Tuesday, December 20, 2011

pricing ebooks--conflicting advice

Pricing of ebooks seems like a tricky proposition.  Amazon encourages pricing ebooks at a certain level by offering higher royalty rates on ebooks prices between $2.99 and $9.99.  They pay 70% royalty on such ebooks, whereas ebooks between $0.99 and $2.98 only earn an author 35%.  This ends up being a lot less money earned.

But of course, the question is: will a cheaper ebook sell a lot more copies, and thus even out the price differential, while at the same time reaching a broader audience (and increasing future sales of future books)?

I've read lots of conflicting advice and opinions on this one.  There was a great article in the Wall Street Journal about author Darcie Chan and the success she's had publishing the her ebook, The Mill River Recluse.  In the article,

She noticed that a lot of popular e-books were priced at 99 cents, and immediately dropped her price from $2.99 to 99 cents. The cut would slash potential royalties—Amazon pays 35% royalties for books that cost less than $2.99, compared with 70% for books that cost $2.99 to $9.99. But sales picked up immediately. "I did that to encourage people to give it a chance," she says. "I saw it as an investment in my future as a writer." The strategy worked. Several reviewers on Amazon said they bought the book because it was 99 cents, then ended up liking it.

She took some other interesting and smart marketing steps for her book (some of which I might try), and also got some positive mentions on web sites that helped her start to sell a lot more books.  Sales started to grow fast.  So far she's sold more than 400,000 copies, earning more than $130,000.

Sounds nice.  My sales of Tornado Siren have not been quite that strong.  Not even close.  (Yet.) (Says the perpetual optimist.)  And sales have actually dipped quite a bit since the end of the summer, and now they're getting very, very slow.  (I've seen NO holiday season boost.)

Hm.  So, I wonder, should I lower my price to see if that will help boost sales?  It's been at $2.99, but is that making it hard to attract readers who have never heard of me?

And then I read this post on Joe Konrath's blog, a guest post by Elle Lothlorien, who writes about the opposite effect.  She found that raising her price on her ebook, Sleeping Beauty, from $2.99 to $5.99, helped boost sales, and made her a lot more money at the same time.  Her theory being that people don't value things that they don't have to pay as much for--so you enjoy your expensive cup of coffee from Starbucks partly because you paid more for it.  
For authors with one book, it’s worth considering creating “imputed value” first with higher pricing. With a decent novel, this will “prime the pump” with positive reviews from readers who are invested and who want to like your book. This in turn will lead to more sales.

I'm not exactly sure what to do.  The nice thing, though, about ebooks is that it's pretty easy to change the price.  I've been reluctant to do so, but it feels like I should try something.  So I'm going to experiment a little.  I'm going to try lowering the price to $0.99 for a month, and then try raising it to something above $2.99, maybe $4.99, and see what happens.

Monday, December 19, 2011

Measuring Matthew film

Back in October, I was on set for a short film being made of one of my ten-minute plays, Measuring Matthew.  The film is directed by Boston filmmaker Gul Moonis and produced byJeanne Shapiro and Shemoon Films, with the intention of sending it various festivals and competitions around the country early next year.  So who knows, it might be coming to a theatre near you someday.  (And certainly will be available on the Internet.)

The whole thing happened purely by luck.  Gul stumbled across my web site and started reading some of my script samples (Sure am glad I finally added them).  Several caught her interest and we had lunch.  In no time, I was adapting Measuring Matthew for the screen.  The stage version is published by Brooklyn Publishers, and has been produced by small theatres and schools across the country.

When I showed up for my two days on set (they shot for five days total), I was brought back to my college days, when I was making lots of short films and was certain that I was destined for a career as a screenwriter.  (Hey, I did eventually get one optioned by Hollywood.)  Except this crew was a lot more experienced and a lot bigger than anything we ever put together.  There were twenty people on set working to turn this into a film worth watching.  I did my fair share of standing around watching people work, but I also got to act as security guard, stand in for corpse, sherpa, and grip.

Back in the day, we shot everything on actual film, either 8mm or 16mm.  Measuring Matthew will be in HD video, shot on a camera that looked like a regular old SLR camera, but was a lot more powerful.  We had a great cast, including actor Nael Nacer, with whom I've worked before and whose work on stage I've always admired.  The two lead actresses, Renee Donlon and Audrey Claire Johnson, are talented young women I think you'll see often in the Boston film scene.

