Chapter 294 Only the last chapter left

Chapter 294 Only the last chapter left

Chapter 294 Only the last chapter left
There were two people beside Mr. Lu, one old and one young. The young one was a young secretary, and the old one (in his fifties) was Yuan Mingjie, who had a low profile and seemed to be hidden in the back of the boss.

"Hello everyone, President Jian, thank you for your hard work. I also don't have the ability, otherwise I would have liked to apply to the Shanghai People's Publishing House myself." Yuan Mingjie, oh no, now I should call him President Yuan.

The management of the Children's Publishing House was stunned. These words were so sinister and sarcastic. Everyone knew that the new president was not to be trifled with.

There are still some people who haven't come back to their senses yet——

Vice President Jin's eyes almost popped out of his head. How come it was different from what we agreed on? He looked at President Jian in surprise.

No wonder he is still the vice president after so many years. President Jian was speechless. He was playing tricks behind the scenes and ended up getting a parachuted president from the head office. The conspiracy was so bad that he should just hang himself.

"I hope that everyone in our publishing house can help Yuan Mingjie, who has come from the head office, to adapt to the work more quickly." President Lu said with a smile, but he did not allow any objection.

After that, President Lu called President Jian away, saying that he had something to discuss in private.

The conference room is still the same conference room, the proposal is still the same proposal, only the dynasty has changed.

"I will be your colleagues from now on. I'm new here and I don't know anything." Yuan Mingjie said calmly, "Is there any colleague who can continue to host the rest of the meeting?"

You look at me, I look at you.

You can’t just listen to whatever the workplace says, and the new president’s words basically tell the top management to take sides.

It's quite aggressive.

People's eyes finally fell on Vice President Jin's face, which was uncertain.

"President Yuan, let me tell you." Vice President Jin suppressed his temper and spoke.

"Thank you for your help, President Jin." Yuan Mingjie thanked him.

"Today's meeting has two main agendas. The first is the royalties and publicity plan for Gu Lu's new book, and the second is the direction of expansion for our publishing house. There are currently two candidates."

After listening to Vice President Jin’s brief summary, Yuan Mingjie nodded thoughtfully.

He said, "Regarding the expansion direction of the publishing house, I have also made a plan. I will bring it out and discuss it with everyone later. Let's solve problem one first. What is Gu Lu's current royalty rate?"

"Sixteen percent," someone responded.

"That's already beyond the level of ordinary authors." Six to fifteen percent is the general level in the publishing industry, Yuan Mingjie said, "This talented writer is worth this royalty rate, after all, the sales of the previous few books are good.

"We still need to discuss whether we need to increase the amount?" Yuan Mingjie said, "I've seen that the author with the highest royalty rate in our publishing house is Professor Yang Hongying, who mentioned above, at 17%."

Girl's Diary, Boy's Diary, Ma Xiaotiao series and Laughing Cat Diary, teacher Yang Hongying's books are really popular.

What the new president meant was, does he want Gu Lu to receive the same royalties as senior writers?

A question, no one answered.

After a few seconds, someone answered, "President Jian wants to increase it to 18%."

"Eighteen percent?" Yuan Mingjie's head was full of question marks. Even considering the influence of "Young China", this royalty rate was still not appropriate.

Yuan Mingjie had already given a no in his mind. Last year, there were three other writers whose sales at the Children's Publishing House exceeded 500,000. They all had achievements, so if he gave Gu Lu such a big raise, would he also give other writers of the same level a raise?
It’s just playing the piano randomly!

Giving a writer who is only a few months away from turning 17 a top-notch rate in the literary world is against industry rules. It’s not a question of quality, but the reason why Juvenile Publishing House cannot become the target of public criticism.

Yuan Mingjie is not someone who breaks the rules. "I will talk to this talented writer over the phone about the specific situation."

Ending with this sentence, we started discussing the second thing. As a result, the Children's Publishing House expanded in the direction of art, publishing books such as "How to Improve Photographic Composition" and "The History of Art".

It corresponds to the directions proposed by Vice President Jin and President Jian respectively, but other options were finally chosen.

It seems that Vice President Jin is no match for the new president...

