While Rowan was going to cames Mary was also at the last stage of Negotiations.
Montgomery, the new president of Random House's Los Angeles branch, arrived at Flame Entertainment Agency with a negotiation team of up to ten people. This was their eighth visit this month, and they almost memorized the route by heart.
As soon as they entered the lobby on the first floor of the office building, they saw another group of business people in suits and leather shoes walking out in an orderly manner like an army. The moment Montgomery saw the other party, his eyelids jumped. The person leading the other party was Peter Mayer, the president of Penguin Publishing Group.
Looking at the other party's smug look, Montgomery couldn't help but feel nervous as he wondered what offer they had received and what promises Mary Acker had made.
The team from Random House and the people from Penguin Books passed each other. Although they did not speak to each other, the fighting and confrontation in their eyes were almost undisguised.
Damn Mary Acker!
Montgomery didn't believe that this scene was a coincidence. This woman had clearly arranged this time on purpose to let the two companies collide. It was such a crude trick, it was unbelievable that he could do it!
But Montgomery felt frustrated again. With the release of Kung Fu Panda and Despicable me in the global market, their sales continued to rise, and Rowan's value also rose. This made the negotiations of these negotiators extremely intense, more difficult, and more passive.
Although he hated Mary Acker so much in his heart, when the elevator door they took reached the floor of Flame Entertainment Agency, and he saw Mary Acker waiting there, Montgomery immediately put on a friendly smile, as if he hadn't bumped into the Penguin Publishing Group on the first floor. "Mary, it's great to see you again."
"Me too, Montgomery, the conference room is ready." Mary Acker saw the other party's expression and smiled slyly in her heart, but with a kind and enthusiastic look on her face, she led everyone from Random House to the conference room.
After entering the meeting room of Flame Entertainment Agency, both parties sat down. Mary Acker immediately put on a serious expression: "Mr. Montgomery, I think you came here with sincerity this time, right?"
"Of course!" Montgomery motioned to his assistant to hand over the folder. "After a special discussion at our headquarters, we have decided to purchase the publishing rights for Mr. Rowan's new book with an advance of $80 million. I believe this price will satisfy you."
In such public occasions, Montgomery and Mary Acker tacitly used a pseudonym to refer to Sid.
Mary Acker took the document, looked through it for a while, frowned and shook her head: "I think this hardly reflects your sincerity. You and I both know Mr. Rowan's current reputation and the value of Kung fu Panda and Despicable me. I'm afraid it will be difficult for my client to accept such a low price."
"Don't forget that Mr. Rowan is only a new writer who has debuted for three months and both of his books are children's books so far!" Although he was a little lacking in confidence, Montgomery quickly fought back.
"Is that what you think?" Mary looked at Montgomery with an exaggerated look of surprise, as if she had heard something out of the ordinary. "How many writers do you know whose sales record for the first book has this level in first 3 months, the record for the second book is already broken by Despicable me and you are still not satisfied?"
"It topped the New York Times bestseller list in its 1st month? If such a super rookie is still treated like a rookie, then other writers can jump off a building."
"Humph!" Montgomery sneered, but he had to admit it sadly. As time went on, the sales momentum of "The King Fu Panda and Despicable me" continued to increase, and with the launch of the overseas version, it gradually showed a trend of evolving into a world-class craze.
Indeed, no one dares to measure such a supernova writer with the eyes of a newcomer but Montgomery believes that the sales in the last few weeks is much higher simply because Mary Acker released the news of who the Author really is, because of his fame the sales increase is clearly visible.
Next, rounds of fierce competition ensued over many aspects, including the market potential of both parties' new books, Rowan's price level, and the influence of "Kung fu Panda and Despicable me."
As the negotiations progressed, Mary, who seemed unreasonable and domineering at the beginning, became obviously more pragmatic. She no longer shouted out sky-high prices that would make the other party's brain congested. Instead, She let her subordinates act as cannon fodder in the negotiations.
