Ink & Crown

Chapter 96 – Closed

The reply came in less than an hour.

Talia's slate lit up in the center of the table. Everyone looked at it at the same time. Taren set down his pen without being asked. Lunessa's fingers stopped moving on her screen. Rowan looked up from the Eryndral notes he had been working through.

Talia turned the slate toward Taren.

He read it standing, one hand on the back of her chair. His expression didn't change while he worked through it. Then he straightened, pulled out his own chair, and sat down.

"They accepted the five-year term," he said. "And the series clause for the first right of refusal on the third book within their territory."

"And the territory?" Rowan asked. "Did they accept the league-cities limit?"

"No." Taren set the slate face-up on the table where everyone could see. "They want full Zerathis. The league cities and the three republics both. They're not accepting the territorial restriction."

The room was quiet for a moment.

"But they changed the money," he continued. "They've revised both the advance and the royalty percentage, and they've moved significantly on both."

Lunessa was already reading the figures. She didn't say anything for a moment.

"Their original offer was three thousand Crowns per title," Taren said. "Six thousand total, upfront."

"And now?" Lucien asked.

"Twelve thousand Crowns per title. Twenty-four thousand total." He set the slate flat on the table. "And they've moved the royalty from eight percent to thirteen."

Lunessa wrote something down. Then she looked up.

"That's exactly four times the original advance," she said. "In under an hour."

"In under an hour," Talia said.

"That's the point," Taren said. "They had room. They were testing whether we knew what the territory was worth before they offered it."

Dorian hadn't spoken yet. He was reading the message on his own slate now. "The performance language. Did they add anything?"

"No." Taren shook his head. "They rejected the territory limit and came back asking for the full continent. And we never proposed a performance clause, so there's nothing in their offer that requires them to actually distribute in the republics. If we accept this as it stands, it's a clean Zerathis deal with no conditions on what they do with those markets."

"Which is the problem," Lucien said.

"Which is the problem," Taren agreed.

Lunessa set down her pen. "Can I explain what the numbers mean before we decide on territory?"

Taren nodded.

"Crownspire's cover price stays the same regardless of territory. Two Crowns digital, five Crowns physical. Verdant sells at our price, not theirs." She turned her slate so the room could see the figures. "Physical first. At thirteen percent on a five-Crown copy, each book earns sixty-five Shards. Digital at twenty-five percent on a two-Crown copy earns fifty Shards. The advance gets earned back from both streams combined."

She tapped the screen. "To earn out twenty-four thousand Crowns on print alone they need around thirty-seven thousand copies. On digital alone, around forty-eight thousand. In practice it'll be a mix of both, which brings the number down."

"Zerathis is a continent," Taren said. "Three major republics, four league cities. The republic markets alone are larger than anything Verdant currently operates in."

"So the numbers are achievable," Lunessa said. "If Verdant actually distributes across all those markets and moves thirty thousand copies in the first year, they earn out almost immediately and start owing royalties on every copy after that. If they underperform and only move ten thousand total across all of Zerathis, it takes closer to three years." She set her pen down. "Either way, twenty-four thousand upfront is the floor. Verdant is only offering it because they expect to earn well past it."

"And after earn-out?" Lucien asked.

"Every copy sold generates royalties on top of what they've already paid," she said. "The advance isn't the money. It's the signal."

The room was quiet for a moment.

"They wouldn't have moved four times on the advance that fast if they thought this was a marginal deal," Taren said.

"No," Lunessa agreed. "They wouldn't."

"The revised offer is good," Taren said. "The question is whether we accept the territory as the price of it."

Lucien had been quiet. He leaned forward slightly.

"If we accept Zerathis-wide," he said, "and they sit on the republic markets, just hold the rights and don't actually distribute there, then those markets are locked for five years."

"Correct."

"Can we add the performance clause ourselves? Even though they didn't offer it?"

Taren looked at him. "We can counter again. We'd be asking them to accept a condition they didn't propose." He paused. "They'll push back. But they've already shown us their ceiling. They moved four times on the advance that fast. They're not walking away."

"What are the chances they accept a performance clause?" Lunessa asked.

"Better than fifty," Taren said. "They want the deal. The clause costs them nothing if they were going to distribute anyway. The only people it hurts are the ones who weren't planning to."

Rowan looked at the slate. "So they either accept it and distribute properly, or they reject it and we know they were planning to sit on the rights."

"Exactly," Taren said.

Lucien looked at him. "And if they reject the clause?"

"Then we hold the territory at league cities only and they decide whether the revised money is still worth it for a smaller market." Taren picked up his pen. "My read is they accept. They came back too fast for this to be a casual interest."

Lucien looked at the window for a moment. "What was their original royalty structure on digital?"

"Eight percent across both formats," Taren said. "They bundled it with print."

"And now?"

"Thirteen, same rate across both."

Lunessa set down her pen. "Digital should be higher. The standard for direct-sale platforms like Inkspire is closer to twenty-five percent. They may have kept it bundled deliberately to avoid that conversation."

Taren looked at her. "You want to split the rates."

