Sony Pictures has secured the feature film rights to The Heartstring Duet, the viral dark fantasy romance series by author Liv Zander. The acquisition follows a period of rapid market saturation for the two-book series, which consists of Crown Me Dead and Crown Me Yours.
Self-Published Novels Amass Millions of Reads and Secure Major Publishing Deals
The books combine dark fantasy, horror, and romance, going viral after their self-publication just one week apart in April. Upon its spring publication, Crown Me Dead climbed to No. 5 among all eBooks on Amazon. Together, the two titles have amassed more than 100 million Kindle page reads worldwide in just three and a half months.
Following the self-release success, Requited, an imprint of Hachette, locked down U.S. rights, while HQ, an imprint of HarperCollins, acquired rights for the UK. The novels have been translated into 14 languages, with print editions re-released in both countries.
'The Heartstring Duet' Book Series By Liv Zander Getting Film Treatment At Sony Pictures https://t.co/GVOa6wXOlY
Gravedigger Daughter Strikes Dangerous Bargain to Save Her Brother
The story follows Elara, the daughter of gravediggers, who tends to the dead alongside her family in a kingdom cursed by a deadly plague. A cryptic palace administrator proposes a deal to rescue her ailing sibling: win the affections of the isolated monarch so that her eventual death at his hands will lift the curse. Delving into the dark secrets of the curse, Elara faces a pivotal choice between accepting her fate as a sacrificial lamb or battling to stay alive.
Author and Studio Portfolio
Liv Zander is a USA Today and Amazon bestseller whose other self-published works include the Court of Ravens and Pale Court series. She is represented by Untitled, Maggie Marr Legal, and Park, Fine & Brower Literary Management.
The project joins a growing slate of high-profile literary properties recently set up for adaptation at Sony, which includes Lindsey Anderson Beer’s Hollow, Michael Crichton and James Patterson’s Eruption, Freida McFadden’s The Surrogate Mother, Lynn Painter’s Fake Skating, Katy Hays’ Home Economics, and Don Winslow’s City on Fire.
