# My book has been optioned for a movie **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 16, 2011, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-book-has-been-optioned-for-a-movie/571582 "2011-02-16T14:29:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-book-has-been-optioned-for-a-movie/571582/1 "2011-02-16T14:29:41Z")
Well, sort of my book. A few years ago, I was involved in the [Atlanta Nights](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlanta_Nights) – an attempt by a group of writers to create the worst possible novel and show that PublishAmerica (a vanity press) would publish anything. They did indeed accept it, despite the fact that it was just plain awful ([manuscript is available here](http://www.cs.du.edu/~aburt/StingManuscript.pdf) (pdf)). Well, I just received word that the book and the story behind it have been optioned for a film. They want to contact me about being interviewed for it, too. They’re raising money for it online. Hard to say if they’ll raise enough to get it finished, but it’s kind of fun. If you’d like to hear an overly dramatic reading of my chapter, it’s on [Youtube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftJ5DowqdjE). ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-book-has-been-optioned-for-a-movie/571582/2 "2011-02-16T14:34:28Z")
Heck, why not? They made a movie of **Naked Came the Stranger** : > **[Naked Came the Stranger (1975) ⭐ 6.1 | Adult, Comedy, Drama](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073437/)** > > 1h 23m | X RC, I haven’t read this yet, but now I have to. When are they going to make a movie of **Naked Came the Manatee**? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-book-has-been-optioned-for-a-movie/571582/3 "2011-02-16T14:41:47Z")
Oh, and I should have said: CONGRATULATIONS!!! ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-book-has-been-optioned-for-a-movie/571582/4 "2011-02-16T14:56:21Z")
Congrats, **RealityChuck** , but I hope you won’t take it the wrong way if I say the eventual movie might be painful to watch. Maybe they can get that guy who directed _The Room_ to put it together… ---
**Author:** ![kapri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4491bb/32.png) [@kapri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kapri)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-book-has-been-optioned-for-a-movie/571582/5 "2011-02-16T15:02:10Z")
Very cool!!! I’m a writer myself, so I am going to follow the links and read the info there. Good for you. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-book-has-been-optioned-for-a-movie/571582/6 "2011-02-16T15:07:25Z")
Hey that’s neat. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-book-has-been-optioned-for-a-movie/571582/7 "2011-02-16T17:05:25Z")
That’s terrific! I will watch the YouTube when I get home; can’t do it from work. Has PA made any noises about lawsuits yet? They grump about that sometimes. I’m not too delighted with the [concept](http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5828975&postcount=10); I would go with a straight comedy. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-book-has-been-optioned-for-a-movie/571582/8 "2011-02-16T17:20:26Z")
Who do you want to play you in the movie? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-book-has-been-optioned-for-a-movie/571582/9 "2011-02-16T17:27:01Z")
Me. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-book-has-been-optioned-for-a-movie/571582/10 "2011-02-16T22:26:54Z")
Your chapter is fucking brilliant, and I want to take the narrator’s voice out behind the middle school and get it pregnant. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-book-has-been-optioned-for-a-movie/571582/11 "2011-02-16T22:53:49Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > When are they going to make a movie of **Naked Came the Manatee**? I liked that book. 🙂 Although it obviously made no sense, it was a fun read. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-book-has-been-optioned-for-a-movie/571582/12 "2011-02-16T23:45:31Z")
Congratulations!! ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-book-has-been-optioned-for-a-movie/571582/13 "2011-02-17T00:15:26Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > Your chapter is fucking brilliant, and I want to take the narrator’s voice out behind the middle school and get it pregnant. I listened to about 30 seconds and had to shut it off 'cause I’m laughing too hard. I’ll have to listen later when there’s nobody around to think I’m nuts. ---
**Author:** ![Dinaroozie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Dinaroozie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinaroozie)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-book-has-been-optioned-for-a-movie/571582/14 "2011-02-17T00:22:19Z")
That is frigging excellent - I would definitely see a movie of Atlanta Nights. Also pretty excellent to learn that we have one of its authors here. 🙂 I’m not sure if ‘congratulations’ is entirely the right word for this situation, but, congratulations anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-book-has-been-optioned-for-a-movie/571582/15 "2011-02-17T00:37:02Z")
Congratulations. Sounds like it could be a fun project. > [@RealityChuck](#): > > A few years ago, I was involved in the [Atlanta Nights](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlanta_Nights) – an attempt by a group of writers to create the worst possible novel and show that PublishAmerica (a vanity press) would publish anything. Not that the project itself couldn’t be a fun exercise, but isn’t the point of a vanity press that they’ll publish anything? Seems an odd thing to need to prove. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-book-has-been-optioned-for-a-movie/571582/16 "2011-02-17T01:07:20Z")
