Rebirth of Siheyuan starts in the 1980s

Just when Cao Zhiqiang secretly praised his wit and was secretly proud of it, a young man with glasses who was thinner than Cao Zhiqiang but had slightly darker skin suddenly raised his hand.

"General Manager, I have something to say, I don't know whether I should say it or not."

Upon hearing the thin black man with glasses raising his hand to speak, Cao Zhiqiang was slightly startled, but he still nodded to him kindly: "It doesn't matter, just say what you have to say."

After receiving Cao Zhiqiang's approval, the dark, thin young man with glasses smiled shyly, then put down his hand and said seriously again:

"General Manager, if I heard you correctly, what you just said is to ask each of us to be your...writers, record the martial arts stories in your heart, and then serialize these martial arts stories.

, published in a journal you are about to establish, right?”

"Yes, yes, that's it." Cao Zhiqiang smiled, "What, is there a problem?"

"There are many problems." The thin black man with glasses nodded seriously, "And I take it for granted."

Upon hearing this, Yu Deli immediately reprimanded: "Zhao Shouwen, what did you say? How did you talk to the general manager?"

Cao Zhiqiang frowned, waved to Yu Deli, and then looked back at the thin black man with glasses.

"Your name is Zhao Shouwen, right?"

"Yes, general manager, I am Zhao Shouwen."

Seeing the other party's neither humble nor overbearing answer, Cao Zhiqiang nodded and continued with a smile: "Then tell me, what is the problem with my plan?"

Zhao Shouwen said: "First of all, I know that you are a very famous poet. I have read your works, which are very good. The popularity of your poetry collection has once again proved your talent in poetry.

I personally think that, at least in terms of modern poetry, your fifty-one poems, the first of which are classics, can already be regarded as the top poets among the new poets.

However, being able to write poetry does not mean being able to write novels, especially martial arts novels.

But even if you think that the martial arts novels you wrote are good, this is just your own opinion and has not been verified by the market.

Without market validation, it seems too risky for you to ask all of us to accompany you in writing a novel.

Yes, you are somewhat famous now, but your fame is all in poetry.

To be blunt, although it cannot be said that there is no overlap between the poetry circle and the martial arts novel circle, the overlap is actually not big.

Therefore, although your pen name is very famous in the poetry world, if you use this pen name to write martial arts novels, I am afraid that it may not be accepted by the market and may not be successful."

After hearing what the other party said, Cao Zhiqiang smiled slightly, and just as he was about to speak, Zhao Shouwen spoke again:

"Actually, general manager, our publishing house has just been established, it is responsible for its own profits and losses, and has no reputation. The more it is at this time, the more important it is to find some reliable projects to bring in money.

In this regard, I personally have reservations about your short-term project, which is to immediately go all out to publish a martial arts novel written by you.

However, I fully agree with your desire to publish a journal focusing on martial arts novels and science fiction novels.

But, it’s still the same sentence.

Our publishing house has just been established, everything has just begun, and everything needs to be stable.

In fact, from what you said, general manager, I can tell what you mean, that is, you are very optimistic about the domestic martial arts novel market and think that martial arts novels can sell well, right?"

Cao Zhiqiang nodded subconsciously: "That's right."

"I think so too." Zhao Shouwen smiled.

Immediately afterwards, Zhao Shouwen's face straightened and he said: "General Manager, I personally think that you have made the wrong positioning now!"

"Wrong positioning?" Cao Zhiqiang frowned slightly, "What do you mean?"

Zhao Shouwen said: "You confuse the ordinary authors who write books and submit manuscripts with the position of the general manager of the publishing house that publishes books.

Yes, you have a problem in your heart, and you want to write down and publish what you are thinking, and that's okay.

But this kind of high-risk behavior, which is just like playing cards, seems to be something that should be done after our publishing house is on the right track and has sufficient strength to do so, but it is definitely not the time when it has just opened.

In other words, when you are still an ordinary author, it is understandable that you only want to write more novels and then submit them to others to win with quantity.

But you are now the general manager of a publishing house. What you are responsible for is to see which publishing projects can make money, rather than focusing on writing your own books.

For example, the author of a book is like a soldier. As a soldier, he naturally has to hone his personal martial arts so that he can fight the enemy face to face on the battlefield.

The general manager of a publishing house is like a general. He does not need to be very good at martial arts. What he needs is the ability to coordinate and command.

A high-ranking general who spends all day thinking about going into battle to kill the enemy, and a front-line soldier who spends all day thinking about commanding a large corps to fight, are not doing their job properly."

