Writing a Novelisation

[king_spoon_ian]

OK, so, let's presume that I have some fantastic source material in mind, that would make a fantastic novel.

My question to you knowledgable people is - how do I actually do it?

I'm OK with the physical writing side of things, but I don't know how I'd go about getting permission to write the novelisation. Especially as the media I'll be converting it from isn't exactly your standard fare for this kind of thing (i.e, it's not a movie).

To make matters worse, the guy/company who owns the copyright are based in Japan, so there's a huge language barrier before I can even think about getting anywhere.

Is there a standard way novelisations work, i.e. writer contacts copyright holder, asks to write novel, person agrees? Or does the copyright holder seek out writers to write a novelisation?

After I've got them to agree to the novelisation, then what? Do I try and find an agent to sell the novelisation? Or take it straight to a publisher? I know that thinking about how to sell the novelisation without getting permission may be trying to run before I can walk, but I really need to get this whole thing sorted out in my head.

Thanks in advance for any replies, guys and guyettes. :)

[maddythemad]

Okay, I've never heard the word "novelisation" before, but I believe the question you're getting at is: what order do I go about in writing/selling this book? And, take everything I say with a grain of salt here, because I actually know very little about this topic, but I believe you would contact the copyright-holder first. Send him a polite email, explaining what you wish to do with the book, and see what he says (and even if he lives in Japan, I'm sure someone at the company will speak English.)

Then, if you get his permission (I have no idea if it needs to be a written agreement or if an "okay" counts as permission-- you'd need to figure this out, obviously), I would write the book. You might not have to write the entire thing, depending on what your credentials are and what topic the book is, but I would write at least 3-5 chapters.

Then, get a book proposal together (there's lots of good info on here about how to do that, if you're not sure) and begin sending it to agents and/or publishers. Good luck!

(And anyone should feel free to correct me on any of this, because I'm kind of guessing...)

[maestrowork]

Chances are, companies like those probably already have novelization in the works, and they probably already have staff writers for it, and probably publishers in negotiation. To get permission, you go through similar query process, I suppose, and if you have an agent, he or she would contact the source. And if not, it would be difficult. You will have to write the novel first -- just because you have the permission and rights doesn't mean you can actually write it. An agent or publisher is not just going to sign you because you have the permission to do something.

[ClaudiaGray]

I don't know about non-traditional source works, but I know a bit about the way novelizations for TV shows and movies work. I also ghost-wrote a tie-in for Disney once, which is not the same thing as a novelization but showed me a little more about the process.

For the big mainstream properties, you generally need to have published something original beforehand. This is definitely not an absolute rule, but it is how most people get started. That way the editors know you can work on deadline, that your writing is of publishable quality, etc. Also, at this point you probably have (or can easily get) an agent, and agents are very useful for looking for these kinds of deals. (For instance, my agent lined me up with the ghostwriting gig; I am not looking to do much if any more ghostwriting, but at the time I really needed money fast, and it paid well for what added up to about 6 weeks' work.)

With or without agents or previous publishing credits, you will need to determine who owns the property in question and what publisher they're working with. (If there are not already tie-in books for this property, you should try to find out if such books are planned. If they aren't -- well, you can pitch, or your agent can, but it's going to be a tough sell.) They will have a set of guidelines, explaining what you can and cannot write in connection with the property. These guidelines may be very strict or relatively loose, depending; your pitch will have to fit those guidelines.

Once you have the guidelines, you put together your proposal. This is generally a very thorough outline, a synopsis and three chapters. Then you submit this for publisher approval. If the publisher likes it, it then goes to the owners of the property for their approval. If both parties give the okay, then you have the go-ahead to write.

(You could write the entire book first -- I suppose it might be a stronger pitch -- but the people I know who write novelizations never do this. Many proposals are shot down, and investing that much in something that has only one chance with one publisher is not what they consider the best use of their time.)

I hope this is somewhat helpful!

[James D. Macdonald]

Is there a standard way novelisations work, i.e. writer contacts copyright holder, asks to write novel, person agrees? Or does the copyright holder seek out writers to write a novelisation?

Yes, there's a standard way novelizations work:

The copyright holder decides they want a novelization. They contact one or more literary agents. The agent then contacts his/her clients to see who's available.

[Plot Device]

Is it a video game??

[Garpy]

Or some Manga thing?

[king_spoon_ian]

Hey everyone, thanks for the great replies. This seems to be a really good forum - and it's free too!

Is it a video game??

Yeah, it is a video game. I know it seems like a long shot, but I'd really like to do the novelisation, but I guess if I have to be published first (I'm a games journalist in "real life", so I am published, but I haven't had any fiction published.... yet.), there's not much chance.

I might try and contact the company in question and see what they have to say, although I'm guessing it's going to be a no. Still - no harm in trying.

ClaudiaGray - that writing job for Disney sounds pretty cool. I'd like to hear more about that. How come it was ghost-written?

[ClaudiaGray]

If you're a games journalist by trade, you might well have an "in" that other unpublished novelists would not. It's still a long shot, but if you have connections through your work that you could use in some way, AND if the game in question has publishing ambitions, you might have a shot with a proposal. Still, as Uncle Jim said, in the end it's going to have more to do with the company's plans than your proposal, no matter how good your proposal might be.

You should also look to see which publishers have been turning out the most videogame-related books, like the WoW novels.

As for the Disney job -- it was ghosting in the the most ghostly sense of the word. Not only did I not publish under my own name, but I didn't even come up with the story myself. I was given a pretty solid outline, complete with scenes, characters, characterizations, etc. It was my job to write a kids' story within those parameters, yet to make it lively and exciting. I had a lot of fun with it, actually. Ghostwriting takes a lot of writing time that I'd generally want to spend on my own stuff, which is both more instructive and more profitable for me. But if I'm ever in a money crunch again, and I think I have a little time to spare, yeah, I'd do it.