Keynote talk Pacific Northwest Writers Conference 7/29/07

THE VISIONARY BRIDGE

Each of us stand on the smallest and most dynamic and most important bridge in human experience -- one that everyone would like to be standing on but few have the courage to attempt. It's the bridge of VISION -- that links dream with reality. It's a very small bridge and very narrow and uncomfortable when you first step onto it. But the longer you're on it, the more maneuvering room you realize you have. The more comfortable it becomes standing on that razor's edge. You learn to tap dance. You learn to enjoy the dance, to sing while you dance.

As storytellers who are here this weekend because you actively pursue your vision, you know full well how narrow the bridge we stand on is, how fragile. But you should also know that we're heroes for attempting to cross this bridge. I'd like to begin my remarks by reading you a poem by perhaps the greatest Greek poet since Homer and Sappho. His name was Cavafy, and he lived in Alexandria, Egypt, and died less than a hundred years ago:

The First Step

The young poet Evmenis
complained one day to Theocritus:
"I've been writing for two years now
and I've composed only one idyll.
It's my single completed work.
I see, sadly, that the ladder
of Poetry is tall, extremely tall;
and from this first step I'm standing on now
I'll never climb any higher."
Theocritus retorted: "Words like that
are improper, blasphemous.
Just to be on the first step
should make you happy and proud.
To have reached this point is no small achievement:
what you've done already is a wonderful thing.
Even this first step
is a long way above the ordinary world.
To stand on this step
you must be in your own right
a member of the city of ideas.
And it's a hard, unusual thing
to be enrolled as a citizen of that city.
Its councils are full of Legislators
no charlatan can fool.
To have reached this point is no small achievement:
what you've done already is a wonderful thing."

So let's applaud ourselves right now for even before here today, on this step -- whether it is your first, or whether you've taken a few steps already. If you are among the latter, you'll appreciate the words of the great playwright-poet Samuel Beckett: "Do not come down the ladder. I have taken it away."

As a person who manages storytellers and who's written stories, edited and developed them, reviewed them, analyzed them, taken them apart and put them back together, sold them, publicized them, and produced them for television and motion pictures -- including a great story by Seattle resident and my client Royce Buckingham, who Demonkeeper published by Putnam and being produced at Fox 2000, I'd like to share the difference between teaching and doing with you. You can already see why I call my Writer's Lifeline company, "your bridge to the professional world." Eight of our clients have crossed the bridge to bestseller status.

Before I founded that company, and Atchity Entertainment International -- my literary management and film production company that's developing Royce's DEMONKEEPER as well as Jim Carrey's RIPLEYS BELIEVE IT OR NOT I was a tenured professor of comparative literature for nearly twenty years before I woke up to my own vision. My first project in my second career -- the one I chose for myself, as you are choosing yours -- was a series of romantic movies that ended up being 16 films that have played throughout the world in 32 countries, and on Cinemax here in the U.S. as well as video and DVD. To get to the reality of those films was one of the most horrendous experiences of my life -- and cost me every cent of my academically limited reserves, and substantial input from investors as well. At a farewell party when my leave of absence became terminal, one of my best friends among the faculty asked me, over his at least third martini, "Atchity, what does it feel like to become an immoral producer." I was so stunned by his question that I didn't come up with the perfect answer until the next morning: "Exactly the way it did to be an immoral professor."

The academic world, much as I loved the literature and the lecturing and the students, bothered the hell out of me because so much of it is petty on a daily basis and so much of it is based on FEAR rather than on ENTHUSIASM, the fire of the god breathing within you. Everyone worries about drawing lines and seeking the truth, instead of thinking outside the box and TURNING DREAMS into reality. A few days after that remark I managed to get VARIETY to place an article about the project on its front page, strongly implying that a number of distributors were already in serious discussions. How many they were and how serious were the discussions is somehow lost now in the fog of history.

But that day the same professor called me, having seen the Variety article, and asked, "Is what I read really true?"

"What do you mean by really true?" I asked him. "Is it happening?" he answered.

"Yes," I said, and by that answer moved onto this bridge we're standing on here together.

