The Keys to Turning Your Book Into A Film Or Original Series – Part 2

How Your Adaptation Can Make the Producer’s Life Easier

The first part of this is determining which market you should be targeting for your book. This is different than knowing your audience, because you must also understand the in’s and out’s of the various genres, media outlets, and niches that Hollywood partitions itself into. You need to identify which market you’re dealing with. These market distinctions go much deeper than just television and film – genre, tone, style, etc. filter down to create much smaller sub-markets.

 By knowing all of this information, you will be able to target the right producers that will be passionate about your project and give it the fighting chance it needs. (Remember, most producers have a very targeted niche that they work in – if you have a book that should be turned into a horror movie, you don’t want to send it to a producer who works in TV comedy).

The very worst thing you could do is to waste a producer’s time. This is a sure fire way of ensuring that nobody will ever take the time to consider your book. So get your ducks in a row so you’re not wasting valuable time.

Make a Producer Love You and Your Book

The next element of being in the “Adaptation Business” is solving the money problem for potential producers.

Adapting your own book or hiring a screenwriter to have your book adapted into a treatment or, even better, a screenplay (FYI – having the book adapted is probably the better choice because adapting it yourself is a whole undertaking in and of itself) will solve a time problem AND a money problem for the producer, which is going to make your project much more appealing.

When you already have these valuable materials to give to a producer, you’re saving the producer money because they would otherwise have to hire a professional screenwriter to achieve the same results. Also, having a screenplay and/or a treatment already prepared is a huge indication of professionalism and dedication to the producer. This means the producer will take your project much more seriously, which is important when considering which projects they want to dedicate their valuable time to.

Remember it’s a Business

Finally, being in the “Adaptation Business” means that you have to remember that this is a business. And that means that you need to know how to make a deal. You need to know the differences in how Hollywood thinks about books, adaptations, original screenplays, and how Hollywood likes to negotiate. If you don’t understand these things, you will appear difficult to work with, completely unrealistic or just be perceived as a total amateur with no knowledge of the market whatsoever – which is something you definitely don’t want.

If you do have a handle on these things, you’ll effortlessly be making deals and be perceived as a wonderful person to work with – someone that they want to work with again and again.

Be sure to follow the series The Book Adaptation Business: Keys to Turning Your Book Into A Film Or Original Series! In Parts 3 and 4, we will discuss the importance of short form materials, making the path to production easier for the producer, and the most effective ways to get your book adaptation noticed among the piles of projects on a producer’s desk!