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Welcome back to another Author's Corner.
I recently had a critique done on my new Christmas comedy screenplay, The Christmas Solution, and it came back with really good grades. This is a very important instrument when an agent considers whether or not to pick up your work. Their goal is to find screenplays and novels in "ready to market" condition. If they spend their time playing script doctor, then they aren't selling.
The critique was performed by Writers' Literary of Boca Raton, Florida. They break down the screenplay into nine sections for grading: the title; logline and synopsis; theme; plot structure; main characters; supporting characters; dialogue; visual elements; and commercial potential.
The grading is as follows: excellent; very good; good; so-so; and not good. Along with the grades, they provided an explanation followed by at least one example.
This was the first time I had any of my screenplays critiqued and I was pleasantly surprised where I stood regarding industry standards. I did perform some minor tweaking to strengthen the screenplay before submitting to New York Literary.
On of the obvious changes was to the title. It was formerly The Christmas Campaign but after consideration of the word "Campaign" and how familiar most people are of its meaning, it was changed to The Christmas Solution.
Last month, my new manuscript, The Eye of Icarus, was critiqued and scored very well. New York Literary's book division has picked it up for marketing.
I'm currently looking to sell the Fractured Time Trilogy (Fractured Time, Twisted Fate and Dark Horizon) to one of the bigger publishers through an agency. The trilogy would sell very well in paperback compared to hardback. It also helps to have the books on the shelves of every book store.
The Fractured Time Trilogy is also under reviewed by an agent for marketing purposes. Hopefully next month, I'll have more information on these last two issues.
I've reached a point where I have so much writing to do, whether it is screenplays or novels, that I can't market the trilogy as I have been. Its sales have been good but I think they can be great. I'm especially anxious because there is one subtle link between the new Space Frontiers series and The Fractured Time Trilogy.
On another note, MegaCon is this week (February 24th to the 26th in Orlando. I'm hosting a one hour seminar entitled Books to Screenplays on Saturday, February 25th at 3 p.m. This is an opportunity for me to discuss the limiting factors in adapting a screenplay from a book. Anyone who has tried knows it isn't pretty.
MegaCon is a fantastically diverse convention which is held at the Orange County Convention Center. The convention boasts quite a variety of celebrities, gaming experts, dealers, artists and comic book pros.
Next month, I'll have a detailed report on the critique process used for novels. In addition, I'll talk about Richmond, Va's new Science Fiction Convention in April, RavenCon. Join me next month for another Author's Corner.
- Michael D'Ambrosio
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