How to Enter Screenplay Contests & Win!

Rating:
Summary: Easy to read summaries and schedules of contest deadlines.
Review: Erik's book organizes the contests in a manner which allow writers to submit to the ones which seem most appropriate. Specific contests are described; including info on guidelines, fees, and number of people who submit each year. He even projects odds of winning for each.

Rating:
Summary: Easy to read summaries and schedules of contest deadlines.
Review: Erik's book organizes the contests in a manner which allow writers to submit to the ones which seem most appropriate. Specific contests are described; including info on guidelines, fees, and number of people who submit each year. He even projects odds of winning for each.

Rating:
Summary: Effective advice, but I would have liked more
Review: For the price of this book, there isn't a lot of information presented here. But the author, Erik Joseph, does at least provide an overview of what to expect when entering a screenplay contest.

The first part of the book describes structuring. I was skeptical about this section in particular since I've seen some great screenwriting books devoted to this. And, the author doesn't really go much into structure but scratch the surface, relying on quotes to guide the novice screenwriter.

But Mr. Joseph does at least cover what the screenwriting contests consider standard formatting for screenplays. So I'd say his advice on formatting was effective and helpful.

As for the screenwriting contests themselves, Mr. Joseph provides a one page overview of 42 screenwriting competitions. This section could definitely have been condensed. I think about every screenwriting journal out there lists these contests frequently in their respective publications ("Creative Screenwriting," by the way, is my personal favorite of those publications).

Further along in the book are a few interviews. I always like interviews in screenwriting books, and I will sometimes buy a screenwriting book just for the interviews. However, these are very short and terse and could have been more effective (I guess not everyone can interview like Barbara Walters, so I'll cut the author SOME slack).

An excellent chapter (only two pages though) is entitled "Good Examples of Bad Screenwriting." It contains actual samples of bad writing in submitted entries. Examining those atrocities was very helpful. However, I thought the author could have expanded on these a little more or explained why he chose specific ones for inclusion (are these frequent mistakes? how can one best avoid them? what are good sources for further refinement of grammar?)

Overall, I will give "How to Enter Screenplay Contests & Win!" four stars because it is effective in its discussion of screenwriting contests. However, I would have liked more advice and a longer book (it's 170 pages; but a lot of the pages are partially blank). And the cover of the book was not up to par due to the advertising blurbs on it that were entirely superfluous ("over $3 million in guaranteed cash!" on the front cover; and "win millions of dollars with your movie idea!" on the back cover).

In short, I'd like to see a second edition of this book that is expanded upon. However, I do think the product as it stands now is effective in accurately describing screenwriting contests and motivating aspiring writers to enter them.

Rating:
Summary: Effective advice, but I would have liked more
Review: For the price of this book, there isn't a lot of information presented here. But the author, Erik Joseph, does at least provide an overview of what to expect when entering a screenplay contest.

The first part of the book describes structuring. I was skeptical about this section in particular since I've seen some great screenwriting books devoted to this. And, the author doesn't really go much into structure but scratch the surface, relying on quotes to guide the novice screenwriter.

But Mr. Joseph does at least cover what the screenwriting contests consider standard formatting for screenplays. So I'd say his advice on formatting was effective and helpful.

As for the screenwriting contests themselves, Mr. Joseph provides a one page overview of 42 screenwriting competitions. This section could definitely have been condensed. I think about every screenwriting journal out there lists these contests frequently in their respective publications ("Creative Screenwriting," by the way, is my personal favorite of those publications).

Further along in the book are a few interviews. I always like interviews in screenwriting books, and I will sometimes buy a screenwriting book just for the interviews. However, these are very short and terse and could have been more effective (I guess not everyone can interview like Barbara Walters, so I'll cut the author SOME slack).

An excellent chapter (only two pages though) is entitled "Good Examples of Bad Screenwriting." It contains actual samples of bad writing in submitted entries. Examining those atrocities was very helpful. However, I thought the author could have expanded on these a little more or explained why he chose specific ones for inclusion (are these frequent mistakes? how can one best avoid them? what are good sources for further refinement of grammar?)

Overall, I will give "How to Enter Screenplay Contests & Win!" four stars because it is effective in its discussion of screenwriting contests. However, I would have liked more advice and a longer book (it's 170 pages; but a lot of the pages are partially blank). And the cover of the book was not up to par due to the advertising blurbs on it that were entirely superfluous ("over $3 million in guaranteed cash!" on the front cover; and "win millions of dollars with your movie idea!" on the back cover).

In short, I'd like to see a second edition of this book that is expanded upon. However, I do think the product as it stands now is effective in accurately describing screenwriting contests and motivating aspiring writers to enter them.