asked, "What's the matter, Mr. Hua."
"Good news, Neon's Shueisha contacted us and wanted to publish a novel for you. You If you're interested, I'll give them your phone number."
Zhou Yan raised his eyebrows. It turned out to be Shuyingsha, and they should be the ones looking for Yu Hua and Shi Tiesheng.
"Well, no problem, just give them my contact information. If they can contact me this afternoon, give them the phone number of my studio office."
"You are in the studio now."
"Well, I called you from the office."
"Okay, no problem, I told them to contact you directly "
After hanging up the phone, Zhou Yan returned to the practice room. About half an hour later, Xiao Li came over and told Zhou Yan that a call came in. He nodded and went to the office to answer the phone.
“Hello.”
The other party heard Zhou Yan's voice and said with a smile, "Hello, Mr. Zhou Yan, I am Chen Hongheng, the client of Neon Shueisha. Shueisha has entrusted me to contact you, hoping to publish "Tree Hole" under your name for you. , "The Death of the Mayor" and "The Knife in Clear Water""
Zhou Yan asked directly, "Have you already contacted Yu Hua and Shi Tiesheng?"
"Yes, Mr. Zhou Yan, I have indeed contacted Mr. Yu Hua and Mr. Shi Tiesheng, and have reached a preliminary cooperation intention with them. Shueisha's idea is to make a collection of novels specifically for the three of you. Mr. Yu Hua's album includes "Going Away at the Age of Eighteen" and "Mistakes by the River", while Mr. Shi Tiesheng's album includes "Life is Like a String" and "My Distant Qingping Bay"
Zhou Yan asked directly, "How many years will the contract be signed, how much will be the royalties, and how much will be the first printing?"
Chen Hongheng quickly replied, "If the contract is signed for ten years, the royalties will be 10%, of which 5% will be for you and 100% for Mr. Yu Hua Three-thirds, 2% by Mr. Shi Tiesheng, and the first printing was 30,000 copies.”
"Ten years is too long, ten percent is too little, and the first printing of 30,000 copies is too little."
Chen Hongheng explained, "In the Neon market, the royalties are basically 10% , the first printing is 30,000 copies... If you think it is less, you can mention 40,000 copies."
Zhou Yan knows that the normal royalties are 10%, and the better ones can reach 10%. One or twelve.
But the reason why Shueisha wanted to make this collection was mainly because of the gimmick. The previous video of them in Jiangjun Tuo sold well, and Zhou Yan is famous, so this book Sales will naturally not be too bad.
Shueisha is originally a comprehensive publishing house, and they will not do business that does not make money.
Now it was Shueisha who took the initiative to find them. In this case, Zhou Yan was not satisfied with this condition.
He thought for a while and then made a price directly, "Sign for five years, first print 80,000 copies, royalties are based on ten points, and for every additional 100,000 copies sold, one point will be raised, up to 10% 6. If Shueisha agrees to this condition, then there is no problem. If it doesn’t agree, then forget it.”
Chen Hongheng was silent, because he couldn’t make the decision on the condition Zhou Yan said.
After pondering for a moment, Chen Hongheng said, "Then I'll contact Shueisha first to see if they are willing to agree to this condition."
"Okay, you can ask me. The conditions are not very high.”
"Well, I will reply as soon as possible."
"It doesn't matter whether it's fast or not. If they don't want to, Mr. Chen, you can persuade them. Tell them that Yu Hua and Shi Tiesheng are in China fame, and let me tell you something. The movie "To Live" adapted from Yu Hua's novel of the same name is currently participating in the Cannes International Film Festival, and it is very likely to win the award. By then, But it may not be this condition.”
“Okay, I understand, I will try my best to persuade them.”
After Chen Hongheng said this, he suddenly felt a little strange. It was obviously entrusted by Shueisha, and the money he received was Shueisha's money. Why does it feel like he was helping Zhou Yan negotiate with Shueisha?
Hey, it doesn’t matter who I help, the main thing is to promote their cooperation.
After Chen Hongheng hung up Zhou Yan's phone, he quickly contacted Shueisha.
When I first heard about this condition, Shueisha disagreed. They thought it was a bit high. Tiered royalties are indeed feasible, but the maximum can only be 14%, and the first printing is 80,000. down to 60,000.
