Chapter 52

With the development of the current internet industry, self-publishing, led by Amazon, is rapidly rising, posing a significant threat to traditional publishers.

Self-publishing refers to authors bypassing third-party publishers and either publishing their work themselves or outsourcing it to relevant companies like Amazon.

The self-publishing market in Europe and America has developed particularly quickly, already giving rise to a group of outstanding best-selling authors. This includes American author John Locke, the world's first self-published author to achieve success, whose fantasy novel *Tribe* sold over a million e-books in just a few months.

He and *Twilight* author Amanda Hocking are both ranked in the top fifty of Amazon's bestseller list, outperforming other novels from traditional publishers and earning the title of "Future Stars of Twelve Industries" from *Forbes* magazine.

Currently, there is a widespread bias against self-publishing in China, with self-published authors often seen as failed writers. Most e-books available for purchase online are also issued in print, and the entire book market remains centered around physical books. Without the help of publishers, authors cannot distribute their works to bookstores.

Platforms like Amazon are a blessing for all authors, allowing them to instantly sell their works on the world's largest book market.

Whether they are established authors or newcomers, they no longer need to rely on large publishers to launch new books and earn profits.

While most authors have not leveraged this opportunity to achieve great success or reach the pinnacle of their careers, they have gained many fans. Whether an author gained popularity through traditional publishing or through other means, their value can be measured by online uploads and clicks.

As long as a self-published novel has high online views and positive reader feedback, publishers will actively seek out the author for collaboration.

However, Amazon takes a 30% cut from self-publishing profits, which, while less exploitative than traditional large publishers, is still a significant amount.

This means that Lin Han's *I, Robot* on Amazon only nets him 70% of the sales revenue, which is a substantial amount.

The simplified Chinese version of *I, Robot* is also sold on Amazon, but 70% of the sales revenue is split between Renmin University Press and Lin Han, with Lin Han receiving only 5-12% of the 70%, a highly exploitative rate!

His English version of the novel was released directly as an e-book without a physical edition, thus avoiding the loss of most of his income.

This model is similar to the domestic online novel market, where novels are published on websites and sold for a fee. If the writing is good, publishers will approach the author, which is a form of self-publishing.

However, books sold on Amazon are generally completed works that do not require daily updates; one update is enough.

Lin Han knows that e-reading may be the future trend, but physical reading will not disappear. Some people prefer to read books on the lawn rather than on a Kindle.

After clicking into Amazon's website, he searched for *I, Robot*. Before he could press the enter key, the search bar automatically displayed both the Chinese and English versions of the novel.

Clicking into the English version of *I, Robot*, Lin Han found that his book's sales were still at zero, as it had just been uploaded and most domestic readers would not choose to buy the English version.

Sales will gradually increase as it spreads abroad, but it will be very difficult to sell tens of thousands of e-books like the simplified Chinese version.

After closing his computer, Lin Han got up to tidy his room. If he did not clean it every three days, he felt he could not live, as even a small stain would affect his mood.

Just as he was about to change his shoes and go out, a message popped up on his phone's QQ, "Hey, buddy, we have a science fiction book club meeting in Haidian tomorrow to discuss the recent new book *I, Robot*. If you want to come, finish reading the book first."

This message was from the young students he met at the library, to whom he had given the *Science Fiction World* magazine. He thought they would not contact him, but they did.

He quickly replied, "What time and where exactly? I've already finished reading it and can participate in the discussion anytime."

"Tomorrow at 9 AM, at the bookstore next to Haidian Park. It's very visible, and some international students will join."

Lin Han was looking forward to hearing the real readers' opinions. While many people participated in the ratings on Douban, those were mostly readers who liked to discuss online. Many people bought books but did not like to discuss them online.

After noting this in his schedule, Lin Han turned and went out. His neighbor, who had a foul mouth, was probably out filming, as he would usually run into him. These small actors mostly stayed in the production team, and it was very troublesome if they stayed at home for too long without filming.

Taking the bus to the café where he had agreed to meet Li Wenyuan, Lin Han had not even entered the room when a heavy snow began to fall, the dark clouds almost touching the skyscrapers.

Pedestrians on the street hurried their steps, and vehicles on the road turned on their lights and drove cautiously, as if night had fallen early.

Li Wenyuan sat in a cozy seat by the window, a book open in front of him, with a leaf-shaped bookmark in the middle. Seeing Lin Han, he stood up and waved, "Come over here, order a coffee."

Lin Han nodded, turned to the waiter and ordered a mocha, then walked over to Li Wenyuan. The book on the table was very noticeable, "Mosquito, are you helping me boost sales again?"

It was the simplified Chinese version of *I, Robot*. Lin Han was surprised that Li Wenyuan was reading this novel.

"I brought it specifically to get your signature, and I plan to read it and put it on my bookshelf," Li Wenyuan joked, pulling out a fountain pen from his pocket, which left Lin Han speechless.

"Are you serious?"

"Of course, sign it quickly."

Lin Han did not hesitate and quickly signed his name with the fountain pen, the signature flying across the blank page before the table of contents.

Li Wenyuan put the pen away, looked at Lin Han's signature, and said unexpectedly, "Your handwriting has changed, it's getting better."

Different people have different handwriting, and Lin Han's heart tightened. He quickly explained, "I practiced specifically, just in case readers asked for my signature. By the way, I didn't come here just to sign for you. I've put the book on Amazon for English sales, using self-publishing. What do you think?"

"How did you translate the novel so quickly? That's scary. If the translation quality is poor, it will damage your reputation. Did you do serious proofreading and formatting? Don't tell me you used a translation software."

Lin Han shook his head and smiled, "Actually, I considered the English version while writing the novel. I did the translation myself, so it's pretty authentic and there shouldn't be any errors."

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