The most famous self-funded publisher was Lv Buwei, a politician in the Warring States Period. He organized his followers to compile Liaozhai, a book similar to the encyclopedia in the pre-Qin period. After the book was finished, Lv Buwei decided to "hype" the book to improve his influence. He asked his men to post the contents of the book on the gate of Xianyang city, and a notice was posted next to it: whoever can add or subtract a word from the contents of the book will immediately reward his daughter.
This is the origin of the idiom "It's a deal". At that time, the news of "a thousand words" spread and caused a great sensation. There is no record in the history books whether someone found fault in the book and got "1,000 yuan", but it is certain that Lu's influence in the Spring and Autumn Period increased greatly and became the masterpiece of "saints" in the history of China.
It can be seen that the ancients needed strong economic strength to publish books, while Lv Buwei published books not only at his own expense, but also through publicity and speculation. If there is no literati with a certain economic foundation, the work will not be appreciated, and it will not be so easy to publish a book. The author of "Lv's Spring and Autumn Annals" in Qing Dynasty compiled a book called "Officialdom in the Sky". It will cost a lot of money to print 2000 copies. To this end, he asked for help everywhere, patched things together, and the borrowed money could not be returned until the book was sold. The whole process of publishing this book is very difficult. Money, a great literary figure, can't escape the dilemma of raising money to publish books. His masterpiece Current Affairs and Jokes was published by his disciples and all his classmates. For this, Qian not only didn't complain because there was no payment for publishing this book, but was very satisfied.
Although there is no manuscript fee, not all literati will worry about their livelihood. Many people used to supplement their daily expenses by selling articles, which the ancients called "wiping pens". Li Yong, a calligrapher in the Tang Dynasty, is famous for his inscription. Many people came to his house with brocade and asked him to write poems, so that Du Fu, his contemporary, commented on him. His inscriptions are all brocade, brocade and brocade. In the Qing Dynasty, Zheng Banqiao lost his official position in his later years. He painted with ghosts and put a price tag on them. "Big six or two, medium four or two, small two or two, a book, one or two couplets, a fan, five dollars a bucket."
However, it is not accurate to understand "writing" as a manuscript fee. The essence of "writing" is not the transaction of articles, but the author's name, just like the advertising fee and endorsement fee today. Those who ask these literati to inscribe the preface just want to use their reputation to honor their families. In ancient times, the starting point of real authors' writing was actually very simple. For example, Confucius, the editor of the Book of Beginners, and Sima Qian, the editor of the Book of Songs, wrote for expression, or for interest and responsibility, regardless of the geometry of the manuscript fee. However, if you think about it carefully, this is also the greatness of these literati. Compared with "Eternal Works", is it only a measurable contribution fee?