No one can tell which will come first, tomorrow or an accident.

Let’s talk about Neon, who is living a pretty good life.

"Mr. Sato, can I ask you a question?" Kinoshita Hisayoshi asked humbly.

Neon's greeting skills are well mastered, and the professional craftsmanship is leading the world. But as the editor-in-chief of the magazine, Kinoshita's attitude is too humble.

"Please speak." Sato put on a defensive mentality.

"Mr. Gu, why are there no new science fiction short stories recently? After the release of this issue's works, our translators have no works to translate next time." Kinoshita Kura asked a question that he did not expect.

"Huh? Are you still translating and publishing Gu Sang's short stories?" Sato was shocked. Their "Christmas Magazine" had run out of food long ago.

Oh, yes, Sato came back to his senses, "SF Magazine" is a bimonthly publication. It is normal that there are still manuscripts for "Supporting God", which caused a sensation in Japan half a year ago.

Sato figured it out and immediately asked, "Is your magazine short of manuscripts?"

It doesn’t matter if Gu Lu’s manuscript is not in their Christmas magazine.

"We have translated more than ten science fiction short stories by Gu Sang," said Kinoshita Kurayoshi. "The quality is very good, two or three stories in each issue, and after several months of serialization, we have cultivated a group of very loyal fans."

It is true that "SF Magazine" is Japan's number one science fiction magazine and there is no shortage of good works, but it still lacks short stories of the quality of Gu Lu's.

Really? Sato was a little unconvinced. Who in Japan mentioned Gu Lu and didn't say he was a famous children's novel writer?
Seeing that the other party didn't believe him, Kinoshita said sorry, took out his mobile phone from his pocket and pulled out the antenna on the phone.

The appearance of Japanese mobile phones is quite advanced. For example, the one in Kinoshita's hand can watch TV channels online and can also play back.

"This is the Osaka morning news, 'The Association for the Defence of Science Fiction and the Advancement of the Future' is Established. The news reported that Gu Sang's science fiction readers established this association."

Playing the content to Sato, Kinoshita continued, "After get off work and on holidays, they will promote Gu-san's science fiction works on the streets."

It is too easy to set up a non-profit organization in Japan, and there is not even a minimum funding requirement. This has led to a variety of things. It is understandable that the Twin Ponytail Association manages and promotes twin ponytails, but it is really difficult to set up a sleeping station club.

"Teacher Gu Lu is the future of science fiction. He has written more than just fairy tales. Please pay more attention to Gu Lu's science fiction works!" The president of the association spoke excitedly in front of the camera of the reporter.

According to the news reports, dozens of people took to the streets to spread the word. This really shows that Gu Lu is really good at writing science fiction short stories.

In SF Magazine, Gu Lu's serials have become a small signature after a few months, so it's normal for the editor-in-chief to be anxious to commission articles.

Seeing Kinoshita's sincere request and remembering his previous rejection of an invitation to contribute, Sato felt that Kinoshita's prospects were not optimistic.

After hesitating for a while, Sato decided to stop talking and let the other party hit the wall on his own. Writers with personality are very self-centered when writing!

"Do you need me to give you Gu Sang's contact information?" Sato said, "To be precise, it's Gu Sang's agent's contact information."

It was normal for a great writer to have an agent, and Kinoshita hurriedly thanked him.

"Mr. Kinoshita, are Mr. Gu Lu's science fiction novels really that exciting?" Sato was a little curious.

At this point, Kinoshita Kurara was excited. "Gu Lusang's science fiction is rare, it has both human romance and social thinking. It's wonderful, every piece is very shocking, just like the shock I got from reading "Supporting God"."

"It's just that other science fiction short stories don't touch the nerves of society like the topic of elderly care." It's true that Kinoshita Kurara is the editor-in-chief of SF, but he is even more of a fan of Gu Lu's books.

"Especially right now, the last work translated by our magazine, 'The Mountain', made my blood boil after reading it!" Kinoshita Kurara said, "I even changed the company's water buckets myself, but after reading it, I immediately changed the buckets of the four water dispensers on the two floors!"

Brother, is it really as exaggerated as you say? Sato thought, "So Editor Kinoshita was hospitalized for a sprained waist because of the water change?"

