fleet street,
The Scotsman offices.
Editor-in-Chief Charles Alfred Cooper couldn't believe his ears when he listened to the reports from his clerks.
"You mean, sales increased by 3,700 copies?"
Scott laughed out loud and corrected: "It's 3,751 copies, you heard it right. In addition, I must remind you that the reason for this number is because you only distributed 8,000 newspapers in London. The upper limit of the increase is there, and 3,751 copies has already reached the top."
Cooper still looked in disbelief.
After a long time, he waved his hand to signal the clerk to go out, then slumped in his chair and rubbed his eyebrows with his fingers, digesting the shock that this incident brought to his heart.
"No Survivors" is a hit!
Prices for The Scotsman's Wednesday supplement have soared on the second-hand market over the course of the day.
There are many smart people in the UK who know the collectible value of this thing.
Just like the 1887 "Beaton Christmas Annual", which published Sherlock Holmes' debut novel "The Scarlet Study", it was sold for three hundred pounds.
Everyone wants to make money while lying down.
(Interestingly, Doyle's royalties were only £25 at the time.)
With the popularity of "No Survival", the mysterious name Lu has also spread in the streets and alleys.
People are wondering what kind of person he is.
Cooper sighed: "I didn't expect it to be a Chinese..."
As editor-in-chief, he is an ambitious person,
When he first took over "The Scotsman", "The Scotsman" was just a local newspaper in a corner. It was he who made up his mind to rent a telegraph line between London and Edinburgh, and later became the first major newspaper in London besides the traditional newspapers. The first newspaper to have an office in Fleet Street predates the Manchester Guardian.
Unfortunately, Edinburgh lags far behind in industrialization, and printing costs have never been reduced. In addition, it is too far from London and transportation costs are also high.
One person’s newspaper sells for 1 penny, while his newspaper sells for 4 pence.
How is it possible to beat this?
What's more, The Scotsman has sharp views and is more pioneering than the Manchester Guardian, and its audience is not large.
Under such circumstances, it is foreseeable that sales will continue to decline.
I never imagined that Cooper could counterattack directly with the help of a novel.
At this moment, he was still confused, as if he was in a dream.
Scott stretched,
"In a moment, those two foreign students from Japan will come over. Do you know what to do?"
Cooper said calmly: "Of course. I have already thought about it. Even if we do not consider factors such as buying horse bones for thousands of dollars, just to objectively evaluate the level of "There Will Be No Survivors", the royalties of 50 pounds for one chapter are too low. It would be better to double it." It’s relatively reasonable.”
50 pounds doubled is 100 pounds.
This is undoubtedly a huge amount of money.
In 1900, a London citizen with an income of 100 pounds a year was enough to live quite comfortably.
Lu Shiyi can earn 100 pounds in just one chapter.
Scott picked up a briefcase from his feet.
"By the way, I'm going to do you a favor. It's a good thing."
With that, he patted the box and continued to introduce: "The Underwood No. 5 commemorative model has multiple functions, smooth typing, and a low failure rate. It is not something like Oliver or Remington, it is made in the United States."
When Cooper heard the words "Underwood," "Oliver," and "Remington," he knew there was a typewriter in the box.
He was speechless, "Tsk, tsk, tsk... When did our British Empire start worshiping American products? Don't forget, the typewriter is our invention."
Scott laughed,
"No, the facts are wrong. The typewriter was invented by Italians. Also, you are Scottish, don't say 'our British Empire'."
Cooper almost kicked the opponent in the butt.
"Fxxk, fuck you."
The two started laughing and joking.
Not long after, there was a knock on the door outside.
The clerk's voice sounded: "Editor-in-Chief, Mr. Lu and Mr. Xia Mu have arrived."
The two people in the room immediately sat upright,
"Invite them in," Cooper said.
Soon, Lu Shi and Natsume Soseki pushed open the door and entered.
Cooper stood up and shook hands with the two of them.
Especially Lu Shi, he was not about to let go of Lu Shi's hand. At the same time, he did not forget to compliment: "Mr. Lu, after reading "No Survival" these days, I can't help but sigh that there is such a magical thing in the world. The way the story is constructed is amazing.”
