When a beloved book gets adapted for the screen, fans usually want one reassurance above all else: please don’t ruin the book. That’s where author involvement comes in—and it looks very different from project to project, ranging from signing over the rights and stepping back completely to serving as an executive producer with real creative influence.

Here are some of the very different ways authors may—or may not—shape what ends up on screen.

Selling the Rights—and Letting Go

Often, authors simply sell adaptation rights. After that, involvement is minimal or nonexistent. Screenwriters, directors, and producers can shift the structure, characters, and plot to suit their vision. A film adaptation is legally derived from the book, but creatively it may become its own thing. Rick Riordan famously hated the film adaptation of Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief and resented the loss of creative control. Chuck Palahniuk loved the changes to his book Fight Club and felt the film improved upon his story. Love or hate—selling the rights is handing over control.

From Novelist to Screenwriter

Writing a film script and writing a novel are not the same craft. Adaptation involves compressing plots, shifting from descriptive interiority to visual storytelling, and restructuring timelines. Usually studios want experienced screenwriters—who are willing to make what may seem like brutal changes—to serve the needs of the film. But some writers have the skills and opportunity to wear both hats. 

Emily Henry never expected to become a screenwriter, but she’s now adapting her novels Funny Story and Happy Place for the screen. Gillian Flynn adapted Gone Girl, earning her a Critics’ Choice Movie Award—and BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations. Suzanne Collins has contributed to screenplays for The Hunger Games films. For readers, “the author wrote the script” is often treated like a green flag.

What Does “Executive Producer” Actually Mean?

You might see an author listed as an executive producer and wonder—what does that mean? Did they finance the project, or are they in charge at some level? It’s a notoriously flexible title in the film and television industry. Sometimes it means the author has consultation rights or some financial stake in the film. And occasionally it means the author has real creative oversight and active production participation, like Rick Riordan with the second go-around of adapting his Percy Jackson series. 

“There’s no detail that we were not involved in,” Rick told Tech Radar. “We were involved for the last four years and every conversation, every choice from casting, artwork, scripts…all of it.”

Riordan is a great example of what it might take to go from the lowest involvement to the highest. He’s a popular author who brings a guaranteed fan base to an adaptation, and he learned from his first experience that he wanted far more creative involvement the second time around.

While the actual influence an executive producer has varies from project to project, the title usually signals a fairly high level of involvement.

Why Some Authors Stay Involved—and Others Don’t

Sometimes authors have limited bargaining power, where selling the rights—or not—is their only offer. There are those who prefer it that way, happy to let other creatives interpret their work, while they get back to writing the next novel. 

Others want to have a say on everything from the script and casting to visuals and rewrites. And many are content with something in between. When asked about her involvement in casting Beach Read—Emily Henry said she’s open to sharing the creative journey: 

“It is our baby — the readers’ and my baby — but it’s also the filmmakers’ baby and the studio’s baby, and I’m along for the ride with the readers, and we just have to trust the vision.”

For readers, author involvement often comes down to trust. A favorite book landing in Hollywood can feel exciting—or terrifying—and seeing the author attached to the project offers hope that someone in the room still remembers why people loved the story in the first place. But no matter how we feel about any given adaptation, you know we’ll be first in line for the author’s next book.