After the live broadcast of the show, Stephen and a group of people were led by the staff to the backstage and found Zheng Qian.
It was already ten o'clock in the evening, but Stephen and others were all in high spirits and looked at Zheng Qian with bright eyes. Stephen, the leader, explained his purpose.
Hearing this, Zheng Qian quickly invited them to sit down and asked the staff to bring coffee.
"Hello Qin, I am the editor of Harpers Publishing House in the United States. You can call me Hannah..."
Hannah took the lead in introducing herself, and when others saw this, they also stood up.
"We are all very optimistic about "The Three-Body Problem". To be honest, I haven't been so moved by a work like this for a long time!"
A middle-aged man said happily: "A good publishing platform can make "The Three-Body Problem" shine and spread all over the world, with hundreds of millions of readers..."
This is Cooper, a publishing editor from Macmillan Publishing House. Macmillan is also one of the six major publishing houses in the United States, with hundreds of branches at home and abroad. He is also an avid reader of "The Three-Body Problem".
Among the serial posts on "The Three-Body Problem", Kubo has almost the largest number of replies, and he also loves to discuss knowledge points involved in "The Three-Body Problem" with other readers.
In addition to Macmillan, scholars, well-known publishing houses such as Harpers also sent personnel.
Zheng Qian was actually a little surprised. He didn't expect "The Three-Body Problem" to be so popular in the United States.
You know, although the first part of "The Three-Body Problem" has been completed and published in "Science Fiction World" magazine, not many people actually discussed it except in the small circle of science fiction literature.
In addition, Zheng Qian asked editor-in-chief Zhang Hanting not to publish it in a short time, so there are great restrictions on dissemination. People can only read "The Three-Body Problem" by collecting the "Science Fiction World" journal.
Of course, as long as you want to read it, hand-printed versions are everywhere on the Internet. Countless "enthusiastic netizens" have a clear division of labor and copied each chapter to literary websites.
Zheng Qian knew about these things, but at this stage, the laws and regulations were not perfect and the cost of rights protection was high. Even if he won the lawsuit, it would not be able to protect his rights at all, so he turned a blind eye and allowed it to spread.
However, compared with the wildly growing fantasy romance of immortality, the appeal of science fiction literature such as "The Three-Body Problem" is far less high.
The first is that the expression of literary techniques is too slow.
Secondly, this kind of hard science fiction is far less popular than soft science fiction. The so-called soft science fiction is also fantasy literature. All developments are closer to the humanities. They are basically based on imagination and have no scientific basis.
The current soft science fiction market is basically monopolized by online writers, and most writers subconsciously follow scientific laws when creating.
Of course, with the advent of the era of fragmented reading, in order to pursue the so-called sense of pleasure, it is normal to develop to the point of blowing up a planet with one punch.
However, the consciousness uploading network in "The Three-Body Problem", as well as the description of the three-body world, the supervisor, the small water droplet and other plots are still quite amazing at the moment.
"Zheng Qian, there is no need for you to be too worried!"
Seeing Zheng Qian's frown, Stephen quickly said: "The choice is in your hands. I know you don't know their background information, so I put together a document. You can take it back and read it carefully to confirm the satisfactory cooperation."
Then we’ll consider the price.”
"They will stay in China for two days. You can rest assured that the information of every publishing house is true and reliable. If there is anything you don't understand, you can contact me at any time. My mobile phone will be on for you 24 hours a day."
After finishing speaking, Stephen took out a document from his briefcase and handed it to Zheng Qian.
Then he told other editors: "Ladies and gentlemen, it's getting late, let us wait quietly for the good news!"
The others looked at each other and felt helpless. Although they wanted to come forward and communicate with Zheng Qian more, they also knew that Zheng Qian had just finished a game, and it was indeed getting late, so they all left one after another.
Before Hannah left, she said to Zheng Qian: "Qin, I particularly like "The Three-Body Problem". In addition to "The Three-Body Problem", your performance today was also great. Really, our Harpers also published "The Three-Body Problem" for Queen Tang En.
Personal biography, if you are willing, I can introduce Tang En to you!"
Twain is the most popular Canadian diva singer in the North American music scene. She is 40 years old and has won many Grammy Awards, American Country Music Awards and Canadian Juno Awards. Simply put, her status in North America is equivalent to
Compared with Faye Wong in China and Zheng Qian today, there is a world of difference, and the two are not on the same level at all.
Hannah naturally wanted to get close to Zheng Qian when she said these words.
She also had no contact with Twain at all, but it was true that Twain had published a biography by Habers Publishing House, and had held many book signings with the help of Habers.
When the other editors heard what Hannah said, their expressions suddenly changed.
"Hey, Hannah, don't lie, Tang En isn't familiar with you!"
