1979: My fiancée is a goddess

Chapter 376 Huge royalties, letter from the United States!
The United States, across the ocean.

University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA.

The weather is cloudy with cold temperatures.

The dense and lush redwood forest on campus was covered with a light layer of snow, with red leaves alternating with white snow.

Like a fire burning in the snow.

Next to the redwood forest, a three-story Victorian building sits quietly in the grass.

The yellow-green grass was also covered with snow, and several piled snowmen were shivering in the wind.

A thick layer of ice and snow, almost seven or eight centimeters thick, accumulated on the roof covered with gray-black tiles.

Icicles formed under the eaves, and the roof was about to collapse.

The frozen stained glass windows were tightly closed, through which one could vaguely see the scene of the living room.

The living room was quietly lit and wood was burning in the fireplace.

The furry reddish-brown plaid carpet covered the floor, soft and warm.

Behind the desk by the window, an old man with a white beard and glasses was leaning over the desk, holding a thick stack of stationery in his hand. On the table in front of him was the manuscript of the thesis, with the English abbreviation of the University of Pennsylvania written above the manuscript.

"Cheng's theoretical structure is so perfect that even I can't find any major flaws."

“It’s just that the part that I made up myself, can I integrate it into it?
Once the theoretical system of this article "On the Impossibility of Children's Literature" is perfected, the speed of completing the paper will be greatly improved. It can be submitted as early as the end of April. By then..."

While reading the letter, he compared it with the papers he had written on his desk. He looked focused and couldn't suppress his emotions.

The sense of accomplishment of about to create literary history was enough to make him so excited that he couldn't sleep.

A few days ago, the postman delivered a transnational letter from faraway China.

Originally, Professor Ansel and Cheng Kaiyan agreed to exchange letters on the 5th of every month, but Professor Ansel did not receive any letters until the 20th, which made him really worried.

Later, he learned from Ms. Mary that it was probably the Chinese New Year, so he didn't think much about it.

The letter sent this time was very thick.

Among them was the theoretical framework of his paper "The Impossibility of Children's Literature", which had been on his mind for a long time.

In addition, Professor Ansel also saw an academic paper entitled "A Brief Discussion on the Psychological Projection of Children's Literature" and was particularly curious about it.

After several months of familiarization and research, he has gained a systematic understanding of Cheng Kaiyan's theory, and has even been able to innovate and improve some of the details and minor flaws he believes in.

After reading both articles without sleep for an entire night, I discovered that this paper was about the practical application of psychological projection theory in children's literature, although it was written in a relatively simple way.

But it can be seen as an introduction to the basics of Cheng Kaiyan's theory of the impossibility of children's literature.

"No wonder Cheng Kaiyan sent me this paper at this time and entrusted me to submit it to an academic journal."

"He was very thoughtful and let this paper on psychological projection be submitted for publication first. With this paper as a foundation, the academic community's resistance to "The Impossibility of Children's Literature" will be greatly reduced."

Professor Ansel thought about Cheng Kaiyan's intention and agreed.

Cheng Kaiyan's groundbreaking "The Impossibility of Children's Literature" is definitely the most important paper in the field of children's literature theory research in the past few decades.

With its reflection and criticism on the nature of children's literature, it will probably not be outdated in the next fifty or even a hundred years!
But the emergence of any new theory will have a huge impact on the old theories.

Especially the core point of the paper: "Children's literature is not children's literature, but the psychological projection of adults!"

This view has a huge impact on the general perception of the current academic community and on child-centered theory.

Just like the geocentric theory and the heliocentric theory are irreconcilable.

You know, the person who proposed the heliocentric theory was sent to the gallows.

When the complete theory is published, its impact and influence on the academic community will be absolutely immeasurable.

If she did not have a certain weight and fame, even if her paper was published and recognized, the international academic community might not necessarily recognize Cheng Kaiyan as a Chinese.

"Since he has made such an arrangement, I will write a letter of recommendation for him and submit it to Children's Literature as his mentor.

It will also allow Cheng Kaiyan to initially gain fame in the academic community, which will also be beneficial for the publication of her next paper.”

Professor Ansel wrote down the submission arrangements for the paper on paper.

People of his age have average memory, and when he is immersed in writing his thesis, he forgets even less. It is better to write it down to avoid forgetting.

after awhile.

After Professor Ansel finished writing, he stretched his body, suddenly remembered something, and turned to look at the sofa not far away.

