You know looking at the Script Sales data released recently; I have never really studied it before. It was always, “yeah, that’s cool,” and I’d move on after reading that a few writers were lucky enough to option or sell their work to a major production company or studio. This morning I did something I haven’t done before: I studied the data. I can’t say it made me feel better about the odds of making a major sale.

Look at these numbers: a whopping 28 spec sales last year out of hundreds maybe thousands of scripts being shopped by major agencies and managers. You might be reading this thinking, “Yeah, so what!”  And this past year is considered a booming year.  Back in 2023 there were a whopping 11 major spec sales....Please carefully read those numbers again. Last I heard at least 30k and perhaps as high as 50k screenplays are written by screenwriters (aspiring and professional) last year. And yet, out of all those a measly, scanty, skimpy, pithy, 28 get picked up… hell, only a few hundred or so of the 30k even get the chance to be read at major studios!  Tens of thousands of submissions to companies. That should depress you dear writer. Forget about the odds of a major sale turning into a movie, that’s even more depressing. You're not gonna be able to sell your spec script!

As you slide off your chair and consider why it is you're sitting there right now working on a script… do not be troubled! The numbers I just threw at you, the bleak and hopeless landscape of major spec sales, are not what you need to be focusing on.

For those who don’t know, I’ve been optioned numerous times, hired to rewrite scripts, and even hired to adapt a novel.  I have two movies to my credit and may never get another, who knows... All this after so many years of mild success and lots of blooming failures.  I've noticed every five years there's a new batch of aspiring screenwriters hungry to sell a script.  Ninety percent will give up within five years.

I bring up my limited success for practicality and as a teachable moment, not to brag.

Not only were there spec sales last year that made it big, but there were also pitches that writers got paid some pretty good money for. But think also of all the writing jobs that screenwriters pick up because of a great spec –even though it doesn’t option. And on top of that, think about the smalls… that’s what I said. Smalls.

The smalls are the independent or “smaller” production companies that are making movies for less than a million and up to maybe 10$ million dollars.  Look at Hallmark and Lifetime, I consider them apart of the "smalls" where you make 10k if t you're lucky, but if you sell a few a year that's not tooo shabby. Lots of scripts, pitches, and writing gigs that are not even counted because they are too small. And yes they are happening all the time. Now I say small, remember those top ones were significant sales in the six-figure range, sometimes seven-figure.  The smalls don't pay that many only accept submissions from non-WGA so they don't have to pay writers per that scale.

Yeah, yeah you enter 50 screenwriting contests a year hoping for that big break!  Good luck smalls, ninety percent of you don't have writing good enough because no one wants to learn how to Write a Screenplay Hollywood Would Want.

Back to me, because I like the attention. To be exact, I have signed seven option agreements; two rewriting assignments; one adaptation job; and of course two produced movies. All that and I could never quit my day job completely. All that without an agent. I had an agent for two years in the late 1990s and she didn't sell anything!  I've had managers, have one now.  Prevous manager convinced me to write a TV series episode so she could sell it to this specific show only to have the network cancel the show after I spent three months working the damn thing... I fired her. I had to write books, publish articles, teach screenwriting, sell my blood… all the while, somehow, keep writing. Still waiting for my six-figure sale!

My largest sum I ever made at one time was $30k. I've made as little as $4,000 for my work. BUT my sales never count on the year’s spec tally and my other options were never added or counted by anyone; save for me. Yet over the years I was making money and getting a foot in the door… sometimes nearly getting it cut off in the process! I made invaluable contacts with smaller companies, producers, and directors. Those connections led to my first sale and first produced movie. Small. one to five, ten million dollar budgets. That is where you should be focusing, not on trying to get a damn agent!  You don't need one smalls, see my class or check this out for that and other stuff to help you... learn from a pro and take a break from contests for a minute.

So the point is, yes: Why Not You! You can write the big spec sale, but in the mean time be open to the smalls… that's where your career can really get started!