What was really true at that moment was my vision of the project. Everything else was up in the air. Pilate's age old question, "What is truth?" was ringing in my ears, along with earlier insinuations of immorality. But by the end of the day -- and certainly 4 days later -- everything had changed. The contract was signed on Tuesday. Two months later I was standing by an open field near Montreal while a scouting crew measured it for a romantic horseback ride in our first film. Fourteen more scripts followed shortly after, and the movies were in production -- 16 of them. I'd moved to Montreal, without most of my earthly possessions, and without my moralistic professor friend. I didn't have time to call him back to say, "yes, now it's really true." I figured he could read about it in Variety.

What this taught me is how important it is to understand the BUSINESS of being a visionary, a person others call mad or insane. Remind them of Salvador Dali's response: "The difference between myself and a madman is that I am not mad."

I always say that the difference between a visionary and a con man in the creative world is SUCCESS. No one believes you can really do it, because everyone has told them how hard it is. Yes, it is difficult. That's why, though everyone in the world has a story, NOT everyone -- only YOU -- are doing something about.

Welcome to the world of storytellers: What is a storyteller? A storyteller is a dreamer who communicates his dreams to all of us. Doing so is not only his privilege, it's his responsibility.

What's your story?

A question hurled at us from every direction.

What's it got to do with my story?

But what's the real story?

Do I believe her story?

Whose story do you believe?

I got tired of his story.

There's something about their story that doesn't add up.

Let's get our stories straight.

Let me tell you a story…

As Muriel Rukeyser said, for us humans, "the universe is made of stories, not of atoms."

No one is FORCING you to tell your stories to the world.

You're here by your free choice, while they are behind their counters or their commuting dashboards or their tellers' windows because they are afraid to take the chances you are getting used to. You're following your dream.

What we learn from this is:

TOUGHEN UP.

KEEP MOVING FORWARD DESPITE YOUR PRESENT MOOD.

PERSIST. NEVER GIVE UP.

NEVER PUT DEADLINES ON YOUR CAREER.

TAKE YOUR CAREER, NOT YOURSELF, SERIOUSLY.

NEVER PUT ASIDE YOUR VISION, BUT PERFECT IT, PERFECT IT, PERFECT IT and make allies of those who can help you do that to bring your craft and skills to the level of your talent and ambition. If you continue pursuing your dream no matter what UNTIL you achieve it -- and then you'll have bigger dreams, of course -- by definition YOU CAN'T FAIL. Carlyle said "success is steady progress toward a worthy goal."

Walt Disney was turned down 302 times before he got financing for Disneyland.

Frank Herbert's DUNE was rejected 36 times. Don't let your agent give up at 32!

George Lucas was forced to put up his own money to pay for "Star Wars" because NO ONE believed in his vision. By the time the film came out, he was bankrupt. He is now fabulously wealthy of course -- PRECISELY BECAUSE HE WAS UNABLE TO SELL ANY OF THE RIGHTS TO THE FILM OR ITS SEQUELS.

Jerzy Kosinski's STEPS won awards, but was rejected by publishers 34 times -- once by its very own publisher, after it had already been published.

Yes, the business of becoming and being a professional writer is hard. The hard part is the great part. That's why you've chosen to do it. The river is wide between where we are now and the success and attention we want is on the other side. You don't NEED to do this. You WANT to do this. What could be a better mission in life? How can you fail at being yourself?

And now you know what the bridge is, and how to get across it. Promise me you won't fall off.

inspire@thestorymerchant.com or tips@thewriterslifeline.com

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MAJOR FRANCHISES

AEI has sold, and is producing, these major franchises:

Noire, the provocative #1 Essence Bestselling Queen of Urban Erotica, whose books include G-Spot, Candy Licker, Thug-a-Licious, Baby Brother, Thong on Fire, and Hood.

Ripley's Believe It Or Not! Jim Carrey and Gong-Li starring, Tim Burton directing; AEI producing with Richard Zanuck and Alphaville at Paramount. Script by Scott A. Alexander and Larry Karaszewski ("People vs. Larry Flynt," "Man on the Moon") and by Steve Oedekerk ("Bruce Almighty").

