Chapter 296: It’s Gu Lu? !
Chapter 296: It’s Gu Lu? !
"President Wang, are you busy?" Gu Lu called.
Although we exchange "group blessing text messages" during holidays, I haven't been in touch with this emerging writer for a long time.
The sudden greeting left President Wang confused.
"I'm not busy. It's Teacher Gu calling. I'm not busy even if I'm busy." President Wang responded. He stopped writing and started turning the pen cap. The pen cap was turning like a Si Nan, but it was in no direction.
"It's like this, the royalty rate that President Wang talked to me about before is still digital?" Gu Lu said, "I wrote a new book and want to submit it to President Wang's publishing house."
President Wang pressed the pen cap with his finger when he heard this, "Submit your manuscript 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 didn't chat any more and hung up the phone immediately.
Gu Lu sent the manuscript of the novel to President Wang.
Seriously speaking, although the manuscript was first sent to the Children's Publishing House, Gu Lu was not worried at all that the manuscript would be plagiarized. First, Gu Lu's current fame is no longer that of an ordinary writer who can be manipulated. Second, if the newly appointed President Yuan dares to do this, he will have no chance of staying in the publishing industry.
Which writer doesn’t feel insecure?
To show respect for Gu Lu's work, President Wang temporarily put down what he was doing and even put down his pen.
"'Flowers for Algernon'? Could it be that the work is not good enough and the Children's Publishing House does not accept it?" President Wang suddenly thought of this.
But even if it is not good, the two words "Gu Lu" alone are worth money. Vice President Wang and President Jian are not familiar with each other, but he thinks the latter should not be such a short-sighted person.
How should I put it? There are also barriers in the publishing circle. The New Youth Publishing House is located in Bingcheng, which is still a bit far away from Sijiucheng.
President Wang has not yet received the news that President Jian has been transferred.
His mind was full of thoughts, but his hands were not slow at all. President Wang received the email.
After downloading the attachment, President Wang took a look.
The story of the novel is very simple: Professor He Cheng's scientific experiment has made progress on the little white mouse Algernon.
The next step is to conduct human experiments, and the volunteer recruited for the human experiments is a kind and optimistic deer. The key is that he has a strong desire to become smarter.
After the surgery, Xiaolu's IQ jumped from 68 to 185, and he also regained emotions he had never experienced before, as well as memories that were previously unclear.
For example, I was teased by my friends.
For example, the reasons why one was abandoned by parents.
The mother could not accept the fact that her child was mentally abnormal, so she took Xiaolu to see doctors everywhere and even used some folk remedies.
There was a plot that made President Wang feel very involved.
There are two kinds of immersion. The first is the most common one, because you have experienced similar things yourself. The second is the plot, which allows people who have not experienced it to empathize with it.
The little deer recalled that when he was a child, the first compliment he received came from a liar, a liar who lied to his mother that he could make people smarter.
The liar praised the deer and did not mind the deer's incontinence - it was because of this incident that even though the deer became smarter later, it still did not blame the liar when it thought about it.
"No matter how smart you are, you can't escape the cage of childhood memories." President Wang felt as if his heart was cut.
The direction of Flowers for Algernon is different from that of other sad stories. It is revealed bit by bit in the form of a report along with the experience of the little deer.
President Wang held the pen more and more tightly. Being smart is not a good thing.
Why does Xiaolu have such a strong desire to learn? Why does he want to be a genius? Because that is his mother's wish.
The mother wanted the fawn to become smart.
Why did Gu Lu say that this book is very similar to the original?
Because the original body won the first prize for writing an essay in elementary school, his mother and father were arguing at the time, so he took the certificate back to show his parents. His parents were so happy that they stopped arguing for a while.
So the original self was like the protagonist of "Flowers for Algernon", thinking that as long as he could win more awards in the essay competition, his parents would not quarrel every day.
Of course, Gu Lu would not tell the reporter this. It was enough for the reporter to know what kind of people Gu's mother and father were. There was no need to reveal this point, so as not to make Gu's mother and father "proud".
While reading a book, an editor knocked on the door, but President Wang sent him away. The matter was not as important as the work at hand.
