Chapter 3 - First deal
"Annie! Is nice to see you. You look even better than the last time we met" A middle aged guy greeted my mother once we entered his office.
"Oh Clark stop with your lies" My mother replied playfully. It was clear that the both of them were friends, or in really good terms at the very least.
"And you must be the young genius I been hearing about... Mister Sam Bane" He said amicably, and then he offered me his hand to shake "I'm Clarke Cook, it's a pleasure to meet you"
"Good day to you sir" I shook his hand firmly. Or with the most strength my seven year old self could muster.
After the short interaction, I finally could relax a bit. For some reason, ever since yesterday night I was really nervous about this reunion. I guess that I really wanted for it to work out.
"Take a sit please" He said after a while, with a never ending smile on his face.
His office was a mess. I could tell that he worked hard, if the multiple papers all over his desk, and the big bags under his eyes were any indication. Still, it didn't gave much confidence on his organizational skills.
"Thanks Clark" My mother replied. And before I could notice the mood changed. It was like the both of them went from normal mode to business mode, in just second.
Before coming here, my mother just told me to let her negotiate in my behalf. And I planned to do exactly that, especially now with the professional aura she inspires.
"Well, let's start with the book composition first" said Clark, "Annie, like you already know, I like the three stories you've sent me last week. They appeal to a younger demographic, which is a group that is gaining traction lately. Although I have to say that these stories are too short to be released as books on their own. So, I propose to compile them. I think five stories could make a good sized book"
It was reasonable. My stories were a little too short. I could've done them longer, but I wanted to keep them simple, considering that the target readers would be mostly kids.
"That's a good idea. Although I think that the stories should have a common theme between them. For example, a book collection could be about princesses. Sam here has written about ten stories about princesses, so it shouldn't be a problem, right Sam?" My mother said, and tactfully helped me to get into the conversation.
"Yes, there's no problem with that" I said calmly. Mr. Clark finally looked at me after that. He looked interested with that bit of news.
"That sounds good to me. I'll need to read the five stories you plan to publish, so we can progress any further... But in an act of good faith of Sam's work, we can talk about the details of the deal we will be making"
"What do you propose then?" Mother asked.
He looked at me for a second before concentrating on my mother once again. Then, he brought up a paper he had at the only clear zone of his desktop, and passed it out to my mom.
The contract I assume. I planned to read it on my own when my mother finishes it, but I couldn't help to look at her to see if I could get any information from her face expressions. Which ended up being a pointless endeavor.
"Ha!" She exclaimed "I see your intentions Clark. If this is how it will be, let's stop here. We'll take our leave" My mother finally said. And then stood up from her seat and walked to the exit.
I could only guess what unreasonable things were written on there. So for now I just followed her up. Although for some reason I felt that this wasn't the end of the discussion.
"Wait!" Clark finally said, "I admit the contract may be a little unfair, but we can discuss it, no need to go away just like that"
My mother turned back with a smirk on her face, "I'm surprised, I've heard a little about your situation Clark. But now with you flinching so quick, I'm wondering of how bad it really is"
To my surprise it seems that we were not in the losing end of the negotiations to begin with. My mother really played him hard. Clark's face said all I wanted to know. He was mad, but he still stayed quiet about it.
"Yeah, it's true. We are in need of a success, and that's the principal reason to even consider to publish a kid's book, besides the publicity within itself that it could generate" He admitted.
"I've heard that all the upcoming writers choose to go with other companies, after all you've had a bad record in the last five years" My mother added while the both of us took a seat once again.
"You really did your research, huh?" he said with a defeated look. "... I wanted to start my own comic book company, but at the end all the good artists preferred to go with either 'power comics' or 'marvelous', and before I realized, the book company I had spent so many years to build up, was on his way to bankruptcy"
It was kind of a sad story, but also an amazing opportunity. If I played my cards right, maybe making my own comics wasn't impossible for me in the near future.
"So, in your times of need you thought on cheating your good friend of so many years" Mother said while making 'tsk' noises, pointing the bad deed Clark has made, "Sam is young, so there will be no problem if he waits a couple of years to get published... So now I wonder, what deal could you offer us, so we can even consider making a deal with you"
Clark clenched his jaw at that, and had a serious expression on his face. He kept quiet though, it seemed that he was seriously considering the matter.
"What do you want?" He finally asked.
"Twenty percent, and the rights will belong to him completely" Mother demanded.
That was a extremely good deal, especially for a newcomer like me, asking for that much was out of my expectations.
"That's... acceptable. But Sam will have to publish at least four books with us" He countered.
"Are you joking? Two is the most we are going to concede" Mother said with displeasure.
That was something we had talked about before. If I was successful enough, I could go with a bigger publishing company in the future. And my mother had a high faith on my success for some reason.
Now there was a clear disagreement between them. I honestly couldn't care less if I had to write four books for this company, with the new deal offered I would have no complaints. But I knew what I wanted.
"How about I do publish four books, but you'll have to publish a comicbook of mine... With the same conditions as the one with the books" I interrupted them.
The both of them stared at me with surprised faces. "What do you mean?" Clark asked after a while.
"Well... I have this idea for a comic, and I felt compelled to do it after I heard that you own a comic company" I explained.
"Are you talking about the one you've made with Hanna?" Mother asked me with a worried face. It was clear that she thought that it wasn't that great.
It wasn't a bad comic per se, but I do agree that it isn't the kind of comic that sells well with the masses, nor profesional enough to be a comic on his own. But I'm aware which comics are the best sellers at this era, compared to my old reality.
"No" I said, before Clark could have asked about it, "I have an idea for a superhero comic, but I don't have the talent to draw. So I thought it was a good compromise that if my books are successful enough, Mister Clark will hire an artist to draw my comic, and then he'll publish it"
"That's interesting. What do you think Clark?" Mother asked with a simple smile on her face.
This wasn't something we had discussed before, so I was relieved that she just went along with the idea.
Clark just sighed and nodded with a smile of his own. Even if he tried to hide it, I could see that he was happy about the deal. In the end, he wanted both of his companies to succeed, and now there was a chance for it to be possible.
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