I was reminded how much the process of producing a film differs from producing a stage play.  There's a lot more control over the final product of a film, but the process can sometimes be tedious for the people involved--there's so much waiting involved.  (I happen to love the initial writing process for films--they may be the most fun of all scripts to write.)  For theatre, half the fun is in the process, and sometimes the process of putting the play on stage is more fun and fully engaging for the people doing it than for the audience.  For me, I'm grateful that 2011 has had me working on books, stage plays, films, and radio plays. 

Now Measuring Matthew is being edited.  I can't wait to see how it all comes together.  I'll paste some photos from the shoot below.  And the film has its own Facebook page, where you can lots more photos and links to interviews with the cast and crew, and find updates on how it's coming along.  And the DP, Chris Portal, has a nice post with lots of photos, too.


Lots of people crammed into a small balcony, for a ledge scene six flights up.

 Inside a very nice apartment we borrowed, all for some very quick shots that might take up all of about 10-30 seconds on screen, by the time it's done.

This an exterior shot that goes with the balcony scene.  The character is out on a ledge, way up high, but the magic of movie editing allowed us to shoot part of it only a few feet off the ground.  This was my first day on set, with nice and warm weather.  We shot at this location again a few weeks later, and it was cold and damp.

And this is me on the final night of shooting.  Talk about super long day--we were on set by 7:30 am, and worked until midnight.  I was acting as a stand-in for a character who gets run over by a car, so I had to lie on the cold ground while they got the lighting right.  Ah, the glamorous life!  At least I got to wear a coat and gloves--the actor who was in the shot had to be on the ground just in plain street clothes.  He was tough.

That's about it.  I'll let you know when the actual film is ready to be seen.




Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Q&A at Urban Paranormal

Deva has posted a nice Q&A with me about Tornado Siren over at The Urban Paranormal Blog.  (Thanks!)  Check it out.  I met her through GoodReads, where they have just about every kind of book group you can imagine.  Deva runs a GoodReads group that specializes in reading and discussing Interracial and African American Paranormal fiction.  I think there's a group on the site for just about any kind of book you might write.  There are probably more GoodReads groups that would be suitable for reading and discussing Tornado Siren that I haven't even discovered yet.  (Deva found me, rather than me finding her.)

Monday, November 28, 2011

The Urban Paranormal Book Blog: Contest #2: Tornado Siren by Patrick Gabridge

You can win a copy the paperback version of Tornado Siren at:

The Urban Paranormal Book Blog: Contest #2: Tornado Siren by Patrick Gabridge

It's pretty easy to win, so if you haven't read it yet, I hope you'll check it out, and check out her blog.

(I still have a bunch of blog posts to catch up on here, including posting photos from the film shoot for Measuring Matthew, and an explanation of all the farming stuff that's keeping me busy now, and will occupy a lot of my time and energy next year.  Soon!)

(I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving!)

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Reading at Brookline Booksmith tonight, 5:54pm

From 5-8 p.m., during Brookline’s 1st Light Festival, members of The Brookline Library Authors’ Collaborative and invited Brookline authors will be reading from their works at the Brookline Booksmith in Coolidge Corner. Books by local authors, suitable for holiday gifts, will be available for signing. Refreshments will be served, and the event is free and open to the public.

Each writer has an 11-minute slot. Mine is from 5:54 to 6:05. (Give or take 30 seconds.) I'll be reading from one of my new novels (that are still seeking publishers). There are lots of great authors (see below), so even if you can't be there for my reading (though I hope you will), it'll still be fun.






I'll be reading from one of my new books--probably my new middle-grade novel, Buried Treasure, since First Light is a family focused evening.  Plus it's a fun piece.


I hope we get a good turnout.

