Im a screenwriter who just got an agent. i read a lot, but mostly the meme stuff recommended on here...

im a screenwriter who just got an agent. i read a lot, but mostly the meme stuff recommended on here. the agent told me to write something based on a 'novella.' apparently actors and directors prefer there to be source material, no matter the source material, to a degree that it is much easier to get something made if it's based on something. he told me there are lots of novellas out there where the rights can be purchased for a dollar. my question is, where would someone start in finding a novella? i'm almost completely unfamiliar with them. are there authors who just wrote novellas? any good resources for finding ones with themes i'm interested in?

Who are your favorite authors?

Cesar Aira writes pretty much exclusively novellas and short stories.

You've probably read novellas before. They're shorter novels. In some languages the distinction is uncommon. It's not even that common in English.

You'll find them the same way you find other books. The Veeky Forums sticky has a few charts for recommended novellas but most of them are well-known so acquiring the rights might be a problem.

i like borges and calvino a lot. moby dick is one of my favorite books. but im not really sure those are the types of books i'd want to write a movie based on.

for instance, i liked but didn't love polanski's ninth gate, so i recently read the book it was based on - the club dumas. it was absolute trash, but the sort of thing that i think made sense to use as source material. i dont know if im making sense - im looking for something a little trashier than my favorite authors - something i can use the setting and basic plot structure for me own purposes.

Hell you could adapt from Borges, dude only wrote short stories. If they really are just asking for a novella though, and the standards/existing merit bar is pretty low, why not try some Philip Roth or Burroughs' Junky?

i could, but looking for something a little more straightforward - feel like a genre piece with not a lot under the surface would give me more space to do what i'd like with it. plus roth or burroughs are probably a lot more expensive to get the rights to.

Do you have any local bookstores or thrift shops? Might be worth searching for pulp stuff there, then

yeah there are some used bookstores in my neighborhood, prolly a good call - get some lesser known, random stuff - could just be a complete crapshoot though

Start with the Greeks