Issue #2
Feb 1947
"You sure it will get everyone in the frame?" You ask.
"How many times are you going to ask that?" Fred whispers next to you.
You are still not reassured. "Wait, let me see -" You ask the camera-man and peer through the lenses. "Louisa, don't shift away, alright? Finn, a little to the right? Alright, perfect- wait -"
"Let the man do this job, Emily!" Fred looks exasperated. "Okay, okay," You step back to being in the middle with the others.
"Everyone ready?" The photographer asks. You shift the signed first issue slightly…. and then give the go-ahead. The photo needed to be perfect. It was going to be part of history, after all.
"Alright, now don't blink!" He presses down the button - the light flashes – and you blink. Oh no.
"One more please!" You take Fred by the arm and drag him to the center. "Just the two of us."
The man doesn't say anything, but just nods. He presses down the button – and you end up blinking again.
"Can we take one more?"
…..
The camera man stayed an entire three hours, and you were thoroughly dizzy at the end. It was still worth it though; you now have a memory of your beloved first work on your desk to cherish.
***
As for how it sells…
94 and 23, 23, 20, 18… y u do dis dice
Fred runs into your office one day.
"They ran out of copies." He breathlessly states. "Empire ran out of copies."
You hear the words, but still take a minute to convince yourself of the fact. "You mean – but we shipped extra?" He nods excitedly. "They ran out 125,000 copies?!" He nods even faster.
"They said they need even more next month." He finally says.
"No way." He has to be pulling your leg. " Yes way." He takes another deep breath. "Even World nearly ran out." He says. "No." You pinch yourself harder, but there's no waking up. "We did it." He says.
"We did it." You finally say.
"We did it." He repeats.
There's a feeling of euphoria, and suddenly everything seems so absurdly funny that you can't help but laugh. And once you start, the feeling only increases and you are now laughing even harder and even Fred joins and both of you just laugh and laugh and until tears start streaming from your face and it's still unbelievable, like – how did this just happen?
***
Publishing Costs: -$45,000
Employee Costs: -$16,960
Total Costs: -$61,960
Empire Sales Revenue: $37,940
D & L Sales Revenue: $25,000
World Sales Revenue: $52,996
Total Money Gained: $114,936
Available Money: $77500 + $52976 = $130,476
Fans Gained: 241
Overall Interest: Very High
***
"I had considered it." Fred tells you when the topic of re-printing comes up. "But there are a lot of other publishers who are doing it. It isn't that easy." He takes out his notepad and begins writing. "First of all, we need to acquire the scripts themselves, of course. That'll take a $1000 for a book." He spins the pen on his fingers. "After that, it gets complicated. You can't simply print the books, the distributors won't agree to ship copies of a same book. And even if they did – we would be directly in contest with other publishers. If they price it lower, we won't even sell."
"What do we do?" You ask.
"Right, we need to tailor the book to appeal to some audience." He says. "Make it different than the others, somehow."
"What if we price it really low, market it as some kind of affordable classics for all?" You say.
"That could work. Add in some illustrations and a great cover, and yeah, that could work." He writes it down in his notebook. "I had another idea. What about something for the students? We can make some changes, you know, add some pictures, sell it at a low price."
"Or we could go for an expensive choice – proper, leather bound hardcovers with high quality paper, built to last, and we sell it as such."
"That's another good idea. What else you got?"
You spent a lot of time discussing ideas.
Rank vote
[] Cheap Classics: Price has to be Low or Nearly Free. You can also add illustrations.
[] Student Special: Price can be Nearly Free/Low/Expected. The book has to be modified. Color illustrations can be added.
[] Proper Treasure: Price can be High/Very High. Needs to be hardbound, with special quality paper preferred.
[] Write-in: Discuss how you will differentiate your product from others. Needs a fixed range on price, and the additions you can make. Can be your best option.
All prices are added to the company details.
***
You see Fred panting and heaving, carrying a huge box up the stairs. He places it down at your foot and then staggers back. "Three more," Fred mutters to himself as he walks down again. "What is it?" You ask, but there's no answer. It's quite extensively taped close; someone really wanted to protect the contents. You try to lift it yourself and fail miserably. What could it be?
By the time you find the scissors, Fred has already managed to bring two more. You get to work, cutting what seems nearly every part of the top. By the time you're finished, Fred brought the last one and was peering over your shoulder. "Even I didn't expect this much."
You had enough of his mysterious game. You reach into the box and pull out – reams of paper? They are bound together, and it looks like… they're the original stories you asked for. You look at the stack in your hand… and the boxes in question. What the hell? How many did they send?
"I told you prepare yourself." Fred wheezes out a chuckle.
***
(-$1000, 1 day)
You, of course, took your time to visit Donovan.
Military and
Action are unpopular, while
Crime,
Romance and
Fantasy have seen a rise.
You have $129,467 available. You have 27 days left.
[] Visit the library – get some more ideas
-[] Continue your Mystery Research (1/3, 3 days per attempt, and can be taken more than once)
-[] See if you can get some new ideas. (3 days; gain understanding about a new genre, only once)
-[] Learn about possible writing techniques. (3 days; gain understanding about topics and ideas, only once)
-[] Just talk to your friend. (1 day; gain ???, only once)
[] Visit the Bookshop – see what Donovan has to say
- [] Learn what's selling and what's not. ($1000, 1 day, gain knowledge about genre modifier to sales)
- [] Learn about how the market works. ($1500 cost, 1 day, knowledge about sales modifiers, only once)
- [] Just talk to the old man. ( 1 day, $1500, gain ???, only once)
-[] Investigate the idea you had. ($1500, 1 day, only once)
[] Go through the pile of submissions, see what you have (0/3, 3 days per attempt, can take more than once)
[] Talk to Louisa, the nervous colorist. (1/2, 1 day, gain knowledge about her trait, only once)
[] Talk to Finn, or at least speak while he simply listens. (1/2 1 day, gain knowledge about his trait, only once)
[] Start the ideation process (1 day)
not again
[] Start the writing phase. (You have no plots)
[] Start the art phase.(You have no scripts)
[] Hire some more people.
you feelin lucky, punk?
[] See if you can another distributing deal. (Make a new deal with distributors)
***