Sad facts

SplitSider writer Priyanka Mattoo recently wrote a helpful explanatory article called "How Does a Book Get Optioned and Become a Movie?" If, like me, you don't really care about the how-to stuff for writers looking to sell their book(s) to Hollywood, skip to the paragraph that begins "Option fees are small." It does a great job of outlining the financial realities of having a book optioned for the screen: i.e., most authors won't get much money, and few optioned projects will actually get made.