Here's who will be reading:

Schedule (11 minute segments):
5:00 - Susie Davidson
5:10 – Gabe Galambos
5:21 - Zvi Sesling
5:32 - Mark Lowenstein
5:43 - Hillel Levine
5:54 - Patrick Gabridge
6:05 - David Prerau
6:16 - Sarah Smith
6:27 - Chuck Goldstone
6:38 - Larry Ruttman
6:49 - Wendy Lement
7:00 - Linda Barnes
7:11 - Hon. Julian Houston
7:22 - Carey Goldberg
7:33 - Beth Jones
7:44 - Lou Urenek
7:55 – Gary K. Wolf

And some bios:

Reader bios (alphabetical):

Linda Barnes has written 12 best selling mystery novels that feature the 6'1," redheaded Boston private eye Carlotta Carlyle. Four other mysteries feature actor/detective and amateur sleuth Michael Spraggue, an amateur sleuth. Barnes has also written award-winning plays and short stories. The popular Carlotta Carlyle character first appeared in 1985’s award-winning short story “Lucky Penny”; since then, Barnes has penned “Trouble of Fools” (1987), “The Snake Tattoo” (1989), the Boston Globe bestsellers “Coyote” (1991) and “Steel Guitar” (1993), “Snapshot” (1994), “Hardware” (1995), and “Cold Case” (1997), which was also on The Boston Globe bestseller list. These were followed by “Flashpoint” (1999), “The Big Dig” (2002), “Deep Pockets” (2004), “Heart of the World” (2006), and “Lie Down with the Devil” (2008).
Barnes’ many awards have included the Anthony Award and nominations for both the Shamus Award and the American Mystery Award (for Best Short Story for "Lucky Penny" in 1985). In 1987, she received the American Mystery Award for Best Private Eye Novel, and “A Trouble of Fools” was nominated for the Edgar, Anthony, and Shamus awards. “The Snake Tattoo” was named one of the outstanding books of 1990 by The London Times.

Susie Davidson is a journalist, author, poet and filmmaker who writes regularly for the Jewish Advocate, the Jewish Journal, the Jewish Daily Forward and other media, and has contributed to the Boston Sunday Globe and the Boston Herald. She has written “I Refused to Die: Stories of Boston-Area Holocaust Survivors and Soldiers who Liberated the Concentration Camps of World War II” (2005); “Jewish Life in Postwar Germany” (2006); “Selected Poetry of Susie D” (2006); and edited a collection of remarks made by former German Consul to New England Wolfgang K. Vorwerk at area Holocaust community events (2008) (All Ibbetson Street Press, Somerville). She is the Coordinator of the Boston chapter of The Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life, an active board member in the Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow and the Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action, and coordinates the Brookline Library Authors' Collaborative. She organized and hosts “OccuPoetry,” the ongoing poetry reading series at Occupy Boston.

Patrick Gabridge, an Illinois native, studied computer science at MIT and later became a writer. His award-winning plays include Reading the Mind of God, about the astronomers Kepler and Tycho, and Blinders, a satire on science and the media. Gabridge has long explored the topic of race in his work. His novel, “Tornado Siren,” is now available as an e-book for Kindle, Nook, and other formats (via Smashwords). His play “Curse the Darkness” was performed in the Black Box Theatre One-Act Play Festival, in Cranston, R.I. His play “Escape to Wonderland” was part of EstroGenius, in New York last month. His blogs include The Writing Life x3, Choosing No Car (about our family shifting to life without a car), and 200 Foot Garden (details on a really fun commuter/community garden).
Gabe Galambos has travelled to many of the locales that appear in his espionage thriller, “Stealing Pike’s Peak” (Iuniverse, Writers Club Press), including to the Sudan. He was imprisoned there in 1983 for helping Ethiopian Jews reach Israel. He has recently completed a small town New England mystery tentatively titled, “The Nation by the River.” He works as a cardiac sonographer. He will read from his new manuscript, a small town New England mystery called “The Nation by the River.”

Carey Goldberg is a journalist/blogger for CommonHealth at WBUR and a co-editor of “Mind Matters” at Scientific American Mind. She graduated summa cum laude from Yale and attended graduate school at Harvard University. She has been the Boston bureau chief of The New York Times, a Moscow correspondent for The Los Angeles Times, and a health/science reporter for The Boston Globe. She is a co-author of the 2010 triple memoir “Three Wishes: A True Story of Good Friends, Crushing Heartbreak and Astonishing Luck on our Way to Love and Motherhood.”

