Hey everyone!
It’s true!
Disney has optioned Awkward for a made-for-TV movie!
Here’s the fancy press release with all the details:
For Immediate Release
Disney Channel Options Awkward by Kensington Author Marni Bates
Los Angeles, CA; New York, NY – October 23, 2012 – The Gersh Agency in Los Angeles today announced that The Disney Channel has optioned the teen novelAwkward by Marni Bates to be made into a television movie. Awkward is published by Kensington Books’ KTeen imprint in New York.
Awkward is a romantic teen comedy featuring a girl whose embarrassing moment is captured by her high school classmates and goes viral on YouTube. Suddenly dubbed “America’s Most Awkward Girl”, Mackenzie Wellesley soon finds herself dodging both the paparazzi and the popular girls at school, even as America’s hottest boy rock band, ReadySet, transforms her moment of humiliation into a hit music video! But when Mackenzie’s rise in notoriety only pushes her farther away from the guy she’s falling for, she’ll find out just how steep the price of fame can be…
“Marni Bates brings a youthful breath of fresh air to young adult novels with her delightfully humorous, yet authentic portrait of high school life. We know Disney viewers will be as charmed as her legions of readers,” said Alicia Condon, Editorial Director, Kensington Publishing.
Marni Bates recently graduated from Lewis & Clark College and has four YA novels under contract with Kensington Books’ KTeen imprint: Awkward and Decked with Holly are currently available, with Invisible and Notable coming in 2013. She also has penned a nonfiction teen book with HCI called Marni.
Brandy Rivers of The Gersh Agency in Los Angeles who brokered the deal said, “Marni is hands down one the greatest new voices in YA and we are thrilled that this is going to be a fabulous new movie for the Disney Channel!”
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About Marni Bates
Marni Bates is the author of four young adult books for Kensington Books KTeen line of teen novels. She also penned an autobiography entitled Marni. She grew up in Ashland, Oregon and currently lives in Los Angeles. When not writing, she can be found rollerblading, drinking frappuccinos with extra whip, reading romance novels, and watching copious amounts of TV—strictly for artistic inspiration, of course.
About The Disney Channel
The Disney Channel is a cable and satellite television network owned by the Disney-ABC Television Group division of the Walt Disney Company headquartered in Burbank, California. The channel specializes in television programming for children through original children’s television series and movies, as well as third-party programming.
About Kensington Books
Kensington Publishing Corporation is the last remaining independent U.S. publisher of hardcover, trade and mass market paperback books. Headquartered in New York, NY, KTeen is their young adult imprint.
For more information contact:
Brandy Rivers
The Gersh Agency
310-205-5818
brivers@gershla.com
Karen Auerbach
Director of Publicity Kensington Books
(212) 407-1551
kauerbach@kensingtonbooks.com
Laurie McLean
Larsen Pomada Literary Agents
650-747-0796
laurie@agentsavant.com
Marni Bates 
Much congrats!
Thank you so much!
Marni! Wow! That’s so exciting! Congratulations! (Oh, my. That’s a lot of exclamation points. But you deserve every one of them.)
By the way, I loved your photo series. Adorable and so much fun. You look appropriately giddy about your deal.
Ha! Thanks, Caryn! I’ve been struggling with exclamation point control too. All of a sudden I felt the overwhelming urge to punctuate everything that way. 😀 I’m glad you enjoyed the photos. My friend and I had to scramble up a hill to get them and then I crab walked down. Totally worth it though!
You rock! Congratulations, doll!!!!!
\m/ \m/
(you get both exclamation points AND rock and roll horns!)
Thanks Linda!!! I love the rock and roll horns! And I always appreciate exclamation points!!!!
I AM SO EXCITED I CAN HARDLY CONTAIN MY EXCITEMENT. Your successes inspire me to keep writing. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Thanks, Emily! I’m glad that you’re still writing. And I’m so grateful that you’ve been a part of my writing journey. *Cyber hug* I hope you are doing well!
I am doing well! We should meet up again sometime.
I think a huge, enormous, gigantic congratulations is in order!!!! Awkward is such a hilarious, wonderful, deserving book and I can see it being all sorts of successful with Disney! Congrats again, you deserve it 😀
Wow! Thank you so much! I can’t tell you how wonderful it feels to read that! Just…wow!
Woo hoo! Though I’ve always thought it was just a matter of time with Awkward, since the story concept is movie-ready. Disney’s definitely a good fit for it. I’m so happy for you!
Thank you so much, John! I really appreciate the support.
Congratulations, Marni!!! So excited for you!!! =)
Thank you so much! I really appreciate the support!
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I was so excited when I read decked with Holly because Holly has nearly the same name as me 🙂
Holly Rachel Dayton
Holly Rachel Eggington
Coincidence? Yeah probably, but still 🙂
Oh, and congrats!
Hah, that’s awesome! Maybe I secretly had you in mind when I wrote Decked with Holly. Let’s see…have you ever dated a rockstar? Because if the answer to that is yes I may have to start worrying about telepathy. 😀