How to Write It, How to Sell It: Everything a Screenwriter Needs to Know About Hollywood: Amazon.ca: Linda Palmer: Books

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"She is magic . . . Entertaining, educating, and charming [students] all at the same time. I would follow her anywhere." —Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey

"Deviate from [Linda's teachings] at your own risk."—Rod Amateau, producer, director, and screenwriter

Book Description

As a producer and successful screenwriter, Linda Palmer knows all of Hollywood's trade secrets--and in How to Write It, How to Sell It, she shares them all.
Linda Palmer knows that even in closed-door Hollywood, if your screenplay snags the interest of a producer, it doesn't matter who you are--you're in. The trick is getting your screenplay into the producer's hands. As a former vice president of production at Tristar Pictures and a credited screenwriter, Linda Palmer has a unique understanding of both sides of Hollywood's desk.

In How to Write It, How to Sell It, she shares her knowledge with aspiring screenwriters, and she does so with the same charm the students of her popular UCLA Extension class have come to love and depend on. Straightforward and personable, Palmer uses the movies she loves to illustrate discussions of plot, structure, and character. From the layout of the page to the pitch to tips on sneaking by Hollywood's notorious readers, Palmer explains the business of show business as only one who knows it from the inside can.

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Inside This Book (Learn More)

First Sentence
Screenwriters need to know more than just how to write a good story. Read the first page

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Concordance

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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover

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Customer Reviews

11 Reviews

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Average Customer Review

4.5 out of 5 stars (11 customer reviews)

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5.0 out of 5 stars Learn from the Best, Sep 16 2001

By

Kevin Hing (St. Petersburg, Florida United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: How to Write It, How to Sell It: Everything a Screenwriter Needs to Know About Hollywood (Paperback)

For most of us who are not natural geniuses (or the offspring of a major director/producer/star/agent), learning the craft of screenwriting requires determination, resilience, and, most of all, guidance from someone who REALLY knows the entertainment industry, the art of storytelling, craft of screenwriting and the game of getting your stuff read, considered and accepted for production.

For expert guidance, look to LINDA PALMER. She is an exceptionally gifted and generous teacher in a business where those who have tasted true success are rarely willing to share their secrets. If you are fortunate enough to live in Los Angeles, enroll in her UCLA Extension writing course...it will be the best investment you ever make in your writing career. If not, then move to LA for the sole purpose of taking her class. If you cant do that, you are still in luck, since her book does an excellent job of capturing the essence of her live classes.

OK, now lets get a few things straight. Some customer reviews of this book have said that it is not well organized (lacks an index). Others have said Linda talks about herself a lot. Others have said the book doesnt cover minute stylistic details like punctuation and text on the screen. None of these criticisms should dissuade you from purchasing and reading this book.

I didnt have a problem with the organization. The table of contents is perfectly adequate to tell you what she's talking about, and this book is so excellent and informative you should read it carefully from cover to cover anyway. Linda does refer to her personal experiences a lot, but that is one of the great strengths of the book, since unlike many authors on the subject, she has a full breadth of personal experience that is of value to any young writer. Linda also avoids getting bogged down in the fine formatting minutia because the main emphasis of the book is about storytelling and character development. If you want to learn screenplay formatting minutia, then perhaps you need another book, but Linda covers all of the important basics of screenplay format and encourages writers to focus on crafting a good story with good characters. As Linda would say, story and characters is what gets you in the door, and that's what counts.

She uses hundreds of excellent examples of past movies, storylines and characters in covering the elements of screenwriting, essentially saving you hundreds of hours of trying to figure this stuff out on your own.

She also has excellent advice on how to pitch your story and other facts about the business.

Buy the book. Read it. Linda Palmer gives you the tools for success. The rest is up to you.

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3.0 out of 5 stars Good information, but very unorganized, July 1 2000

By

Robert Graves (Thompson Station, TN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How to Write It, How to Sell It: Everything a Screenwriter Needs to Know About Hollywood (Paperback)

This book is a good introduction to screenwriting and certainly contains sound information. Let me say that first - you will learn from this book, and eventually it should be in your collection. The rating of 3 stars comes from an almost complete lack of organization in the book. Palmer tends to jump around from subject to subject, and the worst part is, there's NO INDEX! Sure, you'll learn how and when to use "your" and "you're," or "its" and "it's" (which Palmer overdoes throughout the book as an attempted joke), but why do I capitalize only certain words in the screenplay? How do I superimpose words on the screen? The book is silent on practical info such as this, and if it IS in there, it's hard to find because of the lack of organization. For the price, you can get much better books, such as "Writing Screenplays That Sell" by Michael Hauge. It's unfortunate, because Palmer is obviously talented and has much to say. It's just that the book needs a little more of that germane information and it definitely needs an INDEX.

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5.0 out of 5 stars It's Fool-proof, Nov 29 1999

By

Sandra Jerome - See all my reviews

This review is from: How to Write It, How to Sell It: Everything a Screenwriter Needs to Know About Hollywood (Paperback)

Okay, I admit that I read it as required reading for my screenwriting class at UCLA, but now this book has become my bible. If you don't read anything else, use Chapter 4 as a checklist �before you think a script is ready to go out. I read it before my scripts got submitted to my instructors (and I have earned all "A''s so far!)

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Comprehensive, accurate, from the shoulder.
With all the books out there on screenwriting, Palmer's book shines from the pinnacle. It's direct, it's voice is genuine, it's useful. Read more

Published on Aug 24 1999 by Roberta Degnore PhD

5.0 out of 5 stars Writer-friendly practical handbook demystifies screenwriting
After reading "How to Write it, How to Sell It" by Linda Palmer and applying what I learned from her teachings, the first producer who read my very first screenplay... Read more

Published on Aug 15 1999