sinovels Chapter 41: $10,000 in royalties
Chapter 41: $10,000 in royalties
In late June, Selena von flew directly from North America to Shanghai.
When she reappeared in front of Yu Zhen.
This girl was extremely bold. She simply pounced on Yu Zhen and kissed him. Taking advantage of Yu Zhen's lack of mental preparation, she wrapped her arms around his neck and her two long legs immediately coiled around his waist and hips like snakes.
Oh my god!
It's the middle of summer right now.
Not to mention that both of them were dressed in thin clothes.
With such passionate leaps, kisses, and entanglements, Yu Zhen is clearly a hot-blooded young man.
A battle was about to break out.
My physical body has been traveling through the present time and space for more than half a year in the blink of an eye.
The resources accumulated during this period were simply too numerous to count.
These days, girls in China are not to be trifled with.
Despite having two targets within easy reach right beside him.
Editor Wu, who secretly harbors feelings for someone, and Gong Ying, a girl from the art academy who secretly harbors feelings for someone.
Whenever she had the chance to be alone with him, she was almost always completely unguarded.
Tsk tsk tsk, do you know how much he suffers every day?
Furthermore, in the past six months since I transmigrated...
Yu Zhen's physical fitness has been improving gradually and imperceptibly.
In the spring, I only considered myself to be comparable to a professional athlete of the Wuying level.
In the summer, he sometimes even had delusional thoughts, as if he could kill a cow with a single punch.
When the battle ended, Yu Zhen was utterly shocked by what he saw. To his utter surprise, while cleaning up the battlefield, he discovered that Selena von was still a virgin…
This was both surprising and worrying for him; he was quite frightened.
When a man is pursued by a foreign woman, and the atmosphere is right, he just wants to go with the flow, play along, and have some fun.
There was absolutely no emotional foundation between him and this American girl.
The relationship between the two was truly just that of a writer and a translator.
Of course, now the publication and distribution of the two translations in the North American book market are involved, and there are too many and too great entanglements of interests between the two.
Even so, he never imagined that he would become a couple with this American girl.
But it's alright.
Selena von did not show any intention of taking the opportunity to entangle herself.
Afterwards, the man put on a show of indifference. Western women take a very detached attitude towards such matters, and their initiative to express their feelings is merely driven by emotion, not a genuine desire to become a couple with him.
Fearing that Yu Zhen wouldn't believe him, he pretended to be old-fashioned and talked at length about how liberal young men and women in the West were to each other.
The only thing is that he avoids mentioning his first confession.
Yu Zhen couldn't afford to be coy anymore, otherwise it would make it seem like he was the one who suffered a great loss!
After the appetizers, Selena von revealed the real reason for her trip back to Shanghai.
Surprisingly, it was the eager anticipation of publishers across the ocean who were urging him to start writing the third sequel.
"My book, The Truman Show, is a bestseller in the United States, with sales exceeding one million copies in just half a month. This achievement has completely exceeded everyone's expectations."
"It really broke one million copies sold?!" Yu Zhen was shocked.
Although Shanghai media had already reported the news in advance, confirming the information from Selena von herself made it feel even more real.
It should be noted that sales of over one million copies in the North American market are not the same as sales of over one million copies of the Harvest magazine in China.
The most direct example is that in China, you can only get a single manuscript fee of X yuan per thousand words.
In overseas markets, if handled properly, he could fully enjoy huge royalties and fees directly linked to sales.
"Yu, you heard right, it broke one million copies sold."
But to be honest, the process wasn't smooth sailing.
After returning to China last month, I finally found the publisher, Old Mark, after much searching. His publishing company had been struggling in the North American book market and was on the verge of bankruptcy.
At that time, other major publishers either refused to offer cooperation opportunities at all, or their terms were too harsh.
Some greedy people want to buy out the copyright to your novel permanently.
Left with no other choice, I resorted to my next best option and approached Old Mark, persuading him to take a gamble…”
"Clearly, Old Mark's bet was a huge success this time! Ha..."
Hearing firsthand how complicated the process of getting his novel published in North America was.
This is far more touching than when Belina von only informed the publisher that an agreement had been reached via international long-distance phone.
Yu Zhen could imagine how difficult it must have been for this girl to return to China and beg and plead for cooperation.
Sigh, so
You're so bold as to pounce on someone and kiss them the moment you meet them...
Dude, today I'm repaying a favor with my body. It's obvious you took advantage of me and raped me!
He could imagine that his relationship with this American girl would likely become complicated and entangled from now on.
Selena Feng ignored Yu Zhen's attempt to completely erase his shamelessness by taking advantage of her.
