Writing Web Novels In America-Chapter 246 - 251: Views on Money

Flushing, in the office.

Wang Jian and Tom sat in office chairs, eyes glued to the NBC television station.

"Recently, security in the Bronx District has seen a marked improvement, with yesterday’s death toll notably dropping to below 10 for the first time on record.

It is understood that this is due to a reward notice released by the Bronx District police department concerning a child’s disappearance.

Surprisingly, even considering inflation, the amount of the reward has already surpassed the Los Angeles child disappearance case of 1928.

As you may recall, the reward for that case was mostly made up of public donations.

Who could offer such a tremendous amount of money that it exceeds the legendary kidnapping case that Universal wanted to turn into a movie?"

At that moment, a picture of Wang Jian flashed onto the screen.

The picture was taken with him and Jobs standing on the stage, with a photo of Bill Gates behind them.

"Yes, that’s bestselling author Wang Jian, who is also the highest-earning author of this year."

Uh...

Wang Jian and Tom exchanged glances, both not understanding what NBC was up to.

"100 million US Dollars is a huge sum for anyone, but can a bestselling author really afford it?" the host asked the financial program guest.

"Heh," the guest, dressed as a stock analyst, let out a light laugh, "The income of this Asian genius author isn’t just royalties from traditional publishing.

In fact, in the industry, we prefer to call him an entrepreneur."

As he spoke, the screen behind him lit up, displaying some data.

"His income mainly consists of three parts: one from royalties and merchandise, one from dividends from wangwen.com, and also the market value of Twitter.

Take ’Arcane Throne,’ for example: its comic version, published by Dark Horse Comics, is signed under a record-breaking revenue-sharing model.

In the gaming world, the hottest hits this year, apart from Nintendo’s ’Pokémon,’ are EA’s developed ’Arcane Throne 2.’

Then there’s the physical edition of ’Arcane Throne’ from Random House, along with the electronic subscription pay version on wangwen.com.

Just this one work alone can bring him no less than ten million US Dollars in revenue."

"Wow, that much?" the host expressed exaggeratedly, "I thought writers, even as famous as Mr. Hemingway, still lived a life in poverty."

"That’s just the smallest part of Wang’s income," the guest continued, "wangwen.com is not a public company, so we don’t have precise figures."

"But as for Twitter," he pointed behind himself, "According to public records, wangwen.com is the largest shareholder."

"And the largest shareholder of wangwen.com is this bestselling author."

"Just this one aspect can push his assets above one hundred million US Dollars."

"Add to that the cooperation between wangwen.com and Apple, and that should be another substantial income."

"So much?" the host was genuinely surprised this time, "Does that mean he might make it onto Forbes’s list of billionaires?"

The guest nodded affirmatively, "I even suspect that, just in terms of age at 18, the present heirs of the Rockefeller and Morgan families don’t have as much wealth as him."

"Then should we discard our prejudices and encourage young people to pursue full-time writing?" the host turned to another guest, "It’s said that Mr. Wang Jian started out as a full-time writer."

"Uh..." This guest, identified on the subtitle as the editor-in-chief at Simon & Schuster, gave a wry smile, "This case is an exception; the daily lives of most writers are still quite impoverished."

"Even for Joseph Heller and Mr. Stephen King, it’s just to ensure that material conditions don’t hinder their creativity."

Huh?

Wang Jian frowned, "Do they want to completely sever myself from the writer community?"

If it were just personal, it wouldn’t be a problem at all, his money was completely legally obtained.

But the key was wangwen.com, which needed his name as a draw for many writers!

NBC’s follow-up report quickly confirmed Wang Jian’s suspicion.

"Next, let’s hear from fellow writers about Wang Jian, and see what lessons can be learned from this legendary author."

The first to appear was Jill Walton, a member of the Wal-Mart family, now working as a journalist at Discovery Channel and as a writer.

"I think literature should be more about purity; if you love money so much, why not just become a businessman?"

Uh...

Wang Jian didn’t know how to respond to the super-rich heiress’s comment.

You can disregard wealth, but can others?

The second was an unknown writer, "Of course, I deeply envy the wealth that Wang has."

"But if I had to choose, I’d prefer to immerse myself in my own world, focusing on creation rather than worrying about how to make money."

Okay, that must be a representation of most writers.

Wherever they are, artistic youth always possess this kind of obstinacy.

And it’s precisely these people who dare to devote themselves to full-time creation.

The third interviewee was the author of ’Conversations with God,’ bestselling author Neil Donald Walsh.

"I believe that the writing community should focus more on the creation of their work."

However, as a member of the Writers Association, he added after some thought, "Of course, every writer’s creative state is different."

"I once lived in a park for half a year to write ’Conversations with God.’"

"At that time, many people said that I had psychological problems and had completely become a homeless person."

"As for Wang, I don’t dare to speculate. After all, in a sense, he is a genius."

Walsh shrugged at the camera, "Maybe one day, he’ll write a book."

"And that book will tell everyone how a billionaire spends their money, right?"

"Ha," the remark made even the reporters laugh.

At this moment, Wang Jian’s mobile phone rang.

He answered the call and heard Matthew’s voice.

"Wang, I’ve found your connection with the man with dreadlocks through a private detective."

"He was the one leading many African people to charge the feminist rally."

That explained everything.

After all, no one would want to offend a wealthy man without good reason.

Wang Jian first stroked his brow in relief, then frowned tightly, "Is he acting on his own, or is someone manipulating him?"

"Someone’s pulling the strings," Matthew responded, "According to testimony from prison inmates, it can be traced back to some executive at the BET network."

"And through private detective work, it can be traced to NBC?"

"NBC?" Wang Jian looked at the television, "We don’t have any conflicts of interest, do we?"

"Wang," Tom’s brows also furrowed, "NBC belongs to the Viacom Group."

"And the publishing representative of the Viacom Group is Simon & Schuster Publishing House."

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