Agent Interest - harder to sell screenplays vs. novels?

I might recommend reposting this question is Ask the Agent .

Derek and I could answer this, but it would be like the zany ending of a "Three's Company" episode -- and Jack STILL wouldn't get laid.

Yes, it's much harder to sell a screenplay than it is to make a novel. The numbers are simply against you: the majors release maybe 100 movies between them, and indies are much, much more problematic. What most people end up doing is using their screenplay as a calling card, to show what they can do.

Publishers release a lot more than 100 novels a year.

And yes, from my experience, it's much easier to find/communicate with literary agents than with Hollywood agents. In Hollywood you often need to land the project first (and even then you sometimes can't get one).

I honestly believe there are more horrible screenplays out there than there are novels, simply because on the surface, they are easier to write(wordcount). That, and more people casually watch television and movies than read books (simply due to time - a novel usually takes a few days to get through, while in under two hours, the movie is usually finished.)

I recently evaluated screenplays for a competition - a competition that charged a fifty dollar fee.

Out of five hundred screenplays, fewer than ten didn't completely suck. One seemed viable through only one more draft.

And every one of these people paid to enter this contest - presumably because they genuinely believed they would win.

While the percentages are probably similar, the 'ease' with which a screenplay is written verus a novel leads me to believe there's a darn good reason large houses refuse to accept unsolicited screenplays.

Though I do see ads from time to time for small companies(usually horror) looking for fresh talent.