Hi, I just joined. I have an opportunity to publish my play which was produced in Jan-Feb of this year. Can anyone share experience/wisdom about working with the publishers of plays. I've published a few novels, but never a play. Any insights about what to avoid in a contract, particularly would be welcome.
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Interesting comment. Plays publishing is a bit different from book publishing. First there are only a handful of play publishers and they act as distributors of plays. Theatre people look for plays on their distribution list, pay for the rights to produce the plays based up a fee which the publisher then shares with the playwright. If I self-published, I'd have no distributor and so no one would find me. So play publishers do more than print, they provide exposure and set fees. Thanks for asking. Others might have had the same question.
Thank you Jeff for responding. I have a publisher for my books, but play publishers are a little different. They are the distributors for the theater world. Theaters looking for a play to produce for a season go to theatre publishers, not Smashword, or Amazon. Play publishing is a specific market. Good luck with your self publishing. That's a brave new world.
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Just follow the guidelines on the play publisher's site. Follow them exactly. Formatting is huge for some of them. If the theatre is a larger, more prestigious venue, make sure that is in your opening letter, right up front. Publishers will only consider a show that has had some type of performance, so you are in good shape there. It can also help to include reviews, and the size of the theatre (seats 50 or 500?) and ticket sales, if known, such as "sold out most nights". Sam French has recently changed their submission guidelines making it much more difficult to be published by them, but they aren't the only game in town. All that being said, having a produced play is the biggest hurdle and you've got that, so go for it. Everything is pretty standard, contract wise, which is what you can expect unless you are famous already. Then a literary agent can be a big help. Good luck!
Thanks for your thoughtful reply, Karen. All good information. One more question, if I may. Have you ever had a publisher ask for control of the copy rite?
Great question and good answers! I am in the process of looking for a publisher as well i have premiered my play in a festival last year and this year did it on my own with two great runs.
Smashword is a printing process, not a publisher, if I''m remembering correctly. For big publishing houses you need an agent --- hard to come by as hen's teeth. Lots of small publishers to consider as an alternative. You could also do self-publishing through Amazon. I suggest, if you don't have an agent, start looking at the small presses. I'm published with a small press and have no complaints. Even if you get a big press interested, publishers don't do marketing anymore unless your a proven, top tier clients. So, anywhere or anyway you publish, the job of selling your book will rest with you.
Thank you for that correction.