President Wang didn't cry at first, because as a president, he had seen too many sharp writers. But when Xiaolu found that his IQ had dropped rapidly and he couldn't 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 me. I don't blame you. You have your work to do, your PhD 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 be taking this elevator again. So let's say goodbye to each other now.]
"The despair is irresistible. Once the elevator goes down this time, it will never come up again." President Wang's eyes were red because of this despair.
Especially this time the landing will be lower than before, just look at the fate of the little white mouse Algernon.
In the last two days before the little white mouse died, it attacked its own kind frantically, and in the end it stood stupidly in its own feces and urine.
“A two- or three-year-old child, or even younger children, can solve their own three urgent problems. But for patients with intellectual disabilities, they need to practice many times.” President Wang could not imagine how much effort Xiaolu had put in.
but……
Alas! This author's heart must be made of stone.
The fact that he is such an experienced person is enough to prove that this article is quite tear-jerking.
[Finally, thanks to the support of the Major SPF Experimental Animal Center], read the postscript.
President Wang finished reading the entire book in three hours, which is considered to be a relatively fast read.
"The protagonist, who was originally weak, became even weaker after the experiment. Is this Gu Lu really the author of The Little Prince and Yesterday's Park?"
"Friends are Xiaolu's only concern in this world, but those people just want to make fun of him."
"It's so sad. Even if a person has absolute intelligence, he can't survive without matching emotional support."
President Wang has too many comments to make because there are so many things worth discussing in this book.
But even after reading the entire article, President Wang still had the question in his mind: "Is it really good to make a person smarter?"
After about a few minutes, President Wang came out of his book-loving mood.
My first reaction was, “How could a children’s publishing house miss out on signing such a good book?”
Then, President Wang thought that it didn’t matter what happened specifically, because this huge wealth had finally come to him.
He must sign the book 100%!
In other words, it is time for publishers to show their sincerity.
He immediately called the president of the New Youth Publishing House. Without asking, President Wang knew that the president was not at the publishing house.
As mentioned earlier, New Youth is a publishing organization with the prefix "Zhong" and is directly under the Communist Youth League. Therefore, the position of president has always been held by the second-in-command of the Communist Youth League, a senior official... To be honest, the president is just a figurehead, and the main affairs of the publishing house are handled by President Wang (also a Communist Youth League cadre).
It just costs a very high price, so this kind of thing needs to be reported.
While making the call, President Wang was also making two arrangements. He notified his assistant to have the publishing house management hold an emergency meeting.
Don’t be surprised why President Wang attaches so much importance to it. During the two years that Gu Lu worked with the Children’s Publishing House, he contributed “The Little Prince” and “Flatland”. These are works that can support small and medium-sized publishing houses!
Let's take a look at the New Youth Publishing House in the past two years... Forget it, it's very shabby.
"President Xiang, I just received a good book and I plan to offer an 18% royalty rate on it." After the call was connected, President Wang knew that the other party was very busy, so he got straight to the point.
"Eighteen percent, isn't this ratio too high? Even for famous writers, there is no need to give such a high ratio." Although President Xiang is just a listed company, he still has a better understanding of the publishing business.
"As a youth-oriented publishing house, our goal is to 'enlighten thoughts, spread knowledge, and serve the growth and development of young people.' We don't need ordinary bestsellers. Such a high royalty rate will have bad consequences." President Xiang generally would not refuse directly, but his words were no different from a refusal.
To be honest, what kind of books does the New Youth Publishing House publish? Popular Philosophy, History of the Southern Ming Dynasty, Willows at the White Gate, Biography of Mei Lanfang, A Brief History of Dunhuang Grottoes Art, etc. Do you understand? They are not from the same world. Therefore, I did not say anything wrong to the president, and what he conveyed was indeed the purpose of the publishing house.
Moreover, for the New Youth Publishing House, it is good enough not to make mistakes. With an 18% royalty rate, the minimum sales volume must be 500,000! If you don't do it, you won't make mistakes.
"But Gu Lu's new book Flowers for Algernon is really good. If you don't offer this royalty rate, I may not be able to sign it." President Wang wanted to try harder, "and..."
