mammamaia
February 10th, 2006, 03:07 AM
basically, you don't!...
the sad fact is that very few playwrights ever make any money from their efforts... even the most famous didn't really get rich from their plays alone... the most common way a playwright gets paid for a play he/she wrote, is if it's produced and makes money for the producer, bringing in a share of the profits as 'royalties'...
on the lower end of the scale is being paid a few bucks here and there, by local small/community theater companies and/or schools wanting to stage the play... if it's reviewed well and catches the attention of a major producer, you might then have a shot at the big time...
samuel french, inc. is 'the' play publisher in the us... they collect royalties from all companies that stage the plays they've published, and pass on the playwright's share in the same way book publishers do for novels, or whatever... they don't usually publish a play script till it's been produced successfully, but they do publish a lot of 'minor' plays for school and community theater use... and they do accept submissions... here's their website's submission page: http://www.samuelfrench.com/store/play_submission.php?osCsid=e3daec1b8c9341a53ddbcd2 670666f8f
be sure to read all the other info on the site... it'll give you a good idea of how things work in the play publishing world...
i've written plays and a musical, and i mentor budding playwrights, so if you want any help with your play or just an assessment of whether it's ready to be seen, you can email me any time... hope this helps some...
love and hugs, maia
[email protected]