A middle-aged man in a suit and tie, with an American elite temperament, was sitting with his legs crossed, drinking coffee and reading a brand new book in his hand.

The paper is snow-white, the text is clear, and there is a warm smell of ink on the pages.

It seems to have been printed not long ago.

This is Ryder Stephens.

Professor Ansel's nephew is 41 years old and in the prime of his life.

He graduated from Philadelphia University. Both of his parents were intellectual elites. After graduating from college, Reid inherited their family's chain of bookstores and later founded his own publishing house.

Aurumbra Press.

It is taken from the Latin word Aurum+umbra, which means golden shadow, and symbolizes the temple of knowledge where light and shadow interweave.

The publishing house was founded by Ryder Stephens in 1972. Its business model relies on family bookstores and it is a one-foot-on-one-right-foot model. After nearly twenty years of steady development, Aurumbra Press is now ranked among the top ten Philadelphia publishing houses.

"Ryder!"

“My dear nephew, do you remember the work I recommended?

Regarding the proofreading of Cheng's work, has your publishing house completed it?"

Professor Ansel put down the manuscript, stared at the man reading on the sofa, and asked with concern.

He did not forget that he was initially moved by Cheng Kaiyan's children's literature works, and Cheng Kaiyan was his friend.

“Uncle Ansel, you know, these are two works by Chinese writers after all.

Especially when it is translated and published by China's Foreign Languages ​​​​Publishing Press, it involves their translation copyright, and there is a big difference in the length of the two works, so there are many issues to consider when publishing. "

Reid heard the concerned tone in his uncle's voice, shrugged and explained patiently.

He is not interested in the works of Chinese writers.

Although his publishing house is not an industry giant, it has no shortage of writers to cooperate with.

The reason why Reid was willing to help publish the book was because of his uncle, Professor Ansel. If Professor Ansel had not strongly recommended it, he would not have even looked at it.

What kind of excellent works can a Chinese person write?

It is a poor and destitute country. I heard that they can't even get enough food to eat.

How can we talk about spiritual creation?

Especially children, what children need is warmth, harmony, love and growth?

Barren land cannot produce love and freedom.

Therefore, after he got the two works from his uncle, he handed them over to his secretary.

This time I came to report the situation to my uncle.

"Reid, I am really sorry to bother you, but I think you will not be disappointed. In my opinion, these two works are absolutely classics. They are both first-class works. It is no problem for them to win awards. Especially "The Alchemist" even has the potential to be a bestseller."

With Professor Ansel's vision and emotional intelligence, he could naturally see his nephew's contemptuous attitude, but it didn't matter, he would know it after the work was published.

"hehe--"

Reid laughed inwardly when he heard this.

Bestseller?
It's not that easy. There are less than ten books like this published in the United States in a year, let alone a Chinese writer. Although he laughed, Reid didn't say anything. He asked seriously:
"Okay, uncle. I also hope that your point of view is correct. Who doesn't want to make money? Now these problems have basically been dealt with. What kind of remuneration do you think should be given to this Chinese writer?"

"You decide. Just follow the rules."

Professor Ansel shook his head and refused to intervene.

"For your sake, I will give him a generous remuneration, at least for a new writer."

Ryder nodded and smiled.

"Cheng won't let you down. Oh, I have a small task for you. Please help me mail a paper later."

The professor nodded in satisfaction and said.

"Okay, uncle, you can still order me around as usual."

Reid said with some dissatisfaction, but with a smile on his face.

American families are actually not as cold and aloof as rumored.

On the contrary, many of them are large families, and many adult children live with their parents.

"Ok!"

Ansel nodded.

At noon, the two of them ate the lunch brought by Ms. Mary.

Professor Ansel sat in front of the typewriter, reorganized the paper according to the paper format of the American academic community, added his name to the acknowledgments section, wrote a letter of recommendation, stuffed it into a special paper bag, and handed it to his nephew Reid.

"Another new paper? I'm afraid uncle will become a great scholar in the future."

Ryder took it and saw the message on it, and teased.

"Maybe."

Professor Ansel smiled.

Reid was a little surprised to hear this. His uncle was a humble and kind person, so when did he become so confident?

He lowered his head and carefully read the information on the paper bag.

"A brief discussion on psychological projection in children's literature, with instructor Ansel Stephens as the first author... Cheng Kaiyan!?"

Reid subconsciously raised his voice a few notches.

