Chapter 15
Chapter 15
Chapter 15 – I Am Generous
“Should I get you a cup of coffee?”
“No, I drank some already . I’m fine . ”
The three people sat on cushions in Jaegun’s room . In the bleak room that was vacant for so long, Jaegun first said .
“I’ll forget everything that doesn’t have anything to do with business . I won’t say any words . ”
“Ahah, Yes…”
Manager Ma Jonggu could only put down his head because he felt a bit guilty . He knew it himself . It was the truth that he was harsh on the past no-name writer Jaegun . He could have done better to him, but he didn’t .
“You know the conditions that I gave to Gyungsu, right? I’ll start from there . ”
“That is, sir, the paper books conditions are fine, but the electronic book conditions are a bit… yes . Couldn’t you lengthen the contract length or give us more on the ratio? Couldn’t something like that occur?”
Jonggu was saying this, practically begging .
Even though he wasn’t the type to act like a baby, Jaegun looked around and let out a sight as if he was frustrated . Just with this, Jonggu and Gyungsu became afraid and shook .
“Then let’s do this . ”
Jaegun, even though he thought of this earlier, said like he just thought of it now .
“I’ll only take 10 percent for the paper books . I don’t need guaranteed circulation, and I’ll take 1 percent starting from 4000 copies . But I’ll keep the 2 year contract with the 7 and 3 ratio for the electronic books .
Jonggu’s face showed his complicated thoughts . Jaegun added as if he was being generous .
“I’m being generous . ”
“Ah, Yes . Sir… but…”
It was awkward for Jonggu to contract like this . Updated 𝒏ov𝒆ls on 𝒏ov𝒆lbin(.)c𝒐m
There was no way to see how many paper books were going to sell and the market wasn’t good as well . There was no guarantee that Jaegun’s books were going to be a string of successes . It was his honest thoughts that he wanted to take more on the electronic side of the business .
Just then, Jaegun held up his index finger and continued .
“If you listen to my personal request, I can maybe allow the contract year to increase to 3 years . Or maybe I can give you 1 more on the electronic settlement ratio .
“Personal request?”
Jaegun held up his middle finger and his ring finger as well and opened three fingers .
“Enter in 30,000 dollars in first . ”
Jonggu opened his mouth wide enough to show his uvula .
There was no way to know what Jaegun was going to write, how many books he was going to write; there was absolutely no information on his new works . And with that, an input of 30,000 dollars, that was a huge amount .
“Wr-writer Ha…”
Instead of the flabbergasted Jonggu, Gyungsu spoke up .
“This might be a bad question, but if you sign with use, how many books are you gonna write for the series . ”
“At least 10 books . ”
Gyungsu nodded his head and did the calculations .
The cost for a 10 book series is about 24,000 dollars if it’s 3000 copies per book . To not have any losses, there constantly needs to be at least 3000 copies selling or Jaegun had to increase the series length . There was no guarantee that even 3000 copies would be sold either .
‘If we contract and make a loss…’
The thing that was left was the electronic platform .
If there was a loss, the only way to make it up was like electronic books . Hetae Media went into the electronic market a bit late . To make a profit for the company, they needed some more time to grow .
“Hmm…”
Jonggu was deep in thought pressing on his nose .
It was Jonggu’s way of just throwing out writers who didn’t result in money . Therefore, that was why he was afraid . He was afraid if Jaegun was going to throw out Hetae Media the same way .
“10 books… Please, you need to write no matter what until the 10th book . ”
“I said it with my mouth . If the project needs more because of pacing, I would write more . ”
Jonggu felt somewhat relieved but one part of his mind was still hesitant . Jaegun pulled out his phone, checked it, and showed it to Jonggu .
“Would you look at this?”
Jonggu and Gyungsu’s eyes both went to the phone screen . It contained Starbooks’ Somii’s message .
The Modern Rankings is printing 2000 more copies . The Martial Rankings is also probably printing a thousand more copies . Now it’s 4000 copies and 5000 copies . Total of 9000 copies! This is good news so I thought to tell you as soon as the news was released . Good work today as well .
“Hmmm…”
From Jonggu’s mouth came a strange chime . Jaegun ignored it and continued .
“My value as a writer is rising by the minute . There might not be a contract condition like this any more . ”
“I- I’ll give it to you!”
Jonggu said with a determined face and pulled out his phone .
“Can I give a call to the General Manager?”
“You can do that . I’ll be out for a second to get some coffee and to give you some room . ”
Jaegun left his room and closed the door . Jaeyn, who was leaning against the wall, became surprised and straightened up .
“What are you doing?”
“I- I was getting some water and I was checking… . Jaegun, I just heard something but 30,000 dollars? Am I hearing that right? The book you’re writing goes for much money?!”
“I was going to give some money to mom, about 3000 dollars and it’s just one zero behind it . It’s nothing . ”
He was thinking before the contract . He was going to give all the money of the contract for the not so good living household . Jaeyn became excited .
“Not- not that much, with that much money, you can cover your entire rent fees…”
Jaegun with a bright face poured himself coffee .
The hot steaming water melted the coffee mix . Jaegun blew on the hot coffee a few times and drank a few sips . And before he drank all of it, the 30,000 dollars were deposited into his account .
“I’ve done it, sir . ”
To Jonggu who just left the room, Jaegun nodded .
“I’ve checked it, by the SMS notifications . Thank you . ”
Jaeyn couldn’t close her open mouth . Seriously, did 30,000 dollars of an amount just get deposited? To just a no-name writer like her brother?
Jaeyn wanted to ask her brother about his work or his writer . She didn’t want to give any pressure on her all ready tired brother . Also, she was really hurt from reading all the terrible comments on his books, so she didn’t bother with that either anymore . Therefore, she didn’t know that her brother had just broke the bank with his previous releases .
“I hope you will do good, sir . ”
At the front of the door, Jaegun and Jonggu shook hands .
There were smiles, not person to person, but from business to business .
“Thank you . I’ll try to send you about 5 books in a week . ”
You don’t have to be a friend, but don’t be an enemy .
Jaegun, with the teachings of his father, sent off Jonggu and Gyungsu with a smile . In his mind was already the making of a series that he was going to send to Hetae Media .
… .
“Team Leader, Aren’t you going to have lunch?”
“Go ahead . I bought a sandwich to eat while reading . ”
Game company Nexon mobile team office .
Team Leader Lee Suhee fixed her long hair reaching to the shoulder in a bun . Then with one hand, she ate a sandwich and started reading a book on her knees .
‘Hahaha, funny . ’
The book that she was reading was called the ‘Pegelon’s Magician’, a fantasy type book . It was also Pyung Cheon Yu’s new book . She finished reading his previous series and was just starting on the first book of ‘Pegelon’s Magician . ’
Suhee knew who Pyung Cheon Yu was . From his debut book that failed miserably to his newest books, everything he made was on her bookshelf . Pyung Cheon Yu was the only man who, in her 27 years, made her open her heart .
“Sob, sob . ”
Suhee turned her head to the random crying noise . The youngest employee Hyemi was coming to her seat rubbing her tears away .
“Hyemi, what’s wrong? What happened?”
Suhee comforted her and asked . Hyemi wiping her tears with a tissue cried .
“Sob, I’m sorry, team leader . But I really can’t work with Writer Oh . It’s so hard . . ”
Suhee opened her eyes wide .
It was already the 4th time that Myunghoon caused a problem, now it wasn’t a problem that was going to be fixed with nice words .
“Where is Writer Oh right now?!”