Introduce Yourself : Hello! by Apryl Baker

Hey, Apryl Baker! My name is Kay, I'm the Community Manager here at Stage 32. Nice to meet you! Wow, you've been on Stage32 for a while! And congrats on your writing successes, that's fantastic! What's next for you? Are you looking to adapt your books into films or series? Or are you looking for screenwriters to collaborate with you?

I'd love for you to post in the Authoring Lounge (https://www.stage32.com/lounge/playwriting)! Maybe you could start a conversation about what you learned leading up to The Ghost Files and how it helped you succeed?

Keep in mind that these lounges are like the VIP Filmmaker's Lounges at Film Festivals, so this is where you can meet the people doing the work, get advice on anything you're working on, and/or give back to those who may need advice. We're a very supportive and encouraging community! I think you'd also enjoy my intro blog post on how to engage with the Stage32 Community:

https://www.stage32.com/blog/Find-Your-Community-on-Stage-32

Enjoy exploring the lounges, and don't forget to comment and respond to others’ posts, too! It's the best way to really connect! And, of course, feel free to reach out at any time. Cheers!

Hi, Kay. It's nice to meet you. Honestly, I have three series that I want adapted for film. The Ghost Files being the most popular one. Fans are always asking me to have it looked at by Netflix for a series. It's not as easy as that though :) The book was optioned for film by someone who I really liked, but understand now just didn't have the connections necessary and it ate up a lot of time. I'm hoping to network here with people who can look at the book and get it in front of people who do work at Netflix.

I'm also hoping to learn more about the process of adaptation to film. There's not a lot of information about optioning and film rights on the internet. It was a pull your teeth kind of thing to learn.

I will definitely post in the Author's lounge. I help a ton of people now who contact me through Facebook and Twitter just about being an author. So many just think they can write a book and it'll sell. They don't understand how much they have to market themselves. No one knows their book better than themselves. I had a girl who had an agent, got a book deal with one of the top five big publishers contact me and ask me why my books sold so much better than hers. She was honestly a little rude about it, but I do my best to help others and started a conversation with her about what she did to market her book. Nothing she said, because her publisher did that for her. To which I replied, sure, if you're one of their biggest authors, they'll spend a fortune marketing your book, but if you're a new author with a brand new book, they're not going to spend as much time. You need to do it yourself so they learn you can be a big author for them. We launched into a six day conversation about it.

People should always reach out and try to help each other, even if there is some initial rudeness which was just her being overly sensitive. She was a fan of mine, which I didn't know until the end of the conversation and had been a Ghost Files reader for about two years.

I still don't have an agent, and I do everything myself, but its made me stronger for it and I've learned to fight for myself. If I can help others, I do.

Thanks for reaching out!

Apryl

Hey, Apryl! Wow, thanks so much for the response! I think you'd enjoy meeting my friend Leah, who is a tv screenwriter who enjoys thriller/horror: https://www.stage32.com/profile/780248/about and my friend Luis, who is a writer/director who also writes dark material: https://www.stage32.com/lrquintero

Nice to meet you, Apryl Baker

Hi Apryl Baker ! I don't know if you remember me but we have crossed paths a few years ago in the publishing sphere. I transitioned to screenwriting. Welcome! I've been here a while so if you have any questions I am happy to help if I can.