Reborn 92's Business Tycoon

Chapter 464: Chapter 464: You're Mr Feng?

'Hello, Mr Hamilton, this is Bao Zhuoyuan. I have some good news for you. After communicating with the author several times, he is also inclined to publish the book 'Blue Ocean Strategy' through your company. Please contact the author as soon as possible to discuss the specific matters.'

'Mr. Bao, thank you very much for your help! I will discuss it with the company immediately and contact Mr. Feng Yiping by tomorrow at the latest.' Hamilton stood up while holding the phone in both hands.

'Sorry, dear, I have to make some adjustments to the rest of the arrangements for tonight. I have to go to Anderson's house. Don't be angry. You know what? This is definitely my chance for promotion,' Hamilton said happily. Anderson is his superior.

That night, Hamilton arrived at Anderson's house shortly after Anderson took him to meet Wilson, the vice president of the publishing house. The three of them spent more than an hour in urgent consultation, with Hamilton's compiled preface and three Chapters in hand, and finally came up with a general plan.

The magazine was finally getting back on track, and every day they received more and more phone calls and letters from people wanting to contact the author of the Blue Ocean Strategy. There were no shortage of internationally renowned companies and top publishers, and everyone was getting a little annoyed. This Hamilton was one of the most persistent.

After much consideration, Bao Zhaoyuan persuaded Feng Yiping that he no longer needed to serialise the book in the magazine and that he could consider publishing it directly. Moreover, once his reputation was established, there would be more and more opportunities to promote Frontier magazine, which would be more effective. For example, at seminars attended by CEOs from all walks of life – judging by the current response, this is bound to happen once the book is published. Incidentally, this will be more effective than sending out 10,000 copies.

Feng Yiping thought that was fine. The book was published in early 2005, and now, with preparations underway, it will be published in the second half of this year, with plenty of time and no unnecessary disputes.

One of the reasons for choosing Harvard Business School Publishing is that Harvard Business School has a unique and rigorous editorial process for publishing commercial books. For books intended for publication, the publisher will invite experts to review the manuscript anonymously, just as they would for academic papers to be published. They will also invite peers and industry experts to review the manuscript. Therefore, as long as it agrees to publish, it represents the publisher's recognition and endorsement of the copyright.

The Harvard University Press, which is the official publishing house of Harvard University, was established in the 1920s. However, it does not publish journals or textbooks, only academic books, so although the brand is good, the benefits are poor.

The Harvard Business School Publishing, established in the 1990s, is affiliated with Harvard Business School and is a standard junior, but it has developed rapidly, with publishing revenue of nearly 100 million US dollars. Its gross profit margin is usually above 50%, and its revenue alone accounts for more than one-third of Harvard Business School's annual revenue.

With such good results, there is naturally a reason for this. Because it is strict with manuscripts, it generally publishes no more than 50 commercial books each year, but its sales and distribution are very strong.

For example, it recommends books to readers who have subscribed to two authoritative publications, Harvard Business Review and Harvard Communications, which are also the target customers of Feng Yiping's Frontier magazine—the most influential and business-savvy people in the world. In addition, it has cooperative relationships with major book retailers, and it is considered a hassle-free experience to entrust it with publishing.

At 9am the next morning, Feng Yiping, who happened to have no classes in the morning, received a call from Hamilton at the company. At this time, it should be 9pm in Boston. It can be said that the Americans are really quite dedicated to profitable business. They fully considered Feng Yiping's work and rest schedule and did not call him when they were at work and he was resting.

When he received Hamilton's call, Feng Yiping was not surprised. Bao Zhaoyuan had already told him about it. There was not much to say over the somewhat distorted transatlantic phone call, but after confirming Feng Yiping's preferences, Hamilton said he would take the fastest flight to BJ to meet with Feng Yiping.

Hamilton did not go directly to BJ. Before meeting with Feng Yiping, he wanted to visit Bao Zhaoyuan first.