Someone loudly said: "If you use Tang En's name like this, be careful of receiving a lawyer's letter!"
"Yes, Qin won't be so stupid as to believe you, stop lying!"
"Qin, I also said I knew Robin, do you believe it?"
"Robin knows me very well. I've taken photos with him and shaken his hand!"
Everyone laughed. Robin is a Hollywood superstar and the winner of Best Actor at last year's Oscar Film Festival. Now his popularity and influence are at their peak. They mentioned Robin to prove that Hannah's words were not credible.
Hannah blushed and gritted her teeth and said, "Yes, I don't know Tang En, but our editor-in-chief and Tang En are good friends..."
She didn't have much confidence in saying this because it was just a rumor.
Zheng Qian saw that these ghost guys were about to quarrel, so he quickly said: "Everyone, be quiet. I will take a good look at the information Mr. Stephen gave me when I get back. Please wait for my news."
Everyone nodded.
Stephen smiled and said: "Excuse me, Zheng Qian, let's go!"
After a group of ghost guys left, Wang Gang, who was standing aside, said with some lingering fear: "The body odor of these ghost guys is too strong!"
Zheng Qian was stunned for a moment, shook his head and laughed.
Immediately, he opened the file and took a rough look.
"The Three-Body Problem" is indeed very popular overseas. This may be attributed to Stephen's translation ability. With such a Chinese expert, some complex vocabulary in "The Three-Body Problem" can be easily understood and read after being translated.
Immediately, he returned to the hotel where he checked in and began to check the information of these publishing houses.
He does have the idea of publishing overseas, and the various conditions offered by these publishing houses are also very attractive. Among them, top publishing houses such as Habers and Scholars also offer a high royalty share of 15%.
Although Stephen is a voluntary translator, if it is published, Stephen, as a translator, will also receive a certain share of the royalties. However, Stephen said that he does not receive royalties, but only a fixed remuneration, and it is calculated based on two hundred dollars per thousand words.
In this way, you can get 40,000 US dollars, and the 40,000 US dollars will be borne by the publisher.
Zheng Qian was a little surprised.
The popularity of "Three-Body Problem" exceeded his imagination. Although "Three-Body Problem" had won many awards in the previous life, one could not appreciate the scenery of "Three-Body Problem" at that time without going deep into it.
He thought about it all night and finally set his sights on the six major publishing houses.
"The Three-Body Problem" does not only have one part, but there will be a second and third part.
There is a relatively large platform, which is very suitable for the subsequent development of "Three-Body".
The next day, Zheng Qian had another phone call with Zhang Hanting, editor-in-chief of "Science Fiction World".
Zhang Hanting also just learned the news. In addition, he had studied in the United States for many years when he was young and had a good understanding of the market conditions of major publishing houses, so he gave his own advice: "15% is indeed a very high royalty rate. For newcomers,
For me, this is top-notch treatment.”
"Each of the six major publishing houses has strong strength and is backed by Fortune 500 companies. Whichever one you choose is good. I don't have many suggestions. If you are more inclined to the North American market, choose Haber
Si, the two publishers of Scholars are absolutely right. They have a high credibility and never default on manuscript fees. Furthermore, there are Penguin and Blue Lantern Bookstore. Their children's literature publication volume ranks first in the world..."
"But one thing I would like to remind you is that the arrival of the digital age has dealt a fatal blow to the traditional publishing industry. Although publishing houses are still profitable, sales are far less than before. The Amazon online bookstore that has just emerged in recent years has
You can also consider that they only want electronic copyrights, focus on buyouts, and offer very high prices. After all, they are targeting the global market."
"But because the Amazon Bookstore has touched the traditional publishing houses, it is now basically the public enemy of the industry. If you sign with Amazon, other publishing houses may not cooperate with you anymore..."
Zheng Qian's heart skipped a beat.
Amazon has grown to this point?
But considering the current QQ and Baidu, it is not surprising.
He was a little envious. It would be great if he could get involved in such a giant enterprise with a future market value of hundreds of billions of dollars...
However, he knows his own trade. This kind of enterprise that has shown great potential has long been favored by the upper-level financial giants, and ordinary players have no possibility of investing in it.
Including e-commerce companies that are currently targeting Amazon, Zheng Qian is not able to play well.
It costs too much money in the early stage, and most people can’t afford it without financing.
Zhang Hanting also brought another big news to Zheng Qian on the phone. As of August, there were countless submissions for the Galaxy Award essay, but there were very few full-length works. This means that excellent long-form science fiction such as "The Three-Body Problem"
There is a high chance of winning the prize, but it will take a long time to wait for the specific award time.
Zheng Qian was not surprised by this.
His current goal is no longer the Galaxy Award, because there really is no one in China who can win.
According to the ideal plan, the highest Hugo Award is his goal.