GBP Chapter 79 The Best Tale Contest
Chapter 79 The Best Tale Contest
The next day
Pei Rujing did not go to Ruijintang with Wen Zongji because she was forcibly dragged away by Zuo Mingxuan.
The reason given was that Pei Rujing had missed several mahjong club gatherings, and as the vice president of the club, she was being extremely incompetent; therefore, she had to attend the gathering today.
Knowing she was in the wrong, Pei Rujing followed Zuo Mingxuan.
When Wen Zongji arrived at Ruijintang, Mao Zheng and the five storytellers were already waiting for him.
These five men were all young men, and judging from their clothes, they all came from ordinary families.
That's true. Even if someone comes from a wealthy family, they wouldn't think of writing storybooks. Even if they did have this hobby, they wouldn't sign a contract with a bookstore and give all the ownership rights to the bookstore.
Lu Nian'an was left to watch the shop at the counter, while Wen Zongji and Mao Zheng went into the quiet room.
The five authors looked at each other nervously, fearing that Wen Zongji would be dissatisfied with their stories and would terminate their contracts.
Wen Zongji sat down and said, "I have read all five of your storybooks. The writing is good, but you just follow the crowd, the characters are thin and flat, and the plot is dull and boring. Naturally, not many people are willing to read them."
Upon hearing this, all five of them lowered their heads.
The employer is clearly dissatisfied with them.
Mao Zheng spoke up for them: "Boss, we are aware of these problems. After all, they are newcomers. We believe they will improve a lot after writing a few more books. Please give them some time."
Ruijintang couldn't sign any established authors, so they had to focus their efforts on these newcomers.
These five people were all potential stars personally selected by Mao Zheng.
Wen Zongji raised his hand: "I have no intention of terminating the contract with them."
After saying that, he looked at Yao Changdong.
Changdong immediately took out several sheets of paper from his sleeve, one for each of the five people.
The five men took it, completely bewildered, but after looking at it for a while, they exclaimed in shock, "Master, this is...!"
Wen Zongji placed his hands on the table with his arms crossed: "This is the outline of the story I wrote. From today onwards, abandon the stories you are currently writing and write new stories according to the outline I have given you."
Mao Zheng also saw the outlines and looked at Wen Zongji with a complicated expression: "Were these outlines all written by the boss?"
Wen Zongji nodded: "I don't have time to write the stories myself, so I have to find someone to write them for me. The rest of you have good writing skills, and I believe you can write a story that satisfies me."
All five are authors, and you can tell from the outline that this story is very interesting and will definitely attract people.
The five men immediately replied, "Please rest assured, sir, we will certainly not let you down."
The five then left the quiet room and went home to write their stories.
Watching the five men leave with high spirits, a stark contrast to their previous dejected demeanor, Lu Nian'an was curious about what Wen Zongji had said to them.
quiet room
Mao Zheng sincerely admired, "The boss has written five interesting story outlines in a row, which is truly remarkable."
Wen Zongji said, "Sign new contracts with the five of them as soon as possible. I will provide them with the outline, and they only need to write the script. The previously agreed-upon revenue sharing will have to be reduced. However, if they write excellent stories in the future, the revenue sharing will still be the normal amount."
He had no intention of exploiting these authors, but he couldn't generously hand over his own interests to others.
Mao Zheng cupped his hands in greeting: "I will handle this matter."
Wen Zongji stood up: "Send someone to urge them to finish writing the first volume of the storybook as soon as possible."
The story outlines he provided ranged from low-level martial arts to high-level martial arts, but regardless of the type, they would require at least several hundred thousand words.
A typical storybook usually contains only a few hundred thousand words.
If one book isn't enough, it has to be sold in several volumes.
Mao Zheng said, "Boss, all five of them are newcomers and have no reputation in the industry. If we print their scripts and sell them in the store, I'm afraid not many people will be willing to buy them. At least in the short term, sales will not be good."
Word-of-mouth takes time to build up.
"That is indeed a problem."
Wen Zongji pondered: "Manager Mao, immediately spread the word that Ruijintang will be holding a Top Ten Storytelling Competition on April 15th. Anyone can participate, and as long as they can get into the top ten and receive the title of Top Ten, they will receive a prize of one hundred taels of silver."
"In addition, it should be emphasized that Ruijintang only organizes competitions and does not force participating authors to sign contracts with Ruijintang, nor does it force them to sell their stories on Ruijintang."
Mao Zheng's eyes lit up: "Master is wise. This move will not only make Ruijintang famous, but also give Ruijintang's authors a chance to build up their reputation in advance."
"But competitions need judges. Who should be the judges for this Top Ten Storytelling Competition?"
Wen Zongji said, "The audience for storytelling is all readers who enjoy reading storytelling, so the judges should naturally be readers as well."
"However, ordinary readers won't do; you have to be a seasoned bookworm with more than three years of experience reading vernacular stories, because they are better able to distinguish between good and bad ones."
Mao Zheng fell into deep thought: "How can we attract avid bookworms to be judges for this competition?"
Wen Zongji laughed and said, "Everyone is busy with their own interests. We certainly can't let them be judges for nothing. Each judge will receive a reward of ten taels of silver."
Ten taels of silver!
For avid bookworms, the opportunity to read novels for free and receive payment is definitely appealing.
Mao Zheng couldn't help but gasp: "With the prize money and the judges' fees, organizing this competition must have cost a lot of money. Our boss, Ruijintang only has one hundred taels in the account."
Ruijintang sent its monthly dividends to the Marquis's residence, and the money left in the accounts was used for daily expenses.
Wen Zongji said, "Don't worry about the money, I'll take care of it. Manager Mao only needs to prepare for the competition and let more people know about it as soon as possible. What I just said was only a rough plan for the competition; you still need to refine the details. For example, what should be the word count requirement for participating in the competition, how many judges are needed, etc., all of these need to be planned in advance."
Mao Zheng said, "Please rest assured, sir, I will definitely make this competition a success."
After leaving the quiet room, Wen Zongji greeted Lu Nian'an and then left Ruijintang.
Mao Zheng was left standing there, full of fighting spirit, as if he had been given a second spring.
Lu Nian'an became even more curious.
What exactly did Wen Zongji say to them that made them all so excited, like they'd been injected with adrenaline?
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Thank you so much to the amazing user Ru Yujin for the certification and the update reminder! I'm a terrible writer and didn't have any drafts saved up, so I had to manually write one chapter to add an extra chapter for the amazing user!
It's cold, everyone please take care to keep warm. On my first day back at work after New Year's Day, I suffered from a cold, fever, and cough. Not only did I use up all the manuscripts I had saved up over the holiday, but I also had to go to work while sick, spending several days in a daze.
A stuffy nose is the greatest torment in the world!