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Query Strategies

In her book How to Write It, How to Sell It, Linda Palmer suggests a three-paragraph query letter:

  1. Give your relevant background.
  2. Give a brief pitch.
  3. Ask if they want to see the script.
All this takes less than a page.

When querying by email or fax, you do essentially the same thing. I have more success querying by email than by "snail mail," which is to say I get a greater return on the number of letters I send out. And what kind of return should you expect?

I need to say here that you should be sending out queries in great numbers. Do not send out one letter and wait for a reply! I like to send my letters out in batches of 50 or 100.

For most of your letters, you are going to get no reply at all, although many writers use a technique that does encourage some kind of reply: they enclose a self-addressed post card with multiple choice selections on the back: send script; not interested at this time; comments. I don't do this. I figure producers are busy enough without getting forms to fill out.

Other writers enclose a self-addressed stamped envelope, encouraging a reply. I don't do this either.

What I do (and strongly recommend!) is attach my 800 number for requesting the script. Many producers and agents are phone people (this is not an argument for calling them cold), and an 800 number invites a call at no expense. Getting my own 800 number, which isn't as expensive as you may think, is one of the best business investments I ever made.

So let's say I send out 100 letters. What kind of return can I expect?

I expect about a ten percent return on "cold calls," letters to companies I've never dealt with before. That means I get about ten requests for scripts for every one hundred letters I mail. Other writers do better - but I usually write character-driven stories without car chases and big explosions.

When querying by email, this figure rises significantly to about 25% - over two times as great. Consequently I do almost all of my querying by email now. In fact, in the fall or winter of 1997, when my new script will be ready to market, I am subscribing to the online HCD and doing an electronic marketing blitz. Almost 500 prodcos have email addresses now.

Not every prodco is a potential reader of my script, or yours, however. You need to do some research. The general rule is to identify the family that your story is in - it's a little bit like such-and-such and so-and-so, and then send queries to the producers who made those films.

But I think this is too restrictive. What I do in my research is look for prodcos with definite genre-identification - those who produce only horror movies or family movies. Then I avoid them if that's not the kind of script I have. If a producer shows some production flexibility, however, then they are on my active list.

I tried querying by fax, and it didn't work for me, though it has worked for others. Producers familiar with my work, however, have invited me to fax pitches of new material and sometimes I do that.

Keep records! Keep track of what scripts go where and what the result is (there is software to help you do this):

Many writers would rather write than market their work. You need to do both - and do both in an organized way.

As you market your script, you also should be starting a new one. What I do is devote one day a week to marketing.

More about marketing on the Internet.

Using the guidelines above, write a query letter for your finished script. Pay special attention to the logline within it and make sure the letter is less than a page.

Contacting Producers

You obviously need a resource that will give you the names and addresses of producers to whom to send your queries. As I can't mention too often, the bible for such information is the Hollywood Creative Directory. These, however, are spendy volumes (more than the cost of this course), and so you may need an alternative resource until you can purchase a copy.

The best free resources are on the Internet.

Here is one list of production companies that you can use to get started.

Unlike the HCD, no names of people are mentioned here, and it is best to send a query to a particular person (although, in fact, I have received requests for scripts without doing this). Your alternative is to send to the address with "ATTN: Development" added. This is considered bad form but I'll tell you something - it has worked for me early in my career when I didn't have other resources. If people are in a looking-for-material mode, my experience is that they don't let a little bad form stop them.

How do you find "development exec" names? Buy an HCD as soon as possible! But before that:

If you are on the Internet, which increasingly is becoming an important resource for marketing scripts, you can keep your eyes peeled for requests from producers at the appropriate newsgroups (misc.writing.screenplays) and mailing lists (scrnwrit at listserv@tamvm1.tamu.edu).

If you are not on the Internet, I highly recommend getting on as soon as possible. A lot of information gets distributed there faster than anywhere else.

One more thing. Most but not all producers are going to want you to sign a release form. Usually they provide their own form and will send one once they learn you do not have an agent. You also can make use of the short generic release form provided here.

My Cyber Film School column on finding producers.

If a producer asks for your script, s/he also may ask for a synopsis. How do I write a synopsis?

Contacting Agents

It is easier to get a producer to read your script than it is to get an agent - and many independent producers will read your script even if you don't have an agent. Producers of small budget films also will read your script if your concept interests them. You'll want to get an agent or an entertainment attorney if a sale results, but in that case you are looking for an agent from a position of power (however, having a sale does not even guarantee getting an agent! - see example).

But eventually you are going to go looking for an agent? When?

It depends. If you are writing scripts that only major studios can produce, you will begin your search earlier than if you are writing character-driven and/or smaller budgeted movies that independents are more likely to produce.

When it's time to look for an agent, though, the procedure can be much the same as when you go looking for a producer. You can write a query letter. However, agents are busy people, and their inbox is flooded with queries from new writers looking for representation. Queries have much longer odds with agents than with producers in getting attention and results.

Agents also look for different things in a query letter from what producers look for. Agents at major L.A. agencies are interested in writers looking for a serious career in screenwriting, and this means several things:

But not every agent lives in Los Angeles, as a look at the WGA signatory list reveals - these are agents approved by the Writers Guild who will accept query letters from new writers. This is an important list. There are writers who sell "spec scripts" without moving to L.A. or without having an agent who lives in L.A. But the odds get longer than if you are living where the action is.