Royce Buckingham's Demon Keeper, Putnam's; in development with Fox 2000.

Three Men Seeking Monsters: Six Weeks in Pursuit of Werewolves, Lake Monsters, Giant Cats, Ghostly Devil Dogs, and Ape-Men by Nick Redfern, Jon Heder (Napoleon Dynamite) starring. AEI producing with Heder's Greasy Entertainment at Universal.

Meg, based on Steve Alten's New York Times Bestselling Novel, producing with Larry Gordon Productions ("Die Hard," "Lara Croft"), and Nick Nunziata, Jan de Bont ("Speed," "Twister") attached to direct script by Shane Salerno ("Armageddon," "Shaft").

AEI has offices in Los Angeles and New York, and Associate Managers throughout the U.S. and in eleven foreign countries.

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MERCHANDISING YOUR STORY

In today's competitive creative marketplace, the reality of selling your story - whether it is fiction or from life - takes more than just writing it down and waiting for someone to notice your genius. It takes a fully dedicated approach, a savvy business mind, and, more than anything, understanding exactly how the business you are trying to break into works. The fantasy of waking up one day and suddenly being on the best-seller list is unfortunately not the reality. Dan Brown was virtually an unknown until The Da Vinci Code, and now his earlier works are finding themselves on best-seller lists too. With a little luck, and a lot of hard work, you too can be a successful Story Merchant - someone who's not only a good storyteller, but also believes in his or her story enough to make sure it finds its market.

The starting point to success is how you think about your story from its inception. At AEI (www.aeionline.com) and The Writer's Lifeline (www.thewriterslifeline.com), we think of our clients as storytellers, not as novelists or screenwriters. The biggest mistake many writers make is thinking of themselves as only a novelist, only a game inventor, only a comic book writer, only a screenwriter for film or TV. While of course it's not a poor choice to dedicate your time and your craft to the medium you are currently most adept at, our most successful storytellers hone their skill set and learn to write in all formats, or for all formats. This means crafting a story with a high concept that is adaptable to all media. A high concept is a one-line pitch that describes your story (prehistoric mega- shark terrorizes California coast - Steve Alten's Meg [book trilogy, screenplay, videogame]).

The ability to wear both hats means more success for you in this business. AEI client, now partner in his own production company Warp & Weft, John Scott Shepherd wrote the screenplays for the films Joe Somebody and Life or Something Like it, which AEI produced for Fox. He's also found success in the publishing industry with his novels The Dead Father's Guide to Sex & Marriage (Pocket Books), and Henry's List of Wrongs (Rugged Land), which director Mark Waters ("Mean Girls") will direct for AEI and New Line Cinema. In addition, Shepherd's ABC television series The Days has been met with critical success. Just like any of the most passionately successful storytellers, John learned there's more than one way to tell stories. You can learn that too.

The second key is to think of your story, and yourself, as a brand that is sellable to NY and Hollywood. A brand is a product that is a household name, like Levi's or Windex, except in this case we're talking about Steven King and Steven Spielberg, Steve Alten, James Michael Pratt ("the master of moral fiction"), Jamise Dames (who writes for those who check "Other" on their census questionnaire), or John Scott Shepherd. When you think of Steven King, you know you're going to get horror and suspense. You must think about yourself as a writer and the expectations of your readers in this same way. What is your brand? What are you selling to the public? Are you the person who writes those fantastic historical romances? The person who writes the mysteries centering around one character (a la Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series) or the person who writes fantasy for the big screen like Tim Burton? Also keep in mind to study market trends and see what is hot right now (our Internet column, "What's Hot/What's Not" on aeionline.com is updated regularly for that purpose). Aspiring book writers, fiction or nonfiction, especially should be aware that women make up 70% of the book buyers.