Bao Zhuoyuan was very happy to receive him, and he also hoped that he would have such an opportunity to showcase his publishing house in front of these top peers.

'Thank you very much, Mr. Bao. The journals published by your company are of very high quality. We look forward to having the opportunity to cooperate with you in the near future. In addition, I would like to thank you especially for recommending our publishing house to Mr. Feng Yiping.' In Bao Zhuoyuan's office, Hamilton brought two colleagues, a man and a woman, to express his gratitude to him in person.

'Oh, you're welcome. These Chapters have helped our publishing house survive its fragile infancy. Now, I myself hope that Mr Feng will publish his monograph separately, and Harvard Business School Publishing is undoubtedly the best choice,' Bao Zhuoyuan said with a smile.

'Considering the possible adverse impact on the publication of your company's publications due to the discontinuation of the serialisation, our company has decided to recommend your publication to our subscribers for free in the next two issues of Harvard Business Review.' Everyone knows how to return a favour.

Bao Zhuoyuan did not discuss this recommendation with them first. 'We certainly welcome it, but I want to make one thing clear first: the author, Mr Feng, is also the chairman of our publishing house,'

'Oh?' Hamilton was taken aback. They had thought that the author would be a close friend of the editor-in-chief of Frontier, but they hadn't expected this kind of relationship. However, he immediately reacted, realising that they hadn't yet finalised an agreement with the author, and that this favour had to be sold. 'No problem, we will recommend it just the same, and we would also like to thank Mr Bao and Mr Feng for their trust in our publishing house,'

he looked out at the busy office area, "I am becoming more and more interested in Mr Feng.'

Bao Zhuoyuan smiled, "Don't worry, when you meet, Mr Feng will definitely surprise you.'

Sure enough, the next day, Jin Ling was downstairs to greet the three staff members from his alma mater and Bao Zhuoyuan, who had accompanied them. When they arrived in the meeting room, the three foreigners saw a young boy dressed like an intern sitting casually in the main seat, next to a middle-aged man in his forties with gold-rimmed glasses and a briefcase by his side, very scholarly and dignified. They immediately took the company's lawyer Ye as the author Feng Yiping, and as for the young man, he must be the junior that Mr. Feng brought with him.

Before Jin Ling could introduce them, Hamilton extended his hand to Lawyer Ye, saying, 'Hello, Mr. Feng, nice to meet you!'

Lawyer Ye didn't speak much English, but he understood these two sentences and knew that this was a misunderstanding. Smiling, he shook Hamilton's hand and said in Mandarin, "Hello, my surname is Ye, I'm Mr. Feng's lawyer,'

Next to them, Feng Yiping stood up and smiled, extending his hand, "Hello, Mr. Hamilton, I'm Feng Yiping, we spoke on the phone two days ago,'

Hamilton didn't have time to feel awkward now. He shook Feng Yiping's hand somewhat hesitantly, but his eyes turned to Jin Ling.

Jin Ling nodded with a smile, 'Yes, he is Feng Yiping,'

Hamilton sat down and took a big gulp of water. "I'm sorry, Mr. Feng, please forgive my abruptness just now. I'm sorry, but I still want to confirm, are you still a student?" he asked, not quite sure.

'Yes, I'm a first-year university student,' said Feng Yiping, feeling a little gratified by the look of disbelief on the three foreigners' faces.

'I know this is rude, but I need to ask for verification: is this book, The Blue Ocean Strategy, really your personal work?'

'That's okay, I understand your doubts, but there's no doubt that it is my work,' Feng Yiping replied with a smile.

'This is really, really surprising! I'm sorry, I'm not questioning your professional abilities, I mean, you're really too young,' Hamilton is still a little incoherent, and from the shape of his mouth, it can be seen that his two colleagues are not much better, and they are also saying, 'Oh, my god!'

'That's not really surprising, is it? Didn't one of your school dropouts also found Microsoft when he was 20?' Feng Yiping unashamedly compared himself to that Mr. Bill.