That was truly awful. Congratulation on a job, well done. > [@Yookeroo](#): > > Not that the project itself couldn’t be a fun exercise, but isn’t the point of a vanity press that they’ll publish anything? Seems an odd thing to need to prove. From the linked Wiki > [@](#): > > PublishAmerica described itself as a “traditional publisher” and claimed to accept only high-quality manuscripts for publication. Its website further stated that the company received over 70 manuscripts a day and rejected most of them. They are a vanity press, but claimed otherwise. Also they dissed sci-fi writers. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-book-has-been-optioned-for-a-movie/571582/17 "2011-02-17T01:17:22Z")
Very cool! You should be played by brad pitt AND George Clooney! ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-book-has-been-optioned-for-a-movie/571582/18 "2011-02-17T01:44:42Z")
PublishAmerica are obviously, to use a technical term, big fat liars. Congratulations on the recognition of your…achievement! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-book-has-been-optioned-for-a-movie/571582/19 "2011-02-17T03:33:13Z")
> [@Yookeroo](#): > > CNot that the project itself couldn’t be a fun exercise, but isn’t the point of a vanity press that they’ll publish anything? Seems an odd thing to need to prove. The details are that PA was claiming they were a “traditional publisher” and that they were using Print on Demand technology to revolutionize publishing. They offer their authors a token $1 “advance” and pretend to be able to get their books into bookstores. But they don’t (they even make it difficult for bookstores to order from them) and many bookstores have a policy of requiring payment in advance for PA books (after an author got cute and asked them to order the book, but gave a fake contact address, thinking it would get the book on their shelves. It worked – once. But the bookstores were stuck with the cost of the book, since PA did not give them credit). There’s also no promotion or editorial changes. Basically, they overcharge for their books (they’re about $5 more than a comparable sized book) and expect the authors to buy copies, both to give to family and to promote the book (the average vanity press book sells 75 copies). The authors end up paying for the publication of their book, though in a very sneaky way. They claim that they reject most of their submissions, but AFAIK, no one has ever reported getting rejected, and the belief is that the only rejections were when they hit their limit for the day (that’s 500, time to call it a day). Authors were warning writers about them fairly early on. A lot of those who were involved were science fiction writer (e.g., A. C. Crispin). PA put together a web page “explaining” the “facts” of the publishing business. Since the most visible of their critics were SF writers, they wrote: > [@](#): > > As a rule of thumb, the quality bar for sci-fi and fantasy is a lot lower than for all other fiction. Therefore, beware of published authors who are self-crowned writing experts. When they tell you what to do and not to do in getting your book published, always first ask them what genre they write. If it’s sci-fi or fantasy, run. They have no clue about what it is to write real-life stories, and how to find them a home. Unless you are a sci-fi or fantasy author yourself. (I love that last line BTW – Oh! we don’t mean you!). (Actually, looking at that page now, it’s been change to say that most SF writers are talented but people who write Star Trek Spinoffs (i.e., A. C. Crispin) are hacks. Never mind that Crispin has written and sold a series of non-media books, too.) In any case, Jim Macdonald took this upon himself as a challenge. He solicited writers and gave them chapter outlines. Mine was two lines and I assume the others were similar. We all cranked out chapters in a weekend, not knowing what anyone else was writing (note mine ends with a cliffhanger that is never resolved; another chapter ends with the character waking up and discovering everything was a dream). Two chapters are identical. Chapter 21 does not exist. Chapter 34 was created by taking a chapter and running it through a randomizer. Then it was sent to PA, using the name of a front. Soon Jim got the news: PA had accepted. On the advice of a lawyer, we didn’t go any further as to sign a contract. The hoax was revealed. A few hours later, PA sent a letter rejecting the book because one of the chapters (Chapter 34) appeared to be gibberish. Which clearly shows they didn’t read the entire book before accepting it. Unfortunately, PA is still out there, preying on writers. (They also accepted a second hoax novel a year or two later. One of their authors, suspicious, sent them a submission that was the same ten pages printed out over and over. It was accepted). The story of **Atlanta Nights** , unfortunately, bears repeating. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-book-has-been-optioned-for-a-movie/571582/20 "2011-02-17T17:10:31Z")
What a hysterical gotcha. 🙂 Question, though: > [@RealityChuck](#): > > Never mind that Crispin has written and sold a series of non-media books, too. What’s a non-media book? I tried Googling, but it appears the terms are a bit too common for the answer to be immediately forthcoming. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-book-has-been-optioned-for-a-movie/571582.md?page=2)