Reborn in 1977

They gathered today for a meeting to discuss the correspondence center. Now that they had successfully lured Chen Fan into the pit, they naturally dusted off their behinds and left.

Soon, only He Qingsheng and Chen Fan remained in the room.

As Xu Qizhen, the last to leave, closed the office door, He Qingsheng stood up, walked to the opposite side of Chen Fan, sat down, tossed him a cigarette, and said, "The foreign exchange for your manuscript fee has been reviewed and is almost ready. You should receive the remittance slip in a few days."

He leaned back on the sofa, a cigarette between his fingers, looked at Chen Fan with a smile, and said, "Good heavens, more than 380,000, almost 390,000 yuan! Not to mention now, even in the fifties, only a handful of great writers received such high manuscript fees. And it's not a one-time payment, but a slow accumulation. If people knew, their eyes would turn red."

Chen Fan smiled, put the cigarette in his mouth, picked up the kettle to pour water, and said, "I can't really count this as a one-time payment. It's the accumulation of a whole year, no, it should be all the novels I wrote before, the entire package sold to get this much money.

It's still Xiaobenzi giving a high price. Putting aside everything else, if the Translation Publishing House were willing to give manuscript fees according to foreign standards to Mr. Mao Dun and Mr. Ba Jin, wouldn't that be much more than me?!"

The Foreign Translation Publishing House was essentially freeloading. Including Mr. Li's works, domestic books almost never received royalties, and some didn't even receive manuscript fees. Their style was similar to CCTV: what's taken is mine, and they earned a lot of foreign exchange abroad.

So, it's just the different rules. Otherwise, how could Chen Fan earn so much money?

He Qingsheng nodded slightly, without saying a word.

After a few seconds, he changed the subject. "But speaking of which, such a large sum of money coming in will definitely attract the attention of those with ulterior motives. Although the general direction has been determined, the wind blows sometimes south, sometimes north, whether from above or below. There's no concrete way to handle it.

But no matter what, when you stick your neck out, you have to be prepared to be targeted. With so much money, what do you plan to do with it?"

He leaned back on the sofa, crossed his legs, looked at Chen Fan through the smoke, and smiled, "Don't think I'm after your money. I'm reminding you that if this money isn't handled properly, you'll have a headache."

Chen Fan smiled and shook his head, flicked the ash from his cigarette, and said, "You were also wealthy back in the day. If it weren't for the manuscript fee reform, a mere thirty-odd thousand wouldn't be a big deal for you. Besides, you have a family and a house now, you've seen many storms, and you probably don't even care about life and death, so you wouldn't care about this little bit of money."

Hearing this, He Qingsheng couldn't help but laugh loudly, "Although it has the suspicion of flattery, it's the truth."

Which of these provincial writers' association branch chairmen isn't a famous writer?

Since ancient times, writers have looked down on each other. Without some ability, how could they suppress other authors?!

He Qingsheng was naturally no exception. Back then, one of his articles could earn him thousands of yuan in manuscript fees. Coupled with the then-considerable print royalties, over the years, he had saved enough "retirement money" before the manuscript fee reform.

Although his net worth is not as high as Chen Fan's current income, it's not far off.

It's just that he is low-key and comes from a good background. Later, when his friends were in trouble, he secretly and openly helped a lot, so he has a considerable reputation in the Jiangnan literary world.

Therefore, when "Jiangnan Literature" was first republished, he was appointed as the editor-in-chief. When the Writers' Association was rebuilt, he was naturally elected as the first chairman.

As such, with his status and position, he would naturally not covet this little bit of money. His advice to Chen Fan was also sincere.

Chen Fan wasn't a fool either. He insisted on only taking work points in Lujiawan and didn't touch any business profits, because he knew the principle that wealth moves people's hearts.

Seeing He Qingsheng's reminder at this time, he said with a smile, "Don't worry, I've already considered it. As soon as this money arrives, I'll transfer it to my master. Almost all the old leaders know about his building a Taoist temple. With the money in his hands, no one will mess around."

Hearing this, He Qingsheng was speechless for a while.

He had also heard about Chen Fan's apprenticeship with several masters in Beijing. He didn't know the details, but he knew that it was enough to know that they came from the Second Field Army.

So he changed the subject, "I've already finished reading your 'Yunhu Love'. When I was in Beijing, I also asked Chen Huangmei, Mao Dun, and Ba Jin to take a look, and they all said it could be published.

Our publishing house has also started proofreading, typesetting, and other work. If all goes well, it will be officially published and distributed on May 1st. At that time, 'Jiangnan Literature' magazine will publish publication information to promote you."