Chuck Goldstone has made his fellow mammals chortle for long as as anyone can remember. His humor has appeared in magazines and his commentaries and essays were a regular feature of public radio’s "Monitor" and "Marketplace" for more than a decade. He is now a monthly guest on WBZ, where he is given a soapbox to rant and carp. He will read from “This Book Is Not a Toy!: Friendly Advice on How to Avoid Death and Other Inconveniences” (St. Martin’s Press, 2005) and maybe from a yet-to-be-published piece is someone asks nicely.
When not trying to get people to snort coffee uncontrollably from their nostrils. Chuck is CEO and Founder of Ideaworks/Chuck Goldstone Communications, helping organizations across the globe communicate more persuasively and tell better stories.

Hon. Julian Houston was born and educated in Richmond, Virginia before attending the Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Connecticut. He is a graduate of Boston University and the Boston University School of Law, and was a community organizer in Harlem during the civil rights movement. He is an associate justice of the Superior Court of Massachusetts (ret.), appointed in 1990. He had previously served for eleven years as a Justice of the Roxbury District Court. He is chair of the Executive Committee of the Long Road to Justice exhibit, a program of the Justice George L. Ruffin Society, which he formed with six other senior, minority criminal justice professionals in 1984. He spearheaded Roxbury Youthworks, Inc., which provides services to young people, and the Roxbury District Court Child-Care Center. He is the author of “New Boy” (Houghton-Mifflin), a coming-of-age novel set in the Civil Rights era.

Beth Jones has been a Prison Educator at Framingham Women’s Prison and an Instructor in The Prison Education Program at Boston University, as well as a Program Director at The Education Initiative at the Mind/Body Medical Institute, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School. She has written for The New York Times and the Boston Globe, contributed to the collection “Make Mine a Double: Why Women Like Us Like to Drink (Or Not),” UPNE, 2011, and is a co-author of the book “Three Wishes: A True Story of Good Friends, Crushing Heartbreak, and Astonishing Luck on Our Way to Love and Motherhood,” Little, Brown & Co, 2010.

Wendy Lement, who holds a Ph.D. in Educational Theatre from New York University, is Associate Professor and Director of the Theatre Program at Regis College. A playwright and director, she co-founded Theatre Espresso in 1992, a company that brings historical plays to schools, museums and courthouses. Her first children’s fiction book, Keri Tarr: Cat Detective, was published by Breakaway Books in 2004.She is co-author of And Justice for Some: Exploring American Justice through Drama and Theatre, published by Heinemann Press (2005). She has directed thirty productions at Regis, which include “Dancing at Lughnasa,” “Importance of Being Earnest,” “The Good Woman of Setzuan,” “Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet),” and “Steel Magnolias” (which won a Moss Hart Award). Her production of The House of Bernarda Alba won the 2000 New England Region's American College Theatre Festival, which was sponsored by the Kennedy Center. Her plays include: “Woman with the Red Kerchief,” “Salem's Daughters, King George III vs. Ruth Blay,” “Voicings: The Story of the Rosenberg Case,” “Dolphins: The Myth of Persephone,” “The Legend of the Christmas Rose,” and “Keri Tarr: Cat Detective,” which is based on her children's book, and won the American Alliance for Theatre and Education's 2002 Unpublished Playreading Project.
Hillel Levine, Professor of Sociology and Religion at Boston University and President of the International Institute for Mediation and Historical Conciliation, an NGO that works to prevent and resolve violent conflicts. He has taught at Harvard, Yale, and has held visiting professorships in Japan, China, Poland, the Soviet Union, Brazil and Israel. His five books and many articles focus on ethnic violence and approaches to conflict resolution. His research was the basis of an Oscar-winning documentary film, and two of his books are currently being made into documentaries and a feature-length film. He often gives lectures, appears on radio and television, and writes guest columns in newspapers.
His books include "In Search of Sugihara: The Elusive Japanese Diplomat Who Risked his Life to Rescue 10,000 Jews from the Holocaust," "Economic Origins of Antisemitism: Poland and its Jews in the Early Modern Period," and "The Death of an American Jewish Community: A Tragedy of Good Intentions," about the redlining of mortgages enacted by the banking consortium Boston Banks Urban Renewal Group in Dorchester, Roxbury and Mattapan in the 1960s.

