Authoring & Playwriting

Have you spend any significant Time and $$$$ marketing your finished novels? Build a grassroots fanbase?

Do both. As soon as you finish the book, do the screenplay. That way, no one can muck it up. I have 2 shorts that I made into a one-hour TV pilot.

Do both! I'm in awe of anyone writing screenplays ;-)

I came to plays after writing complete books. I find writing plays a lot easier. But screenplays are different again as you have to learn how to be expressive with far less to go on :)

I've written the books first, now its getting the screenplays noticed. Writing the books allows you to write the screenplay better (from my experience so far).

I once tried both at the same time and they kind of sparked off each other, a help rather than hindrance to each other. Also was an exercise to the mind facing the challenge of continuously switching writing styles on the same project.

Put in something that's the "worst solution to the problem at hand" and keep going.

I wrote this on another post earlier today: Sometimes what helps me is putting what I've written so far in the hands of a trusted friend or acquaintance with the goal of getting their feedback on what I've written and the direction and vision you are trying to accomplish. Many times they'll throw out an idea or two or questions that reinvigorate and grease up the wheels in my head to "buy in anew" to the vision and gain an excitement and re-awoken passion and drive to see me through to the end.


Another thing is to perhaps watch a few films in the similar vein or genre to what you are working on and those can get the creative juices flowing again.Sometimes what helps me is putting what I've written so far in the hands of a trusted friend or acquaintance with the goal of getting their feedback on what I've written and the direction and vision you are trying to accomplish. Many times they'll throw out an idea or two or questions that reinvigorate and grease up the wheels in my head to "buy in anew" to the vision and gain an excitement and re-awoken passion and drive to see me through to the end.


Another thing is to perhaps watch a few films in the similar vein or genre to what you are working on and those can get the creative juices flowing again.

Watch a well written film with great dialogue (No Country For Old Men) then consume caffeine and dive back in with energy. Just write! You can edit or delete later.

I recently heard a filmmaker advise to think back to your story's "statement", the reason you sat down to write it in the first place. Godspeed!

Is the dead spot Character based? Or scene based? Eg Scenes too stock or not moving forward? Or something like you just simply cannot find your ending? Would help a bit to know what point exactly you stuck on.

Hmmm...if anyone is charging your for any part of the publishing process, say no, in my humble opinion. Both smashwords and Kindle Direct Publishing are free. You can do a lot your self with Photoshop to design your cover, an editor to proofread, etc., but to have someone do anything else, especially assigning the ISBN, do it yourself for $0.00. You should only be paying the U.S. Copyright Office, and that's around $35 or so. you can also go the agent route for traditional publishing.

Honestly, I would avoid using them. If you want to use a service to get you into the best market possible try utilizing a reputable editor, cover artist (both can be found for reasonable rates and agreements need to be in place) and use a platform which allows you to sell almost immediately upon release. I say almost immediately because most distribution sites take anywhere from 24 to 72 hours to get the book up. Some storefront as well only release on a specific day.
Ensure whomever you work with is aware of your deadlines and any restrictions you wish to have in place. Once you've come up with the game plan in that sense you can certainly move onto the next phase. If you're looking for tips or tricks on how to get the word out and build a release buzz, network with other authors is a great start. Often times they will work with you to promote your work, and remember you're not selling a title, you're selling your author brand.
I hope that helps.

Oh yeah, I've posted a lot on Smashwords... I was just wondering if anyone has first hand experience. David, that's interesting (re: "our books")

I utilise Smashwords in all my links now, especially since Amazon destroyed the search facility - for example, if you put in "David E. Gates" you'd expect it to find me. Nope. Not a single publication by yours truly because they screwed up the algorithm so badly. If you put "cats" in, you'll probably get "dogs". And it's not just my name either - Pink (P!nk) the popstar, released a new single a few weeks back and has an album coming out in three weeks. But put in "Pink" and you won't get any result that references that. Add to that, that Amazon removed/deleted my Author page for several days, that they remove any reviews if the person is following/friends with you on Facebook, and their Audible page suggests that I've written a number of books that aren't actually by me, in the "More by the same author..." section, and you have a pretty shoddy outlet compared to Smashwords or iBooks or just about any other bookstore. Yes, you should have your stuff on Amazon, but don't rely on people being able to discover it by actually searching for it.

Wow, David... I did have 2 short story books published through Amazon through Createspace (both of which I've taken down) but I had no idea their search was that bad. Did Amazon tell you why they deleted your author's page or did you just happen to notice it was deleted?

Connect with me, then message me to fill you in.

How about using a banner ad on websites that are popular with filmmakers? Place links to your books on the landing page and make sure to include "can't resist" hooks.

