podcasts

I despise this with the fiery intensity of a thousand suns

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No doubt many within the assorted writing communities have received at least one email of this nature:

“Hi there!

I found your book/project (TITLE) and was immediately captivated by what an amazing work it is on the subject of (WHATEVER).

1-2 PARAGRAPHS OF FLOWERY ASS-KISSING PROSE AND ASSORTED GENERALIZED COMMENTS BASED ON YOUR WORK AND ANY RELATED DESCRIPTIONS AND/OR WRITE-UPS FOUND ONLINE

I think the potential for the impact this material could have is huge! Just imagine readers having in-depth discussions about the complexities revolving around (SUBJECT).

I would love to discuss this more/have you on my podcast/social media. When would be a convenient time for you?”

You may at first think this is an honest and sincere email from somebody genuinely interested in your work.

To a certain extent, it is, but not from a creative perspective.

Because you know what’s coming next – and they’re never upfront about it. They shower you with praise and lofty expectations to reel you in, before the inevitable:

“I wanted to also let you know what the tier levels are for the varying packages we offer to help to promote your material.”

And there it is.

To paraphrase – “We want you to pay for the privilege of having us promote your work.”

Sometimes I respond to the initial email with lots of probing questions, seeking out at least an iota of truth. Getting even that is challenging.

No matter what, I wrap it up by writing “Thanks, but no thanks”, sending it and then deleting all of it.

Sometimes they come back with a “I’m sorry to hear that. We’re really interested in working with you. What can we do to help make this happen?”

I’m too polite to send my immediate thought of “fuck off and die, you bloodsucking leeches”; others may not be as reserved. I remain silent, delete that one, and move on with my life.

I get it. Some writers are so desperate that they’ll shell out the bucks to do this. That’s their choice. I prefer not to. Although I am curious how effective these campaigns are, or if at all. I’m inclined to think most writers regret having made the investment.

Would love to hear from anybody who’s had a positive experience with this sort of thing.

My inbox has seen an increase in these emails over the past few weeks.

Most of them stop sending, but the occasional note pops up after a few months to “just check in” and ask if I’d still be interested. That one also gets deleted right away.

There are A LOT of people out there more than ready to separate you from your money as part of their effort to “help you and your career”.

Do your research. Trust your instincts. If it feels fishy or seems too good to be true, it probably is. If somebody is genuinely interested in helping you, they’re not going to charge you for it or ask you to cover any “fees”.

Caveat emptor indeed, chums.

Talking to writers about writing

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As the 15th(!) anniversary of this blog approaches, this is a good time to also mention that my multimedia empire – such as it is – is expanding.

For the past 4 1/2 years, I’ve been involved with a podcast called The Creative Writing Life. First as one of three co-hosts, then one of two, and since earlier this year – the only one.

The show is all about talking with writers from various genres and mediums about themselves and their work. Authors, playwrights, cartoonists, comic books, and of course – screenwriters. We cover how they got their start as a writer, their projects, their processes, a lot of writing-adjacent topics, and what advice they’d offer to other writers.

You can catch it on both Spotify and YouTube. I’ve been really enjoying doing this and hope you’ll give it a listen or a watch.

-Friendly reminder: Enrollment in Kaia Alexander’s Entertainment Business School Summer Session officially opens today (June 28th) and continues until July 28th with the session getting underway on August 5th.

Click here for more details, and use the code PZ50S24 for a $50 discount on the enrollment fee.

The next mountain awaits

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Wrapped up the latest draft of the animated fantasy-comedy earlier this week and sent it to a few readers.

Notes have begun trickling in.

Overall responses: very positive, but could still use some tweaking. Points were awarded for creativity, originality, dialogue, and the jokes.

I appreciate all of those very much.

But…it can still be better.

I’d estimate it’s maybe one to two drafts away from being where it needs to. Waiting for a few more notes to come in before diving into that.

What’s also helped is that a lot of the changes don’t seem to be of a major overhaul type, but I suspect it won’t be a few minor changes here and there either. Somewhere in that nebulous middle.

It’s been quite encouraging how fast and effectively things are playing out for this one. It’s taken a while to get to this point, but all the time spent writing, rewriting and constantly trying to make previous scripts better are yielding the desired results for this one in a more timely manner.

Another thing that’s different about this time around is that confidence levels were already pretty high about the script, and getting comments about what still needs work hasn’t diminished them. Many times in the past I would get notes and think what a terrible writer I must have been, which was not the case.

I’m quite psyched about this one, and can’t wait to get back to work on it.

**SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION!!**

I was the featured guest on some recent podcasts:

–What Are You Watching? with Chris Mancini (who has a q&a on this blog)

–The Successful Screenwriter with Geoffrey Calhoun (a 2-time q&a on this blog – here & here)

Struck out in contests, but…

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A lot of the major screenwriting contests have wrapped up, or are in the process of, and once again, yours truly did not achieve the desired results.

A big fat goose egg on all fronts.

Disappointing? Very much so.

Frustrating? You betcha.