While the writing itself is the first step, the next step is being collaborative - taking notes from people who are familiar with the marketplace, and being able to improve your work; the final
step is promotion and publicity. There are numerous things writers can do to spread the word and garner media attention for their product. Successful publicity can lead to brand name status:
- Securing a well connected agent or manager is key, as they know who to talk to and how to spread your name in the industry.
- Hire a publicist. They can help you land radio or TV spots, get you interviewed in newspapers or magazines, coordinate book signings, and much more.
- Do you have something educational to share? The Learning Annex is always looking for new teachers. This avenue is a great way to share your knowledge and contribute to the world. There are Learning Annex locations in many cities across the U.S., and their bi-monthly catalog (a good place for ads!) reaches 2 million people.
- Come up with a marketing scheme. Start a website! Get your link sponsored on other websites. Write emails! Send an email to friends, family and co-workers about your product, and ask them to pass it along to everyone they know. You'll be amazed how fast word of mouth spreads!
- Read books on publicity, such as The Savvy Author's Guide to Book Publicity by Lissa Warren (Carol & Graf, Dec. 2003), Guerilla Publicity: Hundreds of Sure-Fire Tactics to Get Maximum Sales for Minimum Dollars by Jay Conrad Levinson, Rick Frishman and Jill Lubin (Adams Media Corporation, June 2002) and How to Get on Oprah...and Other PR Secrets by Rick Frishman (audio cassette, FME Publishing, Sept. 2002)

Remember, even Shakespeare had to schmooze Queen Elizabeth to get support for his plays, and the ancient playwrights Aristophanes, Sophocles, and Euripides had to raise money each year to mount their plays competitively in the Great Athenian Festival. It takes serious effort and business savvy to thrive in this business of taking stories to market.

Above all, you must believe in your story. Romantic notions must fly out the window if you have any desire to succeed in this business. As much as writing is a solitary exercise, the business is a collaborative enterprise, and writers must be prepared to take constructive criticism, re-work plot lines, develop and adapt their tale to fit the needs of the marketplace. Remember, you are not just a writer, you are a Story Merchant.

With more than thirty years experience in the publishing world, and over ten years in entertainment, Ken Atchity is a writer, producer, teacher, and literary manager, responsible for launching dozens of books and films. Based on his own teaching and writing experience, he has successfully built bestselling careers for novelists, nonfiction writers, and screenwriters from the ground up. Now, as chairman and CEO of Atchity Editorial/Entertainment International, Inc., Ken is maximizing his entrepreneurial skills to provide a one-stop full-service management machine for commercial and literary writers by building their presence on the web, promoting their books and careers through public relations, media management, and speaking engagements, selling their books to publishers, and producing motion pictures and television films of client screenplays, novels, and non-fiction books. AEI, a literary management and motion picture company, is always looking for author submissions, especially:
- Celebrity or "branded" books and films that can be series
- Authors who are ready to move from one medium to another - a successful author wanting to break into film, a comic book writer wanting to write screenplays or novels, a successful screenwriter wanting to write novels, etc.
- Books by women or written for women
- Successfully self-published books that can be taken to the national market
- Novels with a fresh or contemporary voice and/or film potential.
- Pop culture, music books and music related films
- Celebrity biographies
- Multicultural/Ethnic fiction
- Entrepreneurial business books by distinguished business leaders
- Personal achievement by nationally know names
- Visionary, heroic and true stories of every kind
- Narrative non-fiction/memoir
- Non-religious inspirational
- Mainstream commercial novels - action, suspense, mainstream romance, espionage, outstanding science fiction that can
also be made into TV or feature films
- Dramatic fiction with fresh, original voice - especially by women and minorities
- Screenplays - especially adaptations of classics into modern times; teen action; comedy; horror; heroic true stories (past
or present), especially involving families in a crisis; action; thrillers; serious dramas for big stars; romantic comedy;
science fiction with strong characters; female driven heroic stories

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QUICK WRITING ANALYSIS Is Your Work Ready for Market?

Find out before investing your time or money with our affordable Quick Writing Analysis Service!

Here's what you'll get:
Commercial evaluation
We'll let you know if your novel, screenplay, nonfiction book, or children's story is commercial in today's marketplace and, if not, why not. If it's fiction, we'll also tell you if it would be stronger as a book or a screenplay.

