Episode Description
Jonathan Janz on Marla, the horror novel that sold out before it went on sale and then spent four years being the book nobody could find. Now it is everywhere, and he came back to Grave Tone to explain how that actually happened.
Marla was published in 2022 by Earthling Publications as a 500-copy limited edition hardcover. That was the whole run. Paul Miller told Janz it was the most requested post-sellout book he has ever had. Four years, one agent change, one manager change, and a three-book deal later, Weird Tales and Blackstone Publishing gave Marla a wide release on August 18, 2026, and Janz walks us through every turn of that road (including the parts most authors would not say out loud).
Marla, From 500 Copies to Everywhere
- Marla was a 2022 Earthling Publications limited edition, 500 copies, and that was the entire run. Paul Miller told Jonathan Janz it was the most requested post-sellout book he has ever had.
- Weird Tales and Blackstone Publishing released it wide on August 18, 2026, with a foiled cover, sprayed edges, and interior art.
- The text is about 98 percent identical to the 2022 edition after a full editorial pass. If you read it in 2022, you are not getting a different book.
Inside King's Branch: Marla, Carl, Annie and Dylan
- A reclusive young woman lives with her mother Irene in a house on the edge of town. Some say witch, some say prisoner, and nobody actually knows.
- Detective Carl Lancaster connects her to a string of murders. Social worker Annie Frost carries a vague memory of her. Twenty-one-year-old Dylan Ellison sees someone he wants to know.
Moonflowers and the Marla TV Series
- Marla is in development for television through Weird Tales and Lit Entertainment. Janz is working with a showrunner he cannot name yet.
- Moonflowers is an 11,000-word novelette prequel covering the Halloween night eleven years before the novel. It ships with the hardcover and the audiobook.
- The prequel introduces a character intended to matter in a possible second season, and it came out of Janz and the showrunner building the lore together (there is a Pinterest board).
How Marla Got Here: Agents, Managers, Weird Tales
- A former agent read Marla as a reprint that would not sell. Janz disagreed; they parted, and he is clear that nobody was a villain.
- Ryan Lewis introduced him to Patrick White at Lit Entertainment; Adam Kolbrenner became his manager. Lane Heymont at The Tobias Literary Agency opened their first call with what the hell is going on with Marla.
- John Harlacher at Weird Tales read it and offered a three-book deal. Next up: The Stars Have Left the Skies, then Panopticon.
Adapting Books to Screen Without Being Precious
- Janz has taught film lit for twenty-five years. Asked how he handles adapters changing his work, his answer was let the ultraviolence begin.
- Patrick White wrote a 35-page treatment of Marla and pitched it as The Outsider meets Mare of Easttown, which is why it went to series instead of feature.
Widow's Bay, Horror Towns and Staffing One
- Janz, Meaghan, and Arthur all love Widow's Bay. Patricia, the painting scene, the taser episode. Derry and Castle Rock get their due as towns that feel lived in.
- We played a game where we asked Jonathan to staff a fictional town with horror characters. These were his awesome choices that we totally agree with!
- Sheriff: Stu Redman. Doctor: Beverly Marsh. Teacher: Patricia. Funeral director: Clancy Brown's mortician from The Mortuary Collection. Neighbor: Eddie Dean, with Oy included.
- Patricia Santomasso and Sean Patrick Hopkins narrate the Marla audiobook. Janz cried at his own book during a lunch break.
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Background music by: Steve Swisher from the Producer's Chair Podcast
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