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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/42410
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/42410
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Screenplays are also very difficult to sell, for a first-timer. Books are quite a bit easier. Unlike a screenplay, a book is in its final form, and relatively easy to produce, big publishers can do it cheap, in the single-digit thousands, and have the contacts to get it reviewed and advertised.

Screenplays can cost tens of millions to produce, they are a huge investment involving many dozens of creative artists and other story tellers, and they are incomplete. It is difficult to sell screenplays because the investment is so high, and studios can't produce a hundred new films a year, there isn't that much money. They have to be very selective.

Publishers don't. They are selective, but the financial bar is much lower, 90% of the work (writing) is already done, and they really can afford to push out a few hundred new books a year.

Start with the book. If you write "cinematically" (keeping in mind that movie viewers cannot read any text of internal thoughts or description, they can only see and hear), and sell enough copies to prove you have written a good story, then a movie studio might pick it up. **Sell the book through an agent.** If you can't get an agent, your story is not good enough! It has to be a good book before it can be a movie.

An agent is thinking of **all** rights to your story from the start, she will make sure you don't fall into any traps and lose your rights, or your influence, or whatever it is you want to keep. She only gets 15% of what YOU get, so she is focused on making sure you get the most money possible out of your work, and she is a professional negotiator that knows the ropes of the entertainment industry, including movie rights and what all the contract clauses mean.

Original score: 29