Trivia / Handbook for Mortals

• Mid-Development Genre Shift: Handbook for Mortals was originally written as a screenplay in which Lani Sarem herself would star. One of Sarem's friends thought it had franchise potential, and implored her to write a novelization.
• She Also Did: Lani Sarem's official bio notes that she previously worked as an actress (with enough credits to get an IMDb page) and a roadie, eventually becoming a manager for several bands. One of them, Blues Traveler, distanced themselves from her during the controversy over the book, with frontman John Popper saying "We fired her for these kinds of stunts. Her sense of denial is staggering."
• Similarly Named Works: The book's title is identical to the completely unrelated 1999 non-fiction book Handbook for Mortals, which offers guidance and advice for people facing chronic or terminal health conditions.
• Stillborn Franchise: The book was intended to be the first in a series (it ends with the line "They lived happily ever after...or did they?" and an announcement the sequel would be released in 2018) and it was also supposed to receive a film adaptation, but following all the controversy surrounding the book's release and its tepid reception, Handbook for Mortals remains a standalone work and the film never got off the ground.
• What Could Have Been: The Plain White T's appearance in this novel originally belonged to 100 Monkeys (both being bands that Sarem has managed), and Jackson Milsap was originally supposed to be a cameo by Jackson Rathbone himself.

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