Netflix Acquires Rights to Elif Shafak’s 'The Forty Rules of Love'

Fans of Elif Shafak’s book The Forty Rules of Love will no doubt be excited to learn that Netflix has announced it has secured the rights to create a Turkish-language series based on the novel, as the streaming giant secures more book rights to continue creating compelling adaptations that strike a chord with viewers.

As The Bookseller reports, Netflix’s vice president for international originals, Kelly Luegenbiehl, stated that the company wants to partner with and work alongside publishers, not be in competition with them. The company has purchased the rights to several other acclaimed books from overseas, including Swedish author Fredrik Backman’s Anxious People and Daniel Kehlmann’s German-language novel Tyll.

Luegenbiehl explained the importance of strong characters at a recent C.e.o. Talk, saying: “As we’re looking at things that are more serialised, you have to want to welcome those characters back into your home, episode after episode. Something that can make a story unique and distinctive is the specificity of those characters.”

She added that Netflix examines all genres, and has enjoyed a great deal of success with young adult, sci-fi, and romance series. “We look at publishers and editors as partners because we are not able to be on the ground in every country, reading every book, so we really look to people to tell us: ‘Here are ideas and stories that are really capturing audiences’ and people’s imaginations’. It doesn’t necessarily have to be on top of the bestseller lists—that’s not what’s going to make it a great idea.”