SED Chapter 19: The Lion's Roar
Chapter 19: The Lion Opens its Mouth Wide
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"Zixia, don't underestimate yourself," Gao Zhuo said earnestly. "Even without these cartoons, just those fairy tales alone are enough for you to be called a master in the field!"
Liu Zixia wanted to be modest, but Wang Xiaotong, on the side, became impatient. "Uncle Gao, Brother Three, are you two ever going to stop? Weren't we here to discuss publishing?"
"You..." Gao Zhuo was still thinking about being polite and building rapport, but this girl ruined it all.
No choice but to get down to business.
"Cough..."
Coughing twice, Gao Zhuo cleared his throat and said seriously, "Zixia, it's like this. I've read all the fairy tales you've created, and I believe these are the most splendid and classic fairy tales I've seen since I've been in the children's publishing industry."
Looking at Liu Zixia's calm expression, Gao Zhuo continued, "I want to promote your fairy tales. Do you have any interest in publishing them?"
"Sure!" Liu Zixia agreed readily.
"Really? That's fantastic!" Gao Zhuo clapped his hands excitedly. "Here's the thing, for publishing, it's not feasible to just publish a few fairy tales. They need to be bound into books, with a minimum of sixty thousand words. I want to confirm with you. Do you have more stories like the ones before? Or can you create more words?"
For publishing, how could they just publish a booklet of ten or twenty thousand words? Even with cartoons, it would only be a thin booklet of dozens of pages.
Seeing Gao Zhuo's expectant expression, Liu Zixia thought for a moment and said, "If we're really going to bind them into books, I'm afraid I'll disappoint Brother Gao!"
"Can't? Well, it's hard to imagine having a dozen or so classic fairy tales," Gao Zhuo said, disappointed. "Forget it, having these few would suffice. With good marketing, increasing sales would be easy."
"No, no, no!" Seeing Gao Zhuo's disappointed expression, Liu Zixia felt somewhat amused. "Brother Gao, when I said I would disappoint you, it's because binding just one book of my fairy tales won't do. We'll need at least two volumes!"
"Uh-huh, two volumes it is, that's fine..." Gao Zhuo subconsciously replied. But halfway through, he suddenly came to his senses, looking excitedly at Liu Zixia. "Zixia, you... you said two volumes?"
The surprise came too suddenly, and Gao Zhuo almost had a heart attack!
Liu Zixia nodded. "Of course, two volumes! Otherwise, with over two hundred thousand words and cartoons, how thick would one volume have to be?"
Two volumes were already on the lower side. If Liu Zixia was willing, he could bring out all the fairy tales he had heard and read from his previous life, and he could probably fill up ten volumes or more!
Moreover, Liu Zixia's life experiences from his previous life told him that he should always have a backup plan. How could he empty out all his fairy tales in one go?
This was just the beginning!
Gao Zhuo was overjoyed and joked, "My dear Brother Zixia, you need to cure your habit of speaking in such gasps!"
"Brother Gao, don't worry, I have the medicine!" Liu Zixia laughed heartily.
"You!" Gao Zhuo shook his head helplessly. His mentality was completely different when he was with this young man. "Okay, okay, let's stop fooling around. Zixia, about the remuneration, I can offer you five hundred yuan per thousand characters, plus ten percent of the sales revenue after publication. How does that sound?"
Five hundred yuan per thousand characters, plus ten percent of the sales revenue after publication?
Although Liu Zixia was mentally prepared for the other party to offer a 'bargain price,' he was still speechless at this price.
Five hundred yuan per thousand characters was considered a high price for online novels, let alone with ten percent of the sales revenue. It seemed like a lot, but in reality...
Just think about it. Compared to the word count of online novels, fairy tales were simply a drop in the bucket. The longest fairy tale was only eighteen hundred characters. With five hundred yuan per thousand characters, how much money could he make?
Furthermore, the fairy tales Liu Zixia selected were the most classic ones from "Grimm's Fairy Tales" and "Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales," which were known by almost everyone in his previous life.
Their created value was not limited to just the text.
Leaving aside all the paper-based copyright issues, just the adaptation into film and animation could bring in huge profits.
"How about it? Are you not satisfied with this offer, Zixia?" Seeing Liu Zixia's silence, Gao Zhuo raised an eyebrow. "No problem, we can negotiate. How about you propose a price?"
As a businessman, no bargaining, no business. Gao Zhuo obviously left room for negotiation.
Liu Zixia picked up the glass of water in front of him, took a sip, and raised a finger. "Three hundred yuan per thousand characters, plus thirty percent of the sales revenue after publication! And one more thing, I only authorize the simplified Chinese edition publishing rights to you for fifteen years."
"Three hundred per thousand characters is acceptable, and I can also agree to thirty percent of the sales revenue after publication," Gao Zhuo said, furrowing his brow. "It's just the fifteen-year simplified Chinese edition publishing rights... Can we also add traditional Chinese?"
"Brother Gao, I'll authorize you for fifteen years, but I'm giving you the traditional Chinese edition rights as well," Liu Zixia dragged out his words. "Alright! Simplified is simplified, traditional is traditional. They can't be mixed! Likewise, for fifteen years of traditional Chinese edition publishing rights, I want five hundred yuan per thousand characters and forty percent of the sales revenue after publication."
In this world, there were many overseas Chinese who had been living abroad for generations, and most of them were accustomed to reading traditional Chinese books.
Moreover, once published in traditional Chinese and exported, the price would skyrocket. If Liu Zixia didn't raise the price, then he would be a fool.
This time, Gao Zhuo fell silent. He could afford the authorization price for the simplified edition, but the price for the traditional edition made him anxious.
Gao Zhuo's original plan was to acquire the traditional edition rights and use them to boost sales of the simplified edition.
But who would have thought that this young man was even more shrewd than him!
Separate authorization for simplified and traditional editions!
Want it? Fine, pay for it!
After hesitating for a long time, Gao Zhuo suddenly remembered his current situation.
Anyway, if the sales couldn't be increased, he would be suspended. If he bought the traditional edition rights and lost money, he would definitely be suspended.
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