A 5% royalty is indeed the conscience price of a newcomer. Many newcomers are not even qualified to obtain royalties and are sold directly at a cabbage price of two or three hundred words.

If you want to make money by writing books, unless it is a very large background or the quality of the books is extremely high, it is difficult to get royalty income when you make a debut - female work.

But Lin Han didn't have the idea of ​​making such a decision. The novel he got was a best-selling novel on earth for decades. Since its birth in the 1950s, this "I, Robot" has been sold in dozens of countries around the world and has been translated into major and small languages ​​in the world.

Even in the 21st century, several publishing houses in mainland China have completed the translation work and named it one of the Galaxy Empire series. They are even praised as the science fiction Bible by Jiangsu Literature and Art Publishing House. The sales have been very high on websites such as Jingdong, Dangdang, and Amazon. It is one of the children's favorite extracurricular reading materials.

Needless to say, Europe and the United States have been growing steadily. Thanks to the stimulation of the science fiction movie "I, Robot" starring Will Smith, this novel, which has been published for 50 years, once again ranked among the top ten in the New York Times book sales list around 2004, creating a myth in the science fiction world.

Only Verne's "Twenty Thousand Years Under the Sea" and "Travels in the Center of the Earth" are science fiction novels that are listed as must-read projects in textbooks.

If Lin Han had handed over the copyright of simplified Chinese publishing like this, the original author might have wanted to strangle this prodigal son to death.

He had discussed the issue of royalties with Chen Jiaxuan before, so he still had some understanding of these ratios. Even though he knew that his book would sell millions of copies or even more, it would be a waste of resources if he didn't bargain.

So he said, "Mr. Zhao, as an ordinary new author, I think it's a good thing to publish, but I also have a literary agent who has helped me contact the "Science Fiction World". The introduction and first chapter of this novel will be published in the December issue. I wonder if this film will affect the publication?"

Zhao Han's face remained unchanged. He felt regretful in his heart, "What kind of literary agent is a new author? Who doesn't know that those agents are vampires, and they want to dig out more benefits from the publishing house."

If a publisher wants to publish a book successfully, the manpower and material resources must be invested in extraordinary ways. Editing, art, typography, proofreading, printing, distribution, and finance are indispensable.

The author's royalties are not divided according to profits, but are divided into sales. For example, if a book priced at 30 yuan is sold for 10,000 copies, the author's royalties are 5%, so the money that the author can get is 30*10,000*5%=15,000.

If the sales volume is very small, it is better to sign and buy out directly than to calculate the author's royalties based on royalties. Therefore, when it is on earth, many publishing houses have become a problem, and they can only rely on book sales and sponsorships to make a living.

Fortunately, the copyright protection in this world is good, and pirated copies are not dared to appear easily, and people's reading atmosphere is also very good. Basically, publishers can make profits very healthy.

If the issuance price of a book is 50 yuan, then the publisher can basically only earn about 5 yuan. Most of the rest are costs, including author's remuneration and proofreading costs, rental costs, raw materials and auxiliary materials costs, plate making costs, printing and packaging (production) costs, publishing losses, cataloging costs, management costs, financial costs, operating costs, etc.

However, various bookstores and online book purchases will have certain discounts. Few novels are sold at a price, basically 100% off, which will naturally have a lower profit margin.

Anyone who has published knows that books cannot be sold all of them after printing. There are always returns, some are unsold and some are damaged. Most publishers have scrapped rates of around 10%, and a small number are set at 20%, which is a considerable loss.

In the end, you can't forget to pay taxes. The current tax rate of 1.13 will also share the profits, so the publisher is not as profitable as he imagined.

As the saying goes, small profits and quick turnovers. If more books are sold, the printing cost will actually be lower and lower. Therefore, the more popular the book is, the more money it makes.

Li Wenyuan praised Lin Han in his heart. It would be a loss if this book only signed a 5% royalty. As long as the Renmin University Press promotes it a little more seriously, you can get a novel with a very good sales volume.

Lin Han is not lacking in publishing houses to contact now. He has his own confidence. The quality of the book "I, Robot" is his greatest weight, and anyone with discerning eyes will definitely not push this out.

Zhao Han also saw that the novel was selling well, so he took out a business card from his pocket and said with a smile: "Xiaolin, if you have time in the afternoon, you can ask your agent to talk about this matter. It would be better to publish the novel earlier. So many of us are waiting for the later part of the novel!"

"No problem, I'll send her a message right away, and I can sit down and chat slowly." Lin Han shrugged. At this time, the waiter started serving the dishes, so he continued, "Everyone, let's have a meal first, this is the most important thing."

Chinese people basically talk about business at the dinner table. Today, Zhao Han has to negotiate with his agent later, so he restrained his idea of ​​drinking. If he drinks and accidentally reveals the bottom line, it will be a big trouble.

After lunch, the group separated. Li Wenyuan sent Tong Yonglie away from the National People's Congress, while the other two professors went back to work, leaving only Lin Han, Zhao Han and Liu Jun, the people from the National People's Congress Press chatting in the teahouse not far away.

Renmin University Press is a nationally renowned brand. It is the first university publisher after the founding of New China, but now it is in a semi-detached state. It has established a publishing group and operates in a corporate manner. It has many branches, such as the Economic Publishing Branch, Business Administration, Law, Examination, Education, Academic Publishing House, Audio-Video Publishing House, Applied Technology Branch, and Popular Book Publishing Center.

Zhao Han happens to be the vice president in charge of the Mass Publishing Center. This is mainly based on publications for the public, such as novels, autobiography, various translations and some guidance. It is more popular than the professional books above and everyone can understand it.

When Chen Jiaxuan arrived in Maserati, Lin Han felt relieved. He was not good at dealing with people, especially such an old fox, who was trying to get his bottom line every minute.

***************************************
Chapter completed!