Writers need to be MORE than just writers. It takes more than just great writing telling a compelling story with engaging characters with a distinct and unique voice. Writers need to get that. I know you don’t like it. I don’t either. But this is what we’ve chosen to do. This is the business we’re in. So suck it up, buttercup. Your job is not yet done. Rise to the occasion, or someone else WILL rise in your place.

Completing your project is only the beginning.

You must develop and utilize a completely different skill set. Take your artist hat off and put that business/PR hat on. You might have written the next Great American Novel or Screenplay. But if you don’t market it (and yourself!) to the right people in your chosen industry, then you’re dead in the water. There are all kinds of books and websites that show you how to form proper query letters. Follow the rules. Poorly written queries that don’t follow protocol get rejected out of hand. They also get you branded a rank amateur. You only have one chance to make a first impression, folks. This is not the time to demonstrate what an original rebel you are.

Take the time to check out the person and the company you want to submit to. Follow their rules about how to query them. Their rules were developed to make going through their slush piles faster and easier for THEM. Again, follow their rules. Don’t make their jobs harder. You only have one chance to make a first impression. Be professional.

In my own circumstance, I am fortunate enough to have an OUTSTANDING Literary Manager based in Beverly Hills for my screenplays and teleplays. I came to her as a nobody with a microbudget horror script. She took a chance on me and my work, and we have a warm working relationship. Since she lives in L.A. and I live in Northwest Washington state, she is my eyes and ears to Hollywood. Anything she tells me I accept as gospel.

But: I have to be more than just a writer. I have to think like a producing partner.

For every screenplay I write, I also write a logline and a synopsis. Then I write a query using these elements. That’s the easy part. Once my Manager and I agree that a script is in good enough shape to send out, I come up with a “one-sheet” (also known as Key Art) for a movie poster.  It’s not what will be used for a final film; it’s just something to convey the mood of the piece to a producer or financier so they can “get the gist” with a single glance.

I develop the “Pitch Plate”, aka a “Visual Deck” or a “Look Book”. This is a series of representative photos, drawings, and other artwork, complete with text overlays that explains the logline, synopsis, genre, projected budget, any talent attached, and other important information about the film project.

This is not where you talk about how “cool” or “great” the movie will be. Producers and financiers don’t care about that. They care about how much is it going to cost, how long before they see their money back, and what will the ROI (Return on Investment) be?

Convince them to take a risk on you and your project. Convince them to risk millions of dollars in order to make tens of millions or hundreds of millions in profit. Convince them they can make money off of you. You’ll do this for every screenplay you write.

Welcome to showbiz, kids.

I do not currently have a literary agent for my novels. I hope to change this in the not too distant future. On my debut novel, NOCTURNAL, I felt an urgency to get the book out into the world because I was dying of a Stage 4 throat cancer when I wrote it. Every literary agent to whom I submitted rejected it. I did not know if I was going to live much longer, so I published through Amazon and IngramSpark and became an indie author.

Lucky for me, I beat my cancer (so far!). In the 6 years since, I have learned about marketing, PR, garnering reviews, and pushing sales to build my readership. It’s exhausting, and it takes time away that could be used creating new content. Hence my desire to land a literary agent who can submit my next novel (I’m revising and editing now) to the more traditional publishing houses. Once I am finished editing and revising, then the real work begins again for me.

I have to convince someone I’m a talented writer and a seasoned professional who understands other aspects of the business, and is not an asshat. I have to convince someone I have something commercial and marketable, something that a publisher can make money from.

And that means convincing an agent I’ve written something THEY can make money from.

See how that works?