Some quick background for the new subscribers, then I’ll get to the raw meat about what’s happening with The Brittle Riders path to a possible multi-media release.
A few weeks back I mentioned I’d signed up with a small agency to shop my materials to film, television, and streaming companies. Since they do not accept submissions, and have limited staff, I was asked not to name them. So far so good. If I’m not being paid to advertise a company I tend to be reluctant to do so.
I was told I was beginning a long, arduous, process but my writing had value and they hoped to capitalize on it. Making other people rich is my goal, as long as there’s something left for me and mine.
Anyway, I quickly garnered a couple of rejections, both of which were paired with positive reviews on the content, so I settled in to see what would happen next.
Two weeks ago another company joined the party, with everyone’s permission, and suddenly I became intimately involved in the process. You see, this new company represents production companies. Good ones, too.
Now, so we’re clear, over eighty percent of their roster is a bad fit for me. The Brittle Riders will never be a rom-com or a musical. Quit asking.
The remaining twenty percent have varying levels of availability, due to existing projects and so on, but all are willing to take a look.
Some more aggressively than others.
I say that as someone who was buying yogurt at our local Aldi’s when my phone rang and a nice lady asked me if I had a few minutes to discuss my book. When we came to the conclusion that I had neither my media kit nor project synopsis on my person by the yogurt case (a fact she was less than pleased to learn), we rescheduled.
Now some companies have begun doing their due diligence on me. That’s fair. I’m asking, via the nice people assisting me, for a ton of money.
I’ll you an idea what I mean. If we created a single season streaming series with a non-union crew, shot it in a third world country, and didn’t include actual talent people would recognize, we’re looking at a budget of $21 MIL. That number, arrived at when this process was starting, rockets up exponentially after that. And does so quickly.
I get excited when someone buys me a burrito so this is all alien to me.
Nevertheless, my name is either coming up in conversations involving people I’ve never met or being queried about through people I know well.
Even so, I might have kept everything behind the scenes a little longer but today changes everything. This afternoon I will have my first meeting with a real production company. One that is festooned with verifiable credits, has budgets larger than some nations, and boasts a staff who didn’t hate what they read. Fortunately for me the people who know what the hell they’re talking about will be by my side to make sure I don’t say or do anything stupid.
That’s the plan, anyway.
None of this means anyone is cutting checks anytime soon. However it does mean, sooner rather than later, a blogger with too much time and too little info, is going to ask “Who is this guy and why should I care?”
Consider this is my feeble attempt to get ahead of the curve.
My author’s bio can be found here, and a deeper dive can be found here. If that’s not enough, just ask.
Our, Azoth Khem’s and my, strictly grassroots efforts now have The Brittle Riders for sale directly in two countries, legally deliverable to fourteen more, and being smuggled into sovereign places where the very concept of anything related to McSciFi is frowned upon.
While it’s never been a bestseller it’s clear somebody likes this stuff.
Cross your fingers, light some sage, howl naked under the gibbous moon, or just say a simple prayer. I’ll take whatever you’ve got.
When you’re done wishing me well, please stay safe, sane, and healthy.
See you next week.
