There’s never been more opportunity to succeed as a writer than there is today. And here’s how to do it, in ten hard-working, money-making ways.
1 — Write Books
Whether you’re into fiction or nonfiction, self-publishing or the traditional path of publishing (with an A, B, or C-list publisher), being an author is a pretty cool thing. But it takes a lot of work — and there’s not one set path. But if you’re writing a novel, it’s best to complete the entire manuscript first. If you’re writing a nonfiction book, then you start with a proposal. Everything in nonfiction book-writing starts with a proposal. And look no further than advice in that department than by clicking on the following HERE.
Also: Here’s a video explaining the events that led up to the writing of my first book. This may prove helpful to you authoring your initial publication.
Writer/producer Herbie J Pilato is the host of the TV talk show THEN AGAIN WITH HERBIE J PILATO, now streaming on Amazon Prime and the author of several pop-culture/media tie-in books. He has been part of TVWriter™ for over 20 years and is Contributing Editor Emeritus. Learn more about Herbie J HERE
From TV critic to showrunner, Andy Greenwald has learned more about the TV writing biz than most of us have ever realized existed to be learned. Now he’s giving back!
by Steve Greene
Former TV critic Andy Greenwald had seen the demands of being a showrunner firsthand. When he finally got the chance to call the shots on the USA Network series “Briarpatch,” that opportunity brought everything that comes with overseeing the production of 10 hourlong episodes of TV.
“There was a day in the airport when I was flying back to Albuquerque because we had to crash [Episode] 2 through post to get it to Toronto,” Greenwald told IndieWire. “I think we’re filming 5 and 6, and we were prepping 7 and I was writing or rewriting 8, 9, and 10 and I was at LAX at 6 in the morning and I was like, ‘This…This is awful.’ And then I thought, ‘The only thing worse than this would be not doing it.’”
Despite that occasional solitary heavy workload at an airport boarding gate, Greenwald was far from alone in this process. After he wrote the pilot — the making of which he called “a graduate school in a couple months” — putting together a writers room became a blending of interests and perspectives that helped flesh out the world of the Ross Thomas novel the show is adapted from.
“This is a woman’s story. I am not a woman, nor am I a woman of color. So it was vitally important to me that we had a really strong and robust diversity of voices in the room. I’m pretty proud I was the only white dude in there,” Greenwald said. “It was great to have people from not just different backgrounds, but also different interests. Haley Harris loves cop procedurals, which is really important because I want people who like procedurals to like the show. We have someone like Eva Anderson, who’s an immersive playwright and works on comedy shows, because the comedy is vitally important to me. So the writing room was really the dream for me across the board, the opportunity to work with brilliant, creative people and just talk about story all day.”
In between an established career as a music writer and rejoining a writers room path that would eventually lead him to this latest gig, Greenwald served as a full-time TV critic, most notably at Grantland. Over his time as a writer and podcast host, he’s looked at the ongoing question of who has authorship within the TV space. While he says that the “Briarpatch” process crystallized some of his previous ideas and challenged others, he was quick to point to TV making as a shared pursuit….
EDITOR’S NOTE: TVWriter™ legendary Contributing Editor Emeritus Herbie J Pilato is here with thoughts for dreamers (and everybody else) everywhere.
by Herbie J Pilato
It’s an exciting time to be alive. Those from all walks of life, of every career level, are succeeding sometimes expediently at their vocation, leaving more time for vacations. In the midst of it all, many are seeking more meaning in life and at work. Volunteerism, for one, is at an all-time high across the board. Whether helping to shelter the homeless or feed the hungry, animal advocacy or with just a mere intent or actual action to help to eradicate any number of diseases, many individuals, and interest and research groups are fighting the good fight for good plights, expanding and expounding by near-superhuman-leaps and bounds.
There are still no easy tasks, for the plagued, as well as the responders. Maintaining personal and professional existence is more stressful than ever. The world may seem smaller due to the increased and intricate forms of high tech communication, but the gap continues to widen between diverse cultures, religions, political parties, etc. on a national and global scale, while many personal and professional associations become increasingly strained.
Writer/producer Herbie J Pilato is the host ofclassic TV talk show THEN AGAIN WITH HERBIE J PILATO, now streaming on Amazon Prime, Founder and Executive Director of The Classic TV Preservation Society, and author of several classic TV companion books. He has been part of TVWriter™ for 20 years and is Contributing Editor Emeritus. Learn more about Herbie J HERE. This article first appeared in Medium.
The War Between TV and Film Writers and the Association of Talent Agents has been going on for about a year now, and on Valentine’s Day the Writers Guild of America West emailed its members the latest status report.
As far as I’m concerned, it’s a doozy. Because its unwritten premise is, “Hey, kids, we aren’t negotiating with the Association anymore because it’s no longer necessary. We’re dealing one on one with the various agencies, and we’re scaring the hell out of the big, obnoxious ones, the gangs that insist on doing the packaging fee thing.”
Here’s the precise text. How does the situation sound to you?
Dear Members,
It has been a while since we’ve given you an update on the agency campaign. As you know, since the beginning of the year the remaining mid-level agencies have signed, which leaves us with five large agencies still without a franchise agreement. The WGA has had substantive discussions with all but one. Those we have spoken to have said directly to me they would like to make a deal. We continue to place pressure on them, by pursuing the lawsuit, by negotiating with the smaller agencies, and by withholding their ability to represent writers. The goal remains in sight: to realign all our representatives’ financial interests with their writer clients by ending packaging fees and curtailing agency ownership of production.
A number of the unsigned agencies, while professing to want a deal, continue to engage in misconduct. We know that some agents are harassing former clients to work with them in secret under the false premise that “everyone else has come back.” These same unfranchised agents are inserting themselves into potential deals by calling executives and acting as if they still represent writers who fired them. This is itself an indication that the pressure is mounting on them. We talked about this misconduct in a previous email, and there may be helpful information in it if you find yourself faced with this kind of pressure.
We’ve also heard the rumors that some writers have gone back to their unfranchised agents. When we receive specific information the allegations are investigated, starting with outreach by the Guild’s Working Rule 23 Committee. We have looked into a few reports that turned out to be without merit, which is why confidentiality is so important. But we continue to investigate other reports, and for any writers breaking the rules there must and will be accountability.
Despite the challenges of this new landscape, writers continue to pursue their careers working with the help of a manager, a franchised agent or on their own, often utilizing Guild-provided tools. The numbers speak for themselves: overall employment is up, compensation is higher, and writers are maintaining health benefits at higher levels than last year. The Guild will continue to provide and improve the tools we’ve set up to help writers find work. If you have questions or concerns as always you can contact: Agency@wga.org.
As we head into MBA negotiations, some in the industry have pushed the narrative that the agency campaign has weakened us. But it has had the opposite effect: we have taken on the status quo, challenged business practices that everyone hated but no one else would question, and, in doing so, changed the way the whole town does business. The companies have seen another powerful example of the Guild’s unity and sense of purpose in protecting the well-being of writers. There is no doubt it has made us stronger.
Invitations to the MBA member meetings will go out next week.
Former TV critic 
