Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 697 Businessman

In the living room, three girls were busy around the Christmas tree. On the table next to them were various boxes of different sizes, which were naturally Christmas gifts prepared by Zhou Yali.

Chen Fan nestled on the sofa, leaning against the armrest, and lazily made a phone call while holding the receiver. "Uncle He, this matter is not so simple. Cultural exchange is easy to talk about, but it's fine at other times. What time is it now? The two countries have just established diplomatic relations. It's about avoiding mistakes rather than seeking merit, right?"

It's very simple. We pick a few books and send them over. Hey, they just take the machine, print them, sell them, and then pay us royalties...

What? You want to pay me first?

Uncle He, you don't think that publishing companies in different countries are all the same, do you? You pay for small book manuscripts by the page, while we pay for manuscripts by the thousand words. Do you know how Meidi's manuscripts are paid?

How much does one word cost?

In the restaurant next door, Jiang Tiantian looked at Zhou Yali curiously and asked, "Yali, are American publishing companies very different from those in China?"

Two days ago, Chen Fan mentioned that when private publishing companies are allowed in China, he could ask Zhou Yali to bring a few people over to help. She took that to heart. Hearing Chen Fan on the phone now, she naturally couldn't help but be curious.

Zhou Yali pursed her lips, shrugged, and said, "I don't know what domestic publishing houses are like, but I do know one thing: you're probably just trying to fool people again."

Jiang Tiantian was slightly taken aback. "What do you mean?"

Jiang Lili couldn't help but giggle, "Leaving aside what other companies are like, the Zhou family's publishing company has been taken over by my cousin. So, if it's just about publishing a few books, Xiao Fan can definitely make the decision. What he's saying now is nothing but deception."

Jiang Tiantian's lips twitched slightly, and she shook her head and sighed, "I was so worried that I didn't even see through this little trick."

Zhou Yali turned to look at her, "Sweetie, have you ever managed the publication and launch of a book?"

Jiang Tiantian immediately shook her head and said with a wry smile, "There's no such opportunity. I'm still in the learning stage. According to the rules of domestic publishing houses, I have to become an editor first before I can have the opportunity to select articles, and then the article can only be published after it has been reviewed by the editor-in-chief."

As for selecting a book to publish, that's a power reserved for the editor-in-chief.

She stopped what she was doing and sighed almost imperceptibly. "As for understanding how a magazine is published, I do know that process. I've also learned about the entire process of publishing a book."

But these things can't be learned simply by observing, and I don't know when such an opportunity will arise.

Zhou Yali rolled her eyes and glanced at Chen Fan, who was still on the phone. She wanted to say something, but swallowed it back and smiled at Jiang Tiantian, "Actually, it's quite simple. I've never done publishing before, but I handled the entire publishing process for Xiao Fan's fantasy novel from start to finish, and it did very well."

So don't think of these things as too difficult; you'll definitely have the opportunity to experience them in the future.

the other side.

As soon as Chen Fan finished speaking, He Qingsheng's exclamation came through the microphone, "How much per word? One, one word? You pay for one word?"

"Hmph, that's not so good."

Chen Fan changed his lying position and deliberately sighed, "We only get 7 yuan per thousand words, while they get 50 cents per word. If you're a bestselling author, the basic royalty is one dollar per word. The price is even higher than a small book. No wonder they call it the number one capitalist country."

Capitalists are all after money. If they offer such high prices, there must be many rules, such as submitting the manuscript first and then paying, strict review, and small-batch trial printing and distribution, all of which are to control risks.

Not to mention that cultural exchanges are an achievement in the context of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. But just because we value these achievements doesn't mean they do. Those capitalists don't care about anything else but money.

Even though I'm their relative, I can't stop them from making money.

After a brief silence, He Qingsheng's voice rang out, "I know this is difficult, but you're an old man..."

Even with He Qingsheng's limited vocabulary, he couldn't help but feel somewhat troubled at this moment.

He originally wanted to say "veteran cadre," but Chen Fan didn't look old at all.
What about junior officials? There's no such thing.

Helpless, He Qingsheng could only swallow his words, coughed, and continued, "You are also one of the unit leaders, so you should pay attention to the collective performance. No matter what, you must get this matter settled."

Chen Fan grinned silently, picked up the tea on the coffee table, took a sip, waved to Jiang Lili, and pointed to the teacup, indicating that he wanted to make another hot cup.

Then he continued, "Of course we need to talk. After all, he's my uncle, and oh, and my cousin too."

