Continue spending on mid-tier and grassroots authors?

Ma Yiqun felt slightly confused and lost.

In his view, the Endpoint Chinese Website already provides good enough benefits to mid-tier and grassroots authors, basically on par with major sites like Unlimited Chinese Website.

However, the revenue these mid-tier and grassroots authors brought to the website would be difficult to further increase.

Because writing is a form of artistic creation, it’s inherently a very subjective matter.

Some authors might write for ten years and still not produce a hit;

While some masters could casually write a million words and immediately grasp the essence of web literature, reaching the pinnacle.

So, the key factor was still the people.

Even if the website exhausted its efforts to discover and nurture talent, with the existing author base, producing a master was like buying a lottery ticket.

If the person being cultivated simply didn’t have the right qualities, what then?

Comparatively, directly poaching people from other websites was more reliable.

But since Mr. Pei had spoken, Ma Yiqun had no choice but to comply.

“Yes, Mr. Pei, I’ll see to it right away.”

……

Going upstairs, returning to Endpoint Chinese Website, Ma Yiqun sat down in his office and began to consider what specific plan to implement.

Mr. Pei’s guideline was clear—this money couldn’t be used to poach talent, but only to continue spending on the website’s mid-to-low-tier authors.

Of course, the standards were uniform; the website’s top-tier authors would certainly also enjoy these benefits.

But for top-tier authors, the Endpoint Chinese Website hadn’t developed to the stage where it could handle copyright operations. Their main income source was subscriptions, so these benefits were merely icing on the cake for them, not a deciding factor.

Ma Yiqun considered the situation.

For mid-to-low-tier authors, Unlimited Chinese Website provided benefits like full-attendance bonuses, and Endpoint Chinese Website also offered these, with standards slightly higher than Unlimited Chinese Website.

To continue providing benefits, they would need to focus on areas where other web literature sites were reluctant to offer benefits.

Moreover, while it was said to be beneficial for mid-to-low-tier authors, it would primarily consider mid-tier authors.

Because there were simply too many grassroots authors to account for.

Some people impulsively applied for a pen name, wrote a few thousand words, and could barely be considered grassroots authors.

If they were to consider providing benefits to such people, the website would become a charitable organization, and no matter how much money they earned, it wouldn’t be enough to spend, since this would be a purely loss-making business.

The key was mid-tier authors.

They had emerged from the grassroots level, proving they had the perseverance and ability for sustained creation, relatively reliable, and wouldn’t suddenly abandon readers or the website. With accumulated experience and enriched life experiences, plus a bit of luck, some of them might grow into top-tier authors.

So, the money still needed to be spent on them.

Ma Yiqun fell into deep thought.

“So, for these mid-tier authors, apart from remuneration, readers, recognition, and other things that Unlimited Chinese Website can also provide, what do they need most?”

“It’s… security.”

“Career development planning and guidance.”

“Moderate social relationships.”

“And… a more regular, healthier lifestyle.”

“This way, this security can only be given to some people, requiring strict screening.”

Ma Yiqun felt he had found the right direction and began writing his plan.

Mr. Pei was right; they couldn’t compete with Unlimited Chinese Website in terms of money. Even if they could poach some authors, it ultimately wouldn’t be a long-term solution.

Because Unlimited Chinese Website had a broader reader base and a larger author pool, its self-sustaining capability far exceeded that of Endpoint Chinese Website.

Therefore, no matter how one considered it, in terms of development prospects for mid-tier authors, Unlimited Chinese Website overwhelmingly crushed Endpoint Chinese Website.

So, to attract more mid-tier authors, they needed to play to their strengths and avoid their weaknesses, not focusing too much on remuneration, readers, exposure, and other aspects everyone could see, but instead working on aspects that weren’t visible to everyone.

For instance, basic living security.

Authors had no basic salary, no social insurance or housing fund, and the success of each book was filled with risk. Although mid-tier authors’ income might not be low, their ability to withstand risk was far from matching their income.

Paying for social insurance and housing fund oneself wasn’t impossible, but one would have to pay both one’s part and the company’s part, effectively paying twice.

Another example was career development planning and guidance.

Most authors were left to their own devices. There were many authors but few editors, and many mid-tier authors might not speak to their editors more than a few times a year.

Of course, many dedicated editors would discuss writing issues with authors, but the reality of too many monks and too little porridge meant that only a small portion of authors could enjoy this treatment.

That’s why many authors formed author groups, exchanging experiences and growing together in these groups.

Compared to the “senior mentoring junior” model in general companies, career development planning and guidance in the web literature industry was close to zero, entirely dependent on authors’ self-enlightenment.

Then there was the healthier lifestyle.

Web literature authors were freelancers, with many common problems of freelancing, such as irregular lifestyles.

Irregular lifestyles directly led to physical impacts, such as cervical and lumbar spine diseases, high blood pressure, obesity, and other issues. News of sudden deaths also occurred from time to time.

After all, maintaining a healthy lifestyle, self-discipline were only one factor.

Everyone’s self-discipline was different, and another key factor was the environment.

Many people only thought about playing at home, with no efficiency, but their efficiency would improve at the company or in school study rooms. This was the impact brought by the environment.

