Or damn close to it. Lately I've been getting people wanting me to write books for them and they'll pay me SOOOOO much money once it starts selling. Or they want to buy my script for $50 and they'll pay me SOOOO much money when the movie is made and raking in the cash.
Of course, there's nothing new about this. When I first moved to LA I met a guy who wanted to option 3 of my scripts for $1. Total. For 3 years. And got insulted when I laughed, thinking he was joking. I actually have let people option my work for that, once I knew them....and not once did anything happen. The two scripts that I sold, outright, are still languishing in God-knows-where land.
What's new is, now that I have 5 novels published (in 10 volumes, total) this sort of thing really grates on me. Especially when they want me to develop their idea and make it work when I have nothing invested in it, emotionally. I had a hell of a time doing that for "NYPD Blood", and then I only finished it because I 'd written the script and felt obligated to make it happen as a book.
It took me over a year to find a way to hook myself into the story enough, and it was only when I focused on Vinnie's huge imagination and let that slowly overwhelm him until he's close to madness from the whole situation concerning the drugs disappearing that it began to work for me.
Now comes a guy who wants to make a movie for $50K, and I'd get a share of the profits as payment. Like I don't know that there are never any profits. A $50K movie is either going online or straight to DVD or pay-per-view on late-night cable. Or all three. All of which takes money and none of which pays well in licensing fees. I don't have the patience to deal with that crap, anymore; I'd be better off making my own because having somebody else shoot it would do me no good.
I do have one script that could be done for that...and which needs rewrites, of course. But I ain't got the $50K. So what do I do?
Well...first...I finally get a hair up my butt and start make moves towards pushing my writing. I set up a new domain through GoDaddy -- www.kylemichelsullivan.com -- which is still minimal but at least gives me a place to send people and has links to my books on Amazon, B&N, and Kobo. I'll make it more elaborate once I figure out how to use Go Daddy's Builder; they do their best to make it impossible. And I'm looking into buying a digital ad on a magazine site, for "The Lyons' Den". That's the one I want to push. If I can afford it.
As I've said before -- I suck at selling myself, but I guess I'd better learn how to do it.
Of course, there's nothing new about this. When I first moved to LA I met a guy who wanted to option 3 of my scripts for $1. Total. For 3 years. And got insulted when I laughed, thinking he was joking. I actually have let people option my work for that, once I knew them....and not once did anything happen. The two scripts that I sold, outright, are still languishing in God-knows-where land.
What's new is, now that I have 5 novels published (in 10 volumes, total) this sort of thing really grates on me. Especially when they want me to develop their idea and make it work when I have nothing invested in it, emotionally. I had a hell of a time doing that for "NYPD Blood", and then I only finished it because I 'd written the script and felt obligated to make it happen as a book.
It took me over a year to find a way to hook myself into the story enough, and it was only when I focused on Vinnie's huge imagination and let that slowly overwhelm him until he's close to madness from the whole situation concerning the drugs disappearing that it began to work for me.
Now comes a guy who wants to make a movie for $50K, and I'd get a share of the profits as payment. Like I don't know that there are never any profits. A $50K movie is either going online or straight to DVD or pay-per-view on late-night cable. Or all three. All of which takes money and none of which pays well in licensing fees. I don't have the patience to deal with that crap, anymore; I'd be better off making my own because having somebody else shoot it would do me no good.
I do have one script that could be done for that...and which needs rewrites, of course. But I ain't got the $50K. So what do I do?
Well...first...I finally get a hair up my butt and start make moves towards pushing my writing. I set up a new domain through GoDaddy -- www.kylemichelsullivan.com -- which is still minimal but at least gives me a place to send people and has links to my books on Amazon, B&N, and Kobo. I'll make it more elaborate once I figure out how to use Go Daddy's Builder; they do their best to make it impossible. And I'm looking into buying a digital ad on a magazine site, for "The Lyons' Den". That's the one I want to push. If I can afford it.
As I've said before -- I suck at selling myself, but I guess I'd better learn how to do it.
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