Chapter 1299: Chapter 1298: Backhand... Draw
In a somewhat cramped office, the president hung up the phone, with the limited light reflecting off the opposite wall into the window.
This is a... very poorly located office building, but for the publishing house, they are already quite satisfied.
The competition in the print media is too fierce, this industry has gradually changed from having opportunities to exploit gaps to often misjudging now.
In the past, when publishing houses were doing well, many unknown authors brought their books to the publishing house, and as long as they could get them printed, they would agree to any terms.
They used to do this often, and of course, they wouldn’t accept bad books. Those chosen were very good books.
But soon, a lot of capital began flowing into the publishing industry, and publishing houses became increasingly difficult to operate.
Now, even before those authors finish writing their books and call around asking who can publish them, those purely commercialized publishers are already waiting outside the authors’ homes, ready to sign a contract!
The president has even seen a salesperson from a publisher serving an author all day long like a nanny to quickly secure a contract.
They are not only shameless but also willing to spend money!
This has led to many publishing houses without strong capital gradually being eliminated by the mainstream in the rapid development of the entire industry, eventually disappearing without a trace.
This publishing house is like that.
The magazine sales are miserable, barely covering the printing and distribution costs, and salaries are not guaranteed to be fully paid.
Various books have some revenue, but this income is decreasing.
The accountant calculated that if the publishing house doesn’t find new funding sources in the second half of this year, the publishing house will have to make some difficult choices.
Cut self-owned works and transform into a reporter station, earning money by selling news while signing printing contracts with other publishers.
The transportation cost of books is not low; rather than printing books and transporting them elsewhere incurring extra transport fees, it’s better to find a local printing factory to collaborate with.
This is a good path, at least there’s still business in the current market.
But no one expected the turning point to appear in their lives, coming so quickly.
"What did the other side say?" The vice president extinguished a half-burned cigarette in the ashtray and couldn’t help asking.
Ever since they heard from peers about a very heavyweight magazine about to launch recently, they realized good fortune was coming.
Generally speaking, with a heavyweight magazine launch, these people don’t think of it as a competitor but rather consider the opportunity to jump ship.
Isn’t it the same job wherever you work?
Moreover, this time it’s backed by Lynch’s Darkstone Group, at least wages won’t be short or unpaid.
Many people think this way until someone raises a question, "Our magazine... is also called ’Vanguard,’ right?"
The president swallowed hard, and at this moment, all he saw was an uncountable amount of money.
The publishing house’s equity isn’t concentrated in the president’s hands. Capitalists always have ways to reduce their risks; when business was bad, he dispersed equity to the vice president and all colleagues.
Issuing equity as bonuses or even salaries indeed saved him a large sum in tough times.
And now, in his mind, he’s thinking about how to take a bite out of Lynch.
Initially, the magazine’s others had simple thoughts. Since they had the ’Vanguard’ trademark, they wanted to sell it to Lynch.
Everyone still remembers what the vice president said back then!
"We can ask him for... three million!"
He originally thought of saying one million, but later reconsidered, thinking one million was too small-minded, so he increased it to three million.
Everyone gasped, with three million, their good days were ahead.
However, the president offered a different opinion, "Even if he gives us three million, do you think this money would do us any good?"
At that time, his words cooled down everyone’s fervor, "I’m the major shareholder, and your shares are scattered and scarce; some might only get a few thousand out of this three million!"
Indeed, not everyone holds a few percent, a dozen percent, or several tens of percent of shares. Most people’s shares might just be one percent or fractions of a percent.
This means at most they’d get a few thousand or tens of thousands, while in front of them is three million!
Human greed and stupidity tightly embraced at this moment, and they decided to follow the president’s plan.
If something had to be used to describe it, this plan was... parasitism!
They invested the ’Vanguard’ trademark into Lynch’s magazine, then occupied a certain share, and also worked at Lynch’s magazine.
"In this way, every year we can get dividends from Lynch’s magazine. In a large-scale company like that, what we get won’t be less than what we’d get directly distributing the money."
"More importantly, we can also get a job, having a good job in addition to an annual bonus; is there a better choice than this?"
His words convinced everyone at the magazine, even the cleaning staff expressed agreement with the president’s idea, after all, he held 0.1 percent of shares——
That was the most difficult month for the publishing house when the president had to pay those who couldn’t be exempted but gave out shares to the rest, even over-distributing them.
After a series of maneuvers, now is the harvest season.
The president waved his hand to disperse the poor-quality cigarette smoke in front of him, he walked to the window and opened it, letting the cold but fresh air blow in.
He just stood by the window, and in a small moment, his nose turned red from the cold.
He sniffed, "No, how could they agree?"
"I understand these capitalists’ habits; they must be thinking if there’s another way to resolve this, then they find no way, ultimately having to sit down with us to talk."
"So, you don’t need to worry now, what you need to do is spread the news through your channels."
"We have the trademark Mr. Lynch wants, but we haven’t reached an agreement yet. Soon someone will contact us."
"At that time, we can use those inquiries to put pressure on Mr. Lynch."
"Of course, we can also make some concessions; if he doesn’t agree to our demands, we’ll sell the trademark to someone else."
"And Mr. Lynch might become a joke to others; if you’ve paid attention to Lynch, you’ll find he almost never fails, at least I haven’t noticed."
"Whether this is coincidence or he maintains this on purpose, he’s sure to continue negotiating with us, so don’t worry."
"This money, these conditions, for him, it’s only a small amount..."
Everyone praised the president’s mind and considered his plan feasible. After thinking it through seriously, no one found any illogical part.
That’s good, everyone started working on their tasks.
Lynch’s collaborating law firm acted swiftly; the very next day the magazine received court summons, someone sued them.
Moreover, it wasn’t just one person.
The president was somewhat confused about what had happened, but he invited his legal advisor for consultation.
Most Federation people have their legal advisor or lawyer because most Federal people may encounter legal issues and need a lawyer’s help.
The lawyer finished reading the summons and made several phone calls, then showed a wide smile on his face.
These smiles relieved the president; at least things didn’t seem too bad, right?
"Mr. President, you don’t need to worry too much, I’ve figured it out."
"Didn’t your magazine publish an article called ’Who is Taking My Homeland’ last year?"
The president nodded, he personally approved that article because it was filled with racism and discrimination against immigrants.
Such controversial, trouble-making articles aren’t accepted by all magazines; one mistake might bring trouble.
But for them, they were barely maintaining their days; at most, they’d apologize as a group.
Instead, such radical articles could bring them some exposure, attention, and even advertisers.
The article was filled with content discrediting immigrants and minority ethnic groups and immediately faced intense social backlash, but they got what they wanted.
Attention, and some people’s donations and advertisements.
Regarding what had happened, he didn’t hide, "Yes, what about it?"
"Some people are accusing you and the magazine of discriminating against them; these are small cases, easy to solve."
The president exhaled in relief, "Thank you for taking care of it..."
He didn’t treat it as something serious, and neither did the lawyer. Even the local court and judge didn’t think of it as serious.
Until... it was Thursday’s court session.
Outside the court, it was packed with immigrants and minority ethnic groups from around the world. They were raising signs saying "Oppose Racial Discrimination" and angrily surrounded the court.
A large number of reporters appeared nearby to shoot footage, and some equality movement pioneers appeared there too.
What surprised the president more was that those suing him demanded very little compensation, but they all applied for punitive damages.
Punitive damages and punitive fines are often penalties for major right and wrong in small cases; the bill for this was pushed through actually related to immigrants.
In short, if the application is approved, the case itself may ask for only a hundred dollars in compensation, but the judge could issue a million-dollar fine!