Mark Lowenstein is Managing Director of consulting firm Mobile Ecosystem. The author of three local running books (www.greatruns.net), including "Great Runs in Brookline and Vicinity," he is an avid recreational runner and outdoor enthusiast. He has run thousands of miles across dozens of communities in Massachusetts and other cities over the past 25 years. These books are terrific holiday gift items, though admittedly, December is not peak running season!

David Prerau is an internationally-recognized expert on national time policies who has been called "the world's foremost authority on Daylight Saving Time (DST)." As a computer scientist specializing in artificial intelligence, he pioneered in the application of knowledge-based systems. As an author, he has four published books and many magazine and newspaper articles. And as a DST expert, he has been a consultant for the U.S. Congress and the British Parliament. He has appeared on about two hundred TV and radio programs in the U.S. and around the world. His book, “Seize the Daylight” (2005), results from many years of DST research, during which he discovered a great number of remarkable DST incidents and fascinating anecdotes.

Larry Ruttman produces the show “Voices of Brookline and Beyond,” aired on Brookline Access Television. His 2005 oral history book, “Voices of Brookline,” chronicles the testimony of 70 diverse and remarkable Brookline citizens and includes over 100 images. (Tonight’s readers Linda Barnes and Sarah Smith are included in the book.) Ruttman himself has lived in Brookline since the age of two, and is devoted to the town and its people. He published a column, “Brookline Then and Now,” for the Brookline Tab. Ruttman holds a B.A. in English from the University of Massachusetts and a J.D. from Boston College Law School. His new book, “America’s Jews and America’s Game: Jewish Voices of American Baseball,” is due out in the spring of 2013 by the University of Nebraska Press.

Zvi A. Sesling, a former Brookline selectman, has published poetry in numerous magazines both in print and online, among them: Ibbetson Street, Midstream, Poetica,The Deronda Review, Voices Israel, Saranac Review, New Delta Review, Plainsong, Asphodel, Haz Mat Review, Istanbul Literary Review, The Chaffin Journal, Ship of Fools, Chiron Review and Main Street Rag. He was awarded Third Place (2004) and First Prize (2007) in the Reuben Rose International Poetry Competition, and was a finalist in the 2009 Cervena Barva Press Chapbook Contest. In 2008 he was selected to read his poetry at New England/Pen's “Discovery” event by Boston Poet Laureate Sam Cornish. He was a featured reader in the2010 Jewish Poetry Festival in Brookline. He is a regular reviewer for the Boston small press and poetry scene and he edits the Muddy River Poetry Review. He is author of the poetry book "King of the Jungle" (Ibbetson Street Press, 2010) and poetry chapbook, "Across Stones of Bad Dreams" (Cervana Barva, 2011). His next volume of poetry, "Fire Tongue," is scheduled for release in 2012. He has taught at several colleges in the Boston area and is on the faculty of the Jewish Community Center's Arts & Ideas.
Sarah Smith, a bestselling adult mystery author, won both the Agatha Award and the Massachusetts Book Award for best Children’s/Young Adult Mystery of the Year for her 2010 book “The Other Side of Dark.” She holds a BA. and a Ph.D. in English literature, both from Harvard University, and was a Fulbright Fellow and a Mellon Fellow. She was an Assistant Professor of English for several years, and presently works in the computer industry. She is Webmaster for the Mystery Writers of America. She is the author of a three-novel mystery series set in turn-of-the-century Boston and Paris and featuring amnesiac Alexander von Reisden: “The Vanished Child” (1992), “The Knowledge of Water” (1996), and “A Citizen of the Country” (2000). She has also authored “Chasing Shakespeares” (2003) and published a hypertext novel, “The King of Space,” with Eastgate Systems in 1991. Set in Brookline and Boston, “The Other Side of Dark” is about ghosts, interracial romance, and a secret kept since slavery times. It has also been named a Junior Library Guild selection.

