Chapter 3 of 10

Chapter 3

8 min read2,023 words

Taris sat alone in his office, his head bowed as he looked at the financial report for the recent quarter.

"If this continues..."

The data in his hands was as grim as his expression, though it could be said the other way around as well.

A few years ago, Taris founded the current publishing house. Although the scale of the publishing house was not very large, Taris managed it quite well at the beginning. However, in the past two years, competition among peers has become increasingly fierce, and the operation of the publishing house has become increasingly poor.

If this continues, the publishing house will probably have to close its doors in a few years.

As for the newspaper that Taris co-founded? Without the foundation, the appendage cannot exist. The newspaper was originally just a supporting role, and with the publishing house closing, the newspaper would naturally have to close as well.

For Taris, it was now a time when he had to make a decisive decision. However, he had invested a lot of effort into this publishing house, and he was always hesitant to just shut it down...

Just as Taris was struggling with this dilemma, a knock came from outside the office.

After composing himself, Taris called out.

"Come in..."

The door opened, and a young man in his twenties walked in.

"Boss, someone just submitted a manuscript..." After hesitating for a moment, the young man continued. "It's a Chinese person..."

"Oh?"

Due to the increasing losses, the scale of the publishing house had become smaller and smaller. Now, Taris held both the roles of owner and chief editor. As the chief editor, Taris naturally received countless manuscripts, but this was the first time he had received one from a Chinese person, which piqued his curiosity.

"Let me see it..."

Seeing that the boss was interested, the young man quickly handed over the manuscript.

Upon seeing the manuscript, Taris frowned.

The manuscript was entirely in English, but this did not hinder his reading. After all, he had founded a newspaper that specialized in English, so he naturally could not be unable to read English.

Although the manuscript in his hands was clearly only a part, it wasn't long before Taris nodded involuntarily.

"Very good..."

Saying this, Taris looked up at the young man.

"What about the Chinese person? Bring him in..."

When Taris saw Yan Shao, he was as surprised as everyone else.

The person who appeared before Taris was completely different from the image he had in mind of a Chinese person with a queue and a weak physique. Not only was Yan Shao not weak, but his height of 1.85 meters was even taller than most white people of this era. This made Taris even more interested.

—

Regardless of whether it was in the past or the present, this was Yan Shao's first time at a publishing house, and he naturally did not know many things. Therefore, when Taris proposed a payment of 15 francs per thousand words plus additional royalties for reprints, he did not know if it was reasonable.

However, there were some things he did understand, such as the exchange rate of this era.

In this era, 1 pound was equivalent to 25 francs, and the first manuscript Yan Shao submitted to Taris was about 200,000 words, which was roughly 3,000 francs. 3,000 francs was equivalent to 120 pounds, and 1 pound was equivalent to 10.5 silver dollars. This meant that the manuscript fee Taris was paying was at least 1,260 silver dollars...

Considering that the monthly salary of a new army soldier in the late Qing Dynasty was only 7 silver dollars, 1,260 silver dollars was certainly not a small amount. Moreover, Taris had also said that if there were reprints, he would continue to pay royalties, so Yan Shao signed the agreement without hesitation.

Seeing that Yan Shao's back was clearly more relaxed than when he came in, the young man hesitated for a moment before speaking.

"Boss, is this book really worth 3,000 francs?"

At least the young man did not think so. In his view, although the book was written very well, 10 francs per thousand words was already the maximum. After all, Jules Verne's first work, "Five Weeks in a Balloon," only earned 500 francs, and considering that it was 1862, along with other factors, a young person with no reputation like Yan Shao could only get 10 francs per thousand words at most.

Considering that Yan Shao was just a Chinese person, the young man even thought that the price could be lowered further. As a confidant of Taris, the young man was also very clear about the current situation of the publishing house. In such a situation, paying so much in manuscript fees to Yan Shao was something he could not understand.

On the other side, after noticing the young man's thoughts, Taris smiled lightly.

"Have you heard the story of Verne and Hetzel?"

