The Versatile Master Artist

Confused within, clear to those outside.

The African painter doesn’t quite understand his own worth; it’s no wonder he’s easily deceived.

Her agent actually allowed him to adopt such a painting technique, clearly marking him as incompetent garbage.

”Ding——”

The VIP elevator arrived at the floor where the marketing department is located, and slowly opened to both sides.

Director Charlie was already waiting at the door. He saw Vellein and just greeted him with a slight nod, then signaled the illustrator to follow him.

They entered the report observation room of the marketing department.

Director Charlie didn’t even glance at Osborne, but instead smiled at a short, plump elderly gentleman with a white little mustache and a face full of wrinkles beside the president, introducing him to Vellein.

”The board is very concerned about our little competition. Director Morgan personally flew from the North American Headquarters of the Scholastic Group to London to be present on-site as a supervisor. The Director arrived this morning and came straight here without rest.” Charlie emphasized the management’s attention to this project to Vellein.

He then pointed to the person in a gray suit beside Morgan.

”The head of the marketing department, whom you should have met before. According to the agreement, the winner of this little competition will let the marketing department publish a collection of ’Little Prince’ deluxe illustrated editions and related peripherals.”

Vellein extended his hand to shake hands with each of these people.

”When it comes to releasing the deluxe illustrated collection, I leave it to your capable hands.”

While volunteers were still entering the marketing department, Vellein had already shown a smile of having victory in his grasp.

”Congratulations on your prosperity; this revenue might even exceed the contract offer itself.” The head of the marketing department responded with a smile.

The entity book market in Europe and America has somewhat declined under the impact of mobile phones and e-readers like Kindle.

It’s just that Western e-books are also quite expensive,

A hardcover novel that sells for twenty US dollars in print would still cost around ten dollars in electronic format, so the overall change in royalty income isn’t significant.

There’s just one exception: collectible editions of works and printed art book peripherals.

These items, whose collectible value exceeds their reading value, are usually released in limited quantities, sell very steadily, and fetch extremely high prices.

The more classic the works, the more this holds true.

The market has an opinion, especially in the North American market where the headquarters of publishers are located; due to a lack of historical sediment, collectible edition memorial books, AAA game box sets, and NBA championship rings have acquired a certain antique attribute.

For example,

Works published by the Scholastic Group.

The 1997 first printed edition of ”Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” is currently selling for between 500 and 800 US dollars per copy on eBay.

Harry Potter, discovered by the group in 1999, was found to have great potential for a massive hit, which led to the decision to release a collectible commemorative box set.

The box set includes a set of postcard illustrations of the main trio—Harry, Ron, and Hermione—and a red hardcover version of ”Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.”

A well-preserved 1999 edition hardcover box set, without any torn or missing pages, currently has a second-hand price of about 5000 to 8000 US dollars.

If it has J.K. Rowling’s signature,

A twenty-year-old collectible commemorative box set on the market can sell for around eighteen thousand to even twenty thousand US dollars.

One box set equals a small car, it’s that exaggerated.

Readers are very fond of collecting such items.

Illustrations are far more significant to ”Little Prince” than they are to ”Harry Potter,” and the royalties for illustrators in such box set releases are not only higher, but the gains in prestige are also much larger.

Vellein is determined to win this.