Reborn in 1977

Chapter 543: A Big Score

Generally speaking, when a foreign work is brought to a country, the publisher doesn't directly connect with the original author of the work. Instead, a "translator" first translates the work into the local language and then submits it to the publisher.

Alternatively, the publisher might take a fancy to a certain work and find a translator themselves, hiring them to translate it on a buyout basis.

In the former case, the publisher needs to pay the original author a one-time copyright fee, which is a single sum of money that's gone once it's paid. Then, at a rate slightly lower than the original author's royalty standard, they pay the translator a fee. If the work has the potential to become a bestseller, they also need to pay royalties.

In the latter case, the publisher only needs to pay two one-time fees: one to the original author and one for the translation. Subsequent income has nothing to do with the author or translator.

Unless it's a "contracted author."

That is, the publisher directly commissions a foreign author, which is the same as with a local author. They have to pay both a copyright fee and royalties. It doesn't matter if the work is old or new; the aim is long-term cooperation, not a one-off deal.

Originally, Takahashi Hideo had the idea of repaying a favor first, and then thought about bringing Chen Fan's work to Japan and sending him money.

As for the translation fee, it would naturally be borne by the publisher.

Now that Mr. Chen knows Japanese, they can directly sign a contract with him and have him translate it himself.

In this way, paying him the highest possible royalty fee would be reasonable and wouldn't raise questions from the industry association.

In Japan, industry associations have some regulatory power to ensure that all companies in the industry follow the explicit or implicit industry rules and ensure that the rules are not broken.

So even if Takahashi Hideo wanted to give money, he had to do it according to the rules.

But when he saw Chen Fan putting dozens of magazines on the coffee table, Takahashi Hideo began to doubt whether he could afford the royalties for so many works.

Chen Fan cleared his throat and smiled slightly at the awakened crowd, "As everyone knows, writers like to use pen names. I'm learning from many predecessors and using several pen names to submit articles to different magazines."

Then he looked at Zhao Junhui and the others, "It's just that this matter hasn't been made public, so please, Comrade Zhao, and these two comrades, don't spread it around."

Zhao Junhui exhaled a long breath, turned his head to look at the pile of magazines, "Teacher Chen, how many magazines have you submitted to?"

Chen Fan smiled, "Not many, only a dozen or so."

Zhao Junhui stared blankly and was speechless. There are only a dozen or so provincial-level literary publications that have resumed operation nationwide, okay? It's like you've swept them all up!

What kind of person is this?

He nodded with mixed feelings, "Don't worry, we will definitely not spread it."

He silently added in his heart, 'Except when the leader asks.'

While speaking, he couldn't help but glance at Zhu Gong'an.

Zhu Gong'an blinked repeatedly with a cigarette in his mouth. Should this matter be reported or not?

Chen Fan didn't look at him. His little secrets were not a secret at all in the Nanhugong Commune.

Take submitting articles under a pen name, for example. He didn't expect the people from a dozen or so Luwan Delicatessen stores to keep it a secret for him. At most, it would be revealed a little later.

Maybe someone secretly told the people around them from the very beginning, "Let me tell you a secret, but you must not tell anyone else, you know? Teacher Chen is also submitting articles to other magazines…"

Then others told others, "Let me tell you a secret, so-and-so told me, but you must not tell anyone else…"

So Chen Fan didn't care at all whether Zhu Gong'an would tell others. At most, it would just be a family matter.

Now there are no Moments or Douyin, where you can post something and the whole world will know. In this era, transportation and letters are slow, and the speed of information dissemination is even slower, almost on a yearly basis.

If it's not reported in newspapers or radio stations, a major event that happens in one place may take several years to spread to other provinces.

By that time, maybe his cover will have been blown long ago, so what is there to be afraid of?

Seeing that Chen Fan didn't tell him anything, Zhu Gong'an thought that Teacher Chen trusted him very much, so he immediately made up his mind not to tell anyone!

Unless the leader takes the initiative to ask!

Chen Fan turned to Takahashi Hideo and said, "Although there seem to be many books, my articles don't take up much space. Each magazine only has a dozen or twenty pages of content, so there's not much in total."

Takahashi Hideo held a magazine in his hand and quickly calculated silently in his mind. For this kind of magazine layout, the content of each page is generally within 800 words, so one page is about 1,500 words.

Just now, Mr. Chen said that each magazine has a dozen or twenty pages of content. Taking the average, that's 30,000 words?

There are 16 magazines here. The most published is 'Jiangnan Literature and Art,' with 12 copies, and the least is 5 copies. The most are 7 copies…

After a while, he came to the conclusion in his mind that the total number of words should be between 3 million and 3.5 million words.

