ATTN JMS: Novels vs. TV -- How difficult?

[B5JMS Poster]

Subject: ATTN JMS: Novels vs. TV -- How difficult?
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 No. | DATE        |  FROM
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+  1: Aug 24, 1996: John <JIW2 at psu.edu>
+  2: Aug 25, 1996: Tesarta at aol.com (Kevin Munoz)
*  3: Aug 25, 1996: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)

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From: John <JIW2 at psu.edu>
Lines: 13

As one who has successfully accomplished both, which do
you consider the most difficult: Getting a first novel
published, or getting a first TV series on the air?
I'm not speaking in terms of the amount of work involved,
rather I mean the difficulty in overcoming the odds against
you in each respective field.


                                       --John





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From: Tesarta at aol.com (Kevin Munoz)
Lines: 15

In article <4voe3l$fhd at newsbf02.news.aol.com>, jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
wrote:
>Most writer/producers go through several development deals before ever
>getting anything on the air.  And B5 wasn't my first in that sense.  I
>developed series for CBS, ABC, syndication groups, re-developed the V
>series for Warner Bros., and others.  It's a very, very long progression
>to this particular chair.

Assuming you're talking about shows that never made it past the early
development
stage, can you talk about them, or are they silent runners forever more?

-- 
Kevin Munoz


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From: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
Lines: 61

"As one who has successfully accomplished both, which do you consider the
most difficult: Getting a first novel published, or getting a first TV
series on the air? I'm not speaking in terms of the amount of work
involved, rather I mean the difficulty in overcoming the odds against you
in each respective field."

This is a no-brainer.  The TV series is the hardest.  To write and sell a
novel, you need just write the novel; once it's out there, you don't have
to have written 15 prior successful novels to get it sold.  The book is
judged on its quality and marketability, and if it's good, somebody buys
it.

My first novel, DEMON NIGHT, sat in a closet for, oh, about 2 years
(having written it just for myself) until my agent got wind of it, sent it
off to a NY affiliate, who sent it to an editor/publisher, who bought it
on sight.  This was when I didn't really have much of a name in TV (which
actually works against you in literary circles), so that wasn't a factor. 
Now, obviously, that's an extremely fortuntate and atypical series of
events, but still indicative in this sense....

People come to me and say they want to sell a TV series.  I try and tell
them it's impossible if you don't have a credit list an arm long.  Not
difficult, we're not talking here degrees of difficulty or "overwhelming
odds," there ARE no odss.  It's simply impossible.  Can't be done.  Hasn't
been done.  

Ideas are a dime a dozen.  What a network wants is someone who's shown he
or she can run a series, write for TV, and produce for TV.  (Or film for
those who've crossed over.)  If a network is going to spend upwards of $22
million for a series in one year, not even COUNTING what's spent on
advertising, marketing, publicity, overhead and the like, they need to
have a certain comfort factor, they need to know that the person knows
what s/he's doing, and is an experienced writer/producer or, preferably, a
full-blown show runner.

You don't have to have that for novels.  The odds of selling a first novel
are, from what I heard somewhere once, about 1 in 6,000.  The odds of
selling a first TV series if you don't have credits are 0.  

If you *do* have credits, the odds are still massively stacked against
you.  Every season, the networks put maybe 10-15 shows each into
development.  That refers to as little as a single pilot script order, or
as much as multiple scripts, a produced pilot, or pilot plus X-number of
episodes.  Of those 10-15, maybe 4 or 5 will ever see the light of day. 
The rest simply vanish.  So that's about 50 possible series per year (and
that's a very generous figure).  There are around 6,000 members of the
Writers Guild.  

Most writer/producers go through several development deals before ever
getting anything on the air.  And B5 wasn't my first in that sense.  I
developed series for CBS, ABC, syndication groups, re-developed the V
series for Warner Bros., and others.  It's a very, very long progression
to this particular chair.




 jms



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