Where the Wild Tie-In Writers Are

More and more high profile authors are turning to tie-ins. Dave Eggers, author of A HEARTBREAKING WORK OF STAGGERING GENIUS, is writing the novelization of the movie adaptation of Maurice Sendak's classic children's picture book WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE. The novelization will be based on the script by Eggers' and director Spike Jonze, which expands on Sendak's 300-word book. Publishers Weekly reports that the novelization was Eggers' idea but it was Sendak who lobbied Eggers to be the one to write the tie-in. Harper Collins will publish the book, Eggers' first since 2000 not to be published under his own McSweeney's banner. It was not an easy deal to craft:

The publisher acquired world rights to the novel about a year ago, in a deal that involved not only Eggers but lawyers from Warner Brothers, since a tie-in book was already part of the movie contract. Intellectual property rights of both Sendak and HarperCollins (Where the Wild Things Are was originally published by Harper & Row) also had a bearing on terms. As [editor Dan] Halpern put it, negotiations involved “many different moving parts.” But the goal was always to have any tie-in book published by a Harper imprint, per the preexisting deal between Warner Brothers and Harper, which owns publication rights to the Wild Things franchise. Sendak, who has since been affiliated with other houses, agreed “there was something correct” about Harper doing Eggers's book.