Archive for the ‘Shameless Self-Promotion’ Category

Wanna hear something wild?

Back in July, I got an e-mail from a woman named Danielle who said she was a producer and was interested in possibly optioning the rights to The Husband Project and making it into a film.

Uh-huh. Right.

And I bet you want me to do a wire transfer to recover a prince’s fortune in Zimbabwe (and I will double my money at the same time!)

Those kind of things only happen in the movies. I know enough about writing books to know that non-fiction books don’t get made into movies and those things don’t happen to me.

But, after I signed contracts on Friday, I realized those things do happen to me.

After four long months, a lot of agents and producers emailing and calling back and forth, a real live movie producer (she is on imdb.com and everything) has optioned The Husband Project.

An option means that this productions company has the right for the next year to develop a film or TV show featuring The Husband Project. What it doesn’t mean is that I have a film deal or I can now invest in your new water purification system. The money I’ve made on this option is nothing to retire on. (And when I think of the hours that my agent has put into this deal and the pay she is getting, it makes me want to send her lavish boxes of chocolates.) 

Our next step is to see if there is interest in putting together a film or TV show. (I have nothing to do with this next step.) If they do, that’s when things get way more exciting. (And potentially a bit more lucrative.) It is very, very fun. They are talking writers and “talent” and are asking for my input for story ideas based on some of the stories y’all have told me. How cool is that?

As I find out more, I will let you know. 

But come on. How cool is that!?!

There are just some things that make me feel like a grown-up writer. Having my book come out on Kindle is definitely up there.

I just found out that The Marriage Project (released this month) is now available on Kindle. And that makes me very, very happy.

I know, many of you think Kindle is the downfall of modern civilization. (Or at least the publishing industry.) In fact, when my friend Cathy was at a writer’s retreat and mentioned her Kindle, another author proceeded to give her a lecture about how she was contributing to the demise of independent bookstores everywhere.

Which is hilarious, because besides me, no one has contributed more to the success of independent bookstores that Cathy (as judged by her bookshelves…)

I “read” a lot of books every year. “Read” is in quotes because I also download a lot of books to my iPod to listen to while walking Jake the puggle (pug/beagle mix) or while driving to speaking engagements. (Roger is not  a book on tape fan and therefore does not want to listen to anything while we are driving together, preferring meaningful conversation. Whatever.)

If I read 100 books a year (which, may in fact not be too far off…)I would guess that my breakdown goes something like this:

15 Audible Downloads

20 Amazon Purchases (of actual books)

14 Kindle Downloads

10 Gifts from other friends and authors (either purchased in a store or as a free copy from the publisher – and BTW – I receive a lot more books than I read…)

41 books from Brick and Mortar stores (these would include B&N, Borders, Christian bookstores, independent bookstores, airport bookstores, etc.)

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So I am interested – what is your breakdown of what your read? Do you own an e-reader and if not – do you want one – or are you morally opposed to it. (Don’t worry, all opinions are welcomed – if not always embraced…)