Negotiating the price

Inside the Ink and Brush Studio-

Jia Heng said, "The Three Kingdoms stories circulating today are all scattered and difficult to tie together. The plot of my manuscript is entirely different from those out there, and the dazzling developments to come surpass even the opening."

Liu Tong pondered for a moment, then smiled. "As for what comes later, none of us knows..."

Jia Heng smiled. "Then perhaps I should finish the entire manuscript before showing it to you, Mr. Liu? Only, by then, whether it can be sold at your establishment will be an open question."

Liu Tong could not help chuckling. "What I have seen today has already left this old man awestruck. Naturally, I have faith in your talent, Young Master Jia."

"What price did you have in mind, Young Master Jia?" Liu Tong asked.

Jia Heng said, "How much can you offer, Mr. Liu?"

Liu Tong considered for a moment, smiled, and held up four fingers.

Jia Heng said, "Four hundred taels?"

Liu Tong chuckled again, then said firmly, "Forty taels."

Jia Heng frowned. "Mr. Liu, that chapter just now contained so many characters and took a great deal of effort. Even writing calligraphy on a hanging strip or a square sheet for someone could earn me a tael or two, couldn't it?"

In this era, one tael generally exchanged for between one thousand and fifteen hundred copper coins. The rate also fluctuated at different times according to the purity of the silver and the size of the copper coins, unlike the stable currency values of later ages.

As for prices, one tael of silver could buy over three hundred jin of rice or a hundred jin of good pork.

In Jia Heng's estimation, the purchasing power of one tael of silver was roughly equivalent to over a thousand yuan. Forty taels came to forty or fifty thousand yuan. Buying outright a manuscript of a hundred and twenty chapters and nearly six hundred thousand characters for that price-how should he put it? It was clearly rather low.

Of course, as a businessman, Liu Tong must have left some room for bargaining.

As for receiving a share per copy, that was not really practicable. Jia Heng could not possibly know how many copies the Ink and Brush Studio actually sold, nor could he send someone to monitor its sales.

After all, in this era, booksellers dominated the entire chain of printing and selling books. Apart from a very small number of renowned writers who could negotiate a share when publishing their work, most authors sold their manuscripts outright.

Why else would people say that writing impoverished three generations, and authoring books ruined a lifetime?

Those who wrote books mostly lived in poverty and destitution...

Liu Tong said, "How can the two compare? Besides, Young Master Jia, you may not know the going rates. Even a licentiate would receive only a tael or two for writing such pieces."

Jia Heng smiled. "Mr. Liu, why don't we be frank with one another and lay our cards on the table?"

His target price was three hundred taels, or three to four hundred thousand yuan.

After all, this was one of the Four Great Classical Novels. In a later age, a timeless masterpiece like this would at least have allowed him to achieve financial freedom with a single book.

"How much do you want, Young Master Jia?" Liu Tong asked with a smile. As a businessman, he sometimes enjoyed this sort of back-and-forth bargaining.

Jia Heng said, "Let's say four hundred taels."

Liu Tong could not help chuckling. Stroking his beard, he said, "You certainly dare to name a price, Young Master Jia. Four hundred taels? Even after selling this book, we might not make four hundred taels in profit."

That was pure fabrication.

Jia Heng said, "Why try to conceal it from me, Mr. Liu? If this book is published throughout the realm, your profits will amount to far more than a few thousand taels."

In his view, once Romance of the Three Kingdoms was published, it would most likely sweep the realm.

Such was the allure of the Four Great Classical Novels.

Liu Tong gave a bitter smile. "How could there be that much? Hiring people to print it, making the covers-all these things cost money. It would already be remarkable if the Ink and Brush Studio made four hundred taels in profit. Besides, our humble firm only has branches in the capital, Jinling, and a few provinces such as Zhejiang and Fujian. How could we publish it throughout the realm?"

Jia Heng smiled. "Since you believe the profits will be less than four hundred taels, why don't we do this? For every copy sold, I receive half a tael of silver. What do you think of that proposal?"

This was a profit-sharing arrangement. Jia Heng himself had little faith in it, of course; it was merely a bargaining pretext.

Liu Tong smiled awkwardly. "You jest, Young Master Jia. You may not realize that our humble firm also assumes tremendous risks in publishing this book. Carving the blocks, buying materials-which of those does not require expenditure? If we suffer a loss, are we supposed to ask you to make up the difference?"

