Chapter 47 Overseas Publishing
After the exam, Liu Zhou also returned home.

Liu Zhou had a feeling that this might be his last relaxing summer vacation.

So while he has time now, Liu Zhou also wants to spend some time with his family.

However, Liu Zhou had not been at home for two days when he received a call from editor Qu He.

As soon as I answered the call, Qu He's cheerful voice came out from the receiver:

"Liu Zhou, I have very good news to tell you."

"What good news?"

“Your novel is going abroad!”

Liu Zhou then couldn't help but sit up straight and asked:

"Brother Qu, what's going on?"

"Because of the popularity of your two novels, publishers in Hong Kong and Taiwan also noticed them. They contacted me and wanted to publish them."

"Brother Qu, there is something wrong with your words. This doesn't count as going abroad!"

"Oh, of course I know, don't interrupt me, I haven't finished yet!"

"Okay, you speak first." Liu Zhou said a little embarrassedly.

"Later, a publishing house in South Korea also came to inquire about your two novels. What surprised us most was that a publishing house in the United States was also interested in your books."

"Oh, why do all these publishing houses suddenly appear in such large numbers?"

"Maybe it's because your two books have sold over a million copies in a row, making you the most popular writer in mainland China, and also attracting the attention of publishers in Hong Kong, Taiwan and overseas."

"Whatever the case, it's a good thing that they are interested in my novel. I never thought that my book could be published overseas."

"We are also surprised, so we need you to come to Shanghai and have a detailed discussion with these publishers in person."

The contract Liu Zhou had previously signed with Mengya Magazine was only a serialization and mainland publishing contract, so the magazine was unable to negotiate publishing matters with the publishing houses that came to them, and Liu Zhou had to come in person.

"Okay, I'll come over tomorrow."

After hanging up the phone, Liu Zhou immediately went to buy the earliest flight ticket to Shanghai the next day. Before 11 o'clock the next day, he had already set foot on the land of Shanghai.

Qu He took Liu Zhou to have lunch, and then they came to the headquarters of "Mengya" magazine in the afternoon.

"Mengya" magazine also attaches great importance to this matter. Although overseas publishing has nothing to do with them, if this matter can be successfully negotiated, it will also be a brilliant achievement for their magazine.

They were worried that Liu Zhou would suffer due to his young age, so they specially arranged for Qu He, a senior editor, and a legal officer to accompany Liu Zhou to negotiate with those publishing houses.

The first people I contacted were representatives from publishing houses in Hong Kong and Taiwan, and they were interested in all three of Liu Zhou's novels.

Unlike the novels depicting love stories set in special periods that were more common in the mainland at that time, people in Hong Kong and Taiwan were not familiar with the background of this topic and had no sense of immersion, so they were not very interested in this type of novel.

However, there is no such situation with Liu Zhou's love novels. They are modern campus and urban love novels, and they are written in a relatively delicate manner, so that readers in Hong Kong and Taiwan will not have any reading difficulties.

After all, the two sides of the Taiwan Strait and Hong Kong and Macau share the same origin.

Now that Liu Zhou’s novels are selling so well in mainland China, they think that sales in Hong Kong and Taiwan should not be too bad either.

After two days of contact and negotiation with them, Liu Zhou also selected a Taiwanese publishing house to cooperate in publishing his novel.

The main reason is that the publishing house in Hong Kong is a bit arrogant, and it seems that cooperating with Liu Zhou is to promote him. Although they are not so arrogant, they are a bit condescending.

Liu Zhou will not indulge them.

On the contrary, the attitude of the publishers on the Taiwanese side was much better. They communicated with Liu Zhou in an equal manner, which also made him feel good. In the early days of online literature, a considerable part of the income of online writers came from physical publishing, and the publishers with the most cooperation were also Taiwanese publishers.

Therefore, Taiwan's publishing groups are relatively more pragmatic.

Finally, Liu Zhou chose a larger publishing house called Li Ren Bookstore to cooperate with. Their channels cover the entire Taiwan, Hong Kong and parts of Southeast Asia.

Both parties were quite sincere and finally agreed to print 50,000 copies of each book for the first time and 10% royalties.

Of course, this is the most important clause. Many other details were also agreed upon. Liu Zhou also signed the traditional Chinese publishing rights of his novel to Li Ren Bookstore.

After signing the contract with Li Ren Bookstore, Liu Zhou immediately started negotiations with a publisher from South Korea.

These two countries also belong to the Han cultural circle, so they are also interested in Liu Zhou's three novels.

However, during the negotiations, Liu Zhou saw that their intentions were not very strong and they seemed to be merely interested.

Liu Zhou could probably guess what they were thinking. They probably thought that Liu Zhou's novels were very popular in the mainland, so they wanted to try to bring them to the country to test the waters.

Liu Zhou didn't mind this, as it was a pleasant surprise to have the book published overseas.

The two parties quickly signed a treaty, with an initial print run of 30,000 copies and a 7% royalty rate. There was also a clause that Liu Zhou had the final right to review the manuscript, which he insisted on adding.

The final step is negotiation with the publisher in the United States.

It was thanks to the predecessors that Liu Zhou's novel attracted inquiries from publishers in the United States.

Since the works of some writers such as Yu Hua, Shi Tiesheng and Jia Pingwa were published in the United States, they have aroused a certain response and the sales volume has been good.

Therefore, some publishers in the United States sent people to the mainland to learn about the situation of literary publishing.

Liu Zhou, the most handsome guy, appeared in their sight.

After browsing Liu Zhou's three novels, these people had no interest in the first two, but were very interested in "Better Days".

In the United States, due to a series of reasons such as racial discrimination, the situation of school bullying is much more serious than in the mainland.

A novel like this that reflects school bullying will definitely have a certain market in the United States.

However, when negotiating the contract, the publisher in the United States expressed the hope that the novel would be modified to a certain extent to suit the reading tastes of foreigners.

Liu Zhou also agreed to this. He was not a traditional literati and felt that no one could touch a single word of his work.

His original purpose of writing novels was very simple, which was to make money.

Since the revision would lead to better sales, Liu Zhou certainly had no reason to refuse, but he also insisted on keeping the final review rights in his hands.

Finally, after both parties had no objections, the contract was formally signed.

The contract stipulates that the first print run of 50,000 copies will have a royalty rate of 7%.

When the last contract was signed, Liu Zhou also breathed a sigh of relief.

"Liu Zhou, congratulations! Once the media gets to know this news, your fame will surely rise to a higher level."

"Thank you. These negotiations were also thanks to Brother Qu and Lawyer Wang. I couldn't have handled it without you. I'll treat you to dinner tonight, and invite the editor-in-chief as well."

"Then you have to have a good meal. You made a lot of money again."

"No problem, you can choose any restaurant in Shanghai." Liu Zhou said proudly.

(End of this chapter)