Books & rights
Film, TV and option deals
Someone pays for the exclusive chance to adapt your book — usually without ever making the film.
An option is a holding fee. A producer pays you a modest sum for a year or two of exclusivity, during which they try to attach talent, raise money, and interest a studio or streamer. Most options lapse. A few are exercised, and then the purchase price (and, later, backend points) can dwarf everything the book itself earned. Do not spend the Hollywood money until the cheque has cleared twice.
- Typical pay
- Options for midlist books often sit in the low thousands to low tens of thousands. An exercised purchase can be five or six figures; a made film or series can be more, plus residuals.
- Ceiling
- Uncapped
- Speed
- A long game
- Effort
- Light extra work
- Needs
- Needs a book
How it works
- 01
A producer (or their lawyer) options the dramatic rights for a set period, with a purchase price agreed now and paid if they proceed.
- 02
During the option they develop a script, attach names, and shop the project. You may be consulted; you will not be in charge.
- 03
If they exercise, they buy the rights. If they don't, the rights revert and you can option them again.
How to start
- 01
You need a book, or a very tight unpublished manuscript, with a visual hook. Not every good novel is a film.
- 02
A film/TV agent or a literary agent with a dramatic co-agent is the usual door. Unsolicited emails to producers mostly die.
- 03
If someone approaches you directly, get a lawyer who has seen an option agreement before. This is not the moment for a mate who did a house purchase.
Watch out
- 01
Never sell the rights outright for option money. Option first, purchase later, reversion always.
- 02
Sequel, character, and merchandising rights have a habit of vanishing into the studio's boilerplate.
- 03
'We'll pay you in producer credits' is not a deal. It is a conversation.
I have written for television, and I have watched books I know travel towards a camera and then quietly not arrive. The option fee is real money. The premiere is a rumour with a catering budget. Cash the first; do not move house on the second.