Jia Heng pondered for a moment. This was precisely why profit-sharing was so difficult. Wasn't the Ink and Brush Studio free to declare whatever costs it liked?

How was this any different from a certain online literature platform in later ages sharing net profits only after deducting operating expenses?

After another round of verbal swords and spears, bargaining back and forth until noon, Jia Heng finally sold Romance of the Three Kingdoms to the Ink and Brush Studio for two hundred and forty taels-two taels per chapter.

It also taught Jia Heng a lesson.

Writing books would probably leave a man to starve.

A timeless masterpiece like Romance of the Three Kingdoms sold for only two hundred and forty taels. These black-hearted booksellers...

Though Jia Heng was inwardly speechless, there was nothing he could do.

The main reason was his lack of fame. Presumably, once this book came out and its sales became apparent, he would have some bargaining power when releasing another.

Of course, taken on its own, two hundred and forty taels was no small sum. It would be enough to support a middling household for a year.

As far as he knew, publishing in this era already possessed a complete industrial chain. Official and private printing aside, commercial printing was highly developed. Booksellers like the Ink and Brush Studio, which combined production and sales, had their own workshops, and their printing costs were practically negligible.

The labor expenses lay entirely in carving and printing from the woodblocks.

Of course, Jia Heng did not know that, taking the Collected Works of Mr. Luo of Yuzhang published during the Jiajing era as an example, eighty-three blocks had been carved for its two volumes, comprising a total of a hundred and sixty-one pages, and the carvers' remuneration had been twenty-four taels of silver.

To take the Jigu Pavilion's block carving as another example, every hundred characters cost three and a half hundredths of a tael. Woodblock carving and printing could thus also be considered inexpensive.

Yet books were priced extremely high, at three to five taels per volume, while popular reading material in particular sold briskly.

In the publishing history of Jia Heng's previous life, Jin Ying of the Qing dynasty had written in Jade of Maxims: "Selling old books is not as good as selling contemporary essays; printing contemporary essays is not as good as printing fiction."

That alone offered a glimpse of the popularity of vernacular fiction.

Hadn't Jia Heng likewise headed straight for the contemporary essays section when he entered the Ink and Brush Studio?

But what booksellers profited from was their control of distribution.

Even in later ages, a certain black-hearted reading platform paid out only a 1.4 percent share through its distribution channel. When an author tipped himself a hundred yuan, only one yuan and forty fen reached his account.

"Young Master Jia, please deliver the rest of the manuscript by the end of the month," Liu Tong said, looking up at Jia Heng with a smile as he took up paper and brush to draw up the manuscript contract.

The old man's smile had grown considerably more kindly.

By a conservative estimate, the Ink and Brush Studio could make over two thousand taels from this deal. How could he not be delighted? And that was without mentioning the lavish praise he would surely receive if he reported this new manuscript to his master.

It had been a long time since the Ink and Brush Studio had come across a good manuscript.

But at this moment, neither Jia Heng nor the Ink and Brush Studio realized what Romance of the Three Kingdoms truly meant.

Jia Heng considered for a moment, then said, "Sir, why don't I deliver fifteen chapters first? I'll bring them to you in the next few days. Lately, I have been entangled in all sorts of affairs and cannot free myself."

Romance of the Three Kingdoms contained nearly six hundred thousand characters in all. Even copying it out would take time. He also had to learn riding and archery from Xie Zaiyi and prepare to marry Qin Keqing. With so much to do, he would probably only be able to spare four hours a day to write.

Liu Tong smiled. "There's no hurry. The Ink and Brush Studio publishes fifteen chapters per volume. As long as you deliver fifteen chapters by the end of this month, that will do."

Fifteen chapters per volume? What a profiteer! Jia Heng thought.

Each volume would be priced at no less than three taels of silver. Given the Ink and Brush Studio's character, they might well produce a deluxe edition and dare to charge five taels. A complete set of Romance of the Three Kingdoms would then cost forty taels. Who could afford that?

Even he, the original author, could not afford many copies!

Still, that pricing was not outrageous. Historical records stated that a complete hundred-chapter set of Journey to the West during the Jiajing era had cost roughly forty taels.

The customers for books like these were scholars and official households with some modest wealth.

As for ordinary people, limited by their literacy, they mostly heard the stories from storytellers who had switched professions after failing the scholarly examinations, then waited for pirated reprints to bring the prices down...

For now, the Ink and Brush Studio was handling the first round of sales, targeting the high-end market...