He rolled his eyes at Zhou Yali, who had put down her fist, and said, "I'm busy with important matters, why are you causing trouble?"

He then changed his position and lay down, not looking at her, and said into the microphone, "This family relationship is quite reliable. After much persuasion, the company manager, who is also my cousin, finally agreed to the cooperation and decided to publish a few books to test the waters."

Upon hearing this, He Qingsheng immediately perked up, "Great, Vice Chairman Chen, your colleagues in the unit will never forget your contributions!"

Since Meidi's royalties are higher than Xiaozhu's, does that mean that collaborating with Meidi will generate more foreign exchange revenue?
He clenched his fist, nodded vigorously to Tan Yong and Xu Qizhen sitting opposite him, and then heard Chen Fan say, "But they have a few conditions."

He Qingsheng snapped out of his daze, suppressed his excitement, and asked, "What are the conditions?"

Chen Fan said, "First of all, there's the manuscript fee. Unless it's a famous writer like Mao Zedong, Ba Jin, or Lao She, you can only get paid according to the newcomer standard on Mei Di's side, which is 50 cents per word. Then the royalty rate for publishing the book is 7%."

Oh, right, one more thing. Meidi's royalties are subject to taxation. I'll ask the embassy to discuss this with him and see if they can offer any tax reduction. This is something the association will have to handle.

He Qingsheng considered for a few seconds, then nodded without hesitation, "No problem."

He paused for a moment, then chuckled awkwardly and asked, "Um, could you tell me how Meidi usually prices his books?"

Chen Fan quickly calculated, "Their prices vary depending on the type of book. Textbooks are the most expensive, followed by academic documents. Novels are generally priced between 20 and 30 words each, with each book costing between $4 and $5."

He Qingsheng did the math and said, "Hmm, it's about the same as a small notebook, just with a higher basic fee. That should be fine."

Then he asked, "Is there anything else?"

Chen Fan: "There's also the issue of quantity. In the beginning, the number won't be too many; it's best to limit it to no more than six."

He Qingsheng frowned slightly. "Why six?"

Chen Fan coughed lightly and straightened his posture.

Because here comes the crucial point!
He picked up the hot tea that Jiang Lili had just brewed, blew on it, and the sound was like a sigh.

After taking a sip of hot tea, he said, "Uncle He, do you think other organizations will be envious if we send our books to Meidi Publishing to generate foreign exchange?"

He Qingsheng's face hardened. "Why bother with them? Mediocrity is nothing if it doesn't attract envy. If they're so capable, let them find publishers themselves!" Chen Fan's lips twitched slightly. Why are you so smug about using my connections?

He put down his teacup, sighed, and said, "They've looked for me too. For example, Mr. Mao and Mr. Ba, guess what, they might contact me."

He Qingsheng's face froze instantly. He looked at Tan Yong and Xu Qizhen opposite him and couldn't help but click his tongue. "They... they're looking for you?"

Chen Fan leaned back on the sofa and sighed deeply again. "Not yet, but what do you think once the news gets out?"

He Qingsheng then came to his senses, gasped, and said in a daze, "So, the six parts you mentioned, two belong to us, two to the headquarters, and two to the Shanghai branch?"

Chen Fan slapped his thigh. "Indeed!"

He Qingsheng was now unhappy. "Why is it that our colleagues found the channels, but we only get one-third? There's no such logic in this world!"

Chen Fan clicked his tongue. "How about you talk to Elder Mao and Elder Ba later?"

He Qingsheng: "...You brat, you've set a trap for me."

He let out a long breath and sighed softly, "A higher rank can crush you."

He then asked, "Comrade Chen, can't we try to get a few more slots?"

Chen Fan wiped his face and said with a wry smile, "Uncle He, do you think there are many organizations in China that have the resources to publish six new books at once?"

"Well,……"

He Qingsheng fell silent.

And let me tell you, publishing six books at once is something only major publishing houses that carry out national tasks do, such as educational publishing houses that print textbooks.

As for publishing literary works, they are basically done one at a time. Moreover, he had heard Chen Fan mention that his uncle's publishing company in the United States was just a very small company. He estimated that publishing these six books was done through cooperation with external organizations. Any more would indeed be inappropriate.

Not far away, Jiang Tiantian asked curiously, "Yali, can your publishing company publish six books at once?"