"Thirteen on print is reasonable, but thirteen on digital is low." She tilted her head slightly. "We already have Inkspire at zero percent commission. If Verdant is going to distribute the digital editions in their territory, twenty-five percent is the number we should start from."

"They'll push back on it," Taren said.

"They pushed back on territory and still offered four times the advance." Lunessa picked her pen back up. "I think they'll accept."

Taren was quiet for a moment. Then he nodded once.

"Add it to the counter," he said.

Lunessa had been building something else on her screen while they talked. She turned it around.

"If I add the performance clause and the digital split and they accept," she said, "here's what the deal looks like. Twenty-four thousand Crowns advance. Thirteen percent royalty on print, twenty-five on digital. Full Zerathis including the republics, with a performance clause requiring distribution there within twelve months or those rights revert. Five-year term, publishing rights only."

Dorian read it once. "That's a reasonable contract."

"It's a good contract," Taren said.

Everyone looked at Lucien.

He looked at the numbers on Lunessa's slate. Twenty-four thousand Crowns upfront, thirteen percent on print, twenty-five on digital, and a market that hadn't existed for Crownspire a few days ago.

"One thing," he said. "Can we split the Zerathis deal later? Not now, but if the books perform, could we approach the republics separately on future titles while Verdant holds the current two?"

"Yes," Taren said. "The deal covers A Study in Scarlet and The Sign of the Four specifically. The Hound of the Baskervilles isn't in it except as the series-clause reference. Future titles are separate negotiations."

Lucien nodded slowly.

"Send the counter," he said. "Add the performance clause and the digital split. If they accept, we have a deal."

Talia was already drafting it. Taren read over her shoulder while she typed, stopped her once to adjust a line, then let her continue.

She sent it.

Taren sat back down and looked at his Virelian notes. He didn't pick up the pen immediately.

"How long this time?" Rowan asked.

"How fast they come back will tell us how much they want it," Taren said. "The quicker, the more they need this deal."

Lunessa updated her tracking sheet. One row moved from "counter sent" to "awaiting response, revised terms." She wrote the clause summary in the notes column.

The press downstairs kept running.

Talia had already moved to the next name on her Virelian list. She was making notes in the margin of the background sheet, the kind of shorthand she used when she was thinking ahead rather than writing anything final.

Rowan had a question about the Eryndral house, something about a clause in the background notes that seemed to restrict sub-licensing. Taren answered without looking up from his own work, three sentences and done. Rowan noted the answer and went back to what he was doing.

Lucien watched this for a moment. The room had its own rhythm now, everyone moving through their work without checking in, the way a kitchen runs when the staff already knows the menu.

He thought about what twenty-four thousand Crowns meant. More than twice the café's best month before the debt cleared. Nearly a quarter of the press acquisition loan. Coming from a syndicate in Deltaport that had never heard of A Study in Scarlet a few days ago.

Dorian poured himself more water from the jug on the side shelf. "If they accept, what does this mean for the rest of the list?"

"It means we have something to reference," Taren said. "A Zerathian syndicate accepted our terms with a performance clause. That's not nothing. When we go to Virelia with the same structure, they'll take it more seriously."

"The first deal sets the standard," Lunessa said.

"Yes." Taren finally picked up his pen. "Every house after this one will know we didn't give ground on the things that matter."

Lucien looked at the window, thinking.

Twenty-four thousand Crowns upfront if this closed. More if the books performed. A market spread across a continent he had never set foot on.

Thirty-two minutes later, Talia's slate lit up again.

She turned it toward Taren without speaking. Then she read it herself one more time and laughed.

Taren read it. He set the slate down carefully, then looked up and smiled, something that reached his eyes this time.

"They accepted," he said.

Talia screamed.

Not loud, but loud enough. She clamped both hands over her mouth and was already on her feet, bouncing on her heels.

Rowan looked at her. Then he stood up too and they were both jumping, laughing, Talia grabbing his arm, both of them saying something that wasn't quite words.

Taren watched this for a moment. Then he got up, came around the table, and put his hand out to Lucien.

Lucien shook it firmly.

"Congratulations," Taren said. "Your first international deal. You earned it."

"We all did," Lucien said. "Thank you. All of you."

Taren nodded once and let go.

Lucien turned to Rowan and Talia. Rowan shook his hand and clapped him once on the arm. Talia didn't bother with a handshake. She just hugged him quick and tight, then stepped back looking slightly embarrassed about it.

Dorian was already standing. Lucien went to him and they hugged properly, and then both of them laughed, loud and happy.

Lunessa was on her feet too, and she was grinning, not her usual composed expression but a real one, wide and unguarded. She had read his books many times before she ever met him. She shook his hand with both of hers.

"Congratulations," she said. "This is only the first one."

Lucien laughed. "It better be," he said.

Taren looked at Lucien.

"Crownspire's first international deal." Taren paused. "Should we note the date?"

Lucien smiled. "Lunessa already has."

She turned the slate so he could see. The Verdant Syndicate row was closed, all columns filled.