This was internal advertising.

Chen Fan said with a smile, "No matter how much publicity you do, there's only the basic manuscript fee, right? You can't give me extra print royalties."

He Qingsheng rolled his eyes, "I wish!"

Now the leaders of the General Association have to act low-key, and even the agency office has to "live under someone else's roof." Who would dare to mention restoring print royalties at this time?!

Print royalties are different from royalties. Royalties are calculated directly as a percentage, for example, 10% royalties. Then, for every copy printed, the author must be paid a corresponding percentage of the money.

Print royalties, however, decrease in stages, and the percentage is very low.

For example, if the first batch is 10,000 copies, and the royalty percentage is 5%, then for copies 10,001 to 30,000, it will only be 3%, and above 30,000 copies, it may only be 1%, decreasing in this way.

Even if print royalties are restored a few years later, the percentage is pitifully low, far less than the standard before the cancellation of print royalties in the 1950s.

In addition, the price of books in China is low, generally only three to five mao. Even if a novel sells millions of copies, the author may only get a few thousand yuan in royalties, which is indeed a bit appalling compared to foreign countries.

Here, I have to mention Lao Wang, who was the first to offer royalty terms to publishing houses, which then ushered in the spring of high incomes for writers.

So now Chen Fan doesn't really pay attention to the sales of his works, because selling more has nothing to do with him.

If he really wants to make money, he can talk to Chairman He next year about affiliating and doing his own publishing. That's where the money will roll in!

He Qingsheng looked at Chen Fan, "Although you get a fixed manuscript fee, you should still try to sell as much as possible, which means…"

Chen Fan nodded and interjected, "The publishing house can earn more."

He Qingsheng looked at him speechlessly. After a few seconds, he waved his hand repeatedly to chase him away, "Get out, get out."

Chen Fan, "Don't! You haven't given me the office for the correspondence center yet. I have classes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings. Professor Xu has given me a huge reading list. I can't finish all the school's affairs. I want to take advantage of tomorrow's free time to get this done."

He Qingsheng thought for a while, "The office is quite tight now. You can use the External Liaison Department's office first, and then you can allocate the staff as you see fit. As long as you don't bring in new people, you can use their original desks."

After speaking, he looked up, "Do you need new people?"

Chen Fan blinked, "So, you're just giving me a shell corporation?"

Shell corporation?

This term is easy to understand. He Qingsheng immediately understood it. Then, his face stiffened, "How can you say it's a shell corporation? Don't you have an office and desks?

When you need to hold a meeting, you can just use the conference room upstairs, right? After the meeting, let them go back to their own offices and get busy. It won't affect anything!"

Chen Fan raised his hands. "Alright, I give up."

Then he looked up, "Then I'll apply for an assistant, specifically to be responsible for communication and document exchange."

He Qingsheng chuckled, "That's a secretary, isn't it? No problem. Anyway, your current level is high enough to have a secretary. I'll discuss it with them tomorrow and arrange it for you as soon as possible. I'll pick a good one."

Chen Fan held up one finger. "One last question."

He Qingsheng, "Speak."

Chen Fan held out his palm. "I have nowhere to stay tonight. Give me a letter of introduction so I can stay at the guest house."

Without a word, He Qingsheng walked behind his desk, opened a drawer, picked up a key and threw it to him, "The Writers Association has a few reserved rooms in the Cultural Palace Guest House. This room is yours."

Chen Fan caught the key in his hand, got up, and left.

He Qingsheng shouted from behind, "If the correspondence center doesn't make money, you'll have to return the key."

Chen Fan turned around, waved the key, and smiled, "Then I guess this room won't be returned!"

...

The next morning, Chen Fan finally walked into his office, which he had never been to before.

Director's Office of the European and American Branch of the Provincial Writers Association's External Liaison Department.

However, he was all alone. Apart from him, there wasn't even a dog in this department.

Sitting in the office, he was seriously considering whether to bring Duo Duo and Qiu Qiu over, so at least he would have some company.

Then, two figures walked to the door. One of them gently knocked on the door, "Director Chen."

Chen Fan looked up and saw Director Zhuang from the Writers Association office standing at the door. Behind her was a girl who was not tall, had an ordinary appearance, was not old, and whose eyes were full of clarity. She was looking at him expectantly, with a hint of excitement in her eyes.

After being stunned for two seconds, Chen Fan came back to his senses. Thinking of his conversation with He Qingsheng last night, a bad feeling welled up in his heart.

He stood up and said politely, "Director Zhuang, what's the matter?"