Taking the average of 3.2 million, if translated into Japanese, it may be expanded, so the number of original manuscripts is about 10,000 sheets?

The royalty fee for each sheet is 2,500 yen, so the original manuscript royalty fee alone will be 25 million yen?

The current exchange rate between the yen and the US dollar is about 210 yen to 1 US dollar, and the yen is still appreciating, which is almost 120,000 US dollars?

As for the subsequent royalties, generally a book can be published with 100,000 to 200,000 words. Depending on the number of words, the price is around 600 yen or 1,000 yen.

(In 1984, 'Japanese Housing Stories' was priced at 950 yen, not much different from 1978)

The content of 3.2 million words can be published in 20 separate volumes. Assuming a price of 800 yen per book, with an initial print run of 10,000 copies, that's 22.4 million yen.

Equivalent to about 107,000 US dollars.

Adding the two together, that's about 230,000 US dollars?!

After Takahashi Hideo finished calculating, he exhaled a long breath in his heart. A mere 230,000 US dollars, he could still afford it. He was just scared by so many books just now.

Moreover, when these articles are published, he will be able to get his money back, and maybe even make a profit!

He can both repay his kindness and make money. This is a good deal!

After thinking, he turned to face Chen Fan and nodded slightly, bowing in salute, "Mr. Chen, on behalf of Takahashi Publishing House, I sincerely request to sign a contract for all of your works. Please be sure to agree to my request."

Chen Fan raised his eyebrows slightly. He agreed so easily, which further confirmed his guess.

He must have come to repay a favor!

However, there is no reason to refuse money that is sent to his door, especially money from the Japanese.

At worst, he will write another bestseller for him to publish in the future, so that he won't lose money.

He nodded lightly, "Mr. Takahashi, you don't need to be so polite. I agree to your request. It's just that our works need to obtain the consent of relevant departments before they can be published abroad."

Seeing Takahashi's expression change, he couldn't help but smile, "Don't worry about this. I'll take care of it."

Culture and propaganda are all one family. Is this difficult?

What's more, the works he writes are both red and professional, and will only receive encouragement and support. There is absolutely no possibility of being deliberately made difficult.

Who dares to make things difficult? I'll go to the Writers Association to complain!

A smile reappeared on Takahashi's face, and he bowed slightly again, "Thank you, Mr. Chen, for your trust. Our Takahashi Publishing House will do our best to publish your work well."

After a pause, he said seriously, "Regarding the matter of royalties, it is like this. According to industry practice in our country, for completed works, the original manuscript fee and the first edition royalties will be paid upon signing. This money will not be affected by whether the publication is smooth or the number of copies issued, and will be paid in full upon signing.

If a reprint is needed, there will be no original manuscript fee, but royalties will be paid according to the number of reprints, which will also be paid in full before the reprint.

Now that your work is complete, I will pay you this fee on behalf of the company when we sign the contract..."

Hearing this, Chen Fan was all smiles.

Well, he was wondering when the royalties for "Yunhu Love" and "Shanghai Spy Shadow" would arrive, but he didn't expect to receive money so soon. He wondered how much it would be?

It shouldn't be too low, right?!

Then he heard Takahashi Hideo continue, "I have roughly estimated that the total number of words in your work should be around 3.2 million?"

Chen Fan thought for a while, "About that."

When he said this, he was a little emotional. He had been writing diligently for a whole year and only managed to write so many words. It wasn't easy!

Oh, and "Yunhu Love" and "Shanghai Spy Shadow" weren't included.

Takahashi Hideo was happy to hear that he hadn't miscalculated, and then said, "If translated into Japanese, it may increase slightly, so we will calculate it based on 10,000 manuscript pages, plus the royalties for the first edition. I have roughly estimated that the manuscript fee and royalties to be paid to you together are 230,000 US dollars..."

As soon as these words came out, everything was silent.

Chen Fan remained calm on the surface, but he was frantically calculating in his heart. After two seconds, he came to the conclusion: 387,320 yuan!

A big windfall!

But it's a loss.

The current exchange rate is 1.684, but last year it was still 1.73, the year before was 1.88, the year before that was 1.9663, the year before that... in 1971 it was 2.2673.

The RMB is appreciating year by year!

Then he comforted himself in his heart, fortunately, fortunately, by the end of the year it will be 1.5771, and next year it will be 1.4962.

It will be close to the peak here, and then it will begin to depreciate year by year, with the bottom being 8.6187 in 1994.

In fact, it is still higher than the black market's 1 to 10 or 12.

