Screenwriting : Screenplays make great novel outlines by Steven Hopstaken

You and I are on the same page. :)

Wow Steven, if you sell the book rights, you can just drop the original screenplay on the buyer's desk.

I want to convert one of my screenplays into a novel. I've been putting it off for ages. One day soon.

That's where we differ. I'm holding onto the rights to my precious novel - that way, I can guarantee there is no remake, reboot, etc. while I'm alive (taking a leaf out of Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis's book). One shot and that's it. :)

That is great news.

So you made it into a novel, and are now selling the book on amazon?

Steven - I've just finished doing exactly the same thing, turning a screenplay into a novel with the help of a co-writer. It seemed like a ridiculous idea when I first considered it, but I'm quite pleased with how it's turned out.

Is there any income of spec scripts to novels by

Unknown writers? How do you go about selling spec novels?

I just took the screenplay I'd written and published it directly on Amazon, Smashwords, etc. It's already selling! :-)

Dan, I don't think there's such a thing as a "spec" novel. it's either a novel or it isn't. And the selling process is hard, unless you get picked up by a big publishing house. Self-published authors are frequently excluded from competitions that suggest they're "helping emerging and new talent". It's all about marketing.

David E. Gates I've seen this before at Amazon, but did it sell? I really can't imagine that someone would buy a script this way.

So, how many books have you sold so far? And since when is it online there?

I have often thought to write all of my scripts as full novels and have the first one nearly completed. It is hard to take a 95 page bare bones script and write a 80,000 to 110,000 word novel from it. It has been a challenge!

That's what's up, David! Drop a link, bro. I wanna check that out!

If a novel was well received more people would be willing to read the screenplay and the more people who read your screenplay the better your odds.

Dan Guardino Exactly. Double income if it works well for you. But, adapting a novel to a script is easier than this as you shorten the story to the essence. Here you can only pray to create intelligent and interesting fillers for your readers. :)

Here is someone who says he knows how to do it right and what to keep an eye on: https://www.writermag.com/improve-your-writing/scriptwriting/adapt-a-scr...

Elisabeth Meier Jeff Lyons is a Stage 32 member. I bought one of his novels for $2.99 Kindle :)

Okay, I went completely opposite of this. I have two novels out with 5 star ratings on both Amazon and Goodreads and have turned them into a pilot. I have another novel coming out in 2020, (this year already) and have the screenplay available for it. I am just waiting for that interest from producers. LOL.

Oh, I am marketing them, not just sitting back, btw.

Damian, that is an outdated look at the publishing business. When seven of the ten best sellers were self-published that blew that view out of the water. Until a few years ago, that was true, but not anymore. What is true is that you need a platform if you want to sell books self-published or traditionally published. My novel coming out this year is not from a big 5 or 3 publisher so I will have to work my butt off, almost as much as if it were self-published to sell it. Booksignings, promos, blog tours are all going to have to be done by me. What the publisher will do is set up a few reviews, maybe organize the launch, get a few of their authors to blurb it, etc. I'm currently waiting for my ARCs so I can send them out to some of the better-known authors I know for blurbs.

Given the lack of support from publishers, the strength of an author's brand and the ease of publishing, especially with POD, it is a toss-up whether to go one way or another and, in fact, for producers, the self-publishing track is the best value, a lot of them don't have agents and are easier to work with, because novelists understand that a film is worth sales and they are taking home 70% of the ebook cover price. Even my deal is for 50% of the cover on ebook sales.

This is why I think I am an even better bet, because I have studied and worked hard to produce quality screenplays, so they won't even need to have them adapted. Now, my downfall is the screenplays I have written for my novels are Westerns. The other screenplays I have written that are standalone, are not Westerns. Why? Because Westerns are such a rough sell.

Just thought I would add that insight.

Damian, first, I have not taken a personal dislike to you. You simply made a statement that I thought had a flipside that needed to be taken into consideration. Apparently, you took a personal dislike to me and are using this to make that clear. Okay. It's clear.

That does not change your fallacious statement into a true statement. I will acknowledge that a lot of people not in the publishing business still use a blanket statement about self-publishing that you have, but the big houses are poaching the successful self-publishers. (that's in the same article about the seven books on the bestseller list) the only caveat I will cop to is that I did not distinguish that it was the ebook bestseller list. Mea culpa, but hardly an intentional lie, because I had taken a personal dislike to you.

Your premise is still faulty for the numerous reasons I previously stated. So, you can insist on your faulty perception of the publishing industry, but I have a feeling the readers of this thread will likely feel like I have a better handle on the facts.

Dan MaxXx I didn't know, thanks for your hint!

T.L. Westerns are a rough sell because not too many producers are making them anymore. On the bright side not too many screenwriters are writing them. All you need to do is contact people who have made them and who knows. Personally I like adapting novels and I've adapted a dozen of them. The good thing is if you have experience adapting them it can help you land assignments.

I appreciate that, Dan. I have searched numerous times for production companies that have produced Westerns and that's even tough to find. I do know a producer of Westerns, but lower budget and I don't know that my screenplay can be made for that budget. If I go higher, I don't know how to approach them unless they are somewhere where I can pitch them specifically, like on here and those options don't come around as often as say horror. I would take assignments to adapt, if I had any way of letting producers know I have that experience. I'm working on it. Thanks.

T.L. My second screenplay is a Western also, and I'm having a difficult time finding any producers who are even interested in looking at it. Netflix has produced some very good Westerns over the years, so I still have my fingers crossed. I'm putting my script out there on the film festival/screenwriting competition circuit this year, so wish me luck.

I wish you all the luck in the world. I was hoping the success of Hell on Wheels (AMC), at least critically, would open a few doors. I can find all of the producers I want who have done Westerns, it is getting in touch with them that is nearly impossible and when you do, it seems like they feel like they got lucky once and are afraid to push that luck. It's the same with books, I spend an inordinate amount of time researching publishers and agents. A lot of time it is nothing other than coming across the right person at the right time. I had two agents try to sell a novel twenty years ago and could not do it. I dusted it off last year, went one more pass through on the editing, sent it off and the first publisher I contacted bought it.

Richard Spears is it about “the west” or a story told “in the west”? I am just curious.

I've done this. Once I have a completed outline, then have written a script that didn't go anywhere, I know the story quite well and it's often easier to expand/re-develop into a novel rather than staring over with a new story.

Craig, my script is the true story of Frenchy McCormick, a saloon girl who worked in the heyday of Dodge City Kansas in the 1880's.

Cool. Western are specific beasts. Like SciFi. They are either Genre pure or just a backdrop.

I did just the opposite. I converted my Southern Gothic screenplay (DARKHORSE) into what became a trilogy (The Lies That Bind, Honor Among Outcasts and soon to be released Something in Madness). I found an agent and publisher fairly quickly with book 1.

Outstanding Ed. That proves it was a solid story. Sometime I think movies are a “not now business” and novels are 100% quality based. A movie can be great, but not right for today. A book can have a shelf life that lets it find the audience.

Hi CJ, of course it is. I’ve always know it. But I have never really made the connection in my mind.

There is also the platform effect. Books get cheaper to buy, but never really become free. If you really want a copy of something you can order at a books shop and pay full price. Ever after 10 years.

A movie eventually ends up on a free platform (free from an audience POV - not from a monetise platform POV). It is hard to buy a ticket for a theatrical experience once that window has closed.

I had never bothered putting that model together in my head.