Everyone carries the sedan chair,
Lu Shi waved his hand,
"The novel is nothing more than a recreational read. Mr. Cooper is too generous."
They communicated cordially, friendly and in-depth for a while, then released their hands and sat down separately.
Cooper hesitated for a moment and asked: "Mr. Lu, your work is very popular, have you ever thought about reprinting it? Of course, the royalties for reprinting will not be low. As well as the royalties for subsequent chapters, we are willing to give you 100 pounds per Zhang, what do you think?"
Is this the first time it’s published and it’s going to be republished?
Lu Shi looked at Cooper, knowing that the hesitation on his face was just an act.
100 pounds for a chapter is not a small sum. Cooper must have thought about it a long time ago. If he is willing to pay this price, he must be preparing to use "No Survival" as a gimmick to boost sales and take the opportunity to stand firm in London, the red sea of paper media shopping. heel.
Lu Shi didn't respond immediately.
Cooper knew very well that he could not ensnare the wolf if he gave up his children.
He pushed the toolbox over,
"Mr. Lu, I see that what you handed to the newspaper before was a manuscript. Writing tens of thousands of words would be too much for your fingers, arms, and cervical spine, right? Do you want to try this?"
Lu Shi asked curiously: "What is this?"
Cooper opened the box, took out the typewriter inside, and introduced: "The Underwood No. 5 commemorative model has multiple functions, smooth typing, and a low failure rate. It is not something like Oliver or Remington, it is serious. Made in the USA.”
Scott's face turned dark, thinking to himself, isn't this the exact thing he said just now?
he spat, secretly despising Cooper.
Cooper didn't see his old friend's competition power and continued: "I wonder if Mr. Lu can use it..."
Before he finished speaking, Lu Shi had already taken over: "Of course I can use it. Typewriters can indeed improve work efficiency, but I don't know if this one is worth using."
His voice was full of excitement about being lucky enough to see such a cross-generational product.
You know, the Underwood No. 5 quickly became the best-selling typewriter after its release, accounting for more than half of the market. It is an absolutely legendary product.
Lu Shi tried pressing the button.
"Let me try."
Cooper reminded: "Mr. Lu, would you... uh... um... want to read the instructions for use?"
Lu Shi shook his head with a smile,
As a modern person, there are many opportunities to come into contact with QWERTY keyboards, not to mention that he is also engaged in translation work, dealing with words every day, and his typing speed is ridiculously fast.
He jammed the paper and hit the keyboard of the typewriter casually: "Dinner is almost over. Wine and food, Rogers served them very attentively. Everyone sitting there was in high spirits. The conversation between them began to become more comfortable and intimate. "
This is the beginning of the third chapter of "No One Survived".
The two British guys were confused.
Cooper swallowed and said, "Mr. Lu, don't you need to look at the keyboard?"
Lu Shi said: "For a writer, touch typing is the most basic operation."
While answering, the fingers tapping on the keyboard did not stop, and even became faster and faster, like a fast dance. With the crackling sound, he typed a whole paragraph of the article.
Cooper and Scott couldn't help but look at each other;
This was the first time they met a suspense novel writer who started writing the main text without making an outline.
Because suspense novels have very strict logic requirements, and they are written directly without overall control, it is easy to be inconsistent and inconsistent.
But Lu Shi seemed to have divine help when he wrote, and he didn't look like he would eat the book later.
Moreover, Lu Shi's typing speed was so fast that even the two chief editors could not understand it.
Just when they were stunned, Natsume Soseki's voice suddenly came: "Lu! Wait! Lu! Is that machine...is it smoking?"
Only then did Lu Shi notice that one of the picks inside the typewriter was red and looked very hot.
He went up to observe,
"Well, it's the pick for the letter E. There's no way, E is the most commonly used in English writing, so it's no wonder the pick overheats. It seems we can only wait a while. Alas, Underwood No. 5 is not as awesome as imagined. Well……"
Hearing this, Cooper and Scott were in a state of confusion.
Where did this god come from! ?
