Publishing Scripts

Considering that scripts are such wretched reads, and that most civilians would only read one at gunpoint and not understand it, all I can say is "good luck with that!"

Seriously, if you want innocent readers to enjoy your story, take the time to write it as a novel.

MiladyDaniel, it seems that you haven't done all of your research on marketing a script.

Screenplays and manuscripts are very different things; manuscripts-- you get published. Screenplays-- you market. In order to get it produced, you'd have to pick up, either an agent who will represent you and sell your work, or a production company who is interested in taking on a new writer with their spec script.

Selling copies of your script won't help you get the film made, it will just put you in danger of someone stealing your work.

And, as kullervo mentioned, average readers cannot read and enjoy a screenplay like they would a book. Books are for the audiences, screenplays are for the behind the scenes technical work-- producing, acting, directing... it's like a 'how to film such and such movie' instruction manual.

Get caught up on your reading here at AW and nearly everything you're needing to know about scripts and what to do with them can be found here. Welcome to the board, and good luck with your writing! =o]

I own a few published scripts but I wouldn't ever buy a script in book form unless it had been produced. I don't like reading scripts very much either and when I do read them it's to study the craft, format, pacing etc. I'm sure there are things one can learn from reading a script - any script - but I just don't have the time or inclination to study anything that hasn't been through the development and production process.

If you want to publish your scripts, go for it. Your primary motivation is sound - publishing them for your kids - but I really wouldn't expect to sell very many of them otherwise. Unless of course you're Paul Haggis or Nora Ephron.

I do think Scripts can be published in book form . I saw a book where the structure of book was in the e-mail form . But I feel we need not give camera directions , as it will be boring
padma

A friend who has written several plays and teaches theatre at a college in Michigan told me the way a script gets published is much, much different that getting a book or article published. When you query a novel, you have to convince the publisher your book is marketable by showing them how well you write. To get a play published, you have to show the publisher it's marketable by providing production records, reviews, receipts, and other things that provide proof the play has been produced to some success and it is possible to put on future productions of the show. You might, however, decide to take the Lulu course of action. Nothing wrong with that.

Screenplays? Whole other ball of wax I have no clue about.

The only scripts I've seen in book format are incredibly well-known movies and TV series, and plays. Many libraries, especially college/university libraries, have them available so you can get a better idea of formatting, page count, etc.

I think getting your plays in book format for your children is a good idea, though. Like you said, it gives them something you've written.

seen lots of produced film scripts in barnes and noble. let's ya know he caliber of the competition. and that's a good thing.

I bought the scripts in book form of Tarantino's Jackie Brown and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and some action scripts in 'script form' at that store on Hollywood Blvd ten years ago.

As a whole, only screenwriters would want to buy and read scripts, so none of those will ever turn into a bestseller. Joe Public only wants novels.

MiladyDaniel said:

I guess people are misinterpreting my post. I said I mainly published my scripts so my kids will have them in solid form when I'm not around anymore.

I thought of sending them to producers, but I probably won't. And I do think the public might be interested in reading scripts. I personally love the format of scriptwriting, and would appreciate seeing it become more well known.

I've been writing scripts since 1994, but I live in Deadsville, USA, and it's very hard to get connections out here. I've had so many near misses in the sales category that it isn't funny anymore

So, please don't talk down to me like I'm some thirteen year old who doesn't know anything about scriptwriting.

I just wondered if anyone else had published their scripts. Charles Deemer is a playwright and scriptwriter who I believe is also a professor who teaches scriptwriting, and he has published his scripts at lulu.com, so I'm not the only person who thought it was a good idea.

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With all due respect, you were the one who suggested that publishing your screenplay might be a way of getting it sold -- by which I assume you mean bought by a production company and made into a movie.

No one who has any real experience in this business would believe that.

re-writing it as a novel and getting it published -- that might help.

Re-writing it and getting it published as a Graphic novel -- ditto, that might also help.

Those thing would help even more if the novel or the graphic novel was a big success.

But taking the naked screenplay and simply publishing it, by itself -- that is not going to help you sell your screenplay.

Now, if your goal is to simply have something in print -- anybody can do that, especially if you don't really care how many or how few copies you sell.

What we're talking about (whatever name they may give to it) is a vanity press publication. That is, you pay them (whoever they are) and they publish it.

If your only goal is to memorialize your work in some finished form so that you can have it for your kids -- go ahead, why not?

If you have larger ambitions -- of reaching a wider audience, or of using this as a means to getting your work produced, I don't see that there's any real potential for doing that.

In some ways, because you'd be exposing the script, it may actually hurt the chances of selling it.

But you mentioned your interest in anime, and while I have no idea what the subject of your screenplay is, the possibility of adapting it to graphic novel form and selling it in that way is something that you might seriously consider.

A producer I've known for years who recently produced a script of mine approached me about some scripts that I wrote many years ago that I was never able to sell. He'd formed his own comic book company and through that company we're now turning those screenplays into graphic novels -- and if those books sell well we may very well be able to go back and promote the underlying screenplays, which failed to sell, because they will then have a pre-existing audience. In effect, the material will be "pre-sold."

NMS

In this e-mail age your locale doesn't matter any more. One of my pals in central Texas is closing a film deal with a producer in the UK. This was nearly impossible 20 years back, but commonplace now. Most of their contact has been via e-mail and phone calls.

Your best course toward getting your work produced is to have several scripts (not at Lulu) finished, and sub them to script agents. Google will be your very good friend to finding likely prospects. Be sure to check them out (their name + scam or rip off).

It's great that you're leaving something for your kids, but it is time to do something toward your own dreams. Ditch the word "no" from your vocabulary, as it's just too easy to set up barriers to success. Your kids might love that you left something, but wouldn't they like it even better if they could pop in a DVD of one of your finished movies? Aim for that!

I can almost guarantee that a legit agent will not be cruising Lulu for scripts. She will have a pile of scripts in her in-box, subbed through normal channels, and she will be desperate to find something worth her time. You might well be the writer she wants!

Subbing isn't rocket science and results are slow and often disappointing, but it won't ever happen unless you get something out and circulating.

Putting work on Lulu or even your own website is like writing the perfect resume, but tacking it to your front door in the hope your future boss will walk by and see it.

To get that job, you have to send your work to the right people, and there are tried and true channels for it.

There are a LOT of books out there on how to do it, and you need not go broke buying them. Most will be available for FREE through your local library's Inter-Library Loan program. If your branch doesn't have a book, you can borrow it from another library that does.

Good luck!