Chapter 29 Sales

"876,000 copies"

I said it out loud without the care of my surroundings. Uncle Thomas on the other side, chuckled.

" Yes, it's almost million sales in one day. I am no magician but I call that a success." he said.

" Uncle it's hard to believe, but I heard about the floating rumors inflated the sales. Now, I know Grand-uncle pretige is greater than I expected. I seemed to have fatally underestimated him. Sigh" I said

We talked about different things and decided to talk more about it after a few days of watching the situation. I also got his confirmation about the project that I prepared for Hannah for her birthday. He assured me it would be ready by the fated day. I hung up and got to thinking.

Past Hobbit sales--

The Hobbit went on to sell an estimated 100 million copies and was number 25 in the BBC's 'Big Read' poll of the UK's favorite books in 2014, and Lord of Rings was first. Hobbit may be good, but Lord of the Rings popularity spans generations of stans in both films and books, I could focus first on book and worry about films later down the line, I have to learn different aspects for film production and money would be huge too. But the worst obstacle is my tender age; no one is going to take me seriously. I sigh, It's going to be a hard road ahead.

The Hobbit has been translated into over sixty languages, with more than one published version for some languages. So, if an opportunity arises in the coming days, I should talk to Uncle Thomas about it. The UK only has a population of thirty million. I need to step on a bigger stage and take some risks.

While I was deep in my thought; I heard several footsteps come from the corridor. I thought, it was mother to take the phone back. I went ahead and opened the door and saw rows of people standing. Uncle Peter, who was standing in front, was trying to knock on the door. I was about to say something, something but---

" Congratulation" all said in unison, which made me question whether they practiced this before coming here.

They all congratulated me again, one by one. Mother gave me a big hug and told me that she was proud.

" Little Brother, you already became an established author this early. Don't forget your big sister later down the line." Aunt Mary joked.

" Nephew, Nephew, sister." Uncle Peter said correcting Mary.

" Shut up, we are practically the same age." Aunt Mary said, rolling her eyes, which made everyone laugh.

The event went on for a few hours, as they drank happily and talked about their experience with the book. Seeing the warm atmosphere made me realize that I had achieved at least something after coming here.

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[Elsewhere]

Online forums:

"I at first thought, " Why are they making me read this dreadful book? But just like they said " As soon as you get past the first few chapters, you will love it." How right they were I started to get curious and interested in this wonderful novel. So for all those people out there, don't be like me and be stubborn, but try new things and have a more open mind about stuff." - Ashley Babcock

"Is is really that good? I guess I will go buy it tomorrow and find out myself." -Ruby

"Wow, this was amazing! I liked The Hobbit. The setting descriptions were fantastic and impressive. The character development of Bilbo was pretty good. He really grows as a person, and from reading his internal monologues, I find it easier to connect with and understand him. Give it a try, if you like fantasy and it's a children's book you could do a family gathering and enjoy it together. " - Linda

" Will it be available for those outside the UK? I am really envious.. "

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Everyone was raving about the book in forums, and the same can be seen in the street; It has almost become a ritual of sorts; from public places to in schools, the popularity was skyrocketing.

" Hey, ever heard about the new book " The Hobbit", let me tell you. I read it to my son the other day, which definitely was a great gift for him. He was down recently because of my work hours and not spending much time with him. But now I feel like father of the year because of it. It has a great story too. " one man said to his colleague.

" Well, I have been having the same issue; we work in the same department. You know how it goes. I will also buy the book; my daughter loves fantasy books, i hope it works for me too. " his colleague replied.

Everyone became curious once again about the author. The publication house got flooded with enquiry like never before. The PR department was the busiest with constant media influx trying to get the hint about the author, but they handled it magnificently, which showed the ability of Thomas to manage the company.

Thomas and Samuel also hatched a plan to go international in the coming weeks. They also decided to release a Premium Hard cover version of " The Hobbit " with a different illustration, which will greatly increase the immersion in the story of the book. They already had two different versions for the book, paperback, and hard cover which had decent quality. But seeing the popularity, they thought about targeting the rich with ultra luxury quality, which will be 2-3 times more expensive than the hard cover version.

They also discussed their secret project. Samuel proposed going public with it, which Thomas whole-heartedly agreed; It will be very popular with art lovers. Thomas was sure of it. The great cover art present drove much of the sales of the book. He decided to hire a peak industry expert for this project, which will be expensive but will give a much better result.

He was reluctant at first when Samuel proposed the idea, but seeing the statistics of sales for the past few days changed his mind. Now, he had to contract with different agencies to make his plan a success. He hung up the phone and got to work.