What you said is very rude! Kinoshita Kurara was speechless for a moment and didn't know how to respond.

Sato realized that he had said the wrong thing and immediately bowed and apologized three times.

"Anyway, I really like this one." Kinoshita Kurara had one more thing to say. Because he liked it so much, he kept it until the end to publish it. It is one of the most romantic science fiction short stories he has ever read!

"The Mountain"? What a strange name, it doesn't look like science fiction. I'm a little curious.

Since he couldn't ask for the manuscript directly, Sato could only suppress his curiosity and wait for the magazine to be released before buying it and enjoying it.

The next day, Gu Lu received the news that President Jian had been transferred, and Neon's "SF Magazine" was also released today.

Why are the two things mixed up? Because Gu Lugang was on the phone with Yao Xiaoju, a foreign copyright agent. The latter called because SF editor-in-chief Kinoshita invited him to contribute.

"I haven't written any science fiction short stories yet. But the short stories I have now can be compiled into a single volume. In addition, my new book, Flowers for Algernon, has also been published, and the two books can be sold together then." Gu Lu had a very beautiful thought.

There is also a basis for this. The book Algernon on Earth is quite popular in Japan because it was adapted into a Japanese TV series. It was played by Yamashita Tomohisa, and Gu Lu has watched a few episodes.

In this case, wouldn't it be great if the Japanese version and the science fiction short story collection were published together to boost each other's sales?

Yao Xiaoju also readily agreed. This was the first new book to be published overseas since the contract was signed. Whether he made the right bet would soon be revealed.

The plan was perfect, but the changes were sudden. Gu Lu received a call from President Jian in the afternoon and was told the whole story.

President Jian was still worried about Gu Lu's difficulty. "My transfer is also a promotion. As long as you can run the Magic City People's Publishing House well, the scale is much larger than the Children's Publishing House. So you don't need to worry about me at all. You have a good cooperation with the Children's Publishing House, so cooperate well."

In order to prevent Gu Lu from getting into a dilemma, President Jian directly asked Gu Lu to stay.

President Jian left, and took Gu Lu with him, which was suspected of poaching. President Jian was indeed a man of appearances, and he didn't want this. He also didn't want Xiao Gu to move around and delay the work.

After asking many times and Uncle Jian accurately rejecting him, Gu Lu finally gave up his plan to change jobs.

Gu Lu is not stupid. If the business is good, it will be fine. But what if the business is not good? Without a doubt, he will be demoted.

It's really strange. Why should a "contributor" who works hard and runs the Children's Publishing House in an orderly manner accept such a test? Is it that one should be treated like this for having ability?
Regarding the royalty rate, Jianshe also apologized, and the promised surprise was not delivered. He guessed that the new official would not have the courage to break the convention, so the 18-point rate was estimated to be 17%.

How can we blame President Jian for this?

After hanging up the phone, Gu Lu rubbed his head. The adult world is so scary.

The change in the publishing house disrupted Gu Lu's plan. Since he was familiar with Uncle Jian, he could discuss the publishing of the Japanese version in advance. He mainly wanted the publishing house to cooperate with the publicity.

"I hope the new president is someone who is easier to get along with." Gu Lu muttered to himself.

What are you afraid of?

In the afternoon, Gu Lu received a call from the new president, President Yuan.

It turns out that President Yuan is even more conservative than Uncle Jian imagined.

"Hello, Xiao Gu. I'm the new president of the Juvenile and Children's Publishing House. It's such a pleasure to cooperate with the publishing house. You can just call me Uncle Yuan."

The opening remarks seemed very intimate.

Then, "I have read the new work Flowers for Algernon, it is a very wonderful work. Our publishing house will devote all resources to its promotion. The cooperation will be the same as before."

"Sometimes I really sigh that there are talented people in every generation. When my uncle was your age, he couldn't even write an essay clearly, let alone earn royalties from writing books."

After a lot of words of flattery, Gu Lu only heard the five words "same as before".

Therefore, Gu Lu was not embarrassed and asked directly, "In terms of royalties, can our publishing house give you a higher price?"

