What minimum level of popularity as measured by sales numbers is a good threshold for a book to pass before considering it for an adaptation? That is if one wants to have a good chance of selling the adaptation.
Producing : How successful should a book be before considering it for an adaptation? by Trevor Prime
How successful should a book be before considering it for an adaptation?
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I don't think there is any such measure. Books with 60 years in print across the English speaking world go over the heads of certain investors while flavor-of-the-moment ideas catch their attention. You would think otherwise.
In the Studio System, a Publishing House published novel gets the benefit of the doubt and a script based on it is assumed to have some play IF you can fit it into screenplay parameters. Not so easy to do, but easy to get read.
SIDE NOTE: Watch Jaws and read the Novel and you'll see a rare case of the script exceeding the book.
A script based on a self-published novel that sells consistently is a plus, but if it's a 50 shades mega hit it they'll want the rights, but probably before you could have a script ready even if they wanted to hire you to write it, which isn't likely unless you have a track record.
But it's definitely a plus to be based on a book, even if the book doesn't sell. And if it does sell, your project has legs- start running!
I occasionally get submission calls for exactly this type of material and I've had a couple of sniffs at my own self-published work on Amazon.
New trend from a producer/writer's perspective:
https://twitter.com/jordan_harper/status/1126261286084341760