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Connecting With Writers, Filmmakers & Agents Online

Writers often write to me, saying they’d like to start blogging or connecting with others online – particularly producers and agents – but they just don’t know where to start. Here’s a crash course! My Top Tips 1) Just reach out and start talking. DON’T PITCH AT PEOPLE. 2) Find others with the same types of interest as you: they’d ideally like the same sorts of media output and have similar ambitions, plus be at the same sort of “level” as you (beginner, middling and onwards). From there, build up your “circle”, but don’t badger people to follow you 3) Do Peer… Read More »Connecting With Writers, Filmmakers & Agents Online

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Top 7 Writing “Debates” To Avoid

I love the internet. Writers can plug in and get access to all the people, information and opportunities they could ever need. They can even create a whole career out of it via blogging and social media – that’s what I did. I didn’t even live in London. As I always say: anything is possible. But even an Internet Die Hard like me can get sick of the web, due to the SAME writing “debates” rolling around and around, two, three or even *more* times a year – and some of them NEVER seem to go away, despite the fact… Read More »Top 7 Writing “Debates” To Avoid

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Stuck In A Rut: 7 Ways You’re Sabotaging Yourself (And 1 Thing That Will Set You Free!)

Stuck In A Rut Is your writing stuck in a rut? You’re not alone. It’s  been a week since I posted *that* post about avoiding low budget depressing drama & high budget science fiction/fantasy spec scripts if you want to stand out from the crowd … And what a week! Some writers have been expressing: AMAZEBALLS! I TOTALLY GET IT! INVEST IN IDEAS! YAAAY! Others have been decidedly lukewarm: *Grumble grumble* MY SCRIPT IS ONE OF THOSE AND I HAVEN’T GOT ANY LEADS SO I “SPOSE” YOU “COULD” BE RIGHT *Grumble* … And others have said, point-blank: YOU’RE TOTALLY WRONG, GET… Read More »Stuck In A Rut: 7 Ways You’re Sabotaging Yourself (And 1 Thing That Will Set You Free!)

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On The Page at @LondonSWF – Free podcast, listen here

  I was obviously at London Screenwriters’ Festival last month – and was honoured to meet and interview legendary script consultant and teacher  Pilar Alessandra. I’m the first guest on her “On The Page” podcast, talking about social media and what it can do for writers. Later on in the podcast Pilar talks to the amazing Linda Aronson, who talks structure and non-linearity and then to Danny Stack and Tim Clague, aka UK Scriptwriters, who have their own podcast as well as fab writing/filmmaking careers. Want to listen? Then just click the link below: 271 271. London Screenwriters Festival, Part… Read More »On The Page at @LondonSWF – Free podcast, listen here

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Women! Know Your Place

I was reading this article at the weekend about female directors. It makes for depressing reading, talking of actors (or indeed anyone in the industry) “hating” female directors “… I’d like to live in a world where people are ashamed to say things like that, but for some reason it’s still OK. Take out the word “female” in that quote and substitute it with “black,” “Jewish,” or “gay.””  Can you imagine? There’d be an uproar. Yet strangely there isn’t when it comes to women. Where is the outrage? Now I’m not a director, but the article stirred up my own… Read More »Women! Know Your Place

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Congratulations! You’ve Just Totally Shot Yourself In The Foot

Social Media is great because it means we can all stay in touch with one another and meet people we’d never otherwise had access to. Also: Social Media is a horrible business because we can all stay in touch … Yeah, you get it. Every day, I see or receive TERRIBLE instances of social media – and I don’t just mean whinging about how you’ve got a cold, or how terrible your life is, or how hard it is to write or find a way “in” to the industry. Try some of these for size: 1) ‘Read my pitch!’ I… Read More »Congratulations! You’ve Just Totally Shot Yourself In The Foot

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The Business Side Of Book Selling: Creating Book Trailers by Karen Smith

Self-publishing has become increasingly more popular over the years, but there’s one rather difficult aspect some authors might not consider when deciding to go the self-published route: self-marketing. Consumers won’t purchase your book if they don’t know it exists, but hiring a team of professional marketers can get pretty pricey. Using free marketing tools like social media, on the other hand, (and simply using the power of word-of-mouth) can draw some attention, but it might not be enough. One marketing technique that can help your book go viral and increase sales is to create a “book trailer.” Book trailers, similar… Read More »The Business Side Of Book Selling: Creating Book Trailers by Karen Smith

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Social Media, Pt 2: Where, What & How? By Samuel Caine

Following on from the previous article, which websites should you go to, what purpose do they serve and how do you best use them? Twitter – A brilliant micro-blogging site that restricts you to bursts of 140 characters. You can follow writing buddies, join in with debates and, perhaps most relevantly, track discussions using hashtags – searching for #scriptchat #amwriting #novels #agents or anything that springs to mind, really, will bring you face to face with all the hot-off-the-press discussions of the day. The best advice I can offer for Twitter is USE IT. Making yourself an active presence, who travels… Read More »Social Media, Pt 2: Where, What & How? By Samuel Caine

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Making The Most of Social Media, Pt 1 by Samuel Caine

Come, take my hand. We’re going on a stumbling journey through the world of social media, but firstly, a confession: I am not a behemoth of social media or networking. This isn’t so much a lecture on what you should do, as me thinking out loud about what I should do, to maximise my effectiveness when it comes to engaging and making the most of the vast network of writers’ resources online. 1. Preach! First off, you’re reading this. Well done. This means that, to an extent, you’re engaging with the writing community of the online world. This is a… Read More »Making The Most of Social Media, Pt 1 by Samuel Caine

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I’ve Written A Screenplay. Now What?

Updated So, You’ve Written A Screenplay ‘I’ve written a screenplay, now what?’ is one of the top Google searches that leads writers to this blog. Plus Bang2writers write to me, asking me for ideas on what to do / where to send scripts they’ve written, so I thought it was time I put my thoughts on this in one place, once and for all … Enjoy!  1) Get Some Screenplay Feedback i) Getting it – do peer review You don’t have to pay for this, though you can if you want to.  Alternatively, you can do peer review aka a… Read More »I’ve Written A Screenplay. Now What?

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