the only rights reserved to the author are spelled out in a single clause. In the film industry, it’s exactly the opposite. “You never know how a film will turn out, but the film version of The Martian is incredible and I know Andy is thrilled with how it came out,” says David Fugate, who became Weir’s agent before the film deal went through – a precaution he warns self-published authors to consider: “In book publishing, the agreement licenses the publisher a specific set of rights and typically anything that’s not covered in the agreement is reserved for the author. Matt Damon as Mark Watney in the film adaptation of Andy Weir’s self-published novel The Martian.
The 2015 film adaptation, directed by Ridley Scott and starring Matt Damon as Weir’s leading astronaut Mark Watney, made $630m worldwide. One of the most high-profile successes is Andy Weir’s The Martian: a sci-fi thriller set on the red planet that the author self-published as a Kindle ebook for 99 cents. “A producer can safeguard themselves from lawsuits by purchasing or licensing copyrights.”
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“There’s a level of security that the story is original and not based on a pitch or idea from a writer in the room,” said Spicer, whose credits include US sitcom The Wannabes and animated series The Proud Family. There isn’t much room for risk here.”Īnother attraction in the litigious world of film, according to producer Doreen Spicer, is that these self-published books provide insurance. “Modern films easily cost $100m to make, usually more. They want to know they’ll recoup their investment,” he says. “Hollywood is always looking for a built-in audience. Otherwise they are mincemeat Andrew Lownie, literary agentīestselling self-published authors attract producers because they have a proven track record if they stay on Amazon sales charts over time, Howey said. As long as self-published authors take on an agent they should be fine. AG Riddle’s Departure series was scooped up by Fox-based producer Steve Tzirlin in a six-figure deal, while Howey’s dystopian sci-fi novel Wool was signed up by Ridley Scott and 20th Century Fox. But his is just the latest in a line of deals between studios and self-published authors, including AG Riddle and Hugh Howey, who have been targeted by studios after the successes of Andy Weir’s The Martian and EL James’s Fifty Shades franchise.
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After writing 23 books in four years, he says his annual income is now in the “high six figures”.ĭetails of Dawson’s TV deal are under wraps, and he says it is expected to be finalised in the next few days. Dawson built his audience from there, spending hundreds of pounds a day on Facebook advertising and writing on his commute. In one weekend, his novel was downloaded 50,000 times. Sales of his first self-published novel, 2012’s Black Mile, only trickled in – until he took Amazon’s advice and offered it to readers for free. “The people linked are all serious players – household names – and they have pitched it to half a dozen studios and from that they have got an agreement for television.”ĭawson wasn’t always Hollywood fodder.
“They have attached a writer and an extremely well-known Hollywood figure and director to it,” Dawson says.
And now Dawson – and his character government-employed assassin Beatrix Rose – are set to take on Hollywood, with his series on the verge of a major television deal, complete with a “triple A” producer.Īdmitting he had a “‘holy shit’ moment” when he was told who the producer was, the Salisbury-based former lawyer said he had initially signed a “shopping agreement” after an approach through his website. A fter watching Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill, self-published author Mark Dawson was inspired to create his own answer to the film’s heroine Beatrix “Black Mamba” Kiddo.
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