Here is a question I get asked often: will there ever be a movie or TV show based on the Adam Lapid novels?
The answer is: I don't know.
Many authors, even popular ones, never see any of their books adapted into a movie or TV show. Others have multiple adaptations.
Why some get adapted a lot and others don't is another question for which I have no answer. Some books are generally more adaptable, perhaps, with plots and concepts that are easier to translate to a visual medium. But often I feel that it's a matter of luck. You either catch the attention of a producer or you don't. A studio decides to spend money on your project or it doesn't.
So far, none of my books have been adapted into a movie or TV show. None have even come close. The only one that gained the attention of a producer is The Auschwitz Detective.
Here is how it happened:
A few years ago (forgive me for not going through my inbox to see exactly when), I got an email from a TV producer inquiring whether the TV rights for The Auschwitz Detective were available.
What he was asking was whether I, as the copyright holder in the book, had licensed the rights to adapt the book to TV to anyone else.
The answer was no, which is what I told him after doing some due diligence and learning that this was indeed a TV producer and that his company had recently produced a limited series for one of the main streaming services. Again, forgive me for not giving any more details. I prefer not to name this producer or give any hint to his identity.
The producer then asked me for an outline of the book. This surprised me. Why would the producer need an outline of the book? Hasn't he read it?
The answer was no, he hadn't. He simply had an idea for a TV show about a murder mystery in a concentration camp and rather than write a new story from scratch he went on Amazon in search of such a book.
Which is how he came across The Auschwitz Detective.
Still, you'd expect the producer to read the book before inquiring about rights, wouldn't you? I certainly did.
It turns out that the TV or movie business doesn't always work that way. Sometimes, books get chosen for their concept rather than their plot; the latter might get changed quite a bit in the adaptation.
Still, the producer did want to know what the story was about, so rather than read the book (I guess he was busy), he asked for an outline, which I sent him.
And that was the end of it.
I never heard from that producer again, and I doubt I ever shall.
But I am still confident that one day another producer will reach out to me about the Adam Lapid novels.
Which brings to mind another question I get asked often: Which actor do I see playing Adam Lapid?
But that's a question I'll leave for a future post.