1980 My literary era

"Xiaosheng, I'll take the manuscript away first."

"I haven't finished changing it yet!" Liang Xiaosheng said anxiously.

"It's okay. I'll bring it to you after work." Lin Weimin said hurriedly.

While Liang Xiaosheng looked puzzled, Lin Weimin left his house humming a little tune.

"By the way, leader, what do you want from me?"

While colleagues were scrambling to read his magical manuscript, Lin Weimin asked Meng Weizai.

At this time, Meng Weizai's eyes softened, "It's nothing, I just want to tell you that the royalties from Xiangjiang have arrived. It's an international wire transfer."

Everyone was enjoying Liang Xiaosheng's manuscript. When they heard Meng Weizai mention the topic of manuscript fees, their ears immediately stood up.

Lin Weimin was keenly aware of the gossip of this group of people, and knew that with Lao Tan here, the Chinese Literature Society had no airtight walls, so he simply asked openly: "The royalties from Xiangjiang have arrived, but ours haven't arrived yet! "

Meng Weizai said angrily: "Can it be the same? It will be published next month, and we still have to wait two months!"

The two chatted for a while, without mentioning the royalties, which made everyone waiting beside them anxious.

"Weimin, how much did you pay for publishing your novel in Xiangjiang?" Liu Yin finally couldn't hold back the gossip in her heart and asked proactively.

"It's not much money either."

"How much money is there if you don't have much money?"

"A word is five meters long, so you guys can count it."

Everyone was chattering, how many words does the manuscript of "Lover" have?

By the way, it's more than 240,000. Multiply it by five centimeters and you have to convert the units.

Twelve thousand meters of knife!

Not much!

After "Farewell My Concubine" was published in the United States and Nihong, with royalties ranging from tens of thousands of dollars to tens of thousands of dollars, my colleagues' shock threshold was obviously raised. After calculating the number, their expressions were calm and calm, and even a little dissatisfied. .

That's it?

This group of people also discussed with Lin Weimin, "Weimin, why is the royalties so low this time?"

"It's good that Xiangjiang can afford a literary magazine. How much royalties do you expect?" Lin Weimin said.

"It shouldn't be! I heard that some writers' royalties are only one to two thousand yuan per thousand words."

In the 1980s, people in the Hong Kong popular literature circle could get one to two thousand yuan for one thousand words. For example, Ni Kuang could even get two to three thousand yuan for one thousand words. Among the writers in Xiangjiang, Ni Kuang dared to claim the title of No. 1. Second, no one dares to claim first place.

Another example is Jin Yong. He was a newspaper owner himself. He stopped writing in the 1980s, but his works were still published from time to time. The royalties are calculated based on the sales volume of a single book. The sales volume of a novel is tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands, excluding printing and paper, all of which falls in Jin Yong's pocket. A single book only has 100,000 words, and the income is much higher than that of Ni Kuang. , but it cannot be calculated solely based on royalties.

Ni Kuang once lamented this, saying that although his royalties were high, they were not as much as Cha Da Xia!

"That's a matter in the popular literature circle, and besides, it has to be a treatment that only the top few people can get." Lin Weimin explained.

Everyone nodded in understanding. No one had read or heard of popular literature in Xiangjiang. The most famous ones were martial arts novels, which were indeed good to read.

While everyone was talking, no one noticed Tong Zhonggui sitting in a corner of the office registering submissions.

The movement of his hands had already stopped, and his heart was full of turmoil.

A sword with 12,000 meters is called less?

Not to mention the 12,000-meter knife, he has never seen it even in RMB!

Teacher Lin's "Lover" will not only be published in Xiangjiang, but will also be published in the sixth issue of this year's "Contemporary" in November, and Tong Zhonggui happens to know the fee standard.

Twelve yuan for a thousand words is exactly double his price.

This is nearly 3,000 yuan, plus 12,000 yuan.

This is only the publication fee. Tong Zhonggui also knows that almost every work of Teacher Lin is published within one year of publication, and can easily sell hundreds of thousands or millions of copies.

He is currently leading "Contemporary" as a temporary worker, and he has a good idea of ​​the basic royalties and royalties for each print run. With the sales volume of Mr. Lin's works, it is not easy to earn tens of thousands of yuan from one work.

At the end of the day, Tong Zhonggui felt a little dizzy.

In the past, I heard that Mr. Lin's novels were published in the United States and Nibang, earning foreign exchange, and the royalties were ridiculously high, but I never had any idea.

Today I heard everyone discussing Lin Weimin's royalties. He finally saw what it means to be a great writer!

The royalties for one of Teacher Lin's novels are as much as an ordinary person's lifetime working income, Tong Zhonggui simply compared in his heart.

But then he discovered a sad fact. If you include the publication of novels overseas, it may last more than one lifetime, even ten lifetimes.

Take "Lover" as an example. The royalties offered by "Contemporary" are among the best in China, and the entire novel only costs 3,000 yuan.

But Xiangjiang's "Bafang" gave us 12,000 knives. If we use the official exchange rate to calculate, the difference is six times. If we use the private exchange rate to calculate, it is even more terrible. The difference is more than ten times. Twenty times.

