The Fifth Revision of Financial English
As an unknown writer, my contribution fees and royalties are not high, esp. under the powerful attack by electronic readings. However, compared to those who have to pay for the publications of their memoirs or books in order to win professional titles, I was lucky. It has never happened to me that in order to publish a book or an article I pay from my own pocket, which is the reward of my accumulation of writing for decades. I began to write during the middle of 1980ies and did not know how much contribution fee I had won. But since 2008 after my retirement, I have made a record up to now, altogether 11 years. The amount of contribution fees and loyalties is ¥226,671.73, the most of which happened in 2009, amounting to ¥57,000 and the least is in 2018, only ¥4650. However, it was more than sufficient for our journey payment, although it is much less than our income of managing money matters since 2011. To make money is not our only pursuit goal, what I lay emphasis on is my spirit goal, which can reflect the value of my life. Therefore, I should make full use of my head which can be now used to think normally. I should persist in writing and do what the publishing houses ask me to do no matter how low the income will be.
Among the courses of professional English I have edited and already published, the “Course of Financial English” sells best. In June of 2017, the responsible editor of HEP, Mr. Guo Jinlu asked me to revise and get ready to publish the fifth edition. The fourth edition was published in July of 2014, only three years has passed. However, I do not know when the fifth edition can be put into the market.
July 30, 2017 saw me starting to revise the course book, whose first edition was published in Dec of 2001, already 16 years old. By revising three times, almost all the original passages have been replaced by new contents. The revision work of the fifth edition continued to keep pace with the times, selecting the administrative and financial reforms, China's supply-side reform, belt and road initiative and IMF adding Chinese Renminbi to Special Drawing Rights Basket and etc. and making the number of the passages reflecting the Chinese economic level amount to six instead of only one in the first edition, accounting for 40 percent. The popular cashless mobile payment used by the common Chinese people, namely Ali payment, WeChat payment and scanning the QR code were also included. Actually there was another cause that the Google had evacuated China and made it too difficult to search for the material reflecting the new changing economic materials in the western countries.
On Aug 20, 2017, I complete the revision of the financial English. And on Aug 25, when we returned from the journey to Shandong, I began to proofread and then sent to Mr. Guo Jinlu to check and review. It was not until we were in America in 2018 looking after our second grandson that I got the sample manuscripts. I immediately started proofreading them and completed on Aug 6. It had lasted one whole year since I began to revise it. When I am writing this section of my memoir on Dec 1 of 2018, there is no news about the printing of it. I guess that there are still books of the fourth edition in stock. I’m wondering when the new edition will be put into the market. The sales prospects are not optimistic.
When I'm uploading this section the fifth edition of Financhial English has already been published for 4 years. On April 29, came royalty of ¥ 19306.9 to my ICBC (Industrail and Commercial Bank of China)account and ¥6506.55 appeared on Zhang Meilan's account of China's Construction Bank
The Fifth Edition of Financial English
Contract to Publish “Accountant English” Signed
On Jan 16 2018, my co-author Mr. Zhang Qianghua (See Section thirty-eight) recommended me to the editor Ms. Xu Bowen of Qinghua University Press, advising me to take a part in editing a series of financial English courses. On Jan. 17 I got touch with Ms. Xu and wrote an email to her:
Hello, Ms Xu! I have read “book selection registration template”. I have thought that you already have a basic design to edit serial books of financial courses. Now I understand that I must hand in a detail programme myself. I have interest in editing an accountant English course but it will take me a very long time. The procedures are as follows:
1. Investigate all the courses junior college students and undergraduates majoring in accounting study so as to decide the contents of accountant English course;
2. Look for an accountant teacher as my co-authors, who is good at English;
3. Collect original accountant English materials of western countries, esp. the US and the United Kingdom;
4. Making editing writing outline and contents, fill in “book selection registration template” and report to the press;
5. Begin to edit.
Because the Google engine cannot be used at home, I must go abroad where I can use it to search what I want. It happens that in April I will go to the US and stay there, looking after our grandson for a half year. So I can complete “book selection registration template” in May. If you approve my application, I can begin to edit in June. During the daytime we have to attend our grandson and do cooking so I can only do the editing in the early morning and later night, perhaps the work will be done in October when we return home. If you need the draft earlier I am afraid that I could not complete it.
Ms. Xu replied that they agreed my arrangement and so when I arrived in America in April I began to search for the materials of accountant English. I got touch with Qu Tianyi, an accountant teacher, asking her to put forward suggestions what contents an accountant English course should comprise, so that I could fill in “book selection registration template”.
Qu Tianyi used to be a student majoring in accounting in Pengcheng Vocational University(Pengda) and later was enrolled in Suzhou University to study undergraduate courses. After graduation she came back to work as an accountant teacher in Xuzhou Institute of Engineering. She was one of Liangliang Song’s classmates in No 1 Senior Middle School and one of my students in Pengda. Now she is an associate professor and think that my two sons live and work abroad so she frequently pays visits to us. Now to edit an accountant English course is a good thing for her promotion, so I decided to let her join me.
According to the request of Ms. Xu I wrote a sample unit and sent it to her. On May 9 she made some suggestions for revision, which were not difficult for me to follow. On May 14, Ms. Xu reported the selected topic of Accountant English Course to the press, which consented to list it into the publishing plan. On May 21, I was asked to write the content of the whole course book and a week later she told me the royalty rate was 7%, which I did not bother about. As usual I reported the natural conditions of authors and sent a certificate of authorization that allowed Ms. Xu to sign the contract instead of me. June 8 saw the scanning copy of the publishing contract in my WeChat, which relieved me of worries and I could dedicate myself to the work of the edition.
During the daytime I was busy with preparation of lunch and supper and I could do searching, editing and translating only in the early morning and late night. At the beginning I was not confident, and thought it would take me a very long time to compete it. On the contract I promised that the finish time was at the end of 2018, after all it was a completely new field. I contacted and consulted a few accounting professionals and teachers by WeChat. However, the speed of process was much faster than I had thought and on Aug 21 the whole edition work was done. Early September saw me sending the whole manuscript to Ms. Xu, the responsible editor.
Later I asked Ms. Qu Tianyi to check the whole translation, and to do away with the inappropriate Chinese terms. In September when I returned home I got her products, reviewed and sent them to Ms. Xu. The first stage of editing the book of accountant English course was finished and we are waiting for the next stage, to answer the questions putforwarded by the peer reviewer and to proofread the sample manuscripts. On Oct 29 I received the paper publishing contract and I wish that the course book could enter the classroom in the autumn of 2019.
When I'm uploading this section "Accounting English"has not come. into being, however the book cover has been designed.
Cover of Accounting English
Dec. 2, 2018 in Xuzhou
Proofreading on Jan 8 2019 in Xuzhou
Uploading on Aug. 12 2023 in Xuzhou
