Marketing Through Online Script Registries to Sell a Script

As you aspire to sell a script or treatment, it goes without saying that you need to market yourself and your story. There are numerous tools out there, including a vast universe online. One emerging tool is online script registries – an online database accessible by industry professionals who subscribe. You just post a logline and synopsis of your script, and hope for the best. It’s not surefire for success, but there are a lot of registries out there, and costs are manageable. Online script registries can improve the odds for selling a script because of the market they cater to.

Ultimately you want to get your script in the hands and before the eyes of producers, agents, industry professionals who can make decisions or get your story to someone who can make decisions. Pitching a spec script, you must be proactive, patient, persistent. Tapping the Internet is easy and presents a global reach. Who knows who might be interested in producing your script. Even a small production gets you a credit, which you can work to parlay into other interest. Broaden your horizons in trying to sell your script.

Where to Look for Registries to Begin Selling Your Script

First, understand that most script registries charge a fee for each script to post. However the good news is the fees are for the most part not excessive. Some allow you to post a script for free, but charge for other services. One that is free for the first six months is Scriptiverse Spec Script Marketplace, www.scriptiverse.com. With a promise to “save the universe one script at a time,” it might be worth exploring, for awhile anyway. Another cost-free site is The Screenwriters Market, www.screenwritersmarket.com, which also has a neat service where producers post job queries, and a message board where writers can share marketing ideas to help sell a script.

Writers Script Network, www.writerscriptnetwork.com, has a large database of scripts, most quality in nature. The service also posts marketing success stories regularly, which may be a good source to gather ideas. For the budget-conscious, the following sites are free, or postings are free if a reader recommends is: www.unmovies.com; www.scriptfly.com; and www.screenscripts.com. The last registry, Hollywood Script Readers Digest, accepts film synopses and television proposals. Some of these service offer periodic newsletters, yet another tool to remain engaged with the industry to help sell a script.

Protecting Your Work when Selling a Script

Of course, posting your ideas online could be a recipe for theft. Whether you are considering a script registry, or otherwise posting your logline and synopsis somewhere on the Internet, think about taking steps to prevent theft. Following are some basic steps. First, you can’t protect simple story ideas, concepts, or titles. The law begins with a written outline or treatment of a completely developed unique story. Then there is registering the work, though the law actually protects completed written works immediately. “Original works of authorship that are fixed in a tangible form of expression” is how it’s worded, meaning once you type a script into a computer or on paper it’s legally copyrighted. In trying to sell a script, a completed version is clearly easier to protect.

You need to prove the work was yours, first. Try to save your work in a manner that indicates time, such as a computer stamping program, or even mailing your script to yourself in a sealed envelope, to let the U.S. Postal Service stamp serve as your time indicator. These methods may work, but if you really feel strongly about your script, explore additional protection tactics. Many say registering your scripts with the Writers Guild of America is practical. It’s easy because you get a nearly instant confirmation of the registration. There are two separate screenwriting guilds: the WGAwest, based in Los Angeles, and WGAeast, based in New York. When you submit, just mail a package with the following: a title page that identifies the material and its creators/owners; an unbound copy of the material; and a check for the registration fee ($10 for WGA members at either guild, $20 for non-members at the WGAwest, $22 for non-members at the WGAeast). Better yet is to officially register your material with the U.S. Copyright Office. See www.copyright.gov/register/performing.html for more information. Protecting your written work is part of the process of selling a script or treatment.