Chapter 88: The Competition for the Rights to Ghost Blows Out the Light
Chapter 88: The Competition for the Rights to Ghost Blows Out the Light
Two days later.
The news of the publication of ‘Ghost Blows Out the Light’ was spread like wildfire.
When Zhang Ye opened a few large discussion boards, three of the boards had the advertisement banners for ‘Ghost Blows Out the Light’ on the main page. “The original ancestor of Grave Robbing Novels, ‘Ghost Blows Out the Light’, will be released on the 1st of October at all major bookstores.”
Today was already the 29th.
It was about to go on sale in less than two days.
Zhang Ye had also asked the middle-aged man from the publication firm why it could be done so quickly. His reply made Zhang Ye speechless. He had said that back then, their publication firm had already agreed with the Beijing Radio Station a long time ago. They had even readied the contracts, as well as all the preparations for the promotions and sales printing planned.
Everything was just waiting for the green light. However, there was complete silence from the radio station, which was because Zhang Ye did not agree to Deputy Station Head Jia acquiring his rights. Hence, all the printing and promotional plans were put on hold. Now, having finally received the rights to ‘Ghost Blows Out the Light’, they just needed to bring forward their plans from before. This resulted in a very fast procedure, and was unlike other publications which could take months.
Of course, the most important thing was that the Beijing Education Publishing Firm was also in a hurry. Six million Yuan (1,000,000 USD) was not a small amount. The situation with the fairy tales was better, for there were no similar fairy tales that tried to compete with Zhang Ye’s. However, ‘Ghost Blows Out the Light’ was not the same. As it was not published immediately, this resulted in a large number of works that chased the tailwind and left it behind, being published first. If this dragged on, the situation would be hard to tell. If the grave robbing novel market was oversaturated, then their publishing firm would be unable to regain their initial investment. This was what they were worrying about. Hence, the moment that they received the copyright, they had rushed to ensure things would go smoothly. Clearly, they were more worried than the author himself.
It was good that the publishing firm was very diligent.
As a result, Zhang Ye did not worry over it. Since his copyright had been bought out, he was no longer worried about the situation with the sales. He remained at home, watching the television without any worries.
Ring, ring, ring. A phone call came in.
Seeing that it was an unfamiliar number, Zhang Ye picked it up, “Hello.”
“Hello, may I know if this is Teacher Zhang Ye?” It was a female’s voice.
“That’s me; may I know who this is?” Zhang Ye asked.
The woman smiled sweetly, “I’m calling from the Hebei province’s radio copyright department. It’s this; I heard that the Beijing Radio Station has halted broadcasting for two days. Later on, there was the promotion of the publication of ‘Ghost Blows Out the Light’. Are you trying to preserve the sales volume, so you halted the broadcast of ‘Ghost Blows Out the Light’? I want to ask how many audio episodes left are there in ‘Ghost Blows Out the Light’? Is it convenient to tell me?”
Zhang Ye said, “There’s probably another 10+ more episodes.”
The woman said, “Then, will it be possible to sell the audio rights of the last 10+ episodes to my radio station? The price is negotiable. Shall we meet to discuss the details?”
Zhang Ye understood what was happening and said, “There’s no need. Before the publication of ‘Ghost Blows Out the Light’, the audio version will definitely not be broadcast. I have already discussed this with the publishers.”
The woman said determinedly, “No problem; we can wait. ‘Ghost Blows Out the Light’ should be published in 5-6 books consecutively, right? After the last book is done, our radio station will publish it. Price-wise, we can give you 100,000 in copyright fees, as there’s not that many episodes. Uh, what do you think?”
“Forget it.” Zhang Ye shook his head.
“If you think the price is too low, we can still discuss it.” The woman was unwilling to hang up.
“Thank you, but I’m not selling it for the time being.” Zhang Ye hung up the phone.
But not long after, a few more phone calls came in. It was unknown which publisher or other circles had revealed his contact information. This resulted in various provincial radio stations calling him to buy the audio rights to ‘Ghost Blows Out the Light’. They did not quote a low price, and were willing to wait until the publication was out before releasing the audio version, paving the way for the hardcopy. What was most hilarious was that even someone from the Beijing Radio Station came looking for Zhang Ye.
“Teacher Zhang, I’m Little Li from logistics.” The youth said, “We once met in the elevator and exchanged a few words. Do you still remember?”
Zhang Ye naturally did not remember, but he said, “Oh. Little Li, I remember you.”
The youth sighed before saying, “The higher-ups told me to discuss the rights to ‘Ghost Blows Out the Light’ with you. I know that you have had some conflicts with the station previously, but even so, ‘Ghost Blows Out the Light’ is your program, your child. It was brought up by you and your novel is already well-rooted in our radio station. The audience recognizes this brand. With this halt, many listeners are calling it quits. Our official website has received a few denial of service attacks. I believe that you also do not want to see this situation. The audience is wishing for ‘Ghost Blows Out the Light’ to resume its broadcast.”
Upon hearing this, Zhang Ye sneered, “Yes, that is not something I want to see, but I did not leave willingly. Everything has a solution, but your station’s management did not leave a route for me to live. I also wish to see ‘Ghost Blows Out the Light’ finish its broadcast, with a beginning and an end, but I have no choice.
You don’t have to say nice words to me, nor use the audience to try to influence me. Those listeners who like my novel can buy the book to ‘Ghost Blows Out the Light’. Those who like listening to a broadcast and audio version can hear it on a radio station after the last volume of ‘Ghost Blows Out the Light’ is published, but I can guarantee you this… It will definitely not be on Beijing Radio Station!”
