Chapter 242: Both Internal and External Blossoms
Liu Hongmin didn't pay much attention to business matters. After Ma Weidu reported to him, he simply signed to indicate that he understood.
Compared to opening factories and building shopping malls, he pays more attention to his novels.
"Source Code" increased the sales of "Science Fiction World" by hundreds of times, and it can be said that it revived "Science Fiction World".
Moreover, after the revision, Science Fiction World will write down the requirements for manuscripts in the magazine, and will only accept science fiction works in the future. In this way, those serious literary works will no longer submit to Science Fiction World, and all science fiction works will be submitted to Science Fiction World.
In this way, Science Fiction World will no longer have to worry about manuscripts. After all, science fiction writers from all over the country submit their manuscripts to a magazine, and although the quality may be unsatisfactory, it will definitely not fail to be published.
More importantly, the readership of Science Fiction World will become clear: science fiction fans.
One month after the publication of Science Fiction World, the magazine was not selling well, so the single volume of Source Code began to be put on sale.
The publisher is still Beijing University Press, which has contracted the domestic distribution rights of all Liu Hongmin's books. However, in recent years, Liu Hongmin has begun to enjoy the treatment of a famous writer and can enjoy royalties.
The first person to set the precedent for royalties in China was Wang Shuo, a popular writer in Beijing. His books sold very well, so some publishing houses gave Wang Shuo royalties in order to make a profit.
Once the precedent of royalties was set, domestic writers benefited a lot. Although Wang Shuo is also a famous writer, there are not many writers more famous than him. Among the current famous writers, whether in terms of fame or writing style, Wang Shuo is not even in the top ten. It’s just that Wang Shuo’s writing is interesting, and he critically expresses his rebellious thinking about reality in a teasing and cynical tone, so it is called ruffian literature.
Soon, those well-known writers received royalties one after another. Liu Hongmin, the number one commercial writer in China, was no exception.
However, in the past two years, Liu Hongmin's works tend to be released overseas. Whether it is the "Pirates of the Caribbean" trilogy or the "Dark Gate" trilogy, they are all Western fantasy novels. This type of subject is unpopular in China, and only people who like Western culture are willing to read it. Others also want to read it, but there are too many Western allusions in it, and people who don't understand it will feel confused after reading it.
If it weren't for "Duds" and "Let the Bullets Fly" that kept him alive, Liu Hongmin's status in the country would probably have declined.
Now that they have finally written a book called "Source Code", Peking University Press naturally wants to take the opportunity to make some money back.
Source Code is very well written. Although it is a reincarnation novel, it is easy to understand and anyone who has read a few books can understand it. There are also so many future technologies that it has caught people's attention. The illustrations look as if they are real. Many scientific workers have studied the illustrations in Science Fiction World and publicly stated that these illustrations are in line with scientific logic.
When the single volume was released, Kyoto University Publishing House did not make the same mistake as "Science Fiction World".
Jingda Press was so experienced in selling Liu Hongmin's novels that they didn't even need to prepare banners themselves. They contacted bookstores directly and used the banners prepared by bookstores for Science Fiction World. They then gave each bookstore a standing poster and placed it in the most conspicuous place in the bookstore.
Readers were very enthusiastic about this. Those who had read Science Fiction World immediately bought a copy of the book for collection. Those who had not read Science Fiction World would also buy a copy to see what the book was like after seeing that it was Liu Hongmin's new book.
Except for The Forgotten Catastrophe, which did not sell very well, the sales of Liu Hongmin's other books are domestic novels, which have very good sales.
This is especially true for Source Code. As soon as readers start reading, they are drawn in. They don't tell the story, but the illustrations alone make them addicted. The illustrations drawn by these college students from the Department of Fine Arts are very realistic, as if the real objects are right in front of them.
In less than half a month, 400 million copies were sold, shocking the domestic book market. You should know that the best sales of other writers did not reach 400 million copies.
The key point is that half a month later, "Source Code" is still selling well and is heading towards 10 million copies.
There are good news coming from the mainland and there is also good news from Hong Kong.
The manuscripts of "Dark Gate" trilogy and "Source Code" had long been handed over to Sanlian. After Sanlian translated them into traditional Chinese characters, they were released almost at the same time as Beijing University Press.
Both the Dark Portal trilogy and Source Code have very good sales.
With the "Pirates of the Caribbean" trilogy as a foundation, readers have high expectations for the "Dark Gate" trilogy. For Western fantasy, the "Dark Gate" trilogy is more interesting than "Pirates of the Caribbean". Seeing it is like seeing "The Lord of the Rings".
The key point is that the historical background of "Dark Portal" only shows the tip of the iceberg, which is much larger than that of "Lord of the Rings". The spells and various combat professions shown in "Dark Portal" are not available in "Lord of the Rings". There are mages in "Lord of the Rings", but there are not many descriptions of spells. Compared with "Dark Portal", it seems not so western fantasy.
"Dark Portal" opened a new door for readers. The system of magic can be so powerful. Especially when describing the guardian Medivh, he was so powerful that he was not human. Lothar brought a team of soldiers, followed by several mages, and even the help of the former guardian Aegwynn. In the end, only Lothar, Khadgar, and Aegwynn survived, and the others were all slaughtered by Medivh.
If Medivh had not been conscious and in control of his body, Lothar would have had no way of killing him.
The key point is that according to the description in the book, the one who controlled Medivh's body was actually a powerful being called Sargeras. This powerful being only used a trace of consciousness to control Medivh, the powerful guardian.
Compared with Sargeras, the Dark Lord Sauron was too weak. It was totally outrageous that he was killed just because the One Ring was destroyed.
The Dark Gate trilogy was released and quickly sold half a million copies.
The audience of "Source Code" is larger than that of the "Dark Gate" trilogy. Relying on its obvious advantages, it sold one million copies in the same period of time.
But this is not the end. At the same time, Liu Hongmin received a call from Richard.
"Congratulations, Mr. Liu. The Dark Portal trilogy has sold 1000 million copies since its release."
Liu Hongmin was very happy. It had only been a short time, but he had already received 3000 million US dollars. It seemed that he could get million US dollars in royalties this time.
(End of this chapter)
