TaleFlick - Any Experience? Any Good?

Brian P. White

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I saw an ad for TaleFlick (site here: https://taleflick.com/). I read what it was about and wondered. One of the FAQs says it's $88 which "
helps cover the cost of the curation and evaluation process. It ensures your book is available for one year on TaleFlick."

Thoughts? Experiences? Verdicts?
 

dpaterso

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I'm not quite getting the logic of their process and I'm afraid to ask.

"Utilizing our advanced machine learning algorithm, we select the top-rated books which are reviewed by our team of experienced readers"

So your book gets analyzed by some code, which decides whether it's a top-rated book, and if it is, it's then reviewed by the team of experienced readers? Hmm. What if my book fails the analysis and isn't top-rated? Will I get my money back?

I'm not an expert on advanced machine learning so I can't say for sure how amazing a service they're offering, but I am not drawn to this, at all. (Show me a success story, or even a readable screenplay adapted from a submitted story, and I'll maybe change my mind.)

Alternative suggestion: read some screenplays and try to emulate what the pros do. See the tips thread for links to screenplay display sites and screenwriting software.

-Derek
 

frimble3

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What if my book fails the analysis and isn't top-rated? Will I get my money back?
-Derek

Well, in this
The $88 fee helps cover the cost of the curation and evaluation process. It ensures your book is available for one year in TaleFlick's content library.
the word 'ensures' seems to say that if you pay the fee, your book will be available for one year, so no need to return your money.

So has the demand for great stories,
Why does their algorithm say this? Surely the demand is for re-makes of the same old stories, more so than new stories by unknown authors?

Has anyone heard of any of their (youngish) staff? Has anything from their site been made into a film that anyone's ever heard of?

Apparently they only accept submissions in English or Brazilian Portuguese? They claim their platform is
designed to support authors from around the world
which makes their choices of languages rather limiting.

Isn't
TaleFlick has access to the following studios and agencies
rather similar to a publisher claiming 'your book may be available through bookstores', in that it really doesn't mean much?

And, this is petty, but the name 'TaleFlick' makes me think of chipmunks or small songbirds.
 
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gingerwoman

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Well, in this the word 'ensures' seems to say that if you pay the fee, your book will be available for one year, so no need to return your money.


Why does their algorithm say this? Surely the demand is for re-makes of the same old stories, more so than new stories by unknown authors?

Has anyone heard of any of their (youngish) staff? Has anything from their site been made into a film that anyone's ever heard of?

Apparently they only accept submissions in English or Brazilian Portuguese? They claim their platform is
which makes their choices of languages rather limiting.

Isn't rather similar to a publisher claiming 'your book may be available through bookstores', in that it really doesn't mean much?

And, this is petty, but the name 'TaleFlick' makes me think of chipmunks or small songbirds.
It immediately made me think you send some money t them to look at your tale and then they flick you off. :roll:

But I admit I really don't know anything about it.


I think I read somewhere that in all the years Amazon Studios existed only three movies were made from unsolicited scripts?
 

Kate JR

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I must admit, I'm very wary about anything that asks for money upfront, especially something new and unknown. Think of all those authors sending in their $88. May not seem like a lot but there are a lot of authors out there wanting greater visibility.

This may be a small thing but as soon as I registered with their site I couldn't unsubscribe. I don't like that at all.
 

Outofcontext

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Just recently saw a blurb for this outfit. Was hoping to find someone who has had experience with them. So far, many opinions here and elsewhere but no actual experience. At any rate, what bothers me is they are interested in novels to adapt, but many a good movie has come out of a short story. And in some ways, it's a much easier adaptation. I wonder if they know what they are doing.
 

sarahsunshine

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Taleflicks

Yes, it is GENUINE. They even gave me my full refund back. I have around 65,000 words novel.

I asked for a refund as I got fed up with both the website and the webform to submit the book. First, i could not find where to go to to submit the book. And, then after payment, you are sent a link to go to. Then, the lengthy webform to submit the book, was difficult to fill out or did not work eg not clear what to upload; no mention of number of words for synopsis. At the end in the synopsis box, it stops. If known in advance we would make it brief to fit the word limit. Some features on the website need an update from a professional website designer. After that, it will be an easy website to use.

In fact, i have gone back to them, after some weeks. Also, i kept on seeing the ad on Google.

You can request to cancel the yearly renewal if you wish to, as soon as you pay up.

One drawback is that it takes a week to receive a reply for a query. They need more staff to deal with this. But this lady, Sharon is patient.

Remember the “machine” will be the one which will initially decide if the book is suitable for a movie or not.

It is worth a try for $88 or how would you find out?

From: a 60 plus age client.
 
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Jakedfw

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Some sad facts:

If you have a novel that is in a top 100 major category in Amazon or you have a short story that has been published in a best-selling anthology or a major online or print magazine then Hollywood already knows about you. If they haven't contacted you, it means they weren't interested in your work.

If you are not a best seller but have a novel or short story that you want to get the attention of Hollywood, then you don't need an outfit like Teleflicks, you need an agent or someone who will get your work read by producers. The entire promise of Teleflicks is BS. No one knows what Hollywood is looking for in books or stories until you take it to them. Teleflicks may say your story has all the right elements, but then the same exact topic was passed around by 300 other writers earlier in the year, and it's a waste of time.

It is orders of magnitude easier getting a major publishing deal than getting something read in Hollywood.

I'm not saying you shouldn't do it, but you should be focusing on the the long hard path to that goal. If you don't want to write screenplays but you want to see your work on the screen? Get your work on best seller lists and nominated for major awards. Anything less is going to take you longer than that process. If you want to write screenplays then... write screenplays. Work on your craft and then work on getting them read. As noted, that's a lot harder than getting a major publishing deal, so set your expectations accordingly.