"Sixteen percent is already the top level in the country, Xiao Gu," President Yuan said on the phone. "If it goes up any further, our publishing house will lose money. Besides, in the book publishing market, no young writer can get such high royalties."

“But there is no young writer whose sales volume is higher than mine,” Gu Lu responded.

President Yuan then gave a long speech, using both reason and emotion to explain the situation.

Gu Lu let it all go in one ear and out the other. The core of the story is this: "It's impossible to raise the price. Give me some face, and take Flowers for Algernon at this price."

If it was Uncle Jian who said this, Gu Lu would agree without hesitation. As mentioned before, this is his personality, helping and pitfalls can offset each other.

It's like borrowing a thousand or two and not paying it back. If the relationship or help is worth that much, Gu Lu won't say anything. But the relationship will not be as good as before...

"I'd like to consider it. The New Youth Publishing House will offer me a higher price." How can I give face to someone I just met in front of Gu Lu?
After saying that, Gu Lu hung up the phone without caring about the other party's reaction.

"The Little Prince has sold over a million copies, Flatland has sold over half a million copies in two months, and even the worst Hyouka is a bestseller. Add to that the quality of Flowers for Algernon, and it's still 16%. It's a bit too ugly."

Gu Lu's mention of New Youth Publishing House was no joke. President Wang had been eyeing Gu Lu's piece of fat meat ever since they co-published Yesterday's Park, and often flirted with him.

17% is the price offered by New Youth Publishing House, and it seems that it can still be negotiated.

Since President Wang is also the leader of the Ice City Propaganda Department, he knows a lot. First of all, the leader loves "Young China", and secondly, it has also played a very significant role in cultural diplomacy.

Based on these two points, tell me whether we should give 17%.

By the way, Gu Lu used to have a bad habit. Because his work was plagiarized, he didn't pay enough attention to it, but Yao Xiaoju woke him up and he corrected it. The work should be treated accordingly!
Domestic affairs have basically come to an end.

Let’s talk about Neon Magazine.

"Who does it five times a night? Do you really want to be a widow?" Sato had very dark circles under her eyes.

The wife looked rosy and was not angry at her husband's questioning. She helped to straighten his tie at the entrance.

"Be careful at work and come back early in the evening. I made eel rice for you, with natto as a side dish and venison sashimi as a main dish." The wife said softly.

Eel, natto, venison? Sato shuddered. What was going on? It was warm in Tokyo in July, so why did he feel cold?

Sato didn't know how he walked out of the house until he rode his bicycle to the subway station. Then he came to his senses. Oh, I've already arrived at the station.

Sato tried his best to squeeze in, but he couldn't even sit in the seat. Even if you have never been to Neon, I believe that those who have played "Goddess Record 5" should know the commuting conditions in Neon.

Fortunately, the space inside the car was crowded enough for Sato to sleep standing up. I was too tired and didn't sleep well yesterday.

More than half an hour later, Sato got off at the station. As he hurried to the company, he felt as if he had forgotten something!

"I almost forgot!" Sato thought of what he had forgotten.

It's a magazine!
Sato, who was still curious, bought a copy from a convenience store on the way to the company and also bought some props.

The cover of SF Magazine is a stick figure drawing of Mount Everest, and the recommended work for the cover is: Mt.

But I can’t look around while walking on the road, I have to go to the company first.

After being promoted to vice president, he cannot slack off at all.

At least you have to pretend before you establish your prestige in front of your employees.

"It's so early, President, have you had breakfast?" "President Sato," "Good morning, President Sato," and so on. As soon as you enter the company, you can hear all kinds of greetings.

Arriving at his office, Sato asked his secretary to make him a cup of coffee, and then ate some sour candy bought from a convenience store.

Sato finally cheered up a little after hearing the sour taste of coffee that made him cry.

There was still some time before the real work began, so Sato thought about taking a look at "SF Magazine". Yesterday, Kinoshita praised Gu Lu's science fiction short story as being amazing.

Without further ado, I turned directly to Gu Lu's page. This was also the only work in SF Magazine that had color illustrations.

The story begins on an ocean geological survey ship named "Ganghua". The protagonist Feng Fan is a crew member and is talking to the captain.

(End of this chapter)