Silver Blue Library.
In a certain office.
Editor-in-chief Lu Bei was planning to go to the conference room for a meeting when suddenly, like a heavy tank, Old Xiong came running over, panting heavily.
"What's going on?"
Lu Bei quickly stepped aside.
Old Xiong leaned against the door, gasping for breath. It took a while before he could speak: "I just sent you Chu Kuang's new book. You must take a look!"
"Chu Kuang's new book?"
Lu Bei's mind stirred. He nodded, seeing Old Xiong starting to pant heavily again. Without saying much, he went straight to the conference room.
This was an internal meeting.
A leader was passionately discussing a certain document. Lu Bei, however, suddenly remembered what Old Xiong had said. He discreetly took out his phone and quietly opened Chu Kuang's new book.
Lu Bei was a big fan of Chu Kuang.
The short story "The Gift of the Magi" written by Chu Kuang last time moved Lu Bei profoundly. He even sacrificed working during the Chinese New Year to spend time with his family. Since then, Lu Bei has been closely following Chu Kuang's literary updates.
"Jade Dynasty?"
The title of this novel sounded quite imposing. Lu Bei thought so and quietly started reading. After all, these high-level meetings were always long and tedious, unlikely to end without a couple of hours passing.
Just be careful not to get caught.
Lu Bei wasn't the first to slack off during a meeting. He had never been caught because he wouldn't keep his head down reading a novel continuously. Occasionally, he would pretend to be attentively listening to the meeting reports, nodding from time to time, or even earnestly typing on the notebook's keyboard, as if taking meeting notes seriously —
In reality, he was typing gibberish.
The kind that even programmers wouldn't recognize.
But this time, Lu Bei was careless. He didn't expect "Jade Dynasty" to be so captivating. He was thoroughly engrossed after just ten minutes, forgetting even to type the random characters that usually passed for meeting notes. He didn't even hear when someone called him:
"Editor-in-chief?"
"Editor-in-chief?"
The leader who had been passionately talking became furious. He slammed the table, his voice filled with anger: "Lu Bei!"
"Ah?"
Lu Bei finally came to his senses, smiling sheepishly. Reluctantly, he put down his phone. Most of the high-level executives present were at his level. If it weren't for the leader being irritated, he wouldn't have called Lu Bei by his name directly.
The meeting continued.
Lu Bei felt uncomfortable.
He really wanted to continue reading because his mind was filled with the plot of "Jade Dynasty." He couldn't focus on what the meeting was about. He just wanted the meeting to end quickly so he could go back and continue reading the book.
"Adjourn!"
Finally, the meeting ended.
Lu Bei hurriedly left the conference room, took out his phone, intending to call Old Xiong. However, he found Old Xiong standing at the door, looking quite urgent: "Should we consider negotiating Chu Kuang's contract?"
"How much before?"
"Seven percent."
"Raise it to ten percent."
Lu Bei didn't hesitate to speak. This was the price for many established bestselling authors. Although Chu Kuang's fame was not that high for now, Lu Bei was confident that the popularity of Chu Kuang's new book, "Jade Dynasty," would be no less than that of the previous "Tennis Prince," even though he had only read a small portion.
"Understood."
Old Xiong wasn't surprised at all.
His first reaction after finishing "Jade Dynasty" was that this novel was going to be a hit.
Old Xiong never imagined that a Xianxia novel could be written like this!
He was shocked!
This was also the reason he rushed out of the conference room like crazy before!
He had to personally handle it, greet various departments, such as the publicity department and the publishing department, and even get the attention of the editor-in-chief. He needed the editor-in-chief to understand how good this novel was.
"By the way."
Just as Old Xiong was about to leave, Lu Bei suddenly felt a bit annoyed: "Last time, I asked you to get Chu Kuang's autograph. Why didn't you do it?"
Old Xiong hesitated.
He completely forgot about this matter; he believed that the editor-in-chief had also forgotten about it. However, the appearance of "Jade Dynasty" reminded the other party.
...
Lin Yuan naturally had no idea about the reaction "Jade Dynasty" caused in the editorial department. However, when he finished school in the evening, he received a call from Yang Feng.
"Teacher Chu Kuang!"
Yang Feng clearly sensed that his tone when talking to Chu Kuang had become more and more humble: "Your new book is simply amazing. The company is considering publishing the first volume of 'Jade Dynasty' next month. What do you think?"
It wasn't like this before.
If it were in the past, Yang Feng would probably say something like, "Chu Kuang, congratulations. Your novel has passed the review of our editorial department. Our company will arrange for the publication of this novel next month."
The meaning was the same.
It's just that the attitude was a bit different.
Lin Yuan naturally couldn't discern the subtle change in the other party's attitude.
He remained as succinct as ever: "It can be published. When should we sign the contract?"
"That's great!"
Yang Feng laughed, "The company has decided to increase your novel's royalty to ten percent. This is a high rate in the industry. May I ask if there's anything else you need from us..."
"Very good!"
Lin Yuan subconsciously raised his tone.
Yang Feng was somewhat surprised. Wasn't Chu Kuang not fond of money? Why did he sound so cheerful upon hearing that the royalty could be increased?
Right.
Money has many meanings.
Chu Kuang probably didn't care much about the increase in royalty. Instead, he valued the company's recognition of his writing ability and the sincerity expressed by the company through money!
Royalties have a price.
Sincerity is priceless.
Moreover, this time, he wrote a Xianxia genre, which undoubtedly carried a certain psychological pressure during its creation. Naturally, he needed various forms of recognition even more.
Thinking of this, Yang Feng said, "As long as you're satisfied. Additionally, I must inform you that the company will soon start the pre-sale promotion of 'Jade Dynasty'!"
"Okay."
"Is that all?"
"That's it."
Lin Yuan hung up the phone, feeling quite good.
Silver Blue Library always took the initiative to raise the price, which pleased Lin Yuan.
It seems that choosing to continue cooperating with the Silver Blue Library was indeed a good decision.
Will the price increase in the future?
I should ask my sister's opinion.
His sister, Lin Xuan, was an expert in the publishing industry and should understand better.
Speaking of which, Lin Yuan had also considered taking "Jade Dynasty" to his sister's publishing house.
However, after investigating, Lin Yuan found that his sister's publishing house was not large enough. In terms of earning money, it definitely couldn't compete with the Silver Blue Library.
So Lin Yuan gave up.
Compared to boosting his sister's performance, making money was more important.
As for his sister's side, he could always share some of the money he earned.
She worked hard to boost her performance for a higher salary; Lin Yuan understood this reasoning.
His sister must also prefer money.
Is there anyone in this world who doesn't like money?
And on that night, Lin Yuan and Yang Feng finished their call.
On the official website of Silver Blue Library, the news that author Chu Kuang would release a new book in July was finally posted. It could be considered a preheating mode for the new book's promotion.
As soon as this news came out.
Chu Kuang's fans were thrilled!