?


    Mrs. Thompson was intrigued by the author''s name the moment she saw it on the book cover. "Madge, Madge Aberdeen... sounds so familiar," she mused.


    It was the very reason Mrs. Thompson had picked up the book in the first ce. Upon seeing the author''s name, she was momentarily taken aback.


    Mr. Thompson sighed, seemingly caught in the same loop of curiosity that had led him to open the book. And the more he read, the more engrossed he became.


    Initially, Mrs. Thompson had casually inquired, not expecting much since Corley wasn''t omniscient. But to her surprise


    "I know her."


    He briefly exined his connection with Madge.


    Neely had a moment of realization; the young girl he had seen at The Book Nook was Madge''s daughter. The very day he had been upstairs, a book signing event for this very book was taking ce.


    He couldn''t help but chuckle, "Who would''ve thought such serendipity existed."


    Geneva remembered the young girl she had met, her voice soft and pleasant, stirring something within her, "Such a well-mannered and polite girl could only be the product of exceptional parenting."


    If only they could meet again someday.


    Before the onset of winter, Nadine had jetted off to Australia to escape the cold, a ritual she followed every year. Her colleagues had grown ustomed to it. After all, with the kind of money she made, she deserved to enjoy it!


    However, what Nadine did to earn her wealth was a mystery to her employees. They knew only that they worked for a cultural publishing house. Nadine would annually sign a bunch of well-known authors, and then... nothing. These authors never published new works again, as if they had vanished from the literary world.


    Once famous, these authors seemed to lose their spark under Nadine''s wing. But why did Nadine sign them in the first ce?


    And how did the studio make money? What was their profit model?


    "Save it, we''re just the working ss, not our ce to worry about these things."


    "I''m not worried. Just passing the days. The pay might not be much, but it''s easy going. Don''t do much besides printing contracts, and with a steady paycheck plus benefits, it''s not bad. But honestly, I can''t help but be curious."


    "Curious about what?"


    "How Ms. Gordon has managed all these years without producing a single blockbuster book. She spends so much annually signing these authors, where does the moneye from?"


    "Why are you asking? I don''t know."


    "Lana, how long have we been colleagues? Still keeping secrets from me? You''re the only


    ountant in our studio. All the cash flow goes through you. I don''t believe you have no clue. Come on, spilt the beans. I promise it won''t leave this room!"


    Lana hesitated, then, sumbing to the allure of sharing a juicy secret and the "a melon eaten alone is not as sweet" mentality, she finally whispered:


    "Do you really think Ms. Gordon signs all these famous authors just for fun? If there wasn''t a profit in it for her, why would she be handing out money for no reason?"


    "I don''t follow."


    Lana looked at her colleague with exasperation, wondering how she could be so oblivious.


    "Why sign famous authors? Because theye with famous works! These books are ssics, with a built-in audience and market. By spending money to sign an author,


    ???


    you might say you''re nning to help them reach new heights, h h h, but what you''re really doing is acquiring the rights to their existing works."


    "With those rights, you can then make deals, sell off movie or TV adaptation rights... and just like that, the money rolls in."