During the most popular period of going abroad in the 1990s, there was even an astronomical price of 1 to 20, that is, 20 yuan for 1 US dollar.

But don't think about keeping the US dollars until then, because this foreign exchange will not reach his own hands at all. All foreign exchange bills will be converted into RMB when withdrawing money, and at most a "Overseas Chinese Remittance Certificate" will be issued according to the value.

The Overseas Chinese Remittance Certificate has been explained before. With this, you can buy popular goods and imported goods in foreign-related places such as Friendship Stores. Unlike the Foreign Exchange Certificate, which can be used directly as money, the Overseas Chinese Remittance Certificate needs to be used together with money, until it was abolished in 1992.

As for the standard for the distribution ratio of Overseas Chinese Remittance Certificates, cough cough, this is not fixed. The specific amount is up to the leaders.

The lowest time was 5% or 6%, and the highest time was only 30%, which is 30 yuan of Overseas Chinese Remittance Certificates for 100 yuan, which is not comparable to Foreign Exchange Certificates at all.

Unfortunately, the users of Foreign Exchange Certificates are mainly "foreign" and Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan residents. Unless someone is willing to immigrate, don't think about getting Foreign Exchange Certificates through formal channels.

Chen Fan was still calculating here, while Zhao Junhui, who was sitting next to him, was already shocked.

230,000 US dollars?

That's too exaggerated!

Many large state-owned enterprises find it difficult to achieve this goal, but he alone can earn so much foreign exchange?!

When he came back to his senses, Zhao Junhui only felt a surge of energy and blood, and his face was instantly flushed.

What was he doing here with the little Japanese?

Wasn't it just to earn more foreign exchange?!

Now that there is an extra 230,000 US dollars of foreign exchange, no matter what happens next, his task has been overfulfilled. With this income alone, he is confident that he can move his position up again.

The two people who came with him were also very excited, with the same thoughts as Zhao Junhui.

Who said that pie cannot fall from the sky?

Isn't it right in front of you!

As for Zhu Gongan, he was frantically calculating whether to run back and report it now?

230,000 US dollars, no matter where the lawsuit is fought, this money was earned by the people of Nanhugong Commune. Can't we leave some for Nanhugong Commune?!

When this money arrives, won't he and the police station get a lot of credit?

Putting aside other things, shouldn't the salary be raised by one level?

Takahashi Hideo didn't know that he was just taking a breath, and some people in this room were already thinking about how to divide the money.

He picked up the teacup and took a sip, then put it down and continued, "Mr. Chen, your work still needs to be translated into Japanese before it can be published. I wonder how long it will take you to submit the manuscript. Of course, I'm talking about delivering it in stages. It is impossible to translate so many words all at once. You can submit the manuscript according to different works."

Hearing this, Zhao Junhui immediately woke up from his dream and asked impatiently, "Takahashi-san, is it true that we can't get the royalties without submitting the translated manuscript?"

The three of Zhu Gongan next to him also looked at Takahashi Hideo with nervous faces.

Chen Fan was very calm.

Anyway, the meat is already in the pot, and it's up to him to decide when to eat it.

Takahashi Hideo looked at them strangely, chuckled and said, "It doesn't matter. We can add relevant clauses to the contract, pay the manuscript fee and royalties at the time of signing, and then submit the manuscript according to the agreed time."

Hearing this, Zhao Junhui breathed a sigh of relief.

The effect of receiving a little bit of scattered income and receiving 230,000 US dollars at one time is completely different.

Isn't it just submitting the manuscript? As long as the foreign exchange can arrive, he is sure that the leaders of the relevant departments can assign tasks to Japanese translation writers throughout the province to deliver the manuscript on time!

Chen Fan didn't know that someone was already thinking about him, looking for ghostwriters to cheat. Seeing that Takahashi Hideo was so straightforward, he nodded with a smile, "In that case, after I report the situation to the leader and get permission, we can sign the contract at any time."

Takahashi Hideo nodded with a smile, "Then I will have someone draft the contract first. When the good news arrives from you, we will officially sign the contract."

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhao Junhui turned to discuss with the two colleagues, "I will call the unit later to report the situation. You should also report this situation and ask the leaders of the unit to urge the Cultural Department to complete the review as soon as possible."

The two nodded without hesitation, "Okay."

Although they all knew that Chen Fan's work would not be blocked, how could their unit not move to get a share of the pie?

(I have a cold again. I couldn't even open my eyes yesterday. I used to have a cold once every three to five years, but this year I have had a cold three to five times, and each time it is very serious o (╥﹏╥) o)