A Primer to Sell Your Script

So you’ve finally finished a writing product you feel is complete, and you are ready to sell your script. From there you need a game plan, and you can start with the “Four Ps”: preparation, persistence, patience, and perseverance. It’s probably an understatement that getting noticed by someone in the industry will be challenging. To sell your script, you have to market well to get someone to even read it. Not to be discouraged, though. With a plan, the energy to execute it, and patience, it is possible to sell your script.

Selling a script is like selling a product: you have to know your target audience, and get your product before the eyes of someone who has decision-making authority. In the movie or television business, that could be a literary agent, a producer, or an assistant to someone linked with a project or show. Trade publications such as the Hollywood Reporter or Variety can lend insight into who’s who, and who’s looking for what. Selling a script today actually has been made somewhat easier with the advent of the Internet, but that also means if it’s easier for you, it’s easier for other scriptwriters.

Preparation and Persistence Key to Sell Your Script

The following is offered if you are new to selling a script. If so, selling your script is a new world. Be prepared for surprises – good and bad. You might get lucky and your script may attract attention relatively quickly. But you also might learn that persistence is required, that the process is taking time but there is potential to sell your script eventually, and also later on to sell a script consistently. Preparation is a key to sell your script, even beyond knowing what to expect at the start of the process. Selling a script can be akin to being a distance runner – who knows it’s not a sprint, to burn out early.

While selling your script, understand this: some with experience in scriptwriting in Los Angeles would tell you that once you consistently write and market, you can expect up to 10 script requests a year. Note the word “consistently.” First, you need to produce professional-quality text, or forget everything you read here. Next, you need to pursue all avenues to establish contacts and arrange a consistent program of writing and submitting scripts. If you call around, you might learn that selling your script can involve at least 10 hours a week worth of legwork. That doesn’t count the time it takes to write a script. Scriptwriting most often is not a get-rich-quick proposition.

Be Patient and Persevere to Sell Your Script

Most writers understand that selling your script the first time will be either hit, or likely, miss. Even miss, and try again, and probably again and again. Your job, very simply, is to get your document into the hands of someone who will pay for it. It’s not like selling a car, where there are dozens if not hundreds of potential payers surrounding you. To sell your script, know that you will run across people who will ignore your query, logline or synopsis. Some will tell you they will not deal with writers without an agent; and if you tell that to an agent, some will tell you they will not take a client without a sold script. It’s chicken-or-the-egg time.

The movie/television business is a tough if not brutal business. To sell your script, treat the process like you’re in charge of a new start-up business. There will be uncertainties, even surprising characters and, sometimes, costs. Some well-known businesses flounder for a year, two years, or more. Then – Wham! – it’s on its way. Perseverance is vital when selling a script, as it is when pursuing a dream business. Take time to form a marketing strategy, learn the difference between a producer, and an assistant – and don’t underestimate the potential of engaging an assistant. Having an agent helps much, but you can sell your script solo. Pursue and abide by the Four Ps, and keep writing professional-quality pieces to sell your True Hollywood Story. Click here to register for free at TrueStories4Hollywood.com