Director Zhuang stepped forward and said with a smile, "This morning, Chairman He told me to arrange a secretary for you."

She turned and pointed to the girl behind her, "This is a college student interning in our unit. Her name is Bian Huifang. She is a junior majoring in literature at Jiangnan University. She is about to graduate and has been assigned to our unit for internship in advance. She will also stay after formal graduation.

It just so happens that you need someone here, so I brought her over to you."

Chen Fan's heart sank to the bottom.

A female secretary?

Aren't they afraid of rumors?

He pursed his lips and looked at her face carefully. Well, the possibility of rumors should not be high.

Then he nodded with a smile, "Then thank you, Director Zhuang."

After Director Zhuang left, Chen Fan asked Bian Huifang to give a brief self-introduction.

Unsurprisingly, she was a local from the provincial capital, both of her parents were cadres, and she had older siblings. She had been an educated youth in the suburbs of the provincial capital for half a year, and she was recommended to go to university. Because the previous system was three years, although she was a junior, she was also about to graduate with a bachelor's degree.

Now that she was assigned to him, there was no need to ask. It was definitely to gain experience.

The leaders knew very well that there was no responsibility if the correspondence center was run poorly, but it was easy to gain achievements if it was run well. Could an ordinary clerk casually compete for such a good opportunity?

Chen Fan carefully looked at her twice and silently accepted the leader's arrangement.

What if he didn't accept it? Would he make a fuss over such a small matter?

Anyway, he would arrange the work as usual. If she couldn't even handle a little errand, then naturally he wouldn't have to mention it, and this little girl wouldn't appear in front of him.

After figuring this out, he began to arrange work, "Transfer all the information of the Writers Association members and the editors of the 'Jiangnan Literature' magazine. I want to select people."

Bian Huifang was stunned. Was she starting work already?

However, she reacted quickly, nodded immediately, turned around, and ran.

...

That whole day, Chen Fan arranged the affairs of the correspondence center properly.

First, there were the correspondence teachers and correspondence courses.

The creative center had courses. Chen Fan ticked the information. However, the creative center's information was aimed at mature authors and was not very suitable for newcomers. He wrote a few outlines and asked the creative center to compile teaching materials according to the outlines.

As for the correspondence teachers, he would select them from the Writers Association members and the editors of the 'Jiangnan Literature' magazine.

Now, the entire Jiangnan Province Writers Association branch has a total of 219 members. Apart from Chen Fan, they are basically old people who joined the association more than ten years ago.

These people are naturally qualified to be teachers for those young literature enthusiasts.

Chen Fan followed He Qingsheng's suggestion and selected some of them as teachers for the "branch schools" in various regions.

In fact, it was similar to the correspondence point of Jiangnan University in Yunhu area. The difference was that the teachers of their correspondence point were sent by the school, while the teachers of the Writers Association Correspondence Center were selected from the local area.

In this way, the students in the province can be divided into various regions, including the provincial capital area, which is also the responsibility of the provincial capital branch. The Provincial Correspondence Center can concentrate on receiving students from other provinces, which effectively reduces the burden on teachers.

With teachers and teaching materials, the next step to solve is the "classroom."

Fortunately, because it is a correspondence teaching method, there is no need to prepare a permanent classroom. One academic year is one year, and one or two face-to-face courses a year are enough.

Even if there are many people, they can be carried out in batches, four times a month, 500 people at a time, and more than 20,000 people can be completed in a year. Moreover, the branch associations in various regions can also be used.

By then, the Cultural Palace and the Provincial Capital Auditorium can be borrowed.

If not, large classrooms or auditoriums can also be borrowed from key universities such as Jiangnan University and Jiangnan Normal University, so the classroom problem is also easy to solve.

Finally, there is enrollment and student management.

If it were in later generations, enrollment would definitely require advertising, such as the Wenzhou "Literary Youth" magazine a few years later, which advertised in Wenhui Daily.

But now there is no such thing as advertising. The earliest commercial advertising will have to wait more than half a year, until January 28, 1979, when it will be broadcast by Shanghai TV Station.

So it is impossible to advertise directly at this time.

What to do?

It doesn't matter, you can't advertise, but you can write news!

So Chen Fan wrote a press release, talking about the Jiangnan Province Writers Association branch opening a "Literary Creation Correspondence Training Center", what is the significance of opening this correspondence center, what kind of convenience it provides for literary enthusiasts, and which well-known writers will personally teach the course.

Then there are registration methods, the number of applicants, and so on.

So a soft advertisement that can earn royalties and do publicity was born!