The most important thing is that he just heard from Teacher Lin that the royalties offered by "Bafang" are actually on the low side.

What if the royalties are normal or higher?

Tong Zhonggui didn't dare to think about it, it was beyond his scope of cognition.

Thinking that a few days ago he was still complacent about the thirty yuan royalties he had just received, Tong Zhonggui couldn't help but feel a little ashamed.

Looking at Teacher Lin's level, the manuscript fee of ten thousand or twenty thousand yuan is the same as one or two yuan.

Tong Zhonggui raised his head. While everyone was discussing the manuscript fee, Teacher Lin had already sat back on his chair and lowered his head to review the manuscript.

He couldn't help but feel as if he were looking up at a high mountain.

This is the example for me to learn from!

Time flashed to October. During this period, Lin Weimin had time and made an appointment with Ma Dudu to visit the friendship store, foreign trade store and trust store.

Pottery, porcelain, bronze, jade, seals, and the four treasures of the study were collected by people of all ages, and they were all placed in the second-entry courtyard next to the Forbidden City.

Because of collecting antiques, Lin Weimin gained a lot of knowledge in this area, and went to various places to see it. Coupled with Ma Dudu's explanations from the side, Lin Weimin finally got rid of his dark eyes on the antique industry.

But now there is a problem looming.

I have no place to put the antique calligraphy and paintings I bought!

Putting the newly acquired amphorae from the Qianlong period into the last corner of the room, Lin Weimin and Ma Dudu retreated to the door.

"Teacher Lin, you should set up some racks, or collect a few, otherwise everything will be placed on the ground like this, taking up too much space." Ma Dudu said.

Teacher Lin has a unique style in collecting and belongs to the Hao Fang school.

Ma Dudu sometimes couldn't help but complain a few words in his heart. Putting such good things in his hands was really a waste of natural resources.

But he had to admit that Teacher Lin was really rich!

With a big wave of his hand, he spent a lot of money without blinking an eye.

It doesn’t matter whether it’s Song Dynasty, Ming Dynasty, porcelain or jade, as long as you can name the origin, Teacher Lin will accept it all.

Ma Dudu sometimes advises Teacher Lin to be more restrained. Some things may not appreciate much in value, and they will just sit and gather dust after being bought back.

"It's not worth much, it's only a hundred and eighty yuan!" Teacher Lin always answered like this.

Every time at this time, Ma Dudu would feel depressed and unable to let go.

We are different!

no the same!

Sample!

When you go out with a big Sabi collector like Teacher Lin, it's hard not to take action.

Who wouldn’t be greedy seeing people dumping piles of things into their homes?

But Ma Dudu and Teacher Lin have completely different styles. Every time he looks at something, he turns it over and over, calculating carefully and never wasting a bullet.

Even so, he still has to use one or two months' salary to buy a bargain.

At the end of the month, it was the most difficult time for him.

Every time Teacher Lin invites him to dinner, Ma Dudu always saves his stomach for two meals in advance, and then eats two more meals.

Ma Dudu feels that compared with Mr. Lin, a collector of the conservative style, he can probably be called a graceful collector.

I was hungry every night, just to save some money and buy two antiques.

It’s hard to collect without money!

Lin Weimin nodded after Ma Dudu finished speaking and agreed with his opinion, "The place is indeed a bit small!"

"Dudu, please help me look around later to see if there is a larger house that sells takeaways and buy one. Otherwise, there will be no room to put things in this house!"

Ma Dudu:......

Feeling the differences between people again, Ma Dudu gave himself a hard slap in his heart.

Let you talk more, let you talk more!

Just when he was feeling regretful, he heard Lin Weimin say again: "Let's buy two sets. Not only do I have no place to put the antiques, but the letters from readers at home also take up a bit of space. The bookshelves in my several sitting rooms are already full. Yes, I believe this thing will get wet if it is left on the ground for a long time."

Did you know that the tide is on the ground?

Ma Dudu's eyes were focused on the ancient books on the floor in the room. There were two layers of linoleum underneath, and the books were just lying there.

I just bought these books today, ancient books from the Ming Dynasty.

In your heart, these ancient books from the Ming Dynasty cannot keep up with a few letters from readers?

Ma Dudu really wanted to grab Teacher Lin's collar and spit on him.

No, I can't stay any longer. Ma Dudu feels that if he stays any longer, there will be problems with his mentality.

"Okay, I'll help you do some research if I have time in the next few days. I'll reply to you when I have any news!"

After saying that, Ma Dudu wanted to leave, but was grabbed by Lin Weimin.

Lin Weimin raised his hand and glanced at his watch. It was dinner time, "Why are you leaving in a hurry? We haven't eaten yet!"

"No, no, let's go home for dinner tonight." Ma Dudu felt uncomfortable and wanted to stay away from Teacher Lin now.

"How about all in one place?" Lin Weimin asked.

Ma Dudu swallowed subconsciously and hesitated in his steps.

"Just one bite, just one bite."

Teacher Lin pulled Ma Dudu out.

Ma Dudu felt that Teacher Lin's hand was so strong that he couldn't get away no matter how hard he tried.

Teacher Lin, let me go!