Distancing your work from someone else’s work

In June I released my book, Scouts of the Apocalypse. Scouts is a book that started as a campfire story probably six years ago and has been one that I’ve long wanted to see in print.

As you might imagine, I was pretty happy to have it finally available.

It was only a couple weeks later that I got my first email from a friend asking me if I had seen the news about a movie with a similar title: Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse. That was followed by the question, “Was it based on my book?”

I hadn’t and it wasn’t. I must confess, I was pretty disappointed at first. And then I started to realize how different the movie is from my book and a little fear set in.

Not fear of being sued by the movie studio. My story was written long before they started production of the movie and while they sound similar the two stories couldn’t be more different.

And therein lies the problem.

The movie is filled with nudity, innuendo and generally portraying Scouts as loser misfits. At least, that is how the trailer makes it appear. I haven’t seen the movie (not out yet) so I can’t really comment beyond that. I suspect it will be rated R when it comes out.

My book, on the other hand, is meant to be a bit of a celebration of Scouting. This is the story of my Scouts saving the world. It is meant for a younger YA audience and is intended to show how it only takes a few motivated people to change the world.

Two very different things. And that is where the fear comes in. I’m worried that people who see the movie will either avoid my books or pick them up with wrong expectations.

So, the question becomes, should I actively distance myself from the movie or encourage people to read my books to see the differences? The saying, there is no such thing as bad publicity but…well, considering what I’ve seen of the movie, I’m not so sure.