<p>Have you thought of self-publishing?</p>
<p>[Amazon.com</a> : Self-Publish with Us](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/gp/seller-account/mm-summary-page.html?topic=200260520]Amazon.com”>http://www.amazon.com/gp/seller-account/mm-summary-page.html?topic=200260520)</p>
<p>frazzled1 – thank you thank you – I’ll definitely check out “what happens next” and “casablanca rejected”. I do think the process is subjective – like what happens to our talented kids when they go through the meat grinder at admissions time. Thank you for sharing those with me.</p>
<p>Latichever – now I am definitely inspired to do a work-based story. Yes, I believe the most mundane job has emotional conflict and a compelling story line in the hands of a good writer.</p>
<p>Snowdog – good to know. I haven’t plunged into the “gray” area (why is the woman always the submissive? Boring!) but I agree – having a website where I can post material might be a good way to promote myself.</p>
<p>Justforthis – yes, I have considered it – somehow I feel like agents and publishers have the last word when it comes to writing quality, but I’m starting to wonder. I may try the self-publishing/self-promotion route. I have heard of many qualified writers getting their start that way.</p>
<p>Let me sign off by praising my favorite writers (maybe they’re yours too): Harlan Coben – the smartest fastest most compelling books I could ever hope to be stranded with at the Jet Blue terminal; Alice Munro for the tightest prose and descriptions that are so perfect they’re like a work of art; Nick Hornby for wit and optimism despite a very realistic world view of people and relationships; Ian McEwan for Saturday; Anne Lamott; Lorrie Moore; and my hero – Jhumpa Lahiri, who says things in her stories that make you see the world a different way.</p>
<p>Classof2015: I relate fully. A friend gave me this book (The First Time I Got Paid For It…) I really recommend it. It will keep you going!</p>
<p>[Amazon.com:</a> The First Time I Got Paid For It: Writers’ Tales From The Hollywood Trenches (9780306810978): Peter Lefcourt, Laura J. Shapiro: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/First-Time-Got-Paid-Hollywood/dp/0306810972/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1344064234&sr=1-1&keywords=the+first+time+i+got+paid+for+it]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/First-Time-Got-Paid-Hollywood/dp/0306810972/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1344064234&sr=1-1&keywords=the+first+time+i+got+paid+for+it)</p>
<p>^awesome! Thank you – I’m going on amazon now to check it out.</p>
<p>Many great books are rejected. Harry Potter had 8 rejections.</p>
<p>TV & movies are somewhat different. Scripts for TV are collaborative, with lots of editing hands. Even scripts with one name go through a writers’ room and are adjusted there. Credits are partly separate from what is actually done on a script, sometimes even the subject of arbitration by the Writers Guild. </p>
<p>Getting to work in a writers room is hard. It is often done through networking and chance. It used to be you sent in spec scripts. David Kelly did that while an associate at a law firm in Boston. (The firm no longer exists.) He wrote an LA Law script. There is less of that now and more of writing samples and looking at existing work. But things keep changing. Used to be you wrote drama to get into screen writing. That is still a way because, let’s face it, movies and tv are just stage plays done a bit differently. </p>
<p>Another way in is through editing and contributing to the work of others. The entry to that is through contacts, meaning you know other writers, have some existing work and get some assignments and that leads to more. </p>
<p>If you’re young, you can try to become a writers’ room PA. That means doing the very basic scut work for the writers, which can be anything from personal errands to research to photocopying to counting pencils. You get to learn while they abuse you. PA pay on a network show is decent; you can live on it, but not very well. If by some amazing chance, you get on an hour show, you won’t have a life so it doesn’t matter how much you make. We’re talking as much as 100 hour weeks for PA’s on hour shows. You get overtime if you work more than something like 12 hours in a day. Finding these jobs means understanding where the film & tv business advertises and maybe some luck - like you happen to be there when - while you build a list of work on whatever you can. By young, I mean new grad. </p>
<p>Other people try to get into the creative end by working at an agency. This means being an assistant, if you’re lucky. The old thing about starting in the mailroom at an agency is true. It’s really competitive to get into the relatively few good agencies.</p>
<p>Many writers, including me, earn less than 10 cents an hour doing what they love. I’m sitting next to a box of my books that have been paid for, and all I have to do is go out and sell them. Editing and marketing are parts of the job description unfortunately. Can’t wait to retire.</p>
<p>Good Luck!</p>