Screenwriting - how many screenplays does it take to sell one?

The short answer is -- 9.

How do I know it?

Because William Martell said so and I trust the man. He is a prolific Hollywood screenwriter with 19 produced films to his name. And imagine, he used to work at a Safeway warehouse before he decided to try his luck at full-time screenewriting.

I just ordered a couple of CD sets from him and you can't help but be impressed by the man's integrity, energy and obvious intelligence. This is a guy who talks right from the trenches, pulls no punches and knows what he is talking about.

One great point Bill makes is the need to keep a ready inventory of MULTIPLE screenplays since Hollywood is no place for one-hit wonders.

His overall opinion is that rarely something happens before you put out something like nine screenplays out there. That is, nine GREAT scrips. Yes, the competition is that stiff out there folks for screenplays.

Imagine this example that Bill provides -- there are about 50,000 scripts registered every year with the Writers Guild of America (WGA). And an averge script floats around for 10 years.

So do the math... in 10 years, 500,000 (HALF A MILLION) screenplays are pitched to the producers, agents, directors, and stars out there and only 300-400 movies get made in Hollywood.

Also consider the fact that an AVERAGE movie takes $100 million dollars to finish and market these days... that's a lot of financial risk for a handful of winners. Those are the odds.

So that's why you need have a lot of GREAT scripts circulating out there before you can expect to make a sale.

Have faith and enjoy what you're doing. Success and money are the cherries on the cake. But make sure you enjoy the cake first.