Thus, Ian started to talk about A Game of Thrones—his new fiction.
He didn't want to give too many spoilers, therefore he tried to talk to pique the interest of all the readers. During his conversations, he tried to keep it as interesting as possible.
He almost gave spoilers, but he stopped himself and gave things that would lead the readers to 'die in curiosity'
In the end, the show ended with more than three million viewers and more than several thousand pre-orders.
"We just hit twenty-five thousand pre-orders, both soft copy and hard copy. I can't believe we pulled it off," the director said as he walked in.
Ian smiled and shook hands with him. He had known that the book would gain more and more recognition when it really hit the shelves. A Game of Thrones was simply a fantasy novel that he knew people would enjoy reading.
The studio lights dimmed as the show had ended a few seconds ago. The crew started walking left and right as they started packing their things.
"Thanks, Steven," Ian said and shook his hand next.
He unbuttoned his suit as he realised that there were fans who waited for pre-signed copies.
It was a media campaign that they had arranged considering this release was extremely important and every media opportunity will only bring more exposure.
"Can you handle it? If you're too tired-" Steven interrupted.
"No, I'll be fine. Send them in, I'm glad this happened today. Today was a big help for the campaign."
Ian said and walked away.
He hadn't been to a signing campaign before as he had his time occupied with several other things—but this time, he knew that he couldn't avoid something that would help increase the visibility of his new book release.
After greeting several people who were in the backstage crew of the show, he walked to where the book signing was happening.
"Ian! Oh my god! Ian Renner is here!"
"Did you see? He looks so handsome in real life?"
"I can't believe how he looks! Surreal!!"
The voices started whispering amongst themselves.
People who were young, old and of different ages, both male and female started getting into line as Ian sat in his chair.
In front of him, there were eye-blinding lights and cameras pointed. Taking pictures as soon as he started to sit. He had gotten used to such attention while being in public.
A woman first walked in with a copy of a Percy Jackson book. Ian looked at her and gave a warm smile.
"How are you doing?" he asked as he took the book from her hand.
"I'm a big fan of your movies! Ian! Your acting was so good in Kiara! This is the first ever non-fictional book I read! And oh man! Where to begin?! I enjoyed it very much!" she continued to say.
Ian nodded and signed 'Ian Renner' with the date on the front page.
"What's your name?"
"I'm Sandra. Please, S A N D R A!"
Ian nodded and wrote her name with a little note. He already knew that the signing would take his entire evening, but he was prepared.
The fact that he could let a world read something they
"Good. Thank you so much for coming,"
"Ian, can I please take a selfie with you?"
"Yes sure, and take this coupon with you. You can pre-order the book and you'll get a discount," Ian said and smiled at the phone.
"Oh my! Thank you so much!"
The woman walked away and the next in line came. Ian looked to see who it was—it was a child in a wheelchair. An old lady was helping the boy to come closer to Ian.
Ian stood up and walked around and bent down so that they were eye to eye.
"Hey, what's your name?" Ian's voice rang around in the closed space.
It was almost like a library, with books on display. The shelves were observed by different readers.
Eyes turned to look at Ian when he bent down to the level of the kid. The boy was around fourteen years old, and through his glasses, he looked up at him.
"I'm Eric, Mr. Renner. I've read all your books—even Resident Evil," he said.
Ian's smile almost reached his ears as he nodded approvingly. "That's great. How did you like them?"
"I love reading Percy Jackson, when will the next book be out?"
"Soon. Very soon, do you want me to sign your book?"
Ian asked gently, showing the book that was on his lap. It was the first Percy Jackson book. And by the looks of it, it was a used book, the book pages were yellow and he saw several dog ears from the outside.
"I'd appreciate it so much, thank you. I was about to come to meet you during your shooting for Kiara, the day it was opened for the public—but, the doctor said it will take some more time for me to walk—or forever," he said in the last part in a whisper.
Ian looked up and saw the little boy doubting his ability to walk again on Earth. His eyes suddenly turned sad with his lips curving downwards.
"Hey, you know what, I will take you to visit a full set when you recover quickly, and trust me, you will."
A single tear drop fell from his eyes. Ian stood up and patted his head. He took the book and signed it, writing his name as Eric.
"Thank you," his mom finally said while taking Eric away.
Ian had hope for the child as he melted his heart for a second. 'I'm sure he'll walk again' he thought to himself.
"Murphy, can you please take his address and send a copy when it gets released?" Ian asked as he saw the kid going away.
It wasn't that he felt pity, but he felt that he should give the child for whatever reason his gut said.
From there onwards, he continued to sign copies and make conversations with at least a hundred fans, ending his evening exhausted yet accomplished.
-
Walking away to the night, Ian's thoughts were occupied by the fact that the launch of A Game of Thrones was just a few days away.
'I hope it goes well' he thought to himself as his driver was taking him to his mansion.
He sighed and looked at the phone.
10.54 pm
It read.
This wasn't the first night that he had felt anxious about a project. It wouldn't be the last, but nevertheless, the emotion that ate him alive stayed true.
'I feel nervous'
He wanted the book to do as good as it did in his previous world. Because every time he opened his memory library, the book was in the front along with many other recommendations—but the responsibility of writing it, and sharing it with the world was out of the world.
His conscience expected so much from him due to how he was a fan of the work personally.
'This must do well, this just has to' he thought to himself and closed his eyes to nap as the driver took him to his house.