Chapter 124 A Training Class for Authors

Keep spending money on mid-level and low-level authors?

Ma Yiqun felt a little confused and lost.

In his opinion, Qidian Chinese Website already provided good enough benefits for mid-level and low-level authors, basically on par with large websites like Infinite Chinese Website.

However, the revenue that mid-level and low-level authors brought to the website was difficult to improve further.

Because writing was a form of artistic creation, and it was a very subjective thing.

Some authors could write for ten years and still not produce a bestseller;

While some top-tier authors could grasp the essence of online novels as soon as they wrote a million words and reach the pinnacle.

So, the key was still the people.

Even if the website put in a lot of effort to discover and cultivate them, the base of authors was still there, and finding a top-tier author was like winning the lottery.

What if the person they were trying to cultivate simply didn't have the talent?

In comparison, it was obviously more reliable to poach people directly from other websites.

But since President Pei had already said so, Ma Yiqun had no choice but to obey.

"Okay, President Pei, I'll go and do it."

…

Upstairs, back at Qidian Chinese Website, Ma Yiqun sat down in his office and began to think about what kind of plan to come up with.

President Pei's guiding principle had been determined: this money could not be used to poach people, but had to continue to be spent on the website's mid- and low-level authors.

Of course, the standard was the same, and the website's top-tier authors would definitely be able to enjoy this benefit as well.

But for top-tier authors, Qidian Chinese Website had not yet developed to the stage where it could manage copyrights, and their main source of income was subscriptions. This kind of benefit could only be regarded as icing on the cake for them, and would not become a decisive factor.

Ma Yiqun considered it.

For mid- and low-level authors, the benefits that Infinite Chinese Website gave, such as full attendance bonuses, Qidian Chinese Website also gave, and the standards were even higher than Infinite Chinese Website.

If they wanted to continue giving benefits, they would definitely have to put their efforts into the benefits that other online novel websites were reluctant to give.

Moreover, although it was said to be benefits for mid- and low-level authors, they would definitely mainly consider mid-level authors.

Because the number of low-level authors was really too large to consider.

Some people could apply for a pen name on a whim and write a few thousand words, and they could barely be considered low-level authors.

If they were to consider giving benefits to these people, then the website would become a charitable organization, and no matter how much money they made, it would not be enough to spend, after all, this was a purely loss-making business.

The key was the mid-level authors.

They stood out from the bottom, proving that they had the perseverance and ability to continue creating. They were relatively reliable and would not suddenly ditch readers or the website. With the accumulation of experience and a little bit of luck, some of them might be able to grow into top-tier authors.

So, this money still had to be spent on them.

Ma Yiqun fell into deep thought.

"So, for these mid-level authors, in addition to royalties, readers, and popularity, which Infinite Chinese Website could also provide, what is their biggest need?"

"It's… security."

"Career development planning and guidance."

"Mild social relationships."

"And… a more regular and healthier lifestyle."

"In this way, this guarantee can only be given to a portion of people, and must go through strict screening."

Ma Yiqun felt that he had found the right direction and began to write the plan.

President Pei was right, they couldn't compete with Infinite Chinese Website in terms of money. Even if they could poach some authors, it wouldn't be a long-term solution after all.

Because Infinite Chinese Website had a wide reader base and a large base of authors, and its blood-making ability was much higher than Qidian Chinese Website.

Therefore, no matter how they considered it, Infinite Chinese Website crushed Qidian Chinese Website in terms of the development prospects of mid-level authors.

So, if they wanted to attract more mid-level authors, they had to play to their strengths and avoid their weaknesses, and not pay too much attention to the aspects that everyone could see, such as royalties, readers, and exposure, but instead put their efforts into aspects that everyone couldn't see.

For example, the most basic living security.

Authors had no basic salary, no five social insurances and one housing fund, and whether each book was successful was full of risk. The income of mid-level authors might not be low, but their ability to resist risks was far from matching their income.

It was not impossible to pay for their own five social insurances and one housing fund, but they would have to pay for the company's share as well, which was equivalent to paying twice the amount.

Another example was career development planning and guidance.

Most authors were basically left to fend for themselves. There were many authors and few editors, and many mid-level authors couldn't say a few words to their editors in a year.

Of course, many responsible editors would discuss writing issues with authors, but the situation where there were more monks than porridge determined that this could only be a treatment that a small number of authors could enjoy.

That was why many authors would build author groups, exchange their experiences in the group, and grow together.

Compared to the "old leading the new" model of general companies, the career development planning and guidance in the online literature industry could basically be said to be close to zero, and it all depended on the authors' own enlightenment.

Also, a healthier lifestyle.

Online literature authors were freelancers, and had many of the common problems of freelancers, which was an irregular lifestyle.

An irregular lifestyle would directly bring physical effects, such as cervical spine and lumbar spine diseases, or problems such as high blood pressure and obesity. There were also occasional news of sudden deaths.

After all, maintaining a healthy lifestyle was only one aspect of self-control.

Everyone's self-control was different, and another key factor was the environment.

Many people only thought about playing at home and had no efficiency at all, while they would improve their efficiency when they went to the company or the self-study room at school. This was the impact of the environment.

From this point of view, those full-time authors who updated more often, their self-control in other aspects was hard to say, but their self-control in terms of work must be very strong.

So, Ma Yiqun considered it for a long time and finally decided.

