Stage Writers Handbook: A Complete Business Guide for Playwrights, Composers, Lyricists and Librettists [Paperback]

Dana Singer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 1996

The first comprehensive guide to the business of writing for today's stage.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

A left-brained book for right-brained people. Or maybe it's the other way around. Subtitled A Complete Business Guide for Playwrights, Composers, Lyricists, and Librettists, the book sets out clearly and straightforwardly what to expect, what your responsibilities are, what your rights are, how much to charge for your services and how to protect yourself as a professional theater writer today. It's all here: copyrights, agents, contracts, script approval, credits, royalties . . . all the stuff that could make you--or break you.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Theatre Communications Group; First Edition edition (May 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1559361166
• ISBN-13: 978-1559361163
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #382,215 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sometimes it helps to have a lawyer, January 29, 2002

By 

Peter Ernst (Palisades Park, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Stage Writers Handbook: A Complete Business Guide for Playwrights, Composers, Lyricists and Librettists (Paperback)

...This is not a book about playwriting, nor is it that much help to a playwright who is trying to get his/her work noticed. Yes, there is a section about marketing and promotion, but the writer here is a lawyer and this book is strongest when it deals directly with the many legal quandries a playwright can get into. I have already consulted it numerous times in regards to copyright issues and what were my rights going into a production. That said, I do find it curious that, while she has a large section dealing with various legal issues between a director and a playwright, she has left out entirely any discussion of problems a playwright may have with Actors Equity. How could, for example, future productions be encumbered if you allow an Equity production to go forward? That question wasn't answered, but many others were and for that I find this book to be invaluable.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Everyone who writes for the stage should get this book., March 31, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Stage Writers Handbook: A Complete Business Guide for Playwrights, Composers, Lyricists and Librettists (Paperback)

I've been telling everyone about Dana's amazing book.

The biggest surprise for me was that it's very readable--even enjoyable. It's not only a reference book to turn to when you have a question. I've read it through twice and gone back to specific sections when I needed them.

It's already saved me from making a couple of big mistakes, gotten me off my duff to take care of some business I'd let slip and given me direction in areas I never quite understood.

Give it to a friend - student, novice, mid-career or even established playwright, lyricist, theater composer or book writer - for his or her birthday. It'll be the best present they'll get.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dated But Valuable, June 1, 2004

By 

Kevin L. Nenstiel "omnivore" (Kearney, Nebraska) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Stage Writers Handbook: A Complete Business Guide for Playwrights, Composers, Lyricists and Librettists (Paperback)

This book is absolutely drop-dead necessary for playwrights who intend to work in the field--and for other writers, too. It includes scads of information you'll never get in any MFA program, like how to negotiate a good contract, how to decipher copyright law, how to divide billing fairly, and more. This is information you need, and information colleges and universities unfortunately don't get around to teaching.

This book is primarily focused on U.S. artistic business and law. If you live in another country, parts of this book will be useful to you, but you'll need to do research as to your country's law and business conventions. At least if you have this book, you'll have an idea what it is you're seeking.

Author Dana Singer published this book in 1997, and at that late date, it's odd that she didn't include more on using the internet in conducting your playwriting business. There are a lot of useful forms, organizations, and contacts provided in this book, but you'll need to Google them if you want to use the 'net for them. If a second edition ever comes out, hopefully there will be more weblinks, at least for the U.S. Copyright Office if nothing else.

Your knowledge of the points in this book can make or break your playwriting career. Though dated and synoptic, it's the most thorough-going collection of information on the topic I've yet seen. Read it, memorize it, and keep it on your desk. You never know, right?