How to Publish a Stage Play
You've just written an exciting new play and you want to publish it, but you don't know how to get started. There are several different ways to publish your play. With a little research and perseverance, you can publish your own stage play.
Enter your play into playwriting competitions. Go to the American Association of Community Theatre website, listed under resources, and familiarize yourself with the contests. Take note of the deadlines for each contest to ensure you don't submit your play too late. Though the prizes for winning plays differ, the entity running the competition might reward you by publishing your play.
Publish the play yourself. Check out the website Lulu.com and explore the different options for self-publishing. By self-publishing, you retain the copyright of the script and full control of the script's production. You decide how many copies to publish and how the physical script will look.
Sign with a literary agent who can publish your play. Research agents and submit your work by mailing them a printed copy or dropping it by their office. The agent will read your play and decide if it could sell many copies. Agents decide on clients based on their personal taste and marketability. Once you sign with an agency, they will work with publishing companies to decide on the specifics about your play.
Publish your play on Kindle. Go to Business Insider.com and follow the steps to upload your play onto Kindle. Once it's been uploaded, your play will appear on the eBook store in 24-48 hours. After that, anyone visiting the site can buy your play. Amazon gives writers 70 percent of all sales.
Submit your play to a journal. Paper Theatre is one of many journals that publishes new and upcoming works every year. Read their guidelines and submit accordingly. Publishing your play in a journal is a fantastic way for a large number of readers to have access to your work.
Produce a production of your play, and invite friends and industry professionals. Showcasing your play in a production allows audiences and literary agents to see the final product of your work. You should be present during the rehearsal process to guide and sometimes rewrite. Seeing your play in the hands of actors and a director is vital to understanding your writing. After all, plays are not meant to live on the book shelf; they're meant to live on the stage ultimately.
References
Writer Bio
Emily Bennett has been acting and publishing articles since 1999. She specializes in public speaking, accents, poetry, and theatre. Her work has been published online at Notes on the Road and The "RADA Literary Magazine." She holds a B.A. in acting from The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, and has coached actors and professionals throughout the U.S. and England.