Lou Urenek’s newest book, “Cabin: Two Brothers, a Dream, and Five Acres in Maine,” has been called “Bracing, beautiful and profoundly heartfelt” by the Boston Globe, and “Meditative and restorative” by the New York Times. He is also the author of “Backcast,” which won the National Outdoor Book Award in 2007 for literary merit, and was called "one of the finest meditations on fathers and sons that I’ve ever read" by environmental leader Bill McKibben. Lou is a former Nieman fellow and editor-in-residence at Harvard University, and was the deputy managing editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer. He was also editor and vice president of the Portland Press Herald and the Maine Sunday Telegram. He began his journalism career as a reporter at the Providence Journal. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, Boston Globe and Field & Stream, among other publications. He is a professor of journalism at Boston University and directs the Business and Economics Journalism Program.

Gary K. Wolf, the celebrated author of the novel "Who Censored Roger Rabbit?," gained fame in 1988 when his literary vision of humans cohabitating with animated characters became a reality in the $750 million blockbuster Disney/Spielberg film "Who Framed Roger Rabbit." The film won four Academy Awards and launched a multiple-picture screen writing deal for Wolf with Walt Disney Pictures. In addition, his ideas inspired Toontown, the newest themed land at Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland. His latest science fiction novel, "Space Vulture," written in collaboration with his childhood friend Catholic Archbishop John J. Myers, was designated a Sci Fi Essentials book and was a main selection of The Science Fiction Bookclub. Wolf’s novel "The Resurrectionist" is currently in production as a feature film at 20th Century Fox.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

NYC and Escape to Wonderland at EstroGenius

October was a whirlwind of a month, so I'm behind in posting.  I traveled to New York twice last month.  Last week, I went to see fellow Rhombus writer Kirsten Greenidge's terrific new play, Milk Like Sugar, which officially opens at Playwrights Horizons tonight (and marks Kirsten's Off Broadway debut), after starting out at La Jolla Playhouse.  I'm always in awe of what Kirsten can do with the rhythm of the words that come from her characters.

Earlier in the month, I went to New York to see one of my own plays, Escape to Wonderland, which was in the first week of the EstroGenius Festival, at Manhattan Theatre Source.  I also had a chance to meet with folks at a couple different theatres, and a director, and a radio producer, and some friends.  (I tend to pack a lot into these trips).  EstroGenius did a nice job with my play, and it was a fun evening of new plays.  I was delighted to meet Mary Hodges, my director, and the actresses in my show, Sheila Joon and Darnell Williams.

(some photos from the trip:)

The front of the Manhattan Theatre Source space on MacDougall Street.  How many theatres are located above dog washes?

My friends Arthur and Nadisa came out to the show and have always been tremendous supporters of my work.  Arthur was instrumental in helping me produce my very first full-length play, In A Glass Cage, at Synchronicity Space on Mercer Street in NYC--exactly 21 years ago today.  (Thanks, Arthur!)
 The two lovely actresses from my show, Sheila and Darnell.


And last, but not least, the audience.  This is part of my continuing series of photos of the audiences for my plays.  We see lots of photos of actors and sets around theatre, but not much of the audience.  Without them, there's no point in doing all of this.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Playwright Submission Binge #19 Survey Results (2,270 submissions out)

In September, the Playwright Submission Binge conducted its 19th "Binge." The Binge group is an online community focusing on marketing for playwrights. Twice a year, in March and September, we take up the challenge of submitting a play every day for 30 days. After each submission, members are encouraged to post to the group with where they sent (including contact info, if appropriate), what they sent, and why.

Since I started the Binge in 2001, the group has grown from a dozen writers exchanging e-mails to more than 600 writers around the world. The generosity and positive spirit of the group continues to amaze me. In any given Binge month, dozens of people actively post to the list, but certainly not all 640 members. I was curious to get a sense of who actually does participate, so I set up a SurveyMonkey survey, asking people who had taken part in Binge #19, to tell us about themselves and what they'd submitted. I've posted the results below.

I was pleasantly surprised to hear back from 74 playwrights who had actively taken part in Binge #19. Together, in the month of September, they submitted 2,270 scripts and query letters. Most of the writers participating (94%) have had their work produced, and 67% percent have received productions as a direct result of their participation in the Binge. The group is making a serious impact, on its members and on theaters.  And it's a fairly experienced group of writers, who have gathered together to share info and offer support.

There's lots of interesting data here.  I'd love to hear your comments.  One thing that interested me is that we have more women than men actively participating.  There's been a lot of conversation about how male playwrights are over-represented on American stages, and I've wondered if that's because women make fewer