Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 553 Soft Article
They gathered for a meeting today to discuss the correspondence center, but now that they've lured Chen Fan into this trap, they're naturally ready to pack up and leave.

Soon, only He Qingsheng and Chen Fan remained in the room.

As Xu Qizhen, the last one to leave, closed the office door, He Qingsheng got up, sat down opposite Chen Fan, tossed him a cigarette, and said, "Your manuscript fee in foreign exchange has been almost fully reviewed. You should receive the remittance slip in a few days."

He leaned back on the sofa, a cigarette between his fingers, and looked at Chen Fan with a smile, "Goodness, over 380,000, nearly 390,000 yuan. Not to mention now, even back in the 1950s, only a handful of great writers ever received such high royalties. And it wasn't just a single payment; it was accumulated slowly. If people knew this, they'd be green with envy."

Chen Fan smiled, put the cigarette in his mouth, picked up the kettle to pour water, and said, "This can't be considered a single sum. It's the result of a whole year's worth of savings—no, it should be all the novels I've written before. I sold them all together to get this much money."

"And this is still a high price for a small book. Putting aside everything else, if the translation publishers were willing to pay Mr. Mao Dun and Mr. Ba Jin according to foreign standards, wouldn't they earn far more than I do?!"

Foreign translation publishers are the ones who get freebies. Including Mr. Li's books, they hardly pay royalties to any domestic books, and some don't even pay royalties. Their style is similar to that of the central bank: they take what they want and claim it as their own, while making a lot of foreign exchange abroad.

So it's just a matter of different rules; otherwise, how could Chen Fan earn so much money?

He Qingsheng nodded slightly without saying a word.

After a few seconds, he changed the subject, "However, with so much money coming in, it will definitely attract the attention of some people. Although the general direction has been determined, the winds are blowing in different directions, and there's no concrete plan on how to proceed."

But no matter what, if you're the one who sticks your neck out, you have to be prepared to be targeted. "So much money, what are you planning to do with it?"

He leaned back on the sofa, crossed his legs, looked at Chen Fan through the smoke, and laughed, "Don't think I'm after your money. I'm just reminding you that if you don't handle this money properly, you'll have a lot of headaches."

Chen Fan smiled and shook his head, flicking off his cigarette ash, and said, "You were quite wealthy back in the day. If it weren't for the reform of royalties, a mere 300,000 yuan wouldn't be a problem for you. Besides, you have a family and a house now, and you've seen a lot of ups and downs. You probably don't even care about life or death, so why would you care about this little bit of money?"

Upon hearing this, He Qingsheng couldn't help but laugh out loud, "Although it sounds like flattery, it's the truth."

Which of these chairpersons of provincial writers' associations isn't a renowned writer?

Since ancient times, scholars have been prone to mutual disdain. Without considerable talent, how can one possibly suppress other authors?
He Qingsheng was no exception. Back then, he could earn thousands of yuan for a single article. In addition, he received a considerable print run fee at the time. Over the years, he had already saved enough for his "retirement fund" before the royalty reform.

Although her current net worth is not as high as Chen Fan's income, it is not far off.

However, he was a low-key person with a distinguished family background. When his friends fell on hard times, he helped them both openly and secretly, which earned him considerable prestige in the literary circles of Jiangnan.

Therefore, as soon as Jiangnan Literature resumed publication, he was appointed as the editor-in-chief, and when the Writers Association was re-established, he was naturally elected as its first chairman.

Given his status and position, he naturally wouldn't covet that little bit of money, and his advice to Chen Fan was sincere.

Chen Fan wasn't stupid. He insisted on only taking work points in Lujiawan and didn't get his hands on any business profits because he knew the power of money to move people.

Seeing He Qingsheng's reminder, he smiled and said, "Don't worry, I've already thought about it. As soon as the money arrives, I'll transfer it to my master. Almost all the old leaders know about his plan to build a Taoist temple. With the money in his hands, no one will mess around."

Hearing this, He Qingsheng was speechless.

He had heard that Chen Fan had studied under several masters in the capital, but he didn't know anything else. All he knew was that they came from the Second Field Army.

So he changed the subject, "I have finished reading your 'Love in the Clouds and Lakes'. When I was in Beijing, I also asked Chen Huangmei, Mao Dun and Ba Jin to take a look, and they all said that it could be published."

Our publishing house has already begun proofreading and typesetting. If all goes smoothly, it will be officially published and distributed on May 1st. The *Jiangnan Literature* magazine will then publish the publication information to promote your product.

This is internal advertising.