Cheng Kaiyan, isn’t this the name of that Chinese writer?
He is also a literary research scholar?!

"Of course, he actually wrote the paper, but he is Chinese, so I just helped him out."

Professor Ansel couldn't help but laugh when he saw his nephew, who had the temperament of a business elite, showing a look of surprise and astonishment on his face.

He could naturally see that his nephew was somewhat contemptuous and arrogant towards Cheng Kaiyan.

He thought Reid would change his views and attitude in the future, as Cheng was not the stereotypical Chinese.

"good……"

Reid nodded. This process is quite excellent.

He did not continue to disturb Professor Ansel and left the building with the manuscript.

Crossing the grass, under the red maple tree next to College Street, you will find a Chevrolet Citation with tough lines and red and white stripes.

"Oh!"

Reid got into the car, closed the door, put the paper on the passenger seat, and drove to the publishing house.

There is a USUP post office on Market Street in Philadelphia where the publishing house is located.

Arriving at the mailbox in front of the post office, Reid calmly glanced at the name on the paper bag and slowly stuffed it into the dark blue mailbox.

Drive away.

Back at the publishing house, Reid called the editor-in-chief, Cohen Evans, and said in a deep voice, "Raise Cheng's remuneration by one level."

"Increase one level? But after a meeting, our editorial team unanimously agreed that Cheng's works are of extremely high quality. In order to keep this writer in our publishing house, we unanimously agree that we should give Cheng the highest remuneration standard for new writers. We are just waiting for your signature."

Editor-in-chief Cohen Evans explained in amazement.

"how many?"

Reid looked at the editor-in-chief with some surprise. He didn't expect that the editorial team would also be optimistic about the works of this Chinese writer. He raised his eyebrows and asked.

"The two works will be published as paperback books in the form of collections, with a royalty rate of 6%.

Since these two works caused some excitement last December and were even featured in the Philadelphia Daily News, our team estimated the first print run to be 5,000 copies.

The advance payment is:

The first print run is 5000*list price 15*6%=4500 USD.

Due to the word count of "Submarine at Night", the two works were published together. We paid the royalties according to the short story, at the rate of US$0.1 per word.

12825*0.1=1282.5 USD.

The two works totaled US$5782.5.

Since the work has been submitted, the payment structure is 30% for contract signing, 30% for submission, and 40% for publication according to industry rules.

According to the 60% royalty ratio, our publishing house needs to pay Cheng more than 40 US dollars, and the remaining % will be paid after publication."

Editor-in-chief Cohen took out a pen and paper and started calculating quickly.

"More than three thousand dollars... How about this, Cohen? Give him four thousand dollars. Bring the contract here for me to sign, and you mail it out as soon as possible."

Ryder thought about it and gave the order in a casual tone.

"OK! BOSS!"

Editor-in-chief Cohen nodded. He understood that the president might not be very optimistic about this Chinese writer, and giving him a few hundred yuan more was probably a habitual act of making friends.

Many times, these seemingly insignificant behaviors will bring unexpected benefits in the future.

Maybe in the future I'll be able to meet a great writer like Stephen King, whose works can command an advance payment of up to $200,000.

Of course, this does not mean that Cohen and Reid think Cheng Kaiyan has such potential. It is just that as a publishing house, making friends with potential writers is a very common practice.

A few hundred dollars is nothing.

Cohen turned and left, and the office became quiet again.

Reid leaned back in his boss chair, put what had just happened behind him, and continued to deal with documents.

To him, Chinese writers, geniuses, and children's literature researchers are just a small episode in his life.

Not enough for him to worry about.

His current focus is on a publishing industry convention in Philadelphia next week, which will be attended by many writers, including the well-known literary writer John Irving.

Last year, Mr. John Irving's work "The New Hampshire Hotel" was shortlisted for the National Book Award. He is a well-deserved backbone writer in the current American literary world.

As far as Reid had found out, Mr. John's advance payment was as high as 80,000 US dollars.

If we could invite him to Aurumbra Press to publish his new works, the publishing house would definitely move to a higher level, moving beyond Philadelphia and into the entire state of Pennsylvania, and even the entire United States.

March 1st, early morning.

A special letter from Philadelphia, USA, was intercepted by the customs department in Beijing and sent to the office of the head of the postal and telecommunications department.

Sender: Aurumbra Press, Editor-in-Chief Cohen.

Recipient: Cheng Kaiyan

(End of this chapter)