Rating: 
Summary: Great Book!
Review: This is a great book for the novice screenwriter. There are some fantasic tips in this book. It really points out pitfalls and traps that will identify you as a newbie in Hollywood. I highly recommend it.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Advice for Screenwriters
Review: I wouldn't say that this is the only book on screenwriting you should read, but it contains some really useful tidbits not found elsewhere. The way the book presents the five hundred tips as separate bullets is consistent with the spare writing style advocated by Jennifer Lerch. While other books on scriptwriting give a more comprehensive treatment of the craft (e.g. writing outlines & treatments, marketing, script format), Lerch focuses strictly on the writing end of things. She is obviously fluent in the language of the script. Her terse, no-nonsense style not only describes, but embodies what the writer needs to learn to become a success in this very tough business.
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Summary: A Nitty Gritty Compendium
Review: Jennifer Lerch knows a screen reader's mindset in that she has performed in the field, giving her book meaningful on the scene insight from a professional. She writes in the same kind of snappy, economical style that she recommends. To veer from this course, she warns, is to risk an attention distraction or, fatally, turning off the reader altogether.Jennifer's "500 ways" are the various tips from the trade about what interests script readers as well as what turns them off. She cautions about long lead-ins or narrative description that makes readers think you are trying to direct as well as write a scenario. She lets you know immediately that there is an oceanic expanse separating the long narrative descriptions of characters in novels as opposed to the exigencies of the screen craft, where pictures are worth so many words. In this field the dialogue and scenes containing them must be brief, while the story must follow a dramatic forward thrust from Fade In to Fade Out that keeps readers interested and involved. Lerch explains that readers have short attention spans due to the pressures of handling long and steady volumes of work. It is therefore essential to keep your writing staccato, your characters spelled out briefly, and your scenes following an intriguing progression that keeps your readers interested and on board until Fade Out.
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Summary: Common Sense Advice, but Formulaic
Review: (...)While Ms. Lerch devotes much time to format, and formula (i.e. make your characters stand out, use the 3-act structure), she devotes little to concept, which is the key factor that sells scripts. If you have written something fresh and original, your masterpiece is more apt to attract some buzz than if you've simply crafted the one millionth and first lesbian serial killer story. Other than that, Ms. Lerch covers all the bases, and does a good job of it. The checklist approach she utilizes, however, oversimplifies the craft. I encourage aspiring writers to utilize all the Linda Seger books in addition to this, especially the one on "Creating Unforgettable Characters."
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Summary: Long Title, But Even Better Book -- It Keeps Its Promises!
Review: The only thing I would change about the book is the title. Then again, the title caught my eye. An alternate title could have been, "Getting Past the Hollywood Reader" or "500 Ways Past the Hollywood Reader" or something short. But Jennifer Lerch's book, called by any title, delivers more than it promises. It is an essential guide to writing scripts. Frankly, I carry it with me everywhere, and recommend it to all aspiring screenwriters I meet -- which is about one out of three people who enters a bookstore (or so it seems). I simply loved Jennifer Lerch's book; and come to think of it, I think her title is perfect. Guess I'm one of those screenwriters with a kind of dyslexia for titles. But DO get past the title of 500 WAYS TO BEAT THE HOLLYWOOD SCRIPT READER and Jennifer Lerch will open the doors to wonderful techniques in storytelling, screenplay structure, keeping your characters interesting and meaningful, and more. One of the best books around! Buy it and keep it nearby.
Rating: 
Summary: Has some good info
Review: This is an extremely thin book (175 pages) and most of it is the same old stuff we've heard: 61-63 Make your Characters Distinct. Yea, right. But other parts are very useful, 222: The opening sequence ... runs between 10-15 pages and contains between 3-5 scenes. Others I'm still pondering, 8: Get a Los Angeles phone number.
Rating: 
Summary: Extremely redundant but it's honest
Review: I have to say getting through this book was really kind of torturous. Basically, it's 100 things if that. The portion on ACT II is interesting if onlybecause so this is by far the most difficult part of a script. The author knows this and attacks all of the problems. But even then, it could have been written in three pages instead of 150 annoying little items. A thoroughly obnoxious format. Everything here is more or less in Lew Hunter's book anyway. The only unique thing is her perspective as a reader, but as others pointed out, why the hell do you want to write for a reader anyway? I'd say SKIP IT.
Rating:
Summary: Well worth the price
Review: As a person new to writing screenplays, I found this book extremely helpful. The language is easy to read, and easy to understand. It focuses on everyday, common mistakes we all make. At first I was put off by the title. I thought it was too flashy. But I heard other positive recommendations, so I decided to buy it. I'm very glad I did!
Rating:
Summary: A useful resource
Review: As much as I enjoyed this book, I have to take a couple points off. It's a good read and I highly recommend it. It has some real flaws. One, it assumes you are using the three act paradigm. If you are using it, this is bound to really help you bring your story out. If you are not using it, it can still be helpful, but not nearly as much so. Two, it repeats itself too much. It's more like 200 ways restated several times. Three, this book is written for people who are trying to sell. It should give more credit to its readers. It should assume that they know how to format and have the basics of story structure. But, it doesn't. There are enough books written already that deal with the basics of screenwriting. This book would have been better if it focused on the more minute details that a writer is likely to overlook. It's really an elementry screenwriting book masked as a how-to sell book. All these things aside, there are things to be learned here. It's written from the perspective of actual readers. It's good to know what you are dealing with when you are sending your material out. It's a bit frightening when you realize that this book written by a reader based on input from other readers is so strongly pushing the three-act/hero's journey formulas.
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Summary: The brass tacks on screenwriting
Review: This easy-to-follow manual serves as a nice quick-look guide for the screenwriters who are still honing their craft. While there are other how-to books of greater depth, this is the one you want to reference when you get bogged down and can't climb out of your writing funk. Most important and most useful to you, it's a great reminder that you are writing for an audience of one--a reader, actually, and not some agent or producer in a darkened theater. My suggestion: read this book and then make a workable outline of hints to keep at your elbow.
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