This change in the other party immediately made Montgomery feel a little uneasy. As an elite who has worked in the business world for many years, he knew that there must be something wrong when things are abnormal. A women like Mary, who doesn't look experiences but is clearly difficult to deal with, is definitely not someone who gives up easily. The calmer she appears, the more people feel that she is hiding some terrible trump card.
"Mary, the situation is very clear now. Mary, why don't you tell us your price?" The negotiation fell into a tense situation again, and Montgomery finally couldn't help but speak. He felt that the longer it dragged on, the more disadvantageous it would be for his side, after all, there were countless competitors eyeing them from behind.
Mary Acker's face was gloomy and she remained silent for a long time.
"100 million dollars!" Montgomery placed his hands on the table, leaned forward with full momentum, and stared at Mary with his eyes piercing. He was quite surprised that the other party could remain calm in the face of such an astronomical figure.
In fact, Mary Acker's heart was shaking with excitement, but she tried hard to hold back the facial muscles that were trying to twitch on their own.
At this time, there was a knock on the door, and a Sarah walked in quickly, handed Mary Aacker a document, and whispered in her ear for a while.
Montgomery's eyelids twitched as he watched Mary Acker take the documents. After flipping through them with a gloomy face, she whispered to the negotiators around her. Although Montgomery wanted to interrupt her several times, the voice in his heart told him that he had to hold back.
"Sorry, Montgomery. After repeated discussions, we feel that a $80 million royalty, plus a 60% royalty share, would be a reasonable price." Mary Acker's face sank as he said an incredible number.
"What! Is this your sincerity? I don't believe any company will accept this price!" Montgomery almost jumped up, staring at the other party angrily. But at the same time, his mind was working fast. Why did the other party suddenly make such an incredible offer? What was the new information?
Was it a bluff? Or was it the latest offer from another company? No, it was impossible. How could a company offer such a crazy price? Montgomery stared at Mary Acker in silence, and thousands of thoughts flashed through his mind.
Ari Emanuel took out the document he had just seen: "This is the latest sales statistics for Despicable me and Kung Fu Panda! Today, there global sales have just exceeded 1 million copies!"
Mary Acker's short sentence was like a nuclear bomb exploding into the water, immediately causing an uproar among the negotiators at Random House.
Three months, 1 million copies! ?
In the history of books in the world, there has never been such a fast, no, such a crazy sales record! Kung Fu Panda had 600,000 in sales while Despicable me had 450,000 copies in sales.
Montgomery didn't dwell on why the other party got the latest statistics published by the company first. He took the information from Mary Acker in a trance. The information was the latest figures compiled by PricewaterhouseCoopers, absolutely authoritative and fair!
"Please give me a few minutes." After a quick glance, Montgomery confirmed the authenticity of the data. The other party had already revealed their true intentions, and he was afraid that other companies would not be able to resist the temptation and accept this crazy price.
Montgomery took out his cell phone and walked out of the meeting room.
Three minutes later, Montgomery returned to the conference room and regained his composure: "Mary $140 million, plus a 50% royalty share. This is the result of an urgent discussion between Mr. Peter Olsen and I, and it is also the final offer from Random House."
He was afraid that the other party was still not satisfied, so he had to emphasize again and again that the negotiations had reached this point and the situation was beyond the control of both parties.
After Mary exchanged words with the negotiators around her for a while, she finally stood up. She smiled and stretched out her right hand: "Congratulations, Montgomery, Random House will never regret this negotiation."
"Don't you need to ask Mr. Rowan anymore?" Montgomery asked back with some surprise.
"Mr. Rowan gave me the final say." Mary smiled and extended her hand again. "Do you still have questions? Montgomery."
Montgomery calmed himself down, stretched out his hand and shook hands with Mary Aacker, then laughed: "You are a good opponent, Mary."
Mary Acker finally calmed down her excited heartbeat.
"Yeah!"
"F—Crazy!"
"I can't believe it!"
The negotiators on both sides were like high school students at a graduation ceremony. They threw off their ties and jumped up from their seats. They were all smiles, high-fiving and hugging each other to celebrate. Such crazy negotiations were an unprecedented ordeal for both sides, and the final result was even more surprising and earth-shattering.