Chen Fan laughed and said, "No matter how much we promote it, we'll only get the basic royalties. We can't possibly give more royalties for each print run."

He Qingsheng rolled his eyes. "I'm thinking about it too!"

The leaders of the association are now keeping a low profile, and even the office is "living under someone else's roof." Who would dare to bring up the matter of restoring royalties based on print runs?!
Print run fees are different from royalties. Royalties are calculated directly as a percentage, such as 10%. So, for every number of copies printed, the author will be paid a corresponding percentage.

However, the royalties for printed copies decrease in stages, and the percentage is very low.

For example, if the first batch of 10000 copies is issued, and the royalty rate is 5%, then from 10001 to 30000 copies, it will only be 3%, and after 30000 copies, it may only be 1%, and so on, decreasing in that order.

Even if royalties based on print runs were reinstated a few years later, the percentage would be pitifully low, far below the standard before the abolition of royalties based on print runs in the 50s.

In addition, domestic book prices are low, generally only three to five cents. Even if a novel sells millions of copies, the author may only receive a few thousand yuan in royalties, which is indeed quite pitiful compared to foreign countries.

Here, we must mention Lao Wang. He was the first to impose publishing tax conditions on publishers, which led to the spring of high incomes for writers.

Therefore, Chen Fan doesn't really care about the sales of his works now, because it doesn't matter to him no matter how many copies are sold.

If you really want to make money, wait until next year and talk to Chairman He about getting affiliated with him and starting your own publishing business. That's when you'll be rolling in money!

He Qingsheng looked at Chen Fan, "Although your royalties are fixed, you should still try to sell as many copies as possible, because that means..."

Chen Fan nodded and interjected, "Publishers can earn more."

He Qingsheng stared at him speechlessly. After a few seconds, he waved his hands repeatedly to shoo him away, saying, "Get out, get out, get out."

Chen Fan said, "No, you haven't given me the office at the correspondence center yet. I have classes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings, and Professor Xu gave me a huge reading list. I'm already busy with school matters, and I wanted to take care of this while I have some free time tomorrow."

He Qingsheng thought for a moment and said, "The office is in short supply right now, so you can use the external relations department's office for now. Then you can allocate the staff as you see fit. As long as no new staff are hired, they can use their original desks."

After saying that, he looked up and asked, "Do you need any new people?"

Chen Fan blinked. "So all you're giving me is a shell company?"

A shell company?

The term was easy to understand, and He Qingsheng quickly realized what it meant. His expression immediately hardened. "How can you call it a shell company? Don't you have an office or desks?"

When you need to hold a meeting, you can just use the meeting room upstairs, right? After the meeting, let them go back to their own offices and get busy. It won't make any difference at all!

Chen Fan raised his hands. "Fine, I admit defeat."

Then he looked up and said, "I'll apply for an assistant to handle communication and document exchange."

He Qingsheng chuckled and said, "That's a secretary, no problem. Anyway, your current level is high enough to have a secretary. I'll talk to them tomorrow and arrange one for you as soon as possible."

Chen Fan held up one finger. "One last question."

He Qingsheng, "Speak."

Chen Fan held out his palm. "I have nowhere to stay tonight. Can you give me a certificate so I can stay at the guesthouse?" Without saying a word, He Qingsheng walked behind his desk, opened a drawer, picked up a key, and tossed it to him. "The Writers' Association has a few reserved rooms at the Cultural Palace Guesthouse. This room is yours."

Chen Fan grabbed the keys and got up to leave.

He Qingsheng shouted from behind, "If the correspondence center doesn't make money, the key has to be returned."

Chen Fan turned around, waved the key in his hand, and laughed, "Then I guess we're not going back to this room!"

……

The next morning, Chen Fan finally walked into his office, which he had never been to before.

Office of the Director of the European and American Branch of the External Liaison Department of the Provincial Writers Association.

However, he was all alone; besides him, there wasn't even a dog in the department.

Sitting in his office, he was seriously considering whether to bring Duoduo and Qiuqiu over, so they would at least have some company.

Then two figures walked to the door, and one of them gently knocked on the door, "Director Chen."

Chen Fan looked up and saw Director Zhuang from the Writers Association office standing at the door. Behind her was a short, ordinary-looking, young girl with clear, bright eyes who was looking at him expectantly with a hint of excitement in her eyes.

After a two-second pause, Chen Fan came to his senses and, thinking of his conversation with He Qingsheng the night before, felt a sense of unease.

He stood up and said politely, "Director Zhuang, is there anything I can help you with?"

