Zhang Liye heard Xiao Yunhai's words and laughed. He didn't expect the young man in front of him to be so interesting. Most people would be a little embarrassed when talking about money. Most of them would use the art of language to beat around the bush so as not to give others the impression that they reeked of money.
But Xiao Yunhai was unusually straightforward. What could be said and what couldn't be said, he directly brought it out, full of confidence. This made him even more interested in this young man's works. Perhaps the other party's works were really not bad.
He pushed up his glasses and pointed at the manuscript in Xiao Yunhai's hands. He smiled and said, "Mr. Xiao, can I look at the manuscript first before we talk?"
Xiao Yunhai smiled and said, "Of course. I came here for this. "
Zhang Liye took the manuscript and started reading.
Zhang Liye first read the title of the novel, "The Legend of Chu Liuxiang: The Fragrance of the Sea of Blood." He felt that it was a little interesting. It seemed to be a little different from the novels on the market.
"I heard that you have a white jade beauty, sculpted by skillful hands. Extremely beautiful. I yearn for it. Tonight is the time of the night. I will walk under the moon to get it. You are simple and elegant. You will not make me go back and forth in vain. "
This was the first paragraph of Mr. Gu Long's introduction. In just two short sentences, Chu Liuxiang's elegance and confidence were perfectly displayed.
In his previous life, Xiao Yunhai fell in love with this novel because of this opening. He finished it in one breath and didn't even have time to eat.
Xiao Yunhai was like this. As a wuxia fan, Zhang Liye was naturally not any better.
He suppressed the excitement in his heart. After reading the first chapter, he couldn't help but slap his thigh and shout, "What a dreamlike entrance!"
When Xiao Yunhai saw his appearance, he smiled faintly and said in his heart: "If Master Gu Long's top-notch work still can't enter your eyes, then I might as well find a piece of tofu and kill myself."
Very quickly, half an hour passed. Seeing that Zhang Liye was still engrossed in reading the novel, Xiao Yunhai couldn't take it anymore. She stood up and walked over to him. She knocked on the table and said, "Chief Editor Zhang, shouldn't we have a talk?"
Only then did Zhang Liye come to his senses. His eyes lit up as he looked at Xiao Yunhai. He cried out, "I'm really sorry. Mr Xiao's book is really well written. If Minsheng Publishing House can publish it, we will definitely do our best to promote and publish it. Please, Mr. Xiao, give us the Legend of Chu Liuxiang no matter what. "
He had been an editor of Wuxia novels for more than 30 years and had witnessed the entire process of Wuxia novels' rise and fall. The bitterness in his heart could not be explained to others.
Due to the decline of the Wuxia market, Zhang Liye, who was in charge of the Wuxia editor, had always been at the bottom of the list in every editing room. Furthermore, the Wuxia novel, Legend of the Sun, which he had spent all his efforts on for the first half of the year, had met with failure, making things worse.
Now, there had been rumors in the publishing house that the Wuxia editing room would be removed. How could Zhang Liye, who had been engaged in Wuxia novels all his life, stand it? It was just that he had not had any good Wuxia novels. Now that he had seen the Legend of Chu Liuxiang, which was full of wonderful ideas, how could he bear to let it slip away from his eyes?
Xiao Yunhai listened to Zhang Liye's words and said with a smile, "Of course I'm here to publish it for you. I just don't know what kind of contract Chief Editor Zhang will give me."
Zhang Liye thought for a while and said, "Business is business. Although I like this book very much, I can't really measure its value. And I want to know how many books are there in total? How many words are there? Have you finished writing them now? Do you want to sell them separately or together? "
Xiao Yunhai smiled and said, "The Legend of Chu Liuxiang is a series. In addition to the Blood Sea Fragrance, there are seven books, which add up to 1.1 million words. I've finished all of them. As for how to sell them, I want to hear your opinion. After all, Chief Editor Zhang is an expert in this field. I don't know much about this. "
Zhang Liye thought for a while and said, "I hope you can sell these eight books together. Nowadays, readers' appetites have been raised by those long Xuanhuan novels on the Internet. When reading a book, many people will first see how many words there are. If there are too few, they basically won't read it. And if you sell them one by one, not only will the publicity cost rise sharply, but the price will also not go up. It's better to publish a big novel. It's directly done in one step. It's also very convenient to operate. What do you think? "
"Of course."
