A fan posted something on my spoilers page about movies, asking me not to give up creative control if Hollywood comes calling. I think it’s pertinent for any fan of any series, so here is my (slightly revised) response, in no particular order:
A book or series is a product.
Writers have to eat and pay bills too.
Not every writer has the skills or energy or health to deal with Hollywood.
Holding on to a product while facing a possible future dwindling income stream and retirement is frankly unwise.
If Hollywood comes calling, and a producer buys a writer’s product the writer usually must take the money and get the best deal they can, but it is a buyers market, not a sellers market. That means writers have little to bargain with. If you were selling your house to eat and live and needed the income, and there was one offer … would you go hungry? Very few writers get even one offer. Even fewer get more than one offer.
Most writers who do get an offer and who try to hang onto creative control and do movies, often STOP WRITING. Most writers cannot do both because there are not enough hours in the day.
Think of GRRM. He can’t do both. So he stopped writing. Fans scream all the time for more books. He ignores them because his series is a product and he is dealing with it from a monetary bottom line.
To maintain control over a series in a producer’s hands, I would have to STOP WRITING. I can’t do both. That said, If one of my series sold and I was offered enough money to stop writing and be on set, I’d take it. And pick up writing later. Writing is my job. I pay my bills with it. So I would make the best deal and live with the consequences.
This is not to say I don’t want creative control of my characters and series. I do. But I may not be able to make that deal. And so far, Hollywood is leery of Beast!
And on another note — DARK QUEEN is not the last book. Two more under contract.
Faith
Faith