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This part is all about marketing your script and yourself as a screenwriter. A lot of screenwriters hate to market their scripts because it fills them with a sense of dread.
I know a lot of screenwriters and other artists have an inbuilt resentment of all things marketing and salesy. They hate the idea that they have to sell their creative, artistic work. And i understand. I felt the same way when I was a young struggling artist right out of college.
There’s a famous story by Guy Kawasaki, the famous author who was being interviewed by a journalist in Singapore. After the interview the lady, who was also a writer, said that she was having trouble finding success as an author. She said that all her friends and family thought she was a great writer, but her book sales had been disappointing.
Guy Kawasaki responded to the journalist that indeed she was an excellent writer. He had read her work before the interview and was impressed by the quality of her writing.
“So what do you suggest,” the female journalist replied. Guy Kawasaki gave her the name of a friend of his who ran a popular sales course in Singapore, recommending that she take the same selling course too.
“You want me to sell?” The woman replied in disgust. “I would never stoop so low.”
Guy Kawasaki then picked up a copy of his book from the interview table and pointed to the front cover. “you see that?” He said. “It says ‘best-selling author’ not ‘best writer’ or ‘greatest writer.’”
The lesson is clear. if you want to sell your script to a producer you need to focus on selling and marketing your screenplay.
Who Are You?
Do people know who you are? If you were to give your screenplay to a producer right now, would they be able to find out who you are what you’ve done?
Don’t forget to include some information about yourself in your query letter. Include any any notable achievements, writing experience, or interesting things you have done.
Do You Have An Online Profile?
I recently talked about another screenwriter I knew who setup his own website to promote his work and his screenplays. This writer put his screenplay on the website, and also included relevant pictures, a biography and even an audio recorded pitch that producers and agents could listen to on the site.
This was an excellent idea. The end result was that the writer managed to sell his screenplay to a producer and he also got picked up by an agent too. With his online profile setup and his website complete, all he had to do was link to his website from his query letter. It became incredibly easy for producers to find him online.
Don’t forget that if you do have some credits to your name, even working on student films or amateur productions, these credits can be listed on IMDB.com.
If you’re not taking proactive steps to market yourself and your screenplay, then you’re missing out on the opportunity to really connect with agents and producers.
Every single successful screenwriter out there has had to market the hell out of their screenplays at one point or another. And remember, marketing and selling doesn’t have to be difficult, it just has to be done right.
How do you market your script the right way? More on that in the next article.
*Jennifer Sloane has worked as a screenplay agent in Los Angeles and Nashville for the last five years. Jennifer loves good movies, music and animals. A former television and movie executive, Jennifer currently heads business development at Script Mailer (a company that connects screenwriters with agents and producers in Hollywood).