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Questions about publishers - school plays

Sun, 25 Nov 2012, 08:01 am
Paper Alchemist6 posts in thread
This is going to make me sound dreadfully naive, but here goes. I'm an aspiring playwright doing a major in Creative Writing at Melbourne University, and last year I was commissioned to write a play for my old high school. It was a comedic mystery (or mysterious comedy), for a large cast, written with a school budget in mind. It was produced and performed with great success - we had a full house both nights, and the students really enjoyed it. The producer urged me to publish it, because she said it was better than most other school plays she had come across. Shortly after the performance, I made an entry on doolee.com, but, as I expected, nothing came out of this because it's a huge site and there are much better-established writers than me. (The school has since commissioned another play from me, this time with an offer of payment, so I must be doing something right.) A few months ago when I was on semester break, I tried contacting 'Bushfire Press'. I recognised some of the plays they published, because they had been produced by my local primary school. I sent in a synopsis and biography, as per the submission guidelines, and received a confirmation of my submission, but nothing since. Now that I've finished studying for the year, I've decided to try again. The problem is, the only Australian publishers I've discovered so far either haven't updated their site for years, don't publish school plays, or demand payment to publish (which immediately set off my internal warning bells). So, if there's anybody who knows anything about this sort of thing, I would like to know: 1. Should I bother trying to get in touch with Bushfire Press again? 2. Who publishes Australian school plays? 3. How long should I wait to hear back from the companies I contact? 4. Should I just forget about Australian companies and try an American, Canadian or British publisher instead? 5. Am I too young to even have a chance? Am I being too impatient? If you can answer any of these questions for me, I would be really grateful. You can also contact me at ameliam42@iinet.net.au .

Hi There

Sun, 25 Nov 2012, 02:23 pm
I run a small publishing company in Adelaide. We only publish new works. Our website is below. We do charge authors but its almost nominal at $30.00 This is because frankly no one makes any money out of publishing plays and this covers some of our expenses in producing the script If you are interested in submitting to us after looking at our website in the first instabce sned me a private message through here or e-mail me at books@tonymoore.id.au. We make no promises but we will read your play and give feedback within a short time. We do not charge a submission fee nor do we charge a readers fee. You should definitely avoid vanity publishing as they will make little or no effort to promote your work. Is that all there is? Well if that's all there is my friend, then let's keep dancing. www.tonymoore.id.au www.moorebooks.net.au

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