Problem Areas
We'll point out any specific flaws
(a) in your story: character arc, plot, development, etc. - even the writing itself; or
(b) in your nonfiction approach.

Suggested Improvements
A few specific suggestions to address any of these problem areas.
You only get one chance to make a first impression.

Make it your best.

Just $75 for a one-page Quick Writing Analysis of your two-page synopsis ("overview" or "treatment"), sent in to us in Courier New 12-point, on single-sided double-spaced pages, and your two best sample pages.

If you can't seem to get your synopsis down to two pages, add $25 for each additional page you send. (Sample pages are limited to only two.) Each analysis and consultation is performed by a published novelist, published nonfiction writer, or optioned screenwriter, and double-checked by a professional Writer's Lifeline editor with best-selling marketing savvy. Your analysis will be sent to you by email at the address specified by you. Please allow seven days for turnaround.

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INTRODUCING AEI BOOKTRAILERS TO PROMOTE YOUR AUTHORS

Hi Ken Atchity here from Atchity Entertainment.

Just thought you'd like to see a new service from AEI -- the AEI BookTrailer, the sample one showing David Angsten's Dark Gold. You can also view it on www.davidangsten.com -- find and click the pink bikini!

Promote Your Author's Books With AEI's BookTrailers
Write publicity@aeionline.com for pricing and more information.


ABOUT AEI
AEI is focused on developing and producing major franchises:Ripley's Believe It Or Not! Jim Carrey and Gong-Li starring, Tim Burton directing; AEI producing with Richard Zanuck and Alphaville at Paramount. Script by Scott A. Alexander and Larry Karaszewski ("People vs. Larry Flynt," "Man on the Moon").

Royce Buckingham's Demon Keeper, forthcoming from Putnam's and in development with Fox 2000.

Meg, based on Steve Alten's New York Times Bestselling Novel, producing with Larry Gordon Productions ("Die Hard," "Lara Croft"), Guillermo del Toro ("Hellboy") and Nick Nunziata, Jan de Bont ("Speed," "Twister") attached to direct script by Shane Salerno ("Armageddon," "Shaft").
Noire, the provocative #1 Essence Bestselling Queen of Urban Erotica, licks some more candy out of the ballpark.

The Writer's Lifeline, Inc.

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Seven Bestsellers and Counting...


The Writer's Lifeline, Inc., is a full-service editorial development company that prepares stories (books, treatments, true accounts, scripts) for representation in the commercial marketplace for publishing and motion picture or television production.
Literally millions of people have great stories to tell. As the new millennium unfolds, literary assets are among the most valuable properties in the world. The Writer's Lifeline, Inc. is a story-merchant company that assists storytellers in turning their literary properties into commercial assets primed to earn income in all possible markets.

ABOUT THE WRITER'S LIFELINE, INC.
The company was incorporated in July, 2000 by Dr. Kenneth Atchity (Yale Ph.D.) , who is also chair of Atchity Entertainment International, a motion picture production and literary management company (www.aeionline.com). As a direct result of Dr. Atchity's focus on sales, Writer's Lifeline editors and development execs base their mentoring and literary productivity not only on artistic integrity but also on commercial marketability -- with an aim toward securing representation for the client at the end of the process. As a "bridge to the professional world," The Writer's Lifeline, Inc. occupies a unique niche in the world of literary entertainment -- a company devoted to taking storytellers from amateur to professional status, with a track record proving its effectiveness!

The Writer's Lifeline, Inc. serves the needs of two clienteles:
1) Storytellers are teamed with editors and development specialists who mentor them one on one to bring their skills and craft to the level of their vision and ambition.

2) Storytellers with great stories to tell, or information to impart, who have no wish to become commercial writers are teamed with editors and writers who tell their stories for them to ensure its readiness for professional representation by agents and managers. For both kinds of clients, The Writer's Lifeline, Inc. ensures that no work is undertaken without first taking marketing into consideration.