Director Zhuang stepped forward and said with a smile, "This morning, Chairman He told me that he wanted to arrange a secretary for you."

She turned around and pointed to the girl behind her, "This is a college student interning at our company. Her name is Bian Huifang. She is a third-year student majoring in literature at Jiangnan University. She is about to graduate and was assigned to our company for an internship in advance. She will stay on after she officially graduates."

"Since you're short-staffed, I've sent someone over."

Chen Fan's heart sank to the bottom.

Female secretary?
Aren't you afraid of having scandals?

He pursed his lips, then looked at the face more closely. Well, the possibility of a scandal was probably slim.

Then he smiled and nodded, "Thank you, Director Zhuang."

After Director Zhuang left, Chen Fan asked Bian Huifang to give a brief self-introduction.

As expected, she was a local from the provincial capital, both of her parents were cadres, and she had older siblings. She had worked as an educated youth in the suburbs of the provincial capital for half a year. She was recommended to university. Since the previous system was three years, although she was a junior, she was about to graduate with a bachelor's degree.

Now that I've been assigned here, there's no need to ask further; it's definitely to gain experience.

The leaders all knew that if the correspondence center did something wrong, they wouldn't be held responsible, but if it did something right, it would be easy to manipulate grades. Could such a good opportunity be won by just any ordinary clerk?

Chen Fan carefully examined her for a moment, then silently accepted his superior's instructions.

So what if we don't accept it? Are we going to make a fuss over such a small thing?
Anyway, the work will proceed as usual. If she can't even handle a small errand, then naturally he won't need to bring it up again, and this girl won't appear in front of him.

After figuring it out, he began to arrange the work. "I transferred all the information of the members of the Writers Association and the editorial information of the Jiangnan Literature and Art magazine. I need to select people."

Bian Huifang was stunned. Were they starting work already?
However, she reacted quickly, nodding and turning to run away immediately.

……

Chen Fan spent the whole day arranging things at the correspondence center.

First, there are the correspondence teachers and correspondence courses.

The courses were available at the creative center. Chen Fan checked off the materials, but the materials at the creative center were aimed at established authors and were not very suitable for newcomers. So he wrote a few more outlines and asked the creative center to compile teaching materials according to the outlines.

As for the correspondence course teachers, they were selected from writers' members and editors of the "Jiangnan Literature and Art" magazine.

Today, the entire Jiangnan Provincial Writers Association branch has 219 members, most of whom, apart from Chen Fan, are older members who joined more than a decade ago.

These people are naturally qualified to be teachers to those young literary enthusiasts.

Following He Qingsheng's suggestion, Chen Fan selected a group of people to serve as teachers for the "branch schools" in various regions.

It's actually similar to the correspondence education center of Jiangnan University in the Yunhu area. The difference is that the teachers at their correspondence education center are sent by the university itself, while the teachers at the Writers Association's correspondence education center are selected from the local area.

In this way, students from the province can be divided into different regions, including those from the provincial capital, which will be handled by the provincial capital branch. This allows the provincial correspondence center to focus on receiving students from other provinces, effectively reducing the burden on teachers.

With teachers and teaching materials in place, the next step is to solve the problem of the "classroom".

Fortunately, since it is a correspondence course, there is no need to prepare a classroom. One course lasts for one year, and one or two face-to-face courses per year are sufficient.

Even if there are many people, it can be done in batches, four times a month, bringing in 500 people each time. In a year, more than 20,000 people can be reached. And the regional branches can also be used.

The Cultural Palace and the Provincial Auditorium can be used at that time.

If that doesn't work, we can borrow large classrooms or auditoriums from key universities such as Jiangnan University and Jiangnan Normal University, so the classroom problem is easy to solve.

Finally, there's student recruitment and management.

In later generations, recruitment would definitely require advertising. For example, a few years later, the Wenzhou-based literary magazine "Literary Youth" advertised in Wenhui Daily.

However, there was no such thing as advertising at that time. The earliest commercial advertisement would not appear until more than half a year later, on January 28, 1979, when it was broadcast by Shanghai Television.

Therefore, directly advertising at this time is not feasible.

How to do it?

It's okay, we can't advertise, but we can write news articles!
So Chen Fan quickly wrote a news article, talking at length about the "Literary Creation Correspondence Training Center" opened by the Jiangnan Provincial Writers Association branch, what the significance of opening this correspondence center was, what kind of convenience it provided for literature lovers, and which well-known writers would personally teach the courses.

Then there are the registration methods, the number of applicants, and so on.

Thus, an advertorial that could both earn money and promote the product was born!
(End of this chapter)