Episode #64
Why Are So Many Books Becoming Movies? The Odyssey, Project Hail Mary & Book Publishing with Sophie Vershbow
Why are so many books becoming movies? And what does the rise of book-to-screen adaptations say about the future of publishing, Hollywood, and reading culture? On this episode of the Creators Talk Podcast , we sit down with Cultural Reporter Sophie Vershbow to discus the growing relationship between books, movies, television, publishing, social media, and pop culture. Sophie Vershbow has spent nearly a decade working across the book publishing industry, including roles at Simon & Schuster and Penguin Random House, where she worked in book marketing and social media. She later moved into social media and community work at Eventbrite before becoming a cultural reporter covering books, publishing, literary culture, and pop culture. Sophie also co-hosts It Was A Book First , a podcast dedicated to books and their adaptations for film and television. We talk about what makes a great book-to-screen adaptation, whether movies actually stay true to their source material, and the age-old question: Is the book better than the movie? We also look at Summer Blockbuster The Odyssey , Christopher Nolan's adaptation, Project Hail Mary , Klara and the Sun , and some lesser-known books that have made their way to the screen. Timestamps 1:09 - Current Cultural Events in 2026 1:54 - Yesteryear 2:12 - Favorite Book-to-Screen Adaptations 3:01 - What Makes a Great Book-to-Screen Adaptation? 3:50 - Movies Staying True to the Book 4:30 - Project Hail Mary 6:04 - Becoming a Cultural Reporter 7:10 - Working in Book Publishing 8:02 - Marketing & Social Media in Publishing 9:12 - How Books Get Into Readers' Hands 10:17 - Running a Social Media Brand Voice 12:18 - Leaving Traditional Publishing 14:10 - Writing & Investigating Book Publishing 16:45 - Are We in a Reading Revolution? 18:38 - Performative Reading 20:33 - It Was A Book First Podcast 22:36 - Is the Book Better Than the Movie? 23:33 - Klara and the Sun 26:04 - Project Hail Mary : Movie vs. Book 27:45 - The Odyssey : Book vs. Movie Breakdown 29:23 - Books to Read Before The Odyssey 30:44 - Do Publishers Make Books for Movies? 32:11 - Yesteryear Book-to-Screen Adaptations 33:17 - Movies & Shows You Didn't Know Were Books 35:01 - Backlist Books Becoming Movies 35:33 - Last, Now, Next Books 37:02 - Sophie’s Writing Process 37:58 - What Should Be in a Writer's/Storyteller's Toolkit? Books Mentioned Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke Strangers by Belle Burden Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel Circe by Madeline Miller Agamemnon by Aeschylus Antigone by Sophocles Clytemnestra by Costanza Casati The Secret History by Donna Tartt His & Hers by Alice Feeney Late Fame by Arthur Schnitzler Don't Be Evil by Claire Stapleton The Dog Stars by Peter Heller The Book of Magic by Alice Hoffman Find More From Sophie Vershbow Website: https://www.sophievershbow.com/ It Was A Book First: https://itwasabookfirst.com/ Twitter : https://x.com/svershbow About Bookum Bookum is where bookish conversations happen. Connect with readers, authors, book clubs, and bookish creators, discover what people are reading, track your books, join conversations, and build your reading community. Download the Bookum App: https://www.bookumapp.com Subscribe to the Bookum Podcast for more episodes of the Creators Talk Podcast featuring authors, creators, journalists, publishers, and people shaping today's book culture. This Podcast is to brought you by Bookum - The book communities NEW and BEST way to host dynamic online book clubs. Download the App and Start your Book club today at www.bookumapp.com Catch all of conversations live on the Bookum App Nooks!