There is a better way to get an agent, and Dan Petrie, Jr. (Beverly Hills Cop) explores it in his online essay at Wordplay, "How Do You Get An Agent?" [URL]:

"The best, most common way to get an agent is by the personal referral of someone in the business. ... get your script into the hands of someone who can refer you to an agent."

A producer is one of those people - which is another reason why you should focus your marketing efforts on prodcos first.

Finally, Wendy Moon interviewed agents and asked them what they looked for and expected in query letters from new writers, as well as other questions about getting your first agent. It's all in her article, What Agents Look for in a Query Letter.

Beware of non-signatory agents who ask for your money! Legitimate agents will sign the WGA agreement, which prevents them from doing this.

You can get the latest "approved agents" list (part of it is here, i.e. the ones who will accept queries from beginning writers) by phoning WGA West at (213) 782-4500 (Information) and asking them when the latest list will be out. There will be a small charge.

Cyber Film School column, When Does a Screenwriter Need an Agent?

Making a Marketing Plan

You need to wait until you're ready before entering the marketplace. In the meantime, while you're improving your craft, you can develop a marketing plan.

A marketing plan is a composite of several things:

MARKETING STRATEGY

Your marketing strategy is a consequence of your goals.

Do you want to write big-budgeted action movies that the studios produce, the next Independence Day? Or do you want to write smaller budgeted character-driven movies, the next Ulee's Gold or Citizen Ruth or Chasing Amy? Your answer(s) determines how you should move into the marketplace.

But there are certain preparatory things everyone should do. Let me make some suggestions.

One of the things you want to do is generate lists of producers and agents that you'll be contacting. Let's take them one at a time.

Generating a Producers List
First, make a list of as many movies as you can that you wish you had written. We all have such a list. These movies speak to our sensibilities and concerns, and they belong to the family of our own material.

When you have such a list, rent as many of these movies as are available and write down the production companies of each. You also can find this information at the Internet Movie Database (www.IMDb.com). Note that more than one company is usually involved - a company you've heard of, one of the majors, and one or several smaller companies you've never heard of. Those are the important ones because these are the independent production companies that originated the project.

Build as large a list as you can in this manner.

Your next step is to find the addresses of these production companies and the name of the development executive there. Use the prodco list here, or the HCD if you have it, or any of several online resources that I mentioned before. Call for the name of the development exec - if long distance calls are beyond your budget, you can write the company with "ATTN: Development" attached. If they are looking for material, they probably will not disregard your letter, despite this being considered "bad form."

Add other production companies to this list to keep it growing: start watching the credits for candidates to add, which would be any company associated with a movie close to the kind of stuff you'll be writing. Keep yourself informed about who is looking for what by reading the trades and using online resources.

Building an Agents List
You build an agent list in the same way. Find out who wrote movies you admire and call the WGA to ask for the name of that writer's agent. Since agents are more difficult to attract than producers, especially keep your eyes peeled on the trades for notices of new agents at established agencies, who will be building their client list. Use the agents list here and, when you are ready, write every agent on the list. But wait until you've generated some interest from producers before you do this.

Next, your lists at hand, decide the best method of approaching people: by mail, by email, by fax or by phone. I recommend you disregard the latter - there's too great a chance of interrupting someone during a busy day and burning a bridge. You want to come off as passionate but not as ignorant of how busy producers and agents are.

Decide how you'll be contacting the names on your list. I prefer email, with postal mail second and fax last.

MARKETING SCHEDULE

Now schedule a regular time when you contact the people on your list. I do marketing one day a week, sometimes less if I have no new project at hand. But I always do some marketing each week, even if it's pitching a five-year-old script I still believe in.

The important thing about a marketing schedule is that it exists, it is regular, and it is something you stick to. Whether you market weekly or monthly, do it on a regular basis. Make it a habit.

What about follow ups? I used to do follow ups in the beginning. I was very optimistic about my wonderful script, of course, and knew people would just love it once they read it. I had no idea that my query was sitting on a desk next to hundreds of other letters, all written by writers as optimistic as I. When I called to inquire if anyone had read my query letter yet, I almost never got a response that indicated people even knew that they had it!

I no longer make follow up calls. If that first quick reading of my letter, the only reading it is likely to get, generates interest or curiosity, I know I will hear from them - especially since I have an 800 number. I let it go at that and move on. I no longer schedule follow up calls for query letters.

RECORD KEEPING

Keep track of your marketing efforts. You can do this in a notebook, or on your computer (using a Personal Information Manager or similar software, or in a word processor), but do it. Your record keeping should include:

In this way, you start making "sub-lists" as I described earlier, indicating the people/companies who are most positively responding to your efforts.

REVIEW PROCESS

Periodically you want to review all aspects of your marketing strategy - as well as the "quality" of your query letter. If a letter is generating no interest whatever, either of two reasons may be responsible: your script is a hard sale or your query letter is ineffective in generating interest in it.

I know writers who have revised their query letter, retitled their script, and gotten readings from companies who rejected their first efforts! The moral is clear: the query letter is an important marketing tool, especially to producers. And an essential part of your query letter is your logline.

Spend a lot of time making these as powerful as you can.

You want to review your marketing strategy because you want to make sure you are getting results. If you are not, something is wrong. Even with the "hard sell" material I normally write, I expect a ten to twenty-five percent positive response to my queries. If you're hitting less than ten percent, I think you need to revise your query letter and logline.

More: THE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS.


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