"Wait, whose new book is it?" President Xiang interrupted someone on the phone, which was rare. "Is it Gu Lu who wrote "On Young China"? "
"It's his new book. It seems he has broken up with the Children's Publishing House." President Wang nodded.
When he heard that it was Gu Lu, the president's attitude on the phone changed 360 degrees, "Gu Lu is an outstanding representative of the youth of the new era. His works are very suitable for the tone of our publishing house. As for the royalty rate - can you sign at least 17%? If not, 18% is no problem."
Then I thought that maybe something happened to the president, and finally said, "I'll wait for your good news."
It went so smoothly?
Soon President Wang came to his senses. He was blinded by one thing. In the eyes of officials, Gu Lu was not a best-selling author at all, but an outstanding representative of the new youth!
Now that you agree, the rest will be easy.
President Wang got busy.
It’s around eight o’clock in the evening, which is usually the time when publishing houses get off work.
Called Gu Lu back.
“Can the royalty rate be higher?”
"If it's 18 percent, no problem. Signing time? It's fine with me."
"Okay, okay, no problem. I will definitely cooperate with the promotion. Thank you for your help, President Wang."
After a brief exchange, the two sides reached a verbal agreement, agreed on a specific signing date, and needed to meet in person to discuss matters such as publicity and translation into Japanese.
Gu Lu hung up the phone, very happy. He currently 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 visiting West Lake, you can meet many famous artists.
By the way, are there any novels about West Lake?
"The Legend of White Snake"...exists in this world.
What else? Gu Lu scratched his head, unable to think of it. He had read too little in his previous life.
The Sha District is quite far from the airport. In order not to miss the flight, he always leaves home three hours in advance.
Zhang Zhilu, Dong Hao, Alai...
Gu Lu is familiar with many writers, such as Zhang Zhilu, whose "Antelope Woodcarving" he studied when he was a child. Of course, for children, the more familiar one should be Pili Beibei.
At the moment he still bought an economy class ticket, which did not affect his rest at all.
Gu Lu is fantasizing about West Lake.
I never thought that he was also someone else's fantasy.
"Boss, you never participate in these activities. When you are not working, you take care of your family. I didn't expect you to come today." Zhang Zhilu asked his friend curiously.
Dong Hao, a gold medal host, is also a painter and writer, but his hosting career has overshadowed his fame and he is not that famous.
"I came here with a heavy mission today," said Dong Hao.
"What mission?"
"Ask the writer Gu Lu for his autograph." Dong Hao said.
"I am also curious about this talented writer." Zhang Zhilu also said after hearing this.
There is no way, the reputation is too loud. The deeds are too legendary, even writers are curious.
-
"I hope the publishing house can achieve greater success under the leadership of President Yuan." President Jian said goodbye in a very decent manner.
"Don't worry, I will make our Children's Publishing House become a century-old publishing house, a peak of revenue. I also wish President Jian to make further progress in the new place." President Yuan also maintained his dignity.
Why was President Jian replaced? It was definitely not a matter of picking peaches or 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 sales of books of Juvenile and Children's Publishing House have always been among the top three of Century Publishing House and even topped the list many times. However, its net profit ranks only in the second tier, ranking around the top ten.
The core reason is that the share ratio and publicity costs given by President Jian are too high. However, President Yuan is an expert in controlling costs.
This is the core issue.
The relevant arrangements for the Children's Publishing House and the Shanghai People's Publishing House have been completed.
But even with the support of the parent company, Yuan Mingjie still failed to quickly master the Children's Publishing House. The complex internal relationships cannot be achieved overnight.
"Could it be that he is the one causing trouble from behind?" Yuan Mingjie rubbed his nose bridge, having been unable to conquer Gu Lu for a long time.
The publishing house has already fully negotiated with other best-selling authors about their new books. We will adhere to the policy of not raising royalties if possible, but will raise them if it is absolutely necessary.
After all, it is one of the top three children's publications in China, so writers still have to give it face.
It’s just that this is equivalent to exchanging the publisher’s accumulated reputation and prestige for money - wait, why does this operation sound a bit like Trump?
It is true that there is nothing new under the sun.
"President Jian, you'd better not do this, otherwise you will be in trouble." Yuan Mingjie was not at all panicked.
(End of this chapter)