At this time, Chen Hongheng started to show his talents. He told Shueisha that "Alive" was participating in the film festival, and told them that "Alive" was likely to win an award this year.
Shueisha got the news and quickly went to verify it.
Confirming that the news was true, Shueisha also decisively agreed to this condition.
Of course, they are not sure whether "Alive" will win the award at the Cannes Film Festival, but they are willing to take a gamble, and the stake is not high, but they only increase the ladder royalty by two points, and the first printing is 20,000 more Just a book.
If the movie "Alive" can really achieve success at the Cannes Film Festival, this effort will be nothing at all.
When Chen Hongheng called Zhou Yan again, Zhou Yan and the others had finished listening to the music, returned to the office, and were discussing where to go for dinner in the evening.
"Let's go eat hotpot mutton tonight, I know a family..."
Halfway through Zhou Yan's words, the phone rang.
"I'll answer the phone."
Zhou Yan picked up the phone, "Hello."
Chen Hongheng's happy voice came from the other side, "Mr. Zhou Yan, originally Shueisha didn't agree with what you said. You still insisted on only giving 10% royalties and 40,000 copies for the first printing, but after my unremitting efforts, they finally changed their minds. Now they have agreed to your request, but this tiered royalty rate will follow. How do you think the increase will be divided? Will the extra be counted as your own?”
“No, no matter how much the royalties are, they will be divided according to the original proportion, fifty or one hundred percent. Thirty percent, twenty percent," Zhou Yan said.
"Okay, then I will confirm with Mr. Yu Hua and Mr. Shi Tiesheng. If they have no problems, I will draw up the contract and we will sign it at some time."
< br>
"You don't need to bother, they are all here with me."
As he spoke, Zhou Yan turned on the speakerphone, and then waved to Yu Hua and Shi Tiesheng.
Yu Hua pushed Shi Tiesheng to the phone.
“Who is it?” Yu Hua asked.
Chen Hongheng said on the other end of the phone, "Mr. Yu Hua, Mr. Shi Tiesheng, I am Chen Hongheng. I have contacted you before."
"Oh, Mr. Chen."
"Just call me Xiao Chen, it's like this..."
Then Chen Hongheng told Yu Hua and the others the terms they had negotiated with Zhou Yan , Yu Hua and the others certainly have no objection to this condition.
Although Zhou Yan accounts for the majority of the royalties, it is normal. Let’s not say that Shueisha is mainly for Zhou Yan’s fame. In this collection, Zhou Yan’s novels also account for the highest proportion. This share ratio is also Basically consistent with the word count ratio.
After confirming that there were no problems, we made an appointment to sign the contract in a few days. When he was about to hang up the phone, Zhou Yan asked again, "What is the name of our collection? Has it been decided yet?"
< br>
"Shueisha has decided on the "Collection of Excellent Chinese Novels". If you have other ideas, you can put them forward." Chen Hongheng said.
Zhou Yan looked at Yu Hua and the others and said, "Let's discuss it and give you an answer later."
"Okay, I'll wait for your news."
Wait until After hanging up the phone, Yu Hua curled his lips and said with a smile, "Are we now a group like Xiao Wang and others?"
Shi Tiesheng rolled his wheelchair and walked to the coffee table, "I only heard that the band I’ve never heard of a writer having a group.”
"It can't be said that there is none. In the past, the Eight Great Masters of the Tang and Song Dynasties and the Four Great Masters of the Early Tang Dynasty were all combinations, weren't they?"
"Those were all names given by later generations."
"It's true. How can it be a serious combination?" Yu Hua said.
Actually, Zhou Yan had heard of such a thing as a writer's group. Later, Rao Xueman, who wrote about youth pain literature, formed a writer's group with two other female writers.
At that time, this group was quite a gimmick, claiming to be the first writers group, and Zhou Yan also paid attention to it.
Later, the group quickly disbanded, but there was a lot of excitement when they were together. When they disbanded, Zhou Yan didn't hear much news. Maybe many people don't know that Rao Xueman also formed a group with others.
Writers who create groups are just fooling around, mostly just for gimmicks.
Yu Hua only mentioned the group because he found it interesting. (End of this chapter)