Please SHARE and spread the glad tidings: The road to hell is paved with works-in-progress: Philip Roth. Let me make your life a little less hellish. I am proud to announce the publication through Amazon of my book Rantings and Ravings of a Screenplay Reader. This is a culmination of many of my blog writings as well as my 2013 movie reviews. Get an insider’s look as to how readers think and what goes into their decision whether to pass a screenplay on up or pass on it completely? For more information or to purchase the book, please go to http://ow.ly/yyoNI
Read a Good Book Lately? : Rantings and Ravings of a Screenplay Reader by Howard Casner
Rantings and Ravings of a Screenplay Reader
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Hi Howard, I like the idea of getting into your head. I've written two screenplays based on my novels, (also on Amazon's Kindle), and entered many contests. Although the comments were positive, I've yet to win. Maybe it's because science fiction is expensive to produce and not a popular genre in the US. At any rate I will certainly look for your book. Donna
Thanks for responding. I do have to admit that sci-fi can be a hard genre to win at a contest (often for too many screenplays it is more concept and plot driven while not having really strong and vibrant characters as well--to do well, you really need those characters), though they can do well in quarter and semi finalists and even finalists sections, and many contests have either subgenres for sci-fi and there are some contests devoted to sci-fi/horror/fantasy. It sounds like your concepts might be a tad expensive (I don't know) and, yes, that can be an issue with trying to get them produced. At the same time, if you have a medium to low budget sci-fi, that's one area that is doing well in the U.S. (over the past years we've had Monsters, Safety Not Guaranteed, Primer, The American Astronaut, Another Earth, Co-Dependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same, Coherence, It's a Disaster, The Signal, Upstream Color to name a few), but I do think many of these were produced by the filmmakers themselves rather than selling the screenplay and getting a production company to do them.
I agree and appreciate your advice. I guess I should spend my time marketing the books first. The trilogy did well locally. Everyone who read the first novel, read the second and third, (which made the ladies cry). My fourth novel is retro-fifties sci-fi. During Hitler's reign, a scientist call Burkhardt Heim was working on a formula for hyperdrive using a six and seven dimension formula. My character is an alien spy disguised as human of course. Let's face it we're a violent species. What peace loving alien wants us to leave the planet?
I would definitely go big on marketing the books. That can really be a good way to get interest in a screenplay. Many people have done that. So that's a good strategy and good luck with that.