If Your Screenplay Can't Get Past the Hollywood Reader, It Can't Get to Hollywood This ultimate insider's guide to screenwriting is designed to get you past the fiercest gatekeepers in Hollywood: the Hollywood script readers. This small army of freelancers will be among the first to read and evaluate your script and then to recommend it -- or not -- to the studios, directors, and stars. Designed for quick and easy access, these 500 points are a step-by-step recipe. They cannot guarantee success, but failure to follow them can almost certainly guarantee failure. Tips include: * Get your foot in the door: 23 ways to make a good first impression on the Hollywood Reader * Screen talk: why it is essential to write dialogue that looks good on the page * Your goals in each act: how to make your story unputdownable from beginning to end * Specific genre issues: writing a romance? a mystery? a thriller? Learn their special requirements and pitfalls * The final scenes: how to go out with a bang that will wow the Hollywood Reader * Still didn't get positive coverage? Inside info on what to do and how to do it Written by an industry insider who has recommended scripts that have sold for as much as one million dollars, this is the only book to show you what the Hollywood Reader wants to see. Clear, smart, and completely authoritative, 500 Ways to Beat the Hollywood Script Reader is by far the simplest, most practical book ever to hit the entertainment shelf.