With a title like that, what’s the sense in refashioning another one? The Boston Globe’s David Mehegan talks to the newest bonus baby in publishing, 19-year-old Kaavya Viswanathan. She explains how her life changed back in the summer of 2004 when Little, Brown offered her a sizable contract for her debut HOW OPAL MEHTA GOT KISSED, GOT WILD, AND GOT A LIFE , which will arrive in stores in April after kind of a strange path of publication:
[Her literary agent, Jennifer Rudolph] Walsh said she knew right away that Viswanathan had the talent. What she didn’t have was a “commercially viable” work. Viswanathan’s original idea for a novel was much darker than “Opal.” The agency referred her to 17th Street Productions, a so-called book packager that specializes in developing projects in young-adult and middle-grade fiction. The editors there proposed that Viswanathan put her mind to something lighter, something closer to her own background.“After lots of discussions about ‘finding my voice,’ ” Viswanathan said, “I sat down and wrote them a fun, chatty e-mail about myself, which is where the voice and idea for Opal came from.”
In other words, the teen no doubt got quite the helping hand from 17th Street Productions, known for packaging the Sweet Valley High, Gossip Girl and A-List series — the latter two going to Little, Brown. So the question is, how much of a cut does 17th Street get of the rumored $500,000 advance, and of the newly announced film rights?