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

So, after much consideration, Ma Yiqun finally decided.

The Endpoint Chinese Website will start a class!

Not just a class teaching theory, but an experiential class providing security for mid-tier authors, offering career planning and guidance, and cultivating a healthy lifestyle!

Ma Yiqun’s initial plan was to select 30 people from Endpoint Chinese Website’s current mid-tier authors through voluntary application + website editor screening.

This was the first batch to test and see how effective it would be.

Covering their expenses, once they arrived in Jingzhou, food and accommodation would be uniformly arranged. After all, there was Slackin’ Takeout for food, and rent wouldn’t cost much.

Give these people a basic salary of 3,000 yuan, and pay social insurance and housing fund based on this standard.

Find an office building near their residence, rent 30 relatively inexpensive workstations, and require them to clock in and out according to Tenda’s working hours.

Additionally, regularly hold discussions and experience-sharing sessions, letting authors with good results share their experiences and insights.

Each author, when starting a new book or stuck at a key plot point, could discuss briefly with other authors, fully listening to opinions.

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

Of course, not all authors would be interested in such an experiential class.

Many authors, especially those who were older and more experienced, wouldn’t be interested in a basic salary, moving to Jingzhou with food and accommodation provided, and writing like going to work with other authors.

They would feel that web literature was a freelance profession, and the advantage of freelancing was not having to leave home. Making them go to Jingzhou to work would be like moving backward.

For such authors, there would be no compulsion.

So, this learning class would mainly target young authors who hadn’t settled down.

These authors had drive, immense potential, and made rapid progress, but had poor self-management awareness, with certain social needs and career development demands.

This learning class would first run for a month to test the waters and see how effective it was.

If it was indeed effective, then they could expand the scale and extend the duration later.

……

After seeing off Ma Yiqun, Pei Qian studied his notes for less than half an hour.

“Ding!”

He received a message on his phone.

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

“Mr. Pei, it seems a new high-end restaurant has opened in the city, apparently targeting Mingyun Private Kitchen. It’s called Mingfu Family Banquet, also following a high-end dining route!”

“It seems to have just opened in the past couple of days. Recently, Mingyun Private Kitchen’s reservations have noticeably decreased. What should we do?”

Seeing this message, Pei Qian was momentarily stunned.

Mingfu Family Banquet?

A high-end restaurant targeting Mingyun Private Kitchen?

Could it be the one invested in by Mr. Li and his group?

Pei Qian recalled that last month, Mr. Li had indeed mentioned this, saying that he, Xue Zhebin, and Wang Peng had always been unable to book seats at Mingyun Private Kitchen, which was very frustrating, so they wanted to cooperate with Pei Qian to open a chain store of Nameless Restaurant, but Pei Qian had refused.

So, the three of them had to set up their restaurant.

Calculating the time, this matter should have been in preparation even before Li Shi formally informed Pei Qian, and it had just officially opened in the past few days.

Pei Qian replied “Got it” to Chef Lin, then dialed Li Shi’s number.

“Mr. Li, is Mingfu Family Banquet the high-end restaurant you all opened?”

On the other end of the phone, Li Shi laughed: “Yes, Mr. Pei. What’s wrong? You say you don’t care, but you’re always paying attention?”

Pei Qian: “…”

I’m always paying attention, my foot.

If Chef Lin hadn’t sent me a message, I wouldn’t even have known your high-end restaurant had begun formal operations.

Pei Qian couldn’t be bothered to say anything more. The more he explained, the worse it would look. He simply got straight to the point: “Mr. Li, didn’t I say I would have the first meal after your restaurant opened? Why didn’t you notify me?”

Li Shi coughed twice: “Ahem, Mr. Pei, I’m sorry. I’ve been a bit busy lately, and when I get busy, I tend to forget things. Besides, I thought you were just saying it casually.”

“My mistake. How about this, whenever you come to eat, I’ll have the restaurant give you a 30% discount! Consider it compensation.”

30% discount? Not free?

This Mr. Li was quite stingy.

But on second thought, Pei Qian realized that even if Mr. Li had offered a free meal, he couldn’t accept it.

A 30% discount it was, then.

“Alright, there’s no time like the present. Let’s make it today! Reserve a spot for me tonight. I’ll book the entire place,” Pei Qian said quite casually.

“Book… book the entire place? Tonight?” On the other end of the phone, Li Shi was taken aback. “Uh, booking the entire place tonight is a bit difficult. There are already quite a few reservations for 7 PM.”

“I don’t eat after 7 PM. I’ll arrive at 4 PM, finish eating by around 5, then you can tidy up and welcome the next wave of customers. It won’t interfere.”

“Do you have enough ingredients for your dishes?”

Pei Qian looked at his watch; it was currently 3:40 PM.

Mingfu Family Banquet wasn’t very far from here. By taxi, it would take about 20 minutes to get there.

Li Shi was silent for a long while: “Some specific ingredients might not be enough, but most of them are sufficient. Alright, Mr. Pei, if you can come now, that would be great. Welcome!”

Pei Qian: “Good, see you in a bit.”

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

Study what study? Time to eat!

Arriving at 4 PM, eating until after 5 PM, this timing was just right, not interfering with everyone’s time to get off work and rest.