Zhou Yali grinned and said, "The situation is different in the United States. Here, we follow a plan and tasks, and books are distributed one by one. Book distribution is also managed by a special unit. Whether they sell well or poorly is not important."

We have a market economy where we live. Let alone six volumes, even if we have 60 or 600 volumes, we can find enough printing plants to publish and release them on the same day.

However, based on market considerations, no one would do that.

Market capacity is limited. Generally, we stagger the release dates of our books. Even with frequent releases, there will be at least a one- to two-week interval between releases to allow sufficient sales time for new books.

Jiang Tiantian was speechless. She turned to look at Chen Fan, who was lying again.

Chen Fan continued, holding the phone, "It's already a result of my efforts to get them to agree to publish six books at once. But Uncle He, you don't need to worry. As I just said, this is just a trial run. We'll print a small portion first, and if the market response is good, we'll immediately reprint it and increase the number of new books available."

So instead of arguing with me about whether to release two or three books at the beginning, you should think carefully about which two books to send to American publishers. If you can produce just one bestseller, the foreign exchange earnings will be far greater than those from ten or twenty unsellable novels.”

Hearing this, He Qingsheng couldn't help but nod slightly.

After a few seconds of pause, he came to his senses and asked, "Are these your thoughts?"

Chen Fan said matter-of-factly, "I don't know anything about the book market. My cousin told me all this. If we just want to do so-called cultural export, it's actually very simple. We can just apply for funding and cover all printing and distribution costs. My cousin can help print and publish as many books as you want."

But that's not the case for us. We must not neglect cultural achievements, and we must not let go of foreign exchange achievements. Didn't you say that we should earn more foreign exchange while promoting cultural exchanges?

When I talk to her about it, I naturally have to take making money into account, don't you think?

He Qingsheng nodded in deep agreement, "Yes, yes, your idea is correct. Okay, now I understand the situation. I will have a special discussion with the members of the Presidium and the Council and draft a list as soon as possible."

He thought for a moment and said, "In that case, we might prepare a few more books to leave some room for choice. You can also give us your suggestions, and we'll try to select two that are the same as yours..."

At this point, he suddenly realized, "Of all the books we've collaborated on with Takahashi Company, yours are the best-selling. Why don't we just pick a couple of your works?"

Chen Fan shook his head without hesitation, "Does my book need to take up a spot? Then what kind of relative am I?"

He Qingsheng was speechless for a moment, and after a few seconds of stunned silence, he said, "Okay, that's settled then. I'll give you the list as soon as possible."

After saying that, he hung up the phone.

Chen Fan put the receiver on the phone, stretched, and looked at the girls who were still busy. "What are we having for dinner?"

Jiang Lili immediately turned around and said with a smile, "My cousin wants to eat dumplings today. We'll make dumplings later. Is there anything you'd like to eat?"

Chen Fan smiled, pursing his lips. "I want to eat you."

*Ahem*, of course he didn't say that, there were still people around. He just slumped down on the sofa and said, "Anything's fine."

Zhou Yali turned to look at him and said loudly, "Why did you only give me six copies? It wouldn't matter if there were more. Anyway, we've already established connections with many distribution channels thanks to your book. This is just a trial release, not a large-scale launch. It's only a print run of two thousand copies. Let alone six copies, releasing 60 copies at the same time wouldn't be a problem."

Chen Fan squinted and said softly, "This channel was originally brought in through my personal connections. If you open up too much to them all at once, they'll think it's easy. That's not how things are done."

He turned to Zhou Yali and said seriously, "Now that you've taken over two companies and become their head, you must change your mindset and approach things from a 'businessman's' perspective. Although more cooperation agreements might boost my performance, I don't need that kind of achievement. In fact, it would only increase the company's costs, so it's not worth it. Do you understand?"

Zhou Yali thought for a moment, then suddenly realized, "So, the conversation you just had with your boss wasn't what you meant, but rather what I wanted to say from my perspective?"

Chen Fan gave a thumbs up and grinned, "You're a promising young man."

Zhou Yali grabbed a hydrangea and threw it at him, saying, "You have no manners, I'm your older sister."

Jiang Tiantian stood to the side, seemingly wanting to say something but then stopping herself. "This is the gift I opened."

Chen Fan caught the embroidered ball that flew towards him and threw it back. "I'm going to see Elder Ba tomorrow. You stay at home by yourself."

Zhou Yali quickly caught it with both hands, grinning and laughing, "I was just kidding. I'll buy the gift tomorrow, we'll go together."

(End of this chapter)