Upon hearing this, Cao Zhiqiang smiled indifferently and simply asked: "Then what is your so-called righteousness?"

Zhao Shouwen said: "We are a publishing house. What is the advantage of a publishing house? It is that we have a book number and the right to issue publications.

In a sense, our publishing house is just a factory that produces cultural works.

Since it is a factory that produces cultural works, it is necessary to choose which product sells more money.

For example, the martial arts novel you mentioned, general manager, is a very good product.

As far as we are concerned, we don’t need to create novels ourselves at all, we just need to find the works of famous writers, then use them directly and print and publish them directly.”

"Oh?" Cao Zhiqiang frowned slightly, "Tell me specifically how to do it."

Zhao Shouwen smiled softly: "General Manager, do you know "Wulin" magazine?"

Cao Zhiqiang nodded: "Of course I know."

Zhao Shouwen also nodded and said, "It's good to know."

Then, Zhao Shouwen continued: "The magazine Wulin was originally just a periodical in Guangzhou that mainly introduced martial arts.

In the beginning, this journal was not very eye-catching. What is the reason that made this humble martial arts journal suddenly become popular all over the country?

It was based on the serialization of a martial arts novel called "The Legend of the Heroes of Shooting".

Although the magazine later discontinued its serialization, its popularity has been boosted by the serialization of the novel. Coupled with the craze for martial arts, the magazine has now sold more than three million copies, making it the number one magazine in circulation in my country.

If they can do it, why can't we?

To be honest, I have a manuscript of "The Book of Swords and Enemies", a complete series of "The Legend of the Heroes of Shooting and Falling", and even Mr. Jin Yong's "Flying Fox in the Snow Mountain".

These books have all proven to be good enough to attract people to buy.

We have ISBNs, so we can rebind these contents into books and publish them directly.

Or, in our newly established journal, we can directly serialize the complete "The Legend of the Heroes of the Withering Heroes" and the "Snow Mountain Flying Fox" that has not been published in the mainland.

Publish this content and you will definitely make money without losing money, so why not?

Isn’t it more prudent to wait until our publishing house makes money and gets on the right track to publish your personal works, general manager?”

Upon hearing this, many people below couldn't help but start whispering among themselves, but the meaning behind the words was that they all agreed with Zhao Shouwen's statement.

After frowning for a while, Cao Zhiqiang waved his hand: "Quiet, please be quiet first."

When everyone calmed down, Cao Zhiqiang looked at Zhao Shouwen with a serious face: "Comrade Zhao Shouwen, do you know what you are talking about?"

"Of course I know." Zhao Shouwen was stunned and said, "Is there something wrong with what I said?"

"This is a big problem!" Cao Zhiqiang said, "You said you want us to publish Mr. Jin Yong's novels "The Legend of the Withered Heroes", "Books and Swords" and "Snow Mountain Flying Fox", right?"

"That's right." Zhao Shouwen nodded, "The Legend of the Heroes of Shooting and Swordsman and the Records of Enmity and Enmity with Swords have actually been circulated in the mainland of our country for a long time, but they are not widely circulated and most of the manuscripts are incomplete.

The Snow Mountain Flying Fox has not yet entered the country, and is only spread in a small area in Guangdong.

But it is not difficult for us to collect these novels.

We will sort out the content of these novels and publish them serially in our newly established journal. This will definitely become a hit.

Once the journal becomes popular and famous, it will be much easier for us to find other people to invite manuscripts to be accepted.

Of course, you don’t actually need to find anyone else to write for you.

When our publishing house has money, we can directly send people to Xiangjiang to bring back all the famous martial arts novels from Xiangjiang, such as Mr. Jin Yong's, Mr. Gu Long's, and Mr. Liang Yusheng's, and then copy them directly.

Just publish the simplified Chinese version.

Once these people's novels are published, our publishing house will not have any risks and will definitely prosper!"

"Don't talk about this in a hurry." Cao Zhiqiang waved his hand.

"If you do this, how will the copyright be calculated?

Let’s just talk about Jin Yong and Liang Yusheng. Do you know how high their current copyright fees are?

If I want to publish their book, I can’t afford their copyright fees now!”

Zhao Shouwen was stunned: "Copyright fees? Why should we pay them copyright fees?"

Cao Zhiqiang was also stunned: "You, you don't want to just publish their books without paying royalties, right?"

"Yes." Zhao Shouwen nodded.

Cao Zhiqiang blinked: "This, isn't this piracy? This, this will cause a big problem!"

"What's the big problem?" Zhao Shouwen asked.

"Sue us?" Cao Zhiqiang said, "What if Mr. Jin Yong and the others find out and sue us for piracy and copyright infringement and ask us to compensate for the losses?"