Editorial/writing services include: _conceptual focus _ mentoring _rewriting _ghostwriting _books to film _marketing _business books _treatments _screenplays _book proposals _translation _photography _distribution _children's books _industrial films _documentaries _research _copyediting

The Writer's Lifline, Inc. success stories have included

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-Governor Jesse Ventura's best-sellers I Ain't Got Time to Bleed (13 weeks The New York Times Bestseller List) & Do I Stand Alone?

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-Steve Alten's Meg (followed by The Trench, and Primal Waters), sold to Walt Disney, then New Line for $1.1 mil; to Doubleday-Bantam for $2.2.. Movie directed by Jan de Bont ("Speed," "Twister")

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-The Amazing World of Ripley's Believe-It-or-Not! and Ripley's Believe-It-or-Not! Encyclopedia of the Bizarre (Julie Moonie) (movie starring Jim Carrey, directed byTim Burton)

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- John Scott Shepherd ("Life or Something Like It" (Angelina Jolie), " Joe Somebody" (Tim Allen), and novels Henry's List of Wrongs -and- The Dead Father's Guide to Sex & Marriage (Pocket Books).

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-The Learning Annex: provided writing and editorial services for its line of books published by John Wiley & Sons.

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-Los Angeles Times bestselling Cheryl Saban's Sins of the Mother and Shirley Palmer's Lioness, Danger Zone, and The Trade; James Pratt's The Last Valentine.

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Subscribe free to our daily inspirational newsletter by writing to inspire@storymerchant.com for latest client news, info on our sister company, Atchity Entertainment International, and contests and awards available to writers.

Turning Books Into Film: Navigating the Industry
originally posted: December 31, 2006

Turning Books Into Film: Navigating the Industry
by Ken Atchity

Option/Sale vs.Packaging

This column will explore various issues involved with the process by which books, fiction or nonfiction, published or otherwise, make their way to the big or little screen. Warning to the reader: There are exceptions to everything I'll be talking about here. I'm basing this advice on describing what most often happens in film and television, not on prescribing anything.

Authors who've already made one or two sales to Hollywood, or are otherwise financially solvent, are often frustrated when their books seem to wither on the development vine; all too often they enjoy neither the financial payoff of the option's exercise, nor the emotional payoff of seeing their story on the screen.

When a sale of a book's dramatic rights is made, it's often by a 'correspondent agent' in Los Angeles, one who their literary agent hands the book off to for sale to the broadcasters or studios. The correspondent agent makes a commission -- ranging from 10% to 15% -- on whatever revenues are received from the option and sale. He makes money when the book sells easily, and his attention span is, necessarily, short.

A typical film deal might be $50,000 for an 18-month option ($5,000 to the correspondent agent), non-applicable against the purchase price, with a second 18 months automatically available to the buyer for the payment of an additional $50,000 applicable against the purchase price -- against a purchase price of a floor of $250,000 or 1-2% of the film's "all-in" budget, with a ceiling of $500,000. Once the deal is signed, which normally takes 60-120 days, the writer receives $50,000; the $200,000 or more balance is paid on the exercise of the buyer's option, which normally occurs on the day the cameras roll (known as "commencement of principal photography").

The problem is, by far the majority of options sold to major studios and broadcasters are never exercised because the project never makes it through development hell. Studio execs, after all, aren't as motivated as managers and producers to fight through the obstacles projects encounter and get the film made. When that withering occurs, though the writer may indeed receive his rights back ("reversion"), there's a price tag involved ("turnaround"): any new buyer must repay the original buyer's investment, along with interest compounded from the date of first payment, when the new buyer makes a deal for the book's rights. Because compounded interest mounts so rapidly, turnaround costs often turn a dormant project moribund.

In a deal my company previously set up with a studio, for example, the turnaround costs now amount to nearly a half million dollars; though another studio wants to do the movie, they haven't been able to work out an acceptable buyout with the first studio (who couldn't care less, at this point, whether the movie is made or not, since they failed to make it).

