BookCon 2026: Rufi Thorpe on ‘Margo’s Got Money Troubles’ TV show, Fans Only, and stream Rico Nasty

Content and format by Rufi Thorpe Margo Has Money Problems they seem to contradict each other – a novel about the Internet. However, Thorpe’s book manages to combine the life of wandering as a creator with the work of sex on the Internet. The experience of motherhood and OnlyFans Thorpe adapted from her 2024 book is now an Apple TV series of the same name, starring Elle Fanning, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Nick Offerman.

But before the show hit the small screen and the book hit the shelves, Thorpe had to immerse herself in the world of OnlyFans and content creators: “I think I’m spoiled as a fiction writer. Usually, I can just call people, and no one is interested in someone else’s work, so people will often talk to you in depth about their work.” But that was not the case with research Margo. While talking about the topic of content creators, especially those on OnlyFans, he noted that their job is to protect themselves and their privacy.

But in order to write the successful novel that he did, Thorpe needed to do research. So how did he do it and earn the trust of his sources in the process? At BookCon 2026, I spoke with Thorpe about his research for OnlyFans and Margo Has Money Problems adaptability.

Samantha Mangino: Margo Has Money Problems It has an intuitive image as well as an understanding of the Internet and content creation. How did you do your research?

Rufi Thorpe: I started an OnlyFans account, and I would send a $50 tip to the creators and say, “Hey, I’m a novelist. I wrote these books. I’m writing a book about it, and it has a character with an OnlyFans account. I want to explore sex work as a profession. This book doesn’t have a moral agenda, and I can’t pay you per question? That’s what I’m asking.”

Most girls have bot auto replies, and don’t even read their messages. So you have to get an account small enough that someone – someone – will respond to you. To be a sex worker, you have to have really good boundaries. So it’s very clear that their inner lives are not for sale, whether it’s me, a middle-aged female novelist, or John. So some questions were very easy for them to talk about, like the business side of things, marketing and promotion, even the back end of what their program looks like and how the money works. But any questions I thought were relatively open-ended, like, “How do you feel differently about this job now than when you started?” Many times, they would say, “I don’t feel comfortable talking about that.” In a strange way, their indifference was education itself.

SM: Have you received any feedback from creators about the book and how did they receive it?

RT: I’ve heard from five different OnlyFans models, and it’s been really good. One challenge of the research and the book is that it is a form of historical fiction. The show is set in modern times, but the book is actually set in 2018. While TikTok and OnlyFans were pushovers, that’s part of how Margo could go viral as easily as she did.

But finding the people who were on stage at that time was really challenging, because when I was writing this in 2020 and 2021, this happened. I’m sure all kinds of negativity would really bother someone who was on stage in 2018, but ultimately, there’s a kindness and good intention behind the show that I think people got.

SM: As a reader of the book, I wholeheartedly agree with that. He approaches all the characters with a wonderful personality that no other writer could. Was there a lesson you learned from your research that was really important to include in the book?

RT: One of the things I found most inspiring, as someone who grew up in the 90s on MTV and Playboy-a whole place that focuses on what is attractive in culture, like one thing – blonde, skinny, big, fake boobs – that what men are actually attracted to is weird and very different. And, if you let content creators have creative control, deciding who to work with, what kind of content to make, it’s very different. And there are many creators who make funny, weird, funny, and silly content. I think that seemed fun and exciting to me, and that’s kind of what I wanted to put in the book. When you have this democratic process in the media, people are cooler and more ignorant than you might predict.

SM: The transition from a 2024 publication to a 2026 adaptation release seems pretty quick. Can you tell me about that process?

RT: It was chosen before the book was published, which enabled it to achieve that change quickly. It was just such a great experience. The whole team, from the beginning, you know, all the producers and David E. Kelly [creator of the Margo’s Got Money Troubles TV show]and they were free and generous with me, allowing me to be as involved as I wanted. I had a meeting at the beginning of the writers’ room where they asked me, “Are you afraid of what we’re going to do?” and really thoughtful questions about what I wanted and what I thought was important. It was all really a dream from the writer’s point of view.

SM: I think adaptation can stand on its own, though Margo The TV show really captures the essence of the book. What do you think contributed to making that happen?

RT: From the beginning, I was like, “You guys should change whatever you want and need, to make it work as a show.” There were certain things, like the meta-narrative element, that I was like, I don’t really see how you’re going to convey this. But what I never said to them was, “You need to capture this essence.” And yet, I feel that they have the heart of the book, that is, something almost ineffable, indescribable. Like, how do you communicate that? And yet they found it, and somehow interpreted it. I remember walking and seeing for the first time [Margo’s] an apartment. And I said, “Oh my God, these are the closet doors that were in my house when I was a little kid.” Like, California architecture was so good.

SM: Now that the show is out, have you heard from the book fans? And its new followers from the show?

RT: Until now, there is noise and excitement because the actors and actresses are unbelievable. I’m excited because only the first three episodes are out, and I feel like the show is getting stronger as it goes on, so I’m really excited for people to see it all and see more of the wrestling. Rico Nasty is in it, too. I am his biggest fan.

So when I wrote this book, I had a playlist of songs that I listened to when I was stuck in a scene. I was walking around listening to music while I was having trouble. Of the 20 songs on the playlist, four are by Rico Nasty. I’m an old school Rico fan, and I didn’t even know they were thinking of casting him. It feels like this really weird, full-circle thing: he was part of the writing of the book unknowingly, then he was in the game.

SM: You were talking about how the people who made the show really understood the book, so I think being on the same team led to Rico’s acting in a way that wasn’t mentioned above.

RT: When David E. Kelly started showing interest in it, I was like, in a weird way, this makes sense, because I grew up watching David E. Kelly’s stuff. It’s almost as if you wrote to me.