Writing for the Hollywood $$$

Whenever I speak with aspiring Hollywood writers, the first question they ask is ¡§How do I break in? How do I get an agent and how do I get that first job.¡¨ But getting an agent and that first job isn¡¦t going to get you very far. What aspiring writers should be asking is ¡§How do I build a successful career in Hollywood?¡¨ The agent and the first job is just the beginning. Hollywood is full of writers who sold one or two scripts and were never heard from again. What it takes to succeed on your first job and then build on it to get the next job and the next is what separates the ¡§one script wonder¡¨ from the writer with a Hollywood career. Among the questions aspiring writers really need to ask are: « How Do I Know When My Spec Script Is Ready For Submission? « What Does An Agent Look For In A Writer Beyond Their Scripts? « Once I Have An Agent What Else Should I Be Doing? « When I Go To A ¡§Meet & Greet,¡¨ What Do I Say? « How Do I Prepare For The Different Types Of Pitch Meetings? « How Do I Handle Notes I Disagree With? « Do I Need A Lawyer And A Manager? Most writers discover the answers to these questions through trial and error. But in Hollywood, errors can be costly to a writer¡¦s career. More than one writer has seen his career thwarted due to a simple lack of awareness. The goal of ¡§Writing For The Hollywood $¡¨ is to arm aspiring writers with as much information as possible so not only will the road to their first agent and sale be easier, but they¡¦ll also be able to avoid costly mistakes and have a much better chance of turning that first job into a another and another. ¡§Writing For The Hollywood $¡¨ begins by asking the writer to do some serious self-examination as it lists the basic ¡§ingredients¡¨ beyond a good script that a writer will need if they expect to build a career as a Hollywood writer. From here it goes on to cover topics such as dealing with executives, the different types of pitch meetings, the script notes process, the realities of working on a television writing staff and avoiding potential land mines that can damage a writer¡¦s forward progress. ¡§Writing for The Hollywood $¡¨ provides invaluable information for anyone who¡¦s ever aspired to write for the screen, by someone who¡¦s actually been there and done it.