The Versatile Master Artist

Maca couldn’t be bothered to listen to her bewildered and incredulous boyfriend on the other end of the phone. She made a direct decision: ”Not just for one weekend, the entire next month, I won’t be maintaining any close relationship with you. Why? Because I want to, can’t I?”

”Detective Cat is indeed somewhat interesting this time, but don’t blame me for dampening your spirits, Kelly. The magazine ’Oil Painting’ has already declared its career dead. It won’t have much of a future.”

Maca glanced at Kelly.

”I don’t see it that way. If illustrations are liked by audiences, that’s the strongest truth in the world. I actually think the shareholders of ’Oil Painting’ might be in for quite a fall this time.”

Kelly shrugged with a smile.

”Time will tell us the answer.”

When Maca was passing the shelves near the cashier with ’The Little Prince’ to queue up, she suddenly stopped.

Dammit,

since I’ve bought it.

How about—

switching to the hardcover edition, it’s only a bit more expensive.

Uh, maybe… why not just go all out and buy the collector’s gift set of ’The Little Prince’?

”Hello, Miss, a collector’s gift set, you’ve spent a total of £96.99. Are you a member of Waterstones… Apple Wallet or PAYPAL, do you need to use cash vouchers…”

20 minutes later.

Maca and Kelly each appeared in front of the cashier holding a dark-colored collector’s edition solid wood gift box.

The cashier’s smile brightened a bit upon seeing such big customers.

The pricing for collector’s gift boxes ranged from £60 to several hundred pounds, intended as gifts for hardcore readers.

Scholastic Group’s collector’s gift box this time included a hardcover edition of ’The Little Prince’, a Little Prince figurine, a special illustration set, and a set of illustration postcards.

Priced at £96.99 in the British Zone.

Spending a hundred pounds on these items, it sounds like the profit margin is high enough to seem like they’re ripping off customers.

But in the realm of collector’s gift boxes, it’s not considered too greedy.

It’s priceless when fans love something.

There are quite a few collector’s gift boxes for tabletop games like Dungeons & Dragons selling for thousands of pounds.

’The Little Prince’ simultaneously launched alongside the gift box set for ’Diablo 4’ by Activision Blizzard, priced similarly.

That set didn’t even contain the main game, and players had to spend additional pounds to buy the game separately, yet they sold thousands of sets.

”After all, I guess I probably won’t be buying Detective Cat’s illustrations in the future, so let’s just be charitable this time.”

Maca preemptively stated before Kelly could tease her, feeling a bit insecure.

As her fingertip lingered on the illustration of ’The Little Prince’ among the sand dunes on the solid wood box cover, she grew more and more enamored.

”It’s really beautiful!”

Maca put the gift box into the shopping bag and glanced at the blonde girl: ”Kelly, you still have to wait until after the signing event to take the poster, right?”

”Yes, the signing event is expected to end by 5 PM at the latest. It’s too crowded here, I’m heading to the Starbucks across the street to have a latte while I wait. Meanwhile, I can read through the whole ’The Little Prince’.”

Kelly nodded: ”You can head back to school if you’re in a hurry.”

”Forget it, at this hour I wouldn’t make it to see the handsome guys’ runway show anyway. Since I’m already on Oxford Street, I’ll just swing by the mall next door for some shopping.”

Maca checked her watch.

”We’ll meet at the bookstore entrance at 4:55 PM. By then, the signing event should be wrapping up.”

-----------------

At dusk,

When Maca found her best friend again at the entrance of Waterstones, her friend had somehow managed to pile up various shopping bags of all sizes.

Perfume, eye cream, lipstick, high heels…

These days, students who study art often come from families with some financial means.

Maca’s credit card had a substantial limit, coupled with the frustration of losing a bet today.

So naturally, she’d spent the afternoon on a shopping spree.

When she was nearly unable to carry any more, she messaged Kelly and wandered back towards the east side of the shopping street to Waterstones.

Generally speaking.

The signing event is most bustling when it first opens.

Most die-hard fans eager to meet the authors and translators would queue up early. Early entry also allows them to listen to the creators’ talks, interact, and ask questions.

If you arrive late, it’s purely to buy signed books.

Therefore, signing events rarely last the entire afternoon in the UK; most are just half a day or span two to three hours.

Besides the authors needing rest.

The first hour can sell 70% of the books for the entire signing event, and the crowd starts to thin significantly afterward.

Towards the end, even if the authors wish to continue signing, there are often few people left in the bookstore.

Legendary page-turners like ’Harry Potter’ or the royal gossip autobiography of Prince and Meghan, ’Back-up,’ with first-day sales surpassing a million, can keep signing non-stop from start to finish.

However, the scenes in newspaper photos of book launches and signing events, with queues extending for miles and a truly bustling atmosphere,

Maca and Kelly found that the crowd at Waterstones when it opened today was many indeed, in the ordinary sense.

Compared to top-tier hot selling books requiring ambulances and emergency medical teams on standby at the scene to prevent fainting and stampeding, the absolute number of readers here couldn’t measure up.

The queue waiting at the entrance before going in wasn’t even a tenth the length.

Maca figured that by the time she returned, there wouldn’t be many people left at Waterstones’ entrance.