Page 108 of The Thorne at My Side
"Well, you two would be the C suite. CEO," she points to Elle, "would be in charge of directional choices and big picture thinking. Then Austin, as CFO you'd manage all the finances. To start you'd need a couple of agents, editors, designers, and marketers. But it is pretty easy to find independent authors on social media since they all use hashtags to get discovered."
"And what's that put us at for salaries, five million?"
"Probably. It depends on how seasoned the candidates arebut figure 150-400k per hire including benefits."
I jot the numbers down. "Okay, thanks so much Meredith. Elle and I need to chat but I’m fairly confident we’ll be moving forward. Elizabeth, can you schedule a time for us to follow up in a few days?”
"Thank you Mr. Thorne, Ms. Thorne," Meredith says with a nod in both our directions before she stands up and leaves the office with Elizabeth escorting her out.
"Mr. Thorne?"
"Ms. Thorne?"
Elle and I both roll back with laughter.
"That's rule number one of this new company, no Mr or Ms's. Unless we're publishing a regency romance and then we could all use titles to get in the mood." Elle says as she stands and gathers up the presentation papers.
"So you're on board with this?"
"Yeah, it's not something I was seriously considering but when Meredith shared the data about women's sexual liberation through smutty romance novels, I was on board."
I knew she’d like that part of it. When I walked out of TMC two months ago I didn’t know what I was going to do next. When I came across an article about how the romance genre doubled in size over the last three years the idea hit. I had Elizabeth, who also left TMC, contact Meredith and get her working in the background.
"Is it going to be an issue that we're brother and sister?" I asked. Something about my sister saying the words “sexual liberation” makes me uneasy.
"We just won't let you read any of the books. Your little sentimental heart couldn't handle it."
I laugh, "I think there might be some stories out thereinspired by me."
"Ew, no. Nope. We are not talking about your sexploits being inspiration for romance novels."
"Fine, but I could be and you’ll never know." I inform her. Maybe this is going to be fun after all.
"You will not be reading any of the submissions." Elle says.
"Submission sounds nice."
"GROSS!" Elle yells and then she storms out of the room. I laugh because she makes it a little too easy.
Just then my SMS Connect phone pings in my pocket. I pull it out and read the message from Maggie.
TalkShopGirl:I'm not sure if I told you this but I lost my job back in November. It was a job I had been working towards my entire career and one I thought I would do for years to come. When I was let go I felt really lost.
I went home for a while and tried to figure out what to do next. Right around New Year's I was offered a new job that would last until March. I've never taken a short term role before but I wanted to get back to D.C..
Now this job will wrap up soon and again I find myself questioning what I should do next.
But this morning I woke up to an email from someone who I didn't think even knew who I was, someone with a lot of influence and resources, someone who has been aligned with people I didn't want to do business with. He offered me something I don't feel great about but the paycheck is big. Like eyeballs buggingout of your head big.
So now, as I sit here in my chair, I find myself wanting to talk with you through the details. I want to get your opinion. I want to know if you think I should take the money and run or turn it down and trust something else will come my way.
It's funny, everyone else in my life that I could ask about this is predictable. I know what my parents, my siblings, and my friends would say. But I don't know what you would say.
I finish reading the message and am dying to know what offer she got. The urge to text her as Austin and say "so anything new?" is strong enough to have me pulling out my iPhone. Instead of sending a note to Maggie, I place a call to someone we both know. Time for phase two.
???
"Welcome back to the podcast Austin Thorne, we were excited when you reached out to us."
