Author! Screenwriter!: How to Succeed as a Writer in New York and Hollywood [Paperback]

Peter Miller (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 8, 2006

This book is for all wannabe authors who want it all! Not content to succeed in just one medium they clamour to see their writing in print and on the screen. It can be done - and industry insider Peter Miller shows you how. Unlike other books on the market, this book makes a clear distinction between the print and film industries and focuses on what makes one unique from the other - and how writers must customise their proposals and treatments to be successful in each. This book provides specific writing dos and don'ts, sample inquiries and examples of success stories personally overseen by the author. This book is every author's inside guide to seeing their words published and produced.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Peter Miller has been an active literary and film manager for over thirty years. Known as "Literary Lion," he has successfully managed over 900 books and dozens of motion picture and television properties. These include 11 New York Times bestsellers and 11 films he has managed or executive produced, In addition he has a substantial number of film and television projects currently in active development. He divides his time between New York and Los Angeles and frequently speaks at writer's conferences and workshops.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Adams Media (March 8, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1593375530
• ISBN-13: 978-1593375539
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,393,106 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Miller's Tale, April 10, 2006

By 

MickeyOne (Point Reyes Station CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Author! Screenwriter!: How to Succeed as a Writer in New York and Hollywood (Paperback)

When you go into any major bookstore, among the most crowded of the shelves are the ones in the Writers section. Writers who aspire to become published authors (like me!) are always on a quest for the keys to the kingdom.

Author! Screenwriter by literary and film agent/manager Peter Miller, is a recent addition to the writer's how-to inventory.

What sets Author!Screenwriter apart from so many of its shelf-neighbors, is its robust style and its authenticity. It also happens to be a very comprehensive primer on not only the publishing world, but on the world of film, TV and other media as well. The book examines and explains how the two worlds relate to each other, and how the hopeful author can navigate his way through them with the very necessary help of a dedicated and savvy agent/manager. Take his word for it, it's a jungle out there, folks. This is a book that seems as much directed at literary agents, who often seem to take a too narrow approach to their profession, as it is to writers.

From the very first page you realize that Miller, who refers to himself as the Literary Lion, is passionate about what he does, and the authors and works he represents. More than that, he is passionate about the written and cinematic arts in general. Beginning with the page of kudos and praises from Miller's loyal clients and associates, to the handy glossary of publishing and movie biz terms in the back of the book. you get it that he knows what he's talking about, so listen up!

The dominant theme of the book is stated in Step #5 in the introductory chapter: The Five Steps To Success As A Writer: Realize that your script could be a book and Vice Versa. As he himself states, his strongest piece of advice is to turn that screenplay into a novel, and though he refrains from treating this idea as a mantra, he builds chapter by chapter, a case for the concept.

Miller soft peddles nothing, emphasizing just how difficult a task is the road to publication, and hopefully to cinema; how important it is to know the game and follow its rules. In forceful and highly readable anecdotal fashion, Miller walks you through the jungle. When you come across a paragraph that begins: "In my experience, as in: "In my experience, the key to success in the film industry is packaging...", your attention ratchets up a notch, and you read a bit slower to absorb the benefit of all that experience he's sharing with you.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you want to get published or produced, this is the book for you!, January 4, 2007

By 

Trisha A. Howell "Howell Canyon Press author" (Los Angeles, CA, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Author! Screenwriter!: How to Succeed as a Writer in New York and Hollywood (Paperback)

There are many books about writing and publishing but none like Author! Screenwriter!, which is worth its weight in gold for the book or screenwriter who is ready to get published/produced. Author Peter Miller, "The Literary Lion," is a top New-York-based manager who specializes not only in getting the best book and movie deals for his clients but also in guiding their whole careers.

Navigating the publishing and entertainment industries through Miller's eyes is incredibly illuminating. He paints a very clear and provocative picture of how both work, and he orients the author within that framework, showing him/her how to make his/her work more saleable.

What I particularly appreciate is Miller's combined publishing and TV/film producing know-how. He shows how to adapt the same story idea to both media, which is clever, lucrative, and creatively fulfilling, pushing an author's career far beyond his or her expectations.

Miller also has a large section on book proposals, schooling authors on how to most savvily present their ideas to potential agents and publishers. I've read literally hundreds of books on writing and publishing, but few are even in the same league with Miller's wise, no-nonsense, practical manual. Read this book!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars contemporary insights for authors, September 14, 2006

By 

C. R. Pettit (Carmel, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Author! Screenwriter!: How to Succeed as a Writer in New York and Hollywood (Paperback)

Surgeons who teach trainees how to do various procedures have a favorite anecdote: "See one, do one, teach one." Author-Manager Peter Miller has 'seen' query letters too numerous to count; 'done' more than a thousand book and screen deals; and has decidedly 'taught one' in this book, Author! Screenwriter! Several sections of Author! Screenwriter! are fresh after several re-reads. Why? Miller deals with contemporary insights and experiences; writes tight; and the contents have utility. Learn and live what he says, and you will succeed.