I value intentions a lot more than talent. A lot of people who might be considered a genius are not a lot of fun to read. Just like a lot of "smart" people have terrible instincts when it comes to business, politics, or any other field. A lot of the writing being done by 7th graders is probably better than mfa's because the grade school kids still have good natural instincts and the mfa's instincts have been ruined by a lot of theories on "craft", identity and other avant garde nonsense.

Interesting response from Donna... I consider an author to be someone who writes books. I consider a screenwriter to be someone who writes screenplays. I consider myself a writer, as I write both - and more. It's not clear cut and sometimes someone will ask what I do and I tell them I'm and author or a writer depending on the context of why they're asking.

If you're a screenwriter and tell someone that you are in a bar, inevitably you will hear, "Oh, my life would make a good story for a movie." This is what this thread was about. Genius or schmoe. The interesting thing about those people's interesting stories in bars is that they're a lot more willing to tell it than to take the time, learn the craft, and write it themselves... the way they really want it. Once it becomes work, they flake... usually.

I think it's more a case of the 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration. I think everyone can have a genius idea every now and then, but its the 99% sweat, blood and tears which make that great idea into a reality. Along the way you learn how not to have a big head and be a "schmoe" as you call it, and realise that constructive feedback is actually your friend!!!

@David Gates... those distinctions were true before the advent of self-publishing. Now everyone thinks they can write so I make a distinction -- at least for myself and my students. I've gone so far as to ask people to leave my class if they refuse to put in the effort needed to "create" a credible narrative. Authors are writers who strive for perfection in every format. A writer these days is anyone who can figure out how to use createspace. There was a time when claiming oneself to be an author sounded pompous. Now, I'm willing to sound a little full of myself because I know how much effort is needed to take a project from conception to completion... and do it well.

I've thought about it but never done it. Writing a full length script with dialogue seems like a fools errand these days. Seems smarter to pitch "high concepts" like that Tulip movie that obviously titillated someone in the idea stage

thanks, Barry and Brad. Barry, I'm a novelist, not a scriptwriter. I think they're two somewhat different arts and certainly different in terms of formatting. Plus, my understanding is that a spec script will be rewritten until unrecognizable anyway.

, I have been writing books and short stories for 40 years, and just recently decided to some of my stories to scripts. It is easy, get a few sample scripts to see what the formats are, then take your story, picture it in your head and write some action notes in lines between the Dialogue. that's the basics...lol

Copyright a treatment at the very least. I wrote my novel and based the treatment on the novel.

A treatment is an excellent idea, Jeff.

Here's a quick and dirty tip for you, try mapping the stage play to these story beats, removing anything extraneous: https://www.storymastery.com/story/screenplay-structure-five-key-turning... Good luck!

Great advice, thanks Steve!! As previously mentioned, I have a friend of mine, a 30+year seasoned actor, producer, whose been on stage since childhood, wrote a script, book and movie all of the same name that I'm currently pitching and promoting... He's helping me with this along with the Script Break out etc.. This will be advantageous for me for future reference. Thanks again.

Dear Donna Segura, The first response to your request of (free) help from a mentor should be to ask yourself if you'd be willing to do the same for someone else. In your case, share your PR knowledge and experience to help someone promote their (or their client's) work for no payment. Reciprocity is what makes the world go round. If you want people to do this for you, you need to be prepared to put your time and generosity on the line and do it for others. If you charge for your services, then it's reasonable to expect to pay for services rendered to you and your client.

Catrine, thank you and I fully agree and completely understand your statement to the latter. In short, yes while I did post this with full awareness that should I post this along with the premise of being in receipt of 'free' advice/mentorship' it would serve me well to offer said services as a PR, which in fact I already do and have in the past, with absolutely zero regrets. I've been in the business off and on for a little over 18yrs, with the view that within this industry, while some may not appreciate the free, friendly support and encouragement, to be on the receiving end of mentorship, advisement is always welcome. The 'scratch your back as you scratch mine' is never frowned upon, and almost makes for quality professionalism. Off course, mention of services being charged, or paid for, expected and such naturally would be par of the course as time transpires.

Best of luck with your project, Donna.

I think it all depends on "who and how" forms the strategy to bring this type of performance to the radar. It needs to be Publicised to gain audience appreciation before produced and distributed in its own poetic form. Art like this should not be homogenised by main stream but it needs to first grab a greater audience with non Spanish speaking community . It sounds fascinating, Im going to check it out. Can you recommend any Latino Artists or Theatre Productions that do this "Dramaturgy"? This is an interesting topic because I have seen mind blowing Indie Music/Theatre on many travels, then googled them back home only to draw a blank.

Also don't forget that Theatrical distribution is not the only road in for non mainstream Theatre with "Bijou" audiences. Various Transmedia platforms are becoming Phoenix in challenging traditional institutionalised themes. People cannot demand "Poetic" until they first see it out there.