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A guide to getting your play script published
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| What do we publish? |
Lazy Bee Scripts is a publisher of theatre scripts. We specialise in English pantomimes
and school plays, including musicals
with strong sidelines in plays, one-act
drama and sketches, skits and short plays. (That said, the specialism is
largely a matter of happy accident: we will consider any plays - but see below!) Most of the material is humorous
- but again, that is accident rather than policy.
We also publish scripts for interactive murder mysteries.
Many of the plays and pantomimes feature original music which we publish with the scripts.
We publish scripts written in a recognisable form of the English Language. So far, this is limited to British English
and American English, but we are willing to tackle other forms. (Okay, we have also published one script in Afrikaans, but that
is a translation, and it did start out in English!) |
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| What are we looking for in a script? |
| The main thing we are looking for is originality. After that, the rest of the qualities are indefinable. In humorous
plays, we are looking for something to make us laugh, but if we could define what that was, it wouldn't be funny
any more. |
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| What do we avoid in a script? |
- Duplication. We may, at our discretion, publish multiple versions of a title (that is particularly true of
pantomime scripts) - for example, on the main Lazy Bee Scripts web site
you will find multiple versions of Cinderella written in different styles and aimed at different performing groups/audiences).
However, to publish a new version, we must be convinced that it offers our customers something different
- Plagiarism. Borrowing ideas and using parody are recognised as normal ingredients of pantomime. Plagiarism
is not. Quoting a line out of context can be very funny; borrowing a whole scene is an actionable breach of
copyright
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Plagiarised scripts will not be published (or will be withdrawn from publication).
- Boredom - lack of plot, lack of differentiation between characters, lack of humour, lack of changes of pace.
- We're not too keen on post-modernism unless it's really well done. In this sense, post-modernism is anything
that diverts the audience from their suspended disbelief and reminds them that they are watching a play - for example,
actors stepping out of character in the middle of a scene and arguing with the producer. This can work wonderfully
(see "Sherlock's Excellent Adventure"
by James Barry, for example where narration by Doctor Watson is a running joke), but it can also be dire.
- Bad rhymes. We're fine with blank verse (if that
is what is intended). We're happy with irregular metre (if that is what is
intended) However, if something is supposed to rhyme, we will not publish
it unless it does.
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| Do we pay advances for scripts? |
| No. If you can get an advance for a play script, your name is probably Tom Stoppard or Neil Simon and you don't
need any help from us. |
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| Do we charge for publishing scripts? |
| No. Lazy Bee Scripts is not a vanity publishing service. We publish scripts which we think will find a market.
(Sometimes we are right, sometimes we are wrong!) |
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| What is the publishing process? |
- Send us a query by e-mail,
stating at least the title of the play you want us to publish, the (approximate) word count, the number of roles and something about the style in which it is written
(what's the target market?)
- We'll respond (with terms and conditions if we like the idea, with a polite refusal if we don't)
- You submit the script electronically (normally attached to an e-mail), formatted according to the Lazy
Bee Scripts guidelines
- We read the script and either reject it or accept it for publication. If accepted, then
- The writer will be asked to submit any original music in one of the accepted
formats
- We proof read the script (correcting minor errors), edit the script (the most common form of editing is to
fix lyrics. If lyrics are intended to rhyme
and scan, we will not publish them until they do rhyme and scan) and
format the script according to the house style.
- If the editing makes significant changes, then we will return the script to the author for checking
- When all parties are satisfied, we will publish on the Internet and on paper, then settle back and wait for
the orders to roll in. (Sometimes it is a long wait.)
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