Zhao Shouwen looked at Cao Zhiqiang, then smiled and shook his head: "General Manager, are you worried about this? You are worried that people like Jin Yong will sue us for piracy and infringement because we publish their novels without permission, and then ask us to sue us for copyright infringement.

Are they making compensation?"

"Yes!" Cao Zhiqiang nodded.

Zhao Shouwen sighed: "General Manager, what you said makes me...I don't even know how to answer you."

"What do you mean by that?" Cao Zhiqiang asked with a frown, "Speak directly if you have something to say?"

"Let me tell you." Yu Deli suddenly glared at Zhao Shouwen, "Zhao Shouwen, please say a few words first, only you can say it! You are the only one who knows more!"

Zhao Shouwen was stunned: "Editor-in-Chief, I actually..."

Snapped!

Yu Deli suddenly slammed the table and said angrily to Zhao Shouwen: "Shut up!"

After the other party remained silent, Yu Deli said to Zhao Shouwen with a livid face: "Zhao Shouwen, what do you want to do? Huh?

How old is the general manager? He was not in our industry before, so it is normal for him not to understand this industry.

However, what’s so great about knowing something?

There are many insiders who know the business, but how many insiders have you seen who can open a publishing house at his age?

So, the general manager can build a publishing house from scratch and make all aspects smooth. This is his ability!

And neither you nor I can achieve this ability.

As for being an expert or not, does that matter?

Who is born knowing everything?

Once you get into the industry and gradually get in touch, won’t you gradually understand everything?

However, if the general manager wants to know his business, it takes time and some patience from us.

Even if you have to remind the general manager, you must pay attention to the methods.

For example, can't you discuss these suggestions with the general manager in private?

Why do you have to tell the general manager directly at this meeting?

Or, do you think I don’t know what you’re talking about?

Why didn't I object before?

Am I not as good as you?

That's because I know the methods and methods, and I know that even if I want to object, I have to talk slowly and privately.

You have to show respect to our general manager. Do you understand respect?

It's during the meeting. You directly contradict the general manager, making it difficult for him to get off the stage, and making everyone think that the general manager doesn't understand anything. Does this show your ability?

I take it you don’t want to do this anymore, right?

If you are really like this, then our temple here is too small to accommodate your statue..."

"Stop!" Cao Zhiqiang suddenly interrupted Yu Deli in time, "Stop talking!"

"General Manager!" Yu Deli looked at Cao Zhiqiang with a livid face, "I'm sorry, it's my fault. I didn't control him strictly and that's why this happened. Don't worry, I will tell him to pack up and get out immediately. We can't have this kind of self-righteousness here.

guy!"

"Okay, okay, stop talking." Cao Zhiqiang shook his head, "I think Xiao Zhao is quite good, at least he dares to speak. Is it possible that my subordinates are just a bunch of sycophants?"

Speaking of this, Cao Zhiqiang smiled kindly at the earth-colored Zhao Shouwen: "It's okay, Xiao Zhao, Lao Yu is joking with you, don't worry."

Zhao Shouwen laughed a few times: "Yes, yes!"

Immediately afterwards, Zhao Shouwen suddenly stood up and bowed violently to Cao Zhiqiang: "I'm sorry, general manager, I am self-righteous, it's me..."

"Stop!" Cao Zhiqiang frowned, "Don't you understand what people are saying? Sit down!"

Zhao Shouwen was suddenly startled by Cao Zhiqiang's scolding, and then sat down again, but he sat upright.

Cao Zhiqiang waved his hand, and then said to Yu Deli: "Lao Yu, look at you, you are scaring others."

Yu Deli frowned and said: "General Manager, you can't lose your dignity. If he doesn't give you face like this, where is your prestige?"

Cao Zhiqiang chuckled: "What does it mean to be prestigious or not? There are just a dozen or so people, how can they be superior and inferior? It's boring. Life is too tiring."

Immediately afterwards, Cao Zhiqiang reacted: "By the way, I almost went off topic when I was interrupted by Lao Yu."

After clearing his throat, Cao Zhiqiang looked at Zhao Shouwen again and said in an elegant and easy-going manner:

"Xiao Zhao, don't be afraid.

You're right, I don't understand many things, so I have to ask you.

You don’t need to give me any methods or private suggestions.

I'm impatient and don't have the time or effort.

Speaking directly is what suits my temper best.

So, what about you, tell me the truth now.

If I listen to you and directly pirate Jin Yong’s novels, what should I do if he sues us for infringement and asks us to compensate for the infringement, but we can’t pay it?”