How do writers and their lit agents avoid this unhappy fate? Instead of allowing their book to be sold by a correspondent agent, whose only source of income is in the commissions that come from sales (which I call "taking in a naked story"), writers can work with a manager or an independent producer to attach protective elements -- a director, major screenwriter, star, or financing -- before the book is offered to the major distributors. The manager/producer's financial incentive is in receiving producer's fees, and these fees are much larger than the agent's commissions on the literary sale would ever be.

Once a director is attached, a star, or co-financing (in other words, once the project is at least partially "packaged"), the studio or broadcaster (a) has greater incentive to take on the book; and (b) to see it through to production, its further development protected by the talent now attached. The downside: the manager/producer value-added process takes longer, because of the challenge of attaching talent, etc. The upside: the book author is more likely to receive the full sales price and see the movie made, while at the same time retaining greater consultation on the process. (When a sale is made by an agent, the original author is usually out of the loop from that moment on). Generally, this is what authors come to if they still retain affordable rights to their book after they survive its option and development hell; they try to get someone passionate enough to run with it against the muddied waters of its previous history. Better to invest that time at the beginning, and recognize that it's passion and incentive that works best -- as they should know from their own process in writing the book in the first place.

It's the author and his lit agent's choice: make an option deal, or focus on making the movie from the start.

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Looking to hook up your story with a top buyer?
originally posted: August 5, 2006

"My mission in life -- and greatest pleasure -- has always been making good stories better, and getting buyers to pay storytellers to get their stories in front of the widest possible audiences -- helping storytellers to get their stories to the audiences that wait for them in print and screen format. Stories with the potential to reach millions are so valuable that an entire profession, known in the publishing and entertainment industries as "trackers," was created to find unpublished stories and report their whereabouts and the ownership of their rights to the motion picture studios and publishers. "

Do You Have What It Takes To Become A Bestseller!

Do you have what it takes to become the next Sue Grafton, Janet Evanovich, Trace Price Thompson, Jamise Dames, Shirley Palmer, Noire, Candace Bushnell, Jhumpa Lahiri, or Suze Orman? Did you know that half of the New York Times Bestsellers are written by women, and nearly all the ones written by men are about women? The market is increasingly being tailored toward the female audience, and publishers -- and producers -- are hungry for fresh new female voices for mystery series, chick-lit, literary fiction, multi-cultural fiction and non-fiction.

Contact The Story Merchant Kenneth Atchity!

AGENTS & MANAGERS

If you're a literary agent or manager and could use our help perfecting your clients' projects for publication and/or production, The Writer's Lifeline would love to work with you because we're good at fixing stories that aren't working yet.

Writer's Lifeline, Inc., based on experience, can add potentially multi-million dollar value to projects that you haven't been able to sell, or wouldn't consider representing, because of the "shape" they're in. Many of our clients are referred to us by Hollywood studios, agents in both L.A. and New York, entertainment attorneys, and publishers.

Some success examples: We turned a great idea for a novel into a $1.1 million preemptive film deal, then re-edited the MS and auctioned it for $2.2 million. We took a novel MS that had been shopped to publishers and production companies, worked on it for nine months, then changed the name and sold it to a studio for $750,000; and took a self-published novel that sold a few thousand copies, sharpened it up, and sold it to a publisher for $250,000 and later set it up as a television movie.

Email us at publicity@aeionline.com for more information.

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Dr. Kenneth Atchity has more than thirty years experience in the publishing world, and over ten years in entertainment, a writer, producer, teacher, and literary manager, responsible for launching dozens of books and films. Based on his own teaching and writing experience, he has successfully built best-selling careers for novelists, nonfiction writers, and screenwriters from the ground up. He is the founder of The Writer's Lifeline and Atchity Entertainment International. He is the author of scripts and 14 books including Writing Treatments That Sell: How to Create and Market Your Story Ideas to the motion Picture and TV Industry, A Writer's Time: Making The Time To Write, How To Publish Your Novel. Dr. Atchity has produced 26 films for TV and cinema, and is currently developing "Meg" Jan de Bont directing), "Ripley's Believe It Or Not!" at Paramount (Jim Carrey starring), "3 Men Seeking Monsters" at Universal, and "Demon Keeper" at Fox 2000.