Read 'Hiring an agency to represent you and your screenplays' at http://www.SellingYourScreenplay.com.

I got this email recently:

I have a full time job as a writer for trade magazines, but these publications are always looking for contributed content — which is obviously far different than the screenwriting experience. I’ve been writing scripts for about 6 years, but am woefully naive about effectively marketing my work, so please forgive my question if it sounds silly:

Through query letters, I’ve had a few nibbles from agents and production companies interested in my work. I’ve also gotten some super favorable reviews from these industry professionals and in online communities like InkTip and Zoetrope. Despite this, I haven’t really come that close to selling a screenplay or gaining representation. Also, I’ve had no luck in the various screenwriting contests I’ve entered.

As you can imagine, it’s pretty frustrating to, on the one hand, receive the encouragement you need to keep writing and trying, and at the same time, wind up not really getting anywhere (i.e., optioned or sold.)

Is there such a thing as HIRING an agency to represent you — similar to the way some executive search firms will take up front payment from you in exchange for finding you a six figure position? These businesses pick and choose specifically who they want to represent, and only agree to try and place those they feel are worth it. I’m wondering, are there any legitimate creative or literary agencies out there that operate this way?

Good question. First, I’m not sure how many contests you’ve entered or how many query letters you’ve sent out, and that’s important. It’s quite possible that you simply haven’t sent out enough letters to break through. I’ve had scripts where I sent out probably 2000 query letters before optioning it. And in fact I’ve had scripts where I’ve sent out 2000 query letters and never optioned it. And yet I’ve gotten great feedback and some nibbles on the script but it just hasn’t hit. (As a note, the reason I use 2K as the number of query letters is that I have nearly 2000 addresses of production companies, agents, and managers in my database and I’ve done a lot of blasts over the years where literary nothing came out of a blast.) It’s often described as “lightening striking” when you do option or sell a script and there’s a certain amount of truth to this. There are a lot of forces that have to come together for a script to get optioned, sold and then produced and the quality of the writing is just one of them. So sending out a shit-ton of query letters is one good way to try and conquer the extreme odds. I would guess over the years I’ve sent out probably 25K query letters. You can look at my credits on IMDB and do the math. So how many query letters have you sent out?

I’ve never tried any of the services that you mention, InkTip and Zoetrope, so I have no idea if they’re effective or not, but I’m very skeptical that they are. But I could be wrong, as I said, I’ve never actually tried them out.

Believe me when I tell you, I understand your frustration. It’s a rough business. After you’ve lived in Hollywood a while you get used to it. Many people on the outside think if they can just get one credit everything will be smooth sailing from then on, but that’s unfortunately not the case. You have no idea how many writers have actually sold a few things and still can’t get any of their recent work optioned, sold or even looked at by a decent agent or manager.

Now to answer your question about hiring an agency to represent you… my initial reaction is “no,” this wouldn’t work. If you start to send out query letters to companies in the Hollywood Creative Directory as I recommend on this website (How to Sell Your Screenplay (in a nutshell)) you’ll actually get a few responses from “producers” and “managers” who will propose exactly what you’re asking for; you pay them a “small” up front fee and they’ll try to get your script sold. The problem is that selling a script is so difficult that in like 99.9999999999% (or more) of the time they’re just going to be taking your money. So what’s happened is that no legitimate business will do this sort of work because any legitimate business knows they’re basically just taking people’s money. So the few people who do this sort of work are dreamers at best and pure scammers at worst. Legitimate agents and managers will work for a percent of the sale, but this is why they have to be so very selective with who they represent, there are lots of writers out there and only a few hours a day to try and push their work.

As a writer for a trade magazines you probably get phone call pitches from PR people pitching story ideas for their clients, right? This is exactly the sort of cold call you might try yourself to agents and managers – pitching them your material. Cold calls are usually more effective than query letters so if you’ve tired of sending out query letters maybe try cold calls for a while.

I’ve recently been experimenting with hiring a sales person to cold call production companies and pitch my material to them. So far it’s worked fairly well and has has yielded some results. If you know someone in PR who’s real good at cold call pitching (and you don’t feel comfortable doing it yourself) you might try hiring them to cold call for you. There aren’t that many WGA agents and for a few hundred dollars you could probably get them to call a good number of them.

Read 'Following up with a company that has requested your full script' at http://www.SellingYourScreenplay.com.

I got this question recently:

“I was wondering if you had any advice on how to follow up with a company that has requested your full script?”

I’ve never been as good about following up with companies as I probably should have been. I’ve always been so busy writing new scripts and sending out query letters I’ve never really had the time to monitor the lack of a response from a specific company and then try and track them down. But it’s probably a good idea.

If you’re not afraid to make a phone call I highly recommend that you call the company a month or two after you sent it. Or if you are afraid to call them and you have an email address for the person / company drop them an email.

The main purpose of this phone call or email is to try to establish a relationship with them. If they haven’t read your script yet tell them it’s okay and you look forward to hearing their thoughts. Call them back in a couple of months. If they’ve read it and passed on it try to find out what they didn’t like about it. Try to find out what sort of material they are looking for. This can really help you as you develop ideas for future scripts. And finally, ask them if they’d be willing to read future scripts that you write and if they say “yes” make sure you put their contact info in your database so you can pitch them your scripts in the future. Also, try and get additional information like their specific phone number and email address so you can contact them directly. If they liked your script but it wasn’t “quite right” for them they’ll probably be more than happy to give you this sort of information.

Keep in mind, there is a good chance they won’t take your call and won’t return your email – don’t worry about it. It’s going to happen in most cases. Simply move on. I would say one or two attempts to make contact is the most you’d ever want to do. After that it’s clear they’re not too interested in what you have to offer so spend your time trying to find people who will.

Read 'Screenwriting and salt and vinegar potato chips' at http://www.SellingYourScreenplay.com.

When I was in 7^th grade I used to eat salt and vinegar potato chips.  They were new on the market and no one else was eating them.   When I shared them most of the people thought they were disgusting.

One day the coolest kid in the class, Craig, brought salt and vinegar potato chips to lunch and started telling everyone how awesome they were.  Pretty soon everyone in the class wanted salt and vinegar potato chips and I could trade half a bag of mine for a coveted Twinkie or candy bar, even to the people who had declared them disgusting only a few days earlier.  What changed?  The chips didn’t change.  It was the perception of the chips that changed.  Craig had literally (and single handily) created a market for salt and vinegar potato chips in my 7^th grade class.

How does this relate to screenwriting?

How can you get the “cool kids” in Hollywood to vouch for your script?  The “cool kids” in Hollywood are the working actors, producers, directors, and writers.  If you live in Los Angeles it’s quite likely you’ll know some of them or know someone who knows them.

As an unknown writer the perception people will have about you and your script is going to be that you’re just another one of the millions of want-to-be writers.  But if you can get interest from an established industry professional it can greatly alter that perception.

Read 'Marketing considerations for screenwriters' at http://www.SellingYourScreenplay.com.

I’ve been trying to think through some of the marketing considerations before I actually commit to turning an idea into a full script. I found this article over at Go Into The Story about a movie where it appears the writers (and subsequently the producers) failed to think through their marketing plan and are having difficultly recouping their investment because of it.

A lot of writers (including myself) often spend a lot of time writing scripts that ultimately aren’t marketable. Even smaller independent films must have some marketing angle.

I’m working on a new post about how I pick an idea to write into a full screenplay and the marketing considerations will be a bit part of that post. Look for my post next week. In the meantime check out this post about a script that was probably pretty good but didn’t have a clear marketing angle: http://www.gointothestory.com/2009/09/maiden-heist.html