In the Hanmo Studio——
Jia Heng said: "The stories of the Three Kingdoms that are popular in the world are all scattered and difficult to tie up. The plot of the story in this manuscript is absolutely different from that of other stories. The rest of the story is exciting, especially in the opening chapter."
Liu Tong pondered for a moment and said with a smile: "No one knows about the rest of the story..."
Jia Heng said with a smile: "How about I finish the manuscript and give it to Mr. Liu to take a look at it? But at that time, it is still a matter of debate whether I can sell it at Mr. Liu's place."
Liu Tong couldn't help but laugh and said: "I am amazed today. I believe in Mr. Jia's talent."
"How much does Mr. Jia want to pay?" Liu Tong said.
Jia Heng said: "How much can Mr. Liu give?"
Liu Tong pondered for a moment, smiled, and stretched out four fingers.
Jia Heng said: "Four hundred taels?"
Liu Tong couldn't help but laugh again and said in a condensed voice: "Forty taels."
Jia Heng frowned and said: "Mr. Liu, it took a lot of effort to write so many words just now. Even if I write banners and fight with others, I can still get one or two taels."
In this era, one tael was roughly exchanged for copper coins ranging from 1,000 to 1,500 taels. In different periods, depending on the fineness of the silver taels and the size of the copper coins, there were fluctuations. Unlike later generations, the currency value was stable.
As for prices, one tael of silver can sell for more than three hundred kilograms of rice and one hundred kilograms of fine pork.
In Jia Heng's mind, the purchasing power of one tael of silver is roughly equivalent to more than 1,000 RMB. Forty taels is equivalent to 40,000 to 50,000 yuan. At this price, how can one buy a 120-chapter, nearly 600,000-word manuscript? Speaking of which, it is obviously a bit low.
Of course, as a businessman, Liu Tong must have left some room for counter-offering.
As for the division of revenue by volume, it is actually not feasible because Jia Heng cannot know how many volumes Hanmo Zhai can sell, and he cannot send people to monitor it.
After all, in this era, booksellers dominated the industry chain of book printing and sales. Except for a very small number of famous authors who were published and could negotiate a share of the profits, a large number of authors were almost all bought out.
How about saying that writing has been poor for three generations, and writing books can ruin a life?
Most of the people who write books are in poverty...
Liu Tongtong: "How can this be compared? Besides, I'm afraid Mr. Jia doesn't know the market. Even if he is a talented scholar, he only has one or two taels of silver to write this."
Jia Heng smiled and said: "Mr. Liu, you and I might as well be more honest. How about being honest?"
His psychological price is three hundred taels, which is three to four hundred thousand yuan.
After all, it is one of the Four Great Masterpieces. If it were to be passed down to future generations, this kind of masterpiece would at least allow him to achieve financial freedom with just one book.
"How much do you want, Mr. Jia?" Liu Tong smiled and said, as a businessman, sometimes he likes to wait for you to negotiate the price.
Jia Heng said: "Just four hundred taels."
Liu Tong couldn't help laughing, twirling his beard with his hand, and said: Mr. Jia really dares to speak, four hundred taels? After selling this book, you may not get 400 taels of profit. "
This is just talking nonsense.
Jia Heng said: "Why should Mr. Liu hide it from me? If this book is published all over the world, the profit will be more than a few thousand taels?"
In his opinion, the publication of Romance of the Three Kingdoms will probably become popular all over the world.
This is the charm of the four great classics.
Liu Tong smiled bitterly and said: "How can there be so many? Hiring people to print, make seals, and so on all costs nothing. Hanmo Zhai can make a profit of four hundred taels, which is already great. Besides, I am only in Beijing. If there are semicolons in several provinces such as Zhongnan, Jinling, Zhejiang, and Fujian, how can they be distributed throughout the country?"
Jia Heng smiled and said: "Since the old gentleman thinks that the profit is less than 400 taels, what if it is not as good as you and me? If a book is sold, Jia will get a profit of five taels of silver. What does the old gentleman think about this?" ?”
This is the split model. Jia Heng himself is not optimistic about the split. Of course, this is the reason.
Liu Tong smiled and said, "Master Jia is joking. I don't know, Master Jia, I am taking a huge risk in publishing this book. There is no need to waste money on engraving or using materials. If we lose money, do we have to waste money?" Isn’t it possible to find the young master to make up for him?”
