"Publish my new book on Huanyue?"
Huang Yifan hadn't expected himself to be in such high demand.
The new book hadn't even started yet, and already, editors from other platforms were trying to recruit him, this time, even the chief editor himself.
His vanity felt mildly satisfied, but Huang Yifan didn't agree right away.
"Yes," said the editor. "As you know, Huanyue is the largest online fiction platform in Huaguo. We have the top writers, the largest reader base, the most channels, and the strongest resources. With your talent, joining Huanyue would give you far greater exposure than Lingdian ever could. Also, our PR team is excellent. Some works that might get taken down on Lingdian wouldn't necessarily have that issue here."
"Let's talk specifics."
Huang Yifan wasn't swayed. That kind of pitch was just empty flattery, nice-sounding, but meaningless.
"Haha, I see you're a pragmatist. I like that! Alright then, how about this: 100 yuan per 1.000 words, buyout."
100 yuan per thousand words, that is, 1000 words for 100 yuan.
But this wasn't like the 100-yuan-per-thousand rate from magazines. In magazines, each piece is short, about 1.000 characters, and writers are paid only if it's accepted. Plus, it often takes a long time to write a short piece, so in terms of hourly rate, magazine pay is actually quite low.
Take 'Strange Tales', for example. Huang Yifan had one story accepted per week. Even if he were paid 800 yuan per thousand characters, he'd only earn two to three thousand yuan a month.
Novels were a different story.
Novels were serialized and continuous. Unlike short stories that required a fresh start every time, novels simply followed a storyline. That made writing them more straightforward, and the word count much higher. A single novel could easily be millions of characters long. At 100 yuan per thousand, that could mean over 300.000 yuan a year.
It wasn't an astronomical figure, but for most people, it was a lot.
Especially in the writing world, more than 90% of authors would never get this rate.
Still, Huang Yifan wasn't satisfied.
"100 yuan per thousand is a little low."
He said it outright.
"The Number One White Under Heaven, that's already a very high offer. Don't forget, on Lingdian, you're still a one-star author. At 100 yuan per thousand, if you write fast and do 10.000 words a day, that's 1.000 yuan per day, 350.000 yuan per year. By pay standards, that's equivalent to a five-star author. For someone who's officially only one-star, this is already very generous."
Indeed, Huang Yifan's official level on Lingdian was awkward, just level 1.
Even though 'How a Bad Guy Is Made' had briefly gone viral, it was never officially launched and was later deleted. The only income came from tips from hardcore fans, barely 10.000 yuan total.
According to the online author ranking system, anyone earning under 20.000 yuan in royalties is considered a level-1 writer, the lowest tier.
Under normal circumstances, no editor would even notice a level-1 author.
Huang Yifan understood this and wasn't offended by Xueliu's remarks. He was a level-1 author, and getting a buyout offer at 100 yuan per thousand was already a big deal. Sure, people might say that if 'Bad Guy' had launched and sold properly, it could have made him a legend.
But there's no 'if' in life.
The book was deleted. It never officially launched.
Who could guarantee it would have sold well if it had?
Putting himself in the other party's shoes, Huang Yifan had to admit that the offer was reasonable.
After all, the company was taking a risk buying him out.
But even if he acknowledged the logic, he wasn't going to accept it.
'How a Bad Guy Is Made' was just a trial run.
When he said at the end, "When my flowers bloom, all others will wither," he meant it.
Still, he wanted to chat with Xueliu a bit longer and maybe learn more about the industry from him.
"I heard you offered Badao 500 yuan per thousand."
He brought up Badao, who had recently been poached by Huanyue.
Word on the Feilong forums was that Badao got a shocking 500 yuan per thousand.
"I suppose I should explain. Yes, we offered Badao 500 yuan per thousand. But that's not because we think you're less than him. You write urban fiction. While it's a popular genre, it has fewer opportunities for IP adaptations. Badao writes fantasy, which is the hottest genre right now. Even though he lost to you in that Lingdian competition, his work has greater commercial value. His novels can be adapted into games, TV shows, anime, you name it. Your 'Bad Guy' just doesn't have that kind of potential. And as for why Badao's book was deleted, he got caught in the crossfire."
Xueliu explained patiently, and Huang Yifan nodded thoughtfully.
The man was a chief editor, and his industry knowledge was sharp.
A less-informed person might feel that Huang Yifan was being treated unfairly.
But if you looked at it from a commercial perspective, Badao's fantasy novels did offer more monetization options than 'Bad Guy'.
No matter how popular 'Bad Guy' was online, the subject matter, organized crime, limited its market potential.
I mean, could you really film a drama about the underworld?
"Mr. Xueliu, you make some good points. Still, I think your price is too low. Besides, I know very well that Huanyue doesn't lack authors like me; you've got tons of us. You're only trying to recruit me to undermine Lingdian. Even if I joined, let's be honest, I wouldn't get much platform support. So whether I go to Huanyue or not doesn't really matter."
"Hah, you're a smart one. Fair enough, think it over. But let me give you a piece of advice: if you keep writing about the underworld, your books will keep getting deleted. Even if you stay on Lingdian, you won't go far."
"Thanks," Huang Yifan replied politely. "I think that advice applies to your platform too."
That line made Xueliu freeze for a second. After a pause, he responded:
"The Number One White Under Heaven, it seems I underestimated you. Your insight goes far beyond that of an average author. Honestly, I'd like to bring you on board as an editor."
"You flatter me, Mr. Xueliu! I might not be publishing on your platform, but we're not enemies. Let me give you some advice: once you've finished targeting Lingdian, you'd better start cleaning up your own library. Huanyue has plenty of questionable content too. When state policy kicks in, no amount of PR will save you. After Lingdian, you're next."
"Thanks for the warning. Looks like we'll need to start doing that sooner than expected. Next time we meet, drinks are on me."
"I'd be honored if we get the chance."
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