Taris was referring to a widely circulated story. According to an unverified rumor, Jules Verne's first work, "Five Weeks in a Balloon," was rejected by 16 publishers. In a fit of anger, Verne threw the manuscript into the fire, but his wife, Honorine, rescued it, giving him the chance to meet the 17th publisher who recognized its value.

In fact, Verne met the publisher Hetzel in the fall of 1862 through the introduction of the Breton writer Brehat. Verne gave Hetzel two manuscripts: "A Journey to England and Scotland" and "Five Weeks in a Balloon." Hetzel rejected the former and asked for changes to the latter. On October 23 of the same year, they signed the first contract, requiring "Five Weeks in a Balloon" to sell at least 2,000 copies, for which Verne would receive 500 francs.

After signing the contract, "Five Weeks in a Balloon" sold 3,000 copies in 1863 alone. By the time Verne died in 1905, the unillustrated version of "Five Weeks in a Balloon" had sold 76,000 copies.

The huge success of "Five Weeks in a Balloon" not only brought wealth to Verne but also laid the foundation for his 40-year collaboration with Hetzel and his son, Little Hetzel. During the creation of "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea," Verne and Hetzel even had a debate about the characteristics of the Nautilus's captain, Nemo. The friendship between the two was what Taris valued the most.

Taris saw the predicament of the publishing house very clearly. With conventional methods, he could not save the publishing house. If he wanted to save it, he had to take extraordinary measures.

The best way would be to find a famous writer to write a couple of bestsellers to ease the situation. However, Taris's publishing house was not very large, and with long-term losses, it was almost impossible to invite a famous writer. At this moment, Yan Shao, who came to the door, seemed like a lifeline to Taris.

In fact, as the young man thought, although Yan Shao's "Tarzan of the Apes" was good, it was worth at most 10 francs per thousand words. If he paid 3,000 francs, unless the novel was reprinted, the publishing house would earn much less, as a novel would initially be printed in only one or two thousand copies.

However, if Yan Shao could be as successful as Verne, the extra 1,000 francs paid this time would bring years of friendship, just like the friendship between Verne and Hetzel and his son, Little Hetzel.

For Taris, this was like a gamble, and the chances of winning were small. After all, writers like Verne were rare. However, Taris was now at the end of his rope. If he did not gamble, the publishing house would definitely close. If he gambled and won, both the newspaper and the publishing house would be saved. Even if he lost, he would only lose 1,000 francs...

Based on the quality of "Tarzan of the Apes," Taris felt that this gamble still had a certain chance of success.

—

After returning to the hotel and learning that Yan Shao's book had passed the review, Morgana was also happy for him.

However, when Morgana learned that Yan Shao's novel had received a manuscript fee of 3,000 francs, her surprised expression was hard to hide.

Having lived in Marseille for so many years and running a hotel, Morgana naturally knew many things and was very clear that an unknown author could not possibly earn 3,000 francs with their first novel. In fact, in Morgana's view, if Yan Shao's novel passed the review, earning 1,000 francs would already be very good—this was the same as the young man's thoughts.

After learning the situation from Morgana and some congratulating guests, Yan Shao scratched his head and felt that he had unknowingly incurred a favor.

"But I have no relation to that guy, why would he give me an extra 1,000 francs?"

"I heard that the publishing house is having some operational issues..."

"Yes, I heard that too. I heard he even plans to close the newspaper..."

"Right, at this time, giving so much money to someone else, I think his mind must be..."

"Cough, don't speak ill of people behind their backs, but I also think..."

Hearing others say this, Yan Shao wondered if the middle-aged man named Taris was trying to win him over through this method, so that his future works, well, actually copied works, would all be sent to him?

However, Yan Shao quickly rejected this idea. He did not overestimate himself, but he believed that since "Tarzan of the Apes" had become widely known in the future, it must have its unique qualities. 3,000 francs might seem a lot to others, but to him, it was not high enough.

"But I am just an unknown newcomer now, there's no need for him to spend so much money to win me over..."

Yan Shao silently thought to himself. He did not know that Taris was already at the end of his rope, and investing in Yan Shao was just a last-ditch effort.

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