Self-Published SF Author Hugh Howey Has Novel Optioned by Ridley Scott, Bought by Random House UK

Posted on May 14, 2012

Self-published science fiction author Hugh C. Howey is having a fantastic spring. He announced on his blog that his book Wool is going to be made into a feature film. Ridley Scott, producer Steve Zaillian and 20th Century Fox have acquired the film rights to the dystopian novel.

But it gets better. Now Random House UK has will publish the book. Howey says, "Check it out: "Wool was picked up by Century, a kick-butt division of Random House, which . . . wait for it . . . also did 50 Shades of Grey. After a 5-way auction that took place during the London Book Fair, Century and Random House came through with the most compelling offer. They addressed every single concern I had with the domestic offers. They appreciate how this was published, how important your involvement has been, and they want to maintain and even emulate those features...."

The hardback will be published in January, 2013. Howey is even more excited about having his book published in hardback by Random House than he is by Ridley Scott wanting to make it into a movie, saying "And while that [the film deal] has a ton of celebrity and glitz, today's announcement is more 'real' and even more thrilling for me. There's a good chance a film won't materialize, and if it does, it would be so many years from now that many of you will have moved on to something else."