章 23: Different Reactions

At a tall building in London , a middle age man was going through different documents, looking for the next big hit in book industry. He is the current chairman of Penguin Books, Thomas Brown. He was renowned throughout whole United Kingdom for his work in discovering new talented authors and making them achieve their peak potential. His company had a sale volume of over £174.9m last year.

Penguin Books is a British publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Sir Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers, The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.

Penguin revolutionised publishing in the 1930s through its inexpensive paperbacks, sold through Woolworths and other high street stores for sixpence, bringing high-quality fiction and non-fiction to the mass market. Its success showed that large audiences existed for serious books. It also had a significant impact on public debate in Britain through its books on culture, politics, the arts, and science.

Rothchild family took over the book business with a shareholding of over 80% which made them the largest shareholders. Thomas Brown was Editor-in-Chief for Sir Donald Rothchild, which helped him take the chairman's seat smoothly. Donald Rothchild is a genius in the world of literature, along with an unparallel family background. It is a no-brainer for him to be here. They were also friends in life.

He also had 7% equity in the company, which easily made him a millionaire.

Late in the afternoon, on May 7th, he received the call from the man himself.

"Hello, Thomas, how have you been these days? " Donald said.

" My friend, How long has it been since you called me? What's the special occasion? Did you write another new piece? " He said casually, it's been several months since they met. He said with some expectation in his heart. He knew Donald would always produce classics.

" No, but I have something interesting for you. You will receive a package in few minutes, please check the work and give me your honest review in few days. Ok? "

" What are you all mysterious suddenly old man. You can directly tell me about it, atleast give me something to go on" Thomas said.

" I would tell you, but you will not believe me or not take it seriously. Just trust me on this. I will be waiting for your response. Oh, I can tell you that it's a children's book." Donald said.

There was a knock on the office door. Thomas said the person to come in.

" Ok, get busy then, bye talk to you later friend." Donald cut off the phone in the middle of the conversation.

Thomas could only smile helplessly; he knew all about his friend's eccentric nature. He thanked the person for bringing the package and opened it to find a carbon copy of some manuscripts titled

" The Hobbit" , started flipping through it casually.

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[Samuel's Perspective]

I made several copies of the manuscript with the help of Oscar, and Arthur after Uncle reviewed the original one, and distributed it throughout the whole estate. Those who were interested would get the book; even cooks and gardeners were not spared. I just told them to keep it to themselves for a few months, even if it gets leaked Uncle Donald had already started to do the patent work.

Patent is very important if I want to someday make a movie adaptation or for selling the rights. I never thought about selling the rights; the movie business was too lucrative to pass on business.

I specially gave Elders and both Uncle Peter and Aunt Mary a copy; they were happy. Grand-aunt Patracia and Grandpa Margaret hugged me and congratulated me for completing the book. I was embarrassed, it was not published or anything; it seemed like an exaggeration to me, but I took the compliments regardless.

Now I have to convince my parents about the company and convey its importance to me. They were both home, probably in their room.

I walked up to their door and gently knocked.

" Come in ", mother said from the other side.

I walked in and said," Mother, father; Good evening." I paused, steeling my mind, and said, " I want to tell you something. "

Father was at his desk reviewing something on his computer and mother was in bed going through a dress design. Seeing me all serious, they panicked, but I assured them nothing was wrong with my body.

I sat them down and reiterated what I told Uncle Donald and added--

" I want to create something that truly belongs to me; don't take this the wrong way. I am grateful for having me in my life, but when or if I help other people, I want to truly come from me. I dont want to embarrass you if I fail in any avenue. If it came from me, I could clearly say that it was I who failed not the other way around. So, please give me permission to establish a company. I am not of age to manage it, so I would need your help in that area. Here is a book I have been writing, it marks as my first step toward my goad."

I said everything I could say and stared at my parents for answers. They nodded and took the manuscript from my hand. Father looked toward the Mother's direction and nodded; then he said--

" We will review it and give you an answer later. "

" Thank you, Father, Mother." I said and bowed a little and left.

I went to my room and called Oscare to fetch someone to deliver the manuscript to the Hannah; I also included a handwritten letter to tell her, I will deliver the published one later.

Aunt Carol called me later to thank me. I promised to visit them a few days later. I talked to Hannah for the whole hour and assured her that I would take her out to play. I also told her to give me her honest thoughts about the book.

I was still a little skeptical about whether it would be popular with children. Hannah was too young to read such books, which I reminded Aunt Carol about so as not to influence her in a weird way.

The book was good, but there were some violent elements which made it not suitable for kids under 13 years of age. As for my age, I am an anomaly, if I say so myself.

I was lost in thoughts when I heard from the silent system.

[{ You Leveled Up to a Competent Writer }]

[{ You have acquired the title Aspiring Enterprenuer }]