She didn't feel that giving her first time to Yu Zhen was a loss. Yu Zhen's talent was worth using all sorts of unconventional methods to seize.
"Yu, you are truly extraordinary!"
Today, at Mark's publishing company, you, the leading science fiction writer from the mysterious ancient Eastern country, have become a super gimmick to attract market attention.
And it's true that the content of your novel is so well-suited to the North American market that it unexpectedly achieved such extraordinary sales...
"Regarding the pre-orders for the sequel, 'The Brain in a Vat,' according to Old Mark, the number has already exceeded 600,000 copies."
And this is just the order volume from less than a week before I flew back.
According to Mark's prediction, the sequel's sales will surpass the original without any problem. He even boldly predicted that if the sales period is extended further, sales will eventually double again, which would be a natural outcome...
"So, please, please put aside all other distractions and focus on creating your third sequel! ~~"
Selena von's tone was extremely excited, perfectly demonstrating what it means to be "excited and radiant."
It's clear that her confidence in Yu Zhen's third sequel is now far stronger than Yu Zhen's own.
Yu Zhen was emotional for a moment, but then he calmed down.
The success of "The Truman Show" in the North American book market was to be expected.
After all, coming from the 21st century and repeatedly proven by the internet, the fast-paced, satisfying storytelling style of male-oriented fantasy novels is his invincible weapon.
Moreover, the novel itself is groundbreaking in science fiction and other aspects, possessing a novel and exciting feel that is unprecedented. Even ordinary people in the developed capitalist society of North America are experiencing it for the first time, especially the ingenious setting of the live-streaming island.
The coverage of a network of 1.5 million television sets across the United States is no joke.
In this social context, the live-streaming island he created in the depths of the Pacific Ocean was like a direct hit to the G-spot of Americans.
Then we'll wait until the systematic science fiction philosophy of "The Brain in a Vat" is released.
Hehe, at that time it will attract more than just the general readership in North America.
Hollywood DreamWorks, the vast North American film and entertainment industry empire, was also extending an extremely tempting olive branch to him.
As for the third sequel, the plot he prepared is based on the Resident Evil series, combined with some plot settings from Brain. After breaking through the mystery of Brain in a Vat, Truman, who now has a normal human body for the first time, will first undergo a male-to-female transformation game, transforming Truman into the bio-engineered female warrior Alice who is constantly being cloned and replicated.
In fact, he had already completed part of the content for the third sequel.
The draft already has nearly 20 words.
After all, he doesn't pursue so-called literary style or artistic conception, and he doesn't need to meticulously craft his works or nitpick over words.
"Feng, shall we first discuss the issue of royalties from overseas publications?"
"Uh, sorry, sorry, it was my oversight. I was so focused on sharing the joy of the booming sales of books in the North American market that I completely forgot to openly discuss the most important issue of royalties with you. Here's the thing, let me briefly explain the common cooperation framework between publishers and authors in the North American book market..."
Yu Zhen nodded to show that he was listening attentively.
Selena von then began to explain things to him.
The royalty split he negotiated with publisher Mark Old Man was quite reasonable, at 10%.
This is truly remarkable for a new writer from the East, across the ocean.
Of course, as Selena von said, Mark was really gambling back then. The company was on the verge of bankruptcy, so he didn't care about giving a slightly higher royalty share.
The most important consideration is ensuring the company's survival.
A simple estimate suggests that if each copy of "The Truman Show" is priced at $10, and a 10% royalty rate is given for a million copies sold, that would amount to one million dollars.
However, Selena didn't have such a huge international check in her pocket when she flew back to Shanghai this time.
That's something that's almost impossible.
And, how should I put it!
The publication and distribution of "The Truman Show" in North America was originally a private transaction that completely bypassed official publishing management and supervision.
To put it bluntly, if the cultural and publishing management department really wanted to find fault with this, arresting Yu Zhen would be perfectly legal and compliant.
Of course, there are always exceptions. The unprecedented success of "The Truman Show" in overseas markets is enough to avoid all legal risks. No one would be so idle as to nitpick over such a trivial matter.
Besides, The Truman Show has already been published in the country.
In principle, it no longer falls under the category of illegal publications, and this explanation makes perfect sense at this level.
Moreover, what does the phenomenal sales of a million copies of the novel and the expected royalty share of one million dollars mean?!
That means that the great writer Yu, with his own efforts and his worn-out pen, has generated at least one million US dollars in foreign exchange revenue for the country.
These days, whoever can earn foreign exchange for the country is a great contributor to the nation.
Because of this, the entire Shanghai municipal government absolutely regards the great writer Yu as a national treasure.