Making me wonder if my writing must be ridiculously bad? Without a doubt.

I wasn’t just in a hole of depression. I’d felt like I’d fallen into the deepest hole ever dug on Earth.

Fortunately, I wouldn’t be there long.

Encouragement from K and more than a few members of the screenwriting community reminded me of several very important things:

First – CONTESTS ARE ENTIRELY SUBJECTIVE. Sometimes your script clicks with readers, sometimes it doesn’t.

Second – CONTEST SUCCESS IS NOT A GUARANTEE FOR INDUSTRY SUCCESS. You can claim the top prize, but that doesn’t mean you should quit your day job. The road to an ongoing career is long, twisty, and loaded with uncertainty.

Third – THEY ACTUALLY MAKE FILMS FROM SCRIPTS THAT HAVEN’T DONE WELL IN CONTESTS. If a producer likes your script and wants to get it made, they’re not going to be as worried about how it placed in a contest.

Fourth (and this one really hit home for me) – SCREENWRITERS SHOULD NOT LIVE BY CONTESTS ALONE. Doing well in a contest is a potential boost to help you establish a career, but that’s it – potential. It’s only one of numerous paths.

As was pointed out to me, I may not have done well in contests, but I should also consider:

-I’m currently writing the script for a microbudget feature. The producer really likes how it’s all coming along, and has been completely ego-free since we began.

-I self-published 3 books about screenwriting this year (a great gift for screenwriters, yourself, or both. I got a kid in college, so anything helps).

-I continue to be the co-host of a podcast that’s all about writing. Fortunately, both my co-host and I know A LOT of writers, so there’s always somebody interesting to interview.

-I got to be on the other end of the microphone by being interviewed on a few screenwriting podcasts.

-I took part in a few panels about screenwriting at a writing conference, which led to being invited to give a lecture about screenwriting next month. (more on that another time)

-I still get the occasional email asking me to give script notes. It might take me a little longer to get to it than expected, but I enjoy doing it, and the writers seem to really appreciate what I have to say.

-there’s been progress, albeit the really slow kind, in making my short film. I was hoping to film it before the year was over, but looks like early next year might be more realistic. It’ll happen yet.

So my losing streak in contests may continue, I’ve got a decent number of other irons in the proverbial fire. And a few other fires, for that matter.

I may get knocked down, but I get up again (and again, and again), and they’re never gonna keep me down.

Consider me in this for the long haul.

The journey continues…

Hope you have an excellent pre-Halloween weekend. I will happily lay claim to any leftover plain M&Ms and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups that manage to stay out of the grubby little hands of trick-or-treaters.

Still a thing?

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That little paper box full of extra cards is tucked away somewhere

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of being interviewed on the Telling The Show podcast to talk about networking as it relates to screenwriters.

Over the course of the discussion came this question: in pre-COVID times, it wasn’t uncommon for a writer to have a business card. Does a writer still need one?

I thought it was a great question, and had to really think about it.

My initial thought is probably not, especially due to how most networking is now done online, and most writers have their phone with them, so contact – or at least reaching out – can be practically instantaneous.

What good is having a card to hand out when you’re practically isolated and there’s nobody around to hand it to? These days you’re more likely to connect with somebody via a social media platform, so you’ll probably do everything via email and/or texting in order to set up meeting one-on-one.

A lot of writers now have a strong online presence – websites, blogs, an account on Youtube, Twitter, Instagram, etc., so it’s significantly easier to get in touch with somebody to strike up a conversation, or at least establish a professional relationship.

Keeping that in mind, in-person interaction is slowly coming back, so if we get to the point where you show up at a venue where you don’t know anybody, and then have some nice conversations with people, would you want to have a card to hand out, or be comfortable asking for their email address?

There are exceptions, of course. A majority of writers tend to be on the introverted side, so dealing with a real live person can be somewhat intimidating. This makes online networking easier for some people. Somebody quiet and shy in person might be more involved or outgoing on a Zoom call or on Twitter.

Just as an example, I recently tweeted a compliment to the hosts of another screenwriting podcast regarding the interview they did with a high-profile manager (I also included the manager in the tweet). Both hosts and the manager liked it, and another writer friend of mine added in his two cents, leading to a brief discussion among all of them.

I didn’t do it because I was trying to suck up to the hosts or hope the manager would offer to read something; it was because I liked what I’d heard, and wanted to let them know that. Would I have achieved the same results if this had been done in person? I’m going to go with “slightly maybe, but probably not to the same extent”.

Online interaction is one of the things I encourage for writers seeking to expand their network. Nobody’s going to get to know you if you hang back and stay quiet. Become involved. Join conversations. Just make sure to be polite, civil and respectful.

There are forums and group chats to take part in, as well as lots of screenwriting groups on Facebook. I find the smaller ones to be better because the members tend to be more experienced, more mature, and of a more rational temperament.

Networking and interacting has really changed, especially over the past few years. But one thing remains the same: online or in person, business card or no, be the kind of person you’d want to know.