Qidian Chinese Website was going to run a class!

Not the kind of study class that only talked about theory, but an experience class that provided security, career planning and guidance, and cultivated a healthy lifestyle for mid-level authors!

Ma Yiqun's initial plan was to select 30 people from the current mid-level authors of Qidian Chinese Website through the method of authors voluntarily signing up + website editors screening.

This was the first batch, to test it out and see how it worked.

Reimburse them for their expenses, and after they came to Jingzhou, their food and accommodation would be arranged uniformly. Anyway, there was Touching Fish Takeaway for food, and the rent wouldn't cost much.

Give these people a basic salary of 3,000, and pay the five social insurances and one housing fund according to this standard.

Find an office building near their residence, rent 30 relatively cheap workstations, and require them to clock in and out of work every day according to Tengda's working hours.

In addition, regularly hold some discussion meetings and experience sharing meetings, and let some authors with good results talk about their experience.

When each author wanted to start a new book, or when they couldn't advance when writing to a key plot point, they could discuss it with other authors and fully listen to their opinions.

In such an environment, the relationship between these authors was not like colleagues, but more like classmates and friends.

Of course, not all authors were interested in such an experience class.

Many authors, especially those who were older and more experienced, were not interested in a base salary, moving to Jingzhou to have food and accommodation provided, and writing with other authors like going to work.

They would feel that online literature was a freelance job, and the advantage of a freelance job was that they didn't have to go out at home. If they were asked to go to work in Jingzhou, wouldn't that be a step backwards?

Obviously, these authors would not be forced.

Therefore, this study class was mainly aimed at young, unmarried authors.

These authors were motivated, had great potential, and made rapid progress, but had poor self-management awareness and had certain social needs and career development aspirations.

This study class would be opened for a month to test the waters and see how it worked.

If it was really effective, then they would expand the scale and extend the time later.

…

After sending Ma Yiqun away, Pei Qian looked at his notes for less than half an hour.

"Ding!"

He received a message on his phone.

Pei Qian picked it up and saw that it was from Chef Lin.

"President Pei, a new high-end restaurant seems to have opened in the city, and it looks like it's targeting Mingyun Private Kitchen. It's called Ming Mansion Family Banquet, and it's also following the high-end catering route!"

"It seems to have just opened in the past two days, and the reservations for Mingyun Private Kitchen have obviously decreased recently. What should we do?"

Seeing this message, Pei Qian was stunned.

Ming Mansion Family Banquet?

High-end catering targeting Mingyun Private Kitchen?

Could it be the one that President Li and the others invested in?

Pei Qian remembered that President Li had indeed mentioned this matter last month, saying that he, Xue Zhebbin, and Wang Peng had been unable to book a seat at Mingyun Private Kitchen, which was very painful, so they wanted to cooperate with Pei Qian to open a chain store of Nameless Restaurant, but Pei Qian refused.

As a result, these three people could only tinker with opening a store themselves.

Calculating the time, this matter should have been in preparation before Li Shi officially explained it to Pei Qian, and it had just opened in the past two days.

Pei Qian replied "Got it" to Chef Lin, and then dialed Li Shi's phone.

"President Li, is Ming Mansion Family Banquet the high-end restaurant you opened?"

On the other end of the phone, Li Shi smiled and said, "Yes, President Pei. What's the matter, you say you don't care, but you've actually been paying attention?"

Pei Qian: "…"

I've been paying attention to a ghost.

If Chef Lin hadn't sent me a message, I wouldn't have known that your high-end restaurant had officially opened.

Pei Qian was too lazy to say anything. The more he explained, the darker it would get, so he simply went straight to the point: "President Li, didn't I say that I would eat the first meal after your restaurant opened? Why didn't you even notify me?"

Li Shi coughed twice: "Ahem, President Pei, I'm really sorry, I've been a little busy recently, and it's easy to forget things when I'm busy. Moreover, I thought you were just saying it casually."

"My mistake, how about this, which day do you come to eat, I'll give you a 30% discount at the restaurant! Consider it as compensation."

30% discount? Not a free meal?

This President Li was stingy enough.

However, Pei Qian thought about it again, even if President Li really gave him a free meal, he couldn't accept it.

30% discount it is then.

"Okay, then there's no time like the present, let's do it today! Reserve a good spot for me tonight, I'll book the whole place." Pei Qian was quite casual.

"Book… book the whole place? Tonight?" On the other end of the phone, Li Shi was obviously stunned for a moment, "Uh, booking the whole place tonight is a bit difficult, there are already quite a few people who have made reservations for 7 o'clock."

"I won't eat after seven o'clock, I'll arrive at 4 o'clock, and I can finish eating by 5 o'clock, you can clean up and welcome the next wave of customers, it won't be a problem."

"Do you have enough dishes and ingredients?"

Pei Qian looked at his watch, the time was 3:40 in the afternoon.

Ming Mansion Family Banquet was not very far from here, and it would take about 20 minutes to get there by taxi.

Li Shi was silent for a long time: "Some of the ingredients may not be enough, but most of them are. Okay, President Pei, if you can really come now, that's of course good, welcome."

Pei Qian: "Okay, see you later."

After hanging up the phone, Pei Qian immediately got up and put away his notes.

What's the point of studying, let's go eat!

Arriving at four o'clock and eating until five o'clock, this time was just right, it wouldn't delay everyone from getting off work and going home to rest.