I know there are too many year-end blog posts out there to read, and while I don’t want to add to your personal digital slush pile, providing a year-end submission recap seems in keeping with the work I’m trying to do with RIPP: Real Inspiration for Playwrights Project. I promise to keep it short.
In 2013, I submitted to 422 theaters, some with multiple plays (i.e. ten-minute festivals that allow more than one play to be submitted). I think that’s a lot, and is probably about 100 more than my usual yearly average, simply because I spent more time this year trying to find appropriate theaters to submit to.
From those 420, I’ve so far heard back from 127 (mostly rejections, natch), but considering that it hasn’t even been three months for a lot of them, that’s not too bad. Out this year’s 31 positive responses–and some may have been from 2012 submissions–I garnered two full-length productions and one reading, three requests for a full script (after which I heard nothing more), three publications of short plays, and 21 short play productions.
Was the effort worth the return? I think it might be fairly typical. But what you might find particularly relevant is that the two full-length productions were not a result of cold submissions. One came from a web inquiry, and the other came from a query following a ten-minute play festival–a request I made from following my own advice about using ten-minute plays as calling cards.
I doubt I will ever change my cold submission strategies because I’m just too OCD to see an opp and let it pass, but as a result of what I’ve learned through RIPP, I’ve already begun adopting other strategies as well, and I hope to have even better numbers to report in 2014.
I would love to hear a recap of your submissions for the year, what you may have changed and how that worked, as well as your strategies for the upcoming year. Please share below and happy new year!
I will resume RIPP once the new year is underway.
Until then,
Donna
Hi Donna,
It was really interesting reading your blog about the submissions as I also did a recap of 2013 last week. Now i’m recording everything which i’m sending out which includes drama shorts and screenplays.
Paul,