Make Your Book A Movie: Adapting Your Book or Story for Hollywood (complete version)
by John Robert Marlow and Jacqueline Radley
Most authors would like to see their work adapted for the big (or small) screen, but the path from here to there is, at best, unfamiliar-and can seem incomprehensible. Some bestsellers are made into movies, others ignored. Obscure books, short stories, and magazine articles are blessed by Hollywood’s magic, while thousands of screenplays are turned away. Harry Potter sells to Hollywood a mere year after publication, while The Lord of the Rings takes nearly five decades to hit the screen. What sense does that make? Is there no rhyme or reason here?
Well, yes, actually. But it’s hard to make out when-like most writers-you’re on the outside looking in. This article will take you through the looking glass and make some sense of the enigma that is the Hollywood adaptation process. More importantly, it will explain why some books are made into movies while others are not, and what you can do to make your book (or story) more attractive to filmmakers. To do that, we’ve pooled our own knowledge and consulted with several friends in the industry. Read more…