"As for the publishing method of this book, what do you think?"
"Of course it's according to the distribution. I have confidence in my book," Xiao Yunhai said confidently.
Just like in his previous life, publishing was divided into two forms: buyout and distribution.
Buyout was the result of negotiations between the publisher and the author. It was a one-time payment to the author. Regardless of whether the book sold well or not, it had nothing to do with the author.
With Xiao Yunhai's identity as a newcomer, no matter how classic the novel was, the remuneration would not be high.
Distribution was the commercial profits of the novel. It would be divided according to the previously negotiated ratio.
In this world, the author could generally get between 10% to 25%.
Zhang Liye showed an expression of "as expected" and said with a smile, "I guessed you would say that. But I need to remind you that Xuanhuan novels are very popular in the circle now. It has greatly reduced the survival space of Wuxia novels. If you divide the profits, there will be a certain amount of risk. Although your writing is not bad, you are still a newcomer without any fame. The distribution can only be at least 10%. "
"No, that's too little." Xiao Yunhai said firmly.
"Then how much do you want?" Zhang Liye frowned and said.
"I want to change the distribution method. If the sales of this book do not reach 100,000 copies, I don't want a single cent. If it exceeds 100,000 copies, I want 10%. If it exceeds 1,000,000 copies, I want 15%. If it exceeds 2,000,000 copies, I want 20%. If it exceeds 5,000,000 copies, I want 25%. 25% is the final distribution price. Even if it exceeds 10,000,000 copies, I only want 25%. Chief Editor Zhang, what do you think? "
Zhang Liye sucked in a breath of cold air. He was too confident. It had to be known that martial arts novels were on the decline. In the past three years, the best-selling martial arts novel had only sold 630,000 copies. Although Xiao Yunhai's book was different and had created a genre similar to martial arts detective, it was still hard to say whether it would be liked by many fans.
"Do you really want this distribution method? If it's less than 100,000 copies, I don't want a single cent. Mr. Xiao, don't joke about this. "
Xiao Yunhai smiled and said, "Thank you for reminding me. I never joke. But I want to ask, can you make the decision? "
Zhang Liye was stunned and said, "Of course I can make the decision. I'm not afraid of Mr. Xiao laughing at me. Our Wuxia editorial department originally wanted to withdraw. Although I stopped it by force because of my seniority, the publishing company also has a condition. That is, I only have one last chance left. My next martial arts novel has to sell at least 500,000 copies. If it doesn't reach this standard, I'm afraid your Legend of Chu Liuxiang will be the last one I take over. "
Xiao Yunhai looked at Zhang Liye's bitter face and laughed. He said, "Chief Editor Zhang, don't worry. With my novel, the Wuxia editorial department won't withdraw. Since you can make the decision, let's sign the contract. "
"Okay, wait a moment. I'll ask someone to make the contract. Anyway, it's the last chance. I'll try my best to get a good result for this book. By the way, will you use your real name or a pen name? "
Xiao Yunhai thought for a moment and said, "Let's call it Tianwai Ke."
Soon, the contract was drafted. Xiao Yunhai checked it carefully. There was no problem, so he and Zhang Liye signed it separately.
After signing the contract, Zhang Liye's Minsheng publishing company had the exclusive right to publish Legend of Chu Liuxiang. Xiao Yunhai would publish it under the pen name of Tianwai Ke. He couldn't authorize other publishers.
The two sides agreed to officially go on sale at the beginning of August. During this time, the publishing company needed to do comprehensive publicity in various provinces and cities while printing.
In the end, Xiao Yunhai left Minsheng publishing company with the contract satisfied.
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