He immediately hung up. He did not say anything unnecessary!
Zhang Ye found it amusing. You were the ones forcing me away, and now you are keeping a straight face to get my permission and rights? How big is your face?
As for the other radio stations, they had definitely been given the order to ban Zhang Ye. Although Zhang Ye had not submitted his resume to the radio stations, it was obvious that no one would accept him even if he applied. But now? After banning me, you still want my rights? You want to get all the advantages?
Not selling!
Zhang Ye had rejected them all!
However, with careful thought, if other radio stations, including the Beijing Radio Station, were dying to buy the rights to ‘Ghost Blows Out the Light’, and furthermore a ‘Ghost Blows Out the Light’ with just 10+ episodes left, this showed that many people in the industry thought highly of the novel. It could also be said that the industry knew how exceptional ‘Ghost Blows Out the Light’ was.
Zhang Ye had used a single ‘Ghost Blows Out the Light’ to break the late-night segment listenership ratings records! Number one in the country for that time period! The creator of the midnight period historical record in the whole country! Even the Central Radio Station’s late-night segment was not enough to defeat Zhang Ye! What sort of legend was this? Probably most colleagues in the radio station knew that having ‘Ghost Blows Out the Light’ meant having such listenership ratings!
Even if there were just 10+ episodes left, even if it was less than ten episodes, even if it was a late-night segment, ‘Ghost Blows Out the Light’ was ‘Ghost Blows Out the Light’. It was not something other late-night segments could compete with! Hence, they had rushed to buy the rights. Even the Beijing Radio Station had straightened their faces before approaching!
Not long later, the phone rang again.
Zhang Ye was prepared not to pick it up, as he knew it could be someone from the radio station. However, when he saw the number, he gave a wry smile. He had to pick it up.
“Hello, Little Zhang.” It was Beijing Radio Station’s Literature Channel’s Director Zhao Guozhou, “What are you doing? Why did you take so long to pick up the phone? Hur Hur, you can’t still be sleeping, right?”
Zhang Ye coughed, “No, Director Zhao. I woke up earlier on. I had been on the phone for an hour.”
Zhao Guozhou understood, “They were all looking for you to buy your audio, right?”
“Yes,” Zhang Ye said, “You can even guess it?”
Zhao Guozhou said lightly, “I wasn’t guessing. I knew it. I called you because of this matter. Just now, you rejected someone from logistics, right? The higher-ups aren’t willing to let go of ‘Ghost Blows Out the Light’, so they got me to look for you. They also know that you and the station’s management are as unmixable as oil and water, so they got me to discuss the price with you. It is a market economy after all, so they wish to use money to talk.”
Zhang Ye was about to speak, “Leader, I…”
Zhao Guozhou laughed, “Listen to me first. I already know, even without you telling me. They do not understand you, but I believe I know this kid that is you. If you were willing to swallow insult and humiliation for money to sell ‘Ghost Blows Out the Light’ back to us, then you wouldn’t be called Zhang Ye. You would also not have said that ‘Dead Water’ in front of so many people.
They clearly think too simply of you. So I have no intentions of persuading you to sell the rights. I only called to ask about your situation. Seeing your publication promotions doing so well, I’m also well-assured. After all, you were brought in by me. I deserve to be faulted for not being able to protect you.”
“Director Zhao, what are you saying?” Zhang Ye was not willing to hear this, “How can you blame yourself. Every injustice has its perpetrator, and every debt has its debtor. I know this clearly.” After pausing for a while, he said, “Actually I already told Little Li from logistics that I would sell the rights to anyone but the Beijing Radio Station. But.. if you were to say it, you can take the rights away. I won’t want a single cent. Once the last book is released on the market, you can carry on broadcasting it on the Literature Channel!”
Zhao Guozhou remained silent for a while. Zhang Ye’s words had touched him. Speaking truthfully, Zhao Guozhou had only brought Zhang Ye in. He did not help much. But even so, Zhang Ye was still a loyal person and remembered their old friendship. Back when Zhang Ye said to Zhao Guozhou that he would show his gratitude by repaying him, these were clearly not just empty words. He would really do it!
But Zhao Guozhou was not willing to accept it!
He was not a person without a sense of propriety!
“Little Zhang, just those words alone are sufficient. Alright, I didn’t make a mistake in my judgment with you.” Zhao Guozhou assured him, “You can sell the audio rights to anyone but us. I have already received the news that if we were to obtain the rights to ‘Ghost Blows Out the Light’, it would end up with Jia Yan broadcasting it. The 10+ episodes that you had recorded would be deleted, and Jia Yan would be re-recording it. The station is using all its resources to raise him up.”
“I got it. Thank you, Director Zhao.” Zhang Ye suddenly recalled, “By the way, what happened to Tian Bin? I heard that he was removed from his segment?”
“Why are you suddenly concerned about Little Tian?”
“I’m just casually asking.”
“Little Tian has already resigned. He left the day before yesterday. He should be at home, waiting to get a job. I heard that his situation isn’t very good. No radio station wants him, as he lacks experience and results. Hai, actually with the two of you fighting so much, and causing all the suffering between each other all this time, in the end, it benefited another person.”
“Can you give me Tian Bin’s number? I did not store his number.”
“What are you looking for him for? Forget it, I won’t ask. I’ll send it to you in a moment.”