Niles attempted to shop around his screenplay for "30 Days of Night", but was met with rejection in Hollywood. When IDW Publishing formed, Niles sent his "reject list" to Ted Adams, who selected "30 Days of Night" as a concept he was interested in. Niles and illustrator Ben Templesmith produced the first issue for free. The book did not sell well, according to Niles, but it was then that film producers took notice of it, and optioned it to be adapted into a film in 2000 or 2001.