Hollywood King

If you want, you can read 20 something chapters ahead in www.patreon.com/TC_L. Psst... it's my birthday tomorrow! Haha! Celebrating two birthdays in a row with my first fanfic! 

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The gloomy day started off with a smile on Ian’s face. In the morning right when he got out of bed, he got a call from Steven—the man of the day.

One would argue that even during the hardest times of your life, you’d get that one message that could light your mood up. It could either be good news, news that you were anticipating, news that benefits you—or simply, a result of your hard work.

And for Ian, it was the last.

Steven’s voice brought happiness that Ian hadn’t expected to behave during the day. Because of how stressed and overworked he was due to the pre-production of Star Wars.

Being the producer and the director was no easy task for Ian. Budgeting the movie took almost half his time during the day. And during the other times, he tried his best to adjust the script as he wanted.

“Mr Renner, Steven is here,” Murphy’s voice distracted Ian from his task.

“Give me ten minutes,” Ian said and continued to figure out the numbers on the screen.

According to Ian, the budget for the entire series would exceed $250 million. And from all the profits he had faced during the last couple of years, and his other projects such as writing, and acting—he knew he was able to pour in as much money as he wanted.

In the end, creating Star Wars was a gamble. It could either succeed or become a flop. Because, unlike movies, series could easily become a target of criticism negatively.

For movies, the hype that people would bring continues to do so until the very end. But also a TV series had the advantage of longer storytelling arcs and the opportunity to build a dedicated fanbase.

“Alright, send him in,” Ian called Murphy.

Soon after, Steven walked in with a smile. In his hand, there was a book wrapped in brown coloured paper. Ian’s eyes immediately went to that.

“Is that what I think?” he asked immediately.

Steven nodded and placed it on Ian’s desk. The latter took the cover in his hand and opened it, removing the wrapper and being careful of the edges.

As soon as he opened it, he was starstruck by the book cover. He immediately knew that even if the author—himself wasn’t popular in the world, people would buy the book and try it for how good the cover was.

The cover was attractive and had the charisma to be popular.

“This feels surreal,” he said as he took the book to his hand.

A new edition of A Game of Thrones was in his hand. He wrote the series giving unlimited possibilities for everyone who gets to read in this world—everyone who has never experienced the Game of Thrones series.

It was exciting and thrilling.

“I’m sure it does. Ian, when I was taking the book, you would not believe that I had chills!” Steven said and chuckled.

Ian smiled politely. He understood the feeling. Publishing something that could potentially be the next bestseller was a feeling that every publisher dreams of—and every author daydreamt of. Every. Single. Day.

“Well, I will leave you to it. I wanted to drop the book myself and see your reaction, and I’ve got to say, the best so far,” He said and shook Ian’s hand.

Ian walked the old man to the door and sat back in his chair.

He took the book back to his hand. He could already see how well the book would be doing in a few months after the launch.

And this launch was different from other books he had published. Although his previous books were also parts of the series, this book would open rather fascinating opportunities for a new era in the fantasy genre.

The combination of intricate world-building, complex characters, unpredictable plot twists, realistic portrayal of power dynamics, and skilful storytelling would contribute to the immense love and popularity of "A Game of Thrones" and set the stage for the success of the entire "A Song of Ice and Fire" series.

He looked at the back of the book and saw his picture with a few words by the author, himself.

“Phew!” the sigh left his mouth as he relaxed more into the chair.

His fingers lingered on the title text of the book as he continued to admire it. He was a core fan of the series A Song of Ice and Fire, and this meant a lot to him.

The knock on his office room distracted him as he looked at who it was.

Murphy stood tall with his usual tablet in his arm.

“Come in,” Ian said with a nod. He kept the book on the table and gave his attention to his assistant.

“Mr Renner, we just heard back from Actus Books.”

“What did they say? And just call me Ian, Murphy,” Ian said for the millionth time.

“They agreed. But they said the terms of the previous conditions cannot be changed in a hurry.”

“Hurry? We have no hurry though.”

“No, they simply meant that they can’t change them. But after A Game of Thrones, your share of the profits will increase reasonably. They scheduled a meeting to discuss it, and I’ll bring you the reports of the books you’ve published with them,” Murphy said, his tone serious.

Ian nodded. “Well, we need to change the terms so I get more profit with A Game of Thrones. I was busy with other things I didn’t get a chance to think about, and you were right. Thanks,” he smiled humbly.

“They will have to make amendments. Don’t worry.”

“Alright.”

Since Ian had been working with Actus Books for so long, he knew that with time his fame increased, and the profits would skyrocket with his next projects. The request to change numbers in their contract and increase his profits by at least 10% was made two weeks ago.

“Murphy, contact my lawyer if needed. I don’t think it will. Actus Books are doing well because of me. So, they will agree with our terms, but just in case,” he said and went back to budgeting Star Wars.

Murphy nodded and walked out of the office room after excusing himself.

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