Authoring & Playwriting

You should definitely read The Monkey, Maurice Vaughan! It's a great one. Also, as Sam Sokolow mentioned, the movie Stand By Me is based on King's short story "The Body". That's another short that you should read if you haven't. It's fantastic and the film adaptation is one of the best.

It's on my read list now, Ashley Renee Smith.

How many more books does this Stephen King lad have left to adapt! Feels like every year there's a new one, he must write a lot or know something about the craft of writing in a book titled like On Writing or something. Idk, never heard of him!

I haven't read it yet, been working on a project which takes most of my time.

I'm blown away by his ability to just create and create, Pat Alexander. He's like a machine.

Thanks for sharing, Leonardo Ramirez! Nick is awesome!

You bet! Looking forward to it Ashley Renee Smith !

Agree with D.E. White - if the digital publisher that hired you thinks this is the next course of action they should be leading the charge, or at least involved. That said, I would think a business proposal with data backed by the digital release is a good way to approach physical publishers. Perhaps they can even market an early release to anyone who bought the digital version. But having success in any lane is usually stronger position to present IMO.

Terrence Sellers I agree with Sam Sokolow and D.E. White . It's odd that they're asking you to do this when it should be on their plate. But since that's where you are, I would approach them like a business proposal with back up data. They're going to want it all so it wouldn't be in your best interests as an author to approach as if it was your IP.

I should clarify, the digital publishing is not being done by a traditional digital publisher. The IP is owned by a tech company that financed the IP as part of a larger transmedia marketing/branding project. The reason they aren't handling this on their own is that they have no experience with querying or publishing in general. I'm a salaried full-time employee of the company, as they hired me to write this project. So they see it as an extension of my responsibilities as the Narrative Director and one of the producers on the project.

D.E. White Thanks, as always, for your input. Currently, the company that hired me to write the novel owns all the rights, as they've produced everything either in house or with work for hire contracts. The company is based in Taiwan, but they have offices in USA and other countries.

All the best with this!

Still working on stating my brand: Hookless, a theme of survival weaves a comforting blanket of the intertwined characters' paths in these Jolt survival scripts.

Or this: In the aftermath from a nuclear melt down, as residents cope with their own personal challenges, they also work together toward community based solutions.

I like "Roberta M Roy is an award-winning novelist and scriptwriter whose works focus on the maintenance of cooperation, health, and survival in current times" as your brand, Roberta M Roy.

I think "In the aftermath from a nuclear melt down, as residents cope with their own personal challenges, they also work together toward community based solutions" sounds like a logline.

Very interesting Hookless. Sounds like an interesting story especially in these troubled times.

Hi ChristaCarol Jones! We don't have a specific lounge for it, but if you're a member of the Writers' Room there's the weekly Coverage Report where you can give and receive feedback on your scripts

Agree with Emily J - The Writers' Room is a fantastic resource.

ChristaCarol Jones, you could also coordinate a virtual get-together for a writer's group to meet as often as you'd like and post the details on our Stage 32 Meetups Page. All you have to do is select "Meetups" in the top toolbar. That will redirect you to the Meetups page. In the page menu on the left-hand side, you can choose "Add a Stage 32 Meetup" to post the details.

That's interesting, Terrence Sellers. Why do you write each chapter as a separate file?

Maurice Vaughan Way easier to edit when done as separate files. Especially when you do thorough chapter by chapter outlines before writing.

Way to go! I am dusting off an old manuscript I finished a few years ago. Life got busy, and my querying did not yield any results but hoping for a different outcome this time! Good luck!

Good luck ChristaCarol Jones !

Great topic of conversation. Definitely a good thesis and a lot of super smart ideas here. Fantasy might be a specific lane because of the need to create a world on-screen that doesn't exist in our world. And I also think some movies are flat out better than the books they were based on (obviously just personal opinion) like Jaws and Full Metal Jacket (based on The Short-Timers). And I don't know where to begin with both being good but with huge changes in the film, like The Natural. Great share, Ashley Renee Smith. Can't wait to hear what others have to say on this topic.

Great share, Ashley Renee Smith! I agree with In Depth Cine's observations. I adapted three books way back, but I was learning as I went when I adapted them. I didn't have the advice and insight that's in the video. Thanks for sharing.

... so cliche', i know but....more proof that it really does take a village to make something great. always be studying the work of fellow artists so you can call on them to build your team. (costume designers, H/M, DPs, camerapeople etc, )

Great ideas here, Ashley Renee Smith. I think there is somewhat of a balance between original content and movies based on books but in the pitching phase, it sure doesn't feel that way. I've already been told that no producer would work on a script that doesn't have a built-in audience. Yet current trends show that there is no such thing as a sure thing and there is original content out there. It just has to claw its way to the surface. Definitely worth the fight.

Marsy Robinson, that's absolutely true! A movie could have the best writer or director in the world, but if you aren't surrounding yourself with great creative collaborators across the board, then it still may not work.

Thank you and I appreciate the heads up and the link.

Gavion E. Chandler , I used to run The Drama Book Shop in NYC so I do know a bit about the world of play publishing. I'm not sure that your focus should be on publishing your play rather than getting it produced. The success of a published play is primarily based on the success of it as a production. Plays can be pretty inexpensive to produce yourself, in a small local theatre (or setting) and I see from your profile that you are working on that. Get the play up, and keep doing it, if it has value for you to do so. Best wishes!

That's good advice, Domenic Silipo - I can't remember the last non-published play that I paid money to read but I recently reread Mamet's Glengary Glen Ross as a way to revisit something I was blown away by when I saw it live.

Sam Sokolow , that's one of my favorites, as is much of Mamet's stuff. And what a great film it was too!

Gavion E. Chandler , I spoke with an old friend today who used to work for Samuel French (one of the biggest, if not THE biggest publishers of plays). He confirmed that the main requirements for publishing is the number of, and success of productions. Though it certainly may be different with some smaller publishers, theatre companies look to secure rights of well-known plays, as that's what sells tickets. I see you're from VA. I once did a play in a little black box in Dunbar, VA.

I don't know much about screenplays but there are experts in our Stage32 community that know all! Welcome!

Hello Stacy. I echo what DE White said. It depends if you’re looking to adapt it yourself or have somebody else do it. Screenwriting is a very different skill but many authors have done it.

I don't have a background with screenwriting so I’d need an agent to help. Thanks everyone!

Hi Stacy! I do this kind of work all the time. Here's an article I wrote about a few of the unique challenges :)

https://www.ghostwords.com/adapting-a-book-into-a-screenplay/

Hi Stacy Leicht - I'd also recommend this Stage 32 webinar on the adaptation journey from book to film/TV. Micky Levy gives great advice: https://www.stage32.com/education?p=8944891724083

Sounds like an epic piece. Congratulations on such a big accomplishment!

Congrats on finishing the manuscript! It’s the hardest part, for sure. If you haven’t gone to agentquery.com, that’s where I would recommend starting. You can search for agents filtered by what genres they want, and their preferred methods of querying will all be listed.

Paul Antonucci I was in the U.S. Army and write military-themed projects. Let me know if you need help.

98,000 is a lot of words to write, Paul Antonucci! Congratulations on finishing your manuscript!

Paul Antonucci I'm in Koreatown.