Jia Heng pondered for a moment, that's why it's so difficult to split the price. Hanmozhai has the final say on the cost?
How is this different from the net profit sharing of the operating expenses of a certain article in later generations?
After some back-and-forth negotiations, until noon, Jia Heng's "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" was finally sold to Hanmo Zhai for two hundred and forty taels, which was considered to be two taels for one time.
Also tell Jia Heng a truth.
If you write a book, you will probably starve to death.
"A masterpiece like The Romance of the Three Kingdoms only sells for two hundred and forty taels. These unscrupulous booksellers..."
Although Jia Heng was speechless, he was helpless.
The main reason is that he is not famous. I think after this one, once he sees the sales volume, he will have the power to negotiate the price when he releases a new book.
Of course, in isolation, two hundred and forty taels is considered a lot. If you live in a middle-income family, it will be enough to support you for a year.
As far as he knew, the publishing industry in this era already had a complete industrial chain. Needless to say, official engraving and private engraving were already very developed. Booksellers like Hanmozhai, which integrated production and sales, had their own workshops, their printing costs are almost negligible.
The required labor costs are all engraving and engraving.
Of course, Jia Heng didn't know that, taking the "Collected Works of Mr. Yuzhang Luo" published during the Jiajing period as an example, there were 83 boards carved with two sides, a total of 161 pages, and the engraver was paid 24 taels of silver.
Taking the Jiguge Pavilion carving as an example, every hundred words cost three and a half cents of silver. It can be said that the cost of engraving and printing is also low.
And the books are extremely expensive, with each book costing only three to five taels. Especially the popular books are best-sellers.
In the publishing history of Jia Heng's previous life, Jin Ying of the Qing Dynasty once said in "Proverbs Lian Bi": "Selling ancient books is not as good as selling contemporary texts, and printing contemporary texts is not as good as printing novels."
You can get a glimpse of the popularity of popular novels.
When Jia Heng entered the Hanmo Studio, did he go straight to the Shiwen section?
But booksellers have the advantage of this channel.
Even in later generations, a black-hearted certain reading channel fee was divided into 1.4%, a certain author gave himself a reward of 100 yuan, and the backend received 1 yuan and 40.
"Mr. Jia, please hand in the remaining manuscripts on time before the end of the month." Liu Tong picked up the paper and pen, wrote the manuscript agreement, raised his head and said to Jia Heng with a smile.
The old man's smile was much kinder.
From this business, Hanmozhai conservatively estimated that he could earn more than two thousand taels. How could he not feel happy about it? Not to mention, if you submit this new manuscript to your master, you will be greatly rewarded.
Hanmozhai has not encountered a good manuscript for a long time.
But at this moment, neither Jia Heng nor Han Mo Zhai represents what "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" actually means.
Jia Heng pondered for a moment and said: "Old sir, why don't you hand over the fifteen chapters first? I'll send them to you in the next few days. I've been involved in many things lately and I can't get rid of them."
The Romance of the Three Kingdoms has nearly 600,000 words. Even if he copied it, it would still take time. He recently had to learn riding and archery from Xie Zaiyi, and he also had to prepare to marry Qin Keqing. He was so busy with everything that he could only find time to write for two hours every day.
Liu Tong smiled and said: "There's no rush, our Hanmo Studio will publish the book in fifteen chapters. It will be fine if Mr. Jia can send the fifteen chapters before the end of this month."
Chapter 15, Jia Heng secretly said that he is a profiteer!
A book is priced at least three taels of silver. With the virtue of Hanmo Studio, it is impossible to make it into a hardcover edition. It is priced at five taels. A set of "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" is only forty taels. Who can afford it?
He, the original author, can’t even afford to buy a few copies!
However, this price is not an exaggeration. According to historical data, a set of 100 chapters of "Journey to the West" during the Jiajing period was about forty taels.
It can be said that the customers for this kind of books are scholars and wealthy officials.
As for ordinary people, limited by their literacy rate, most of them hear stories from storytellers who turned from failed scholars, and then wait until pirated and reprinted copies, and the price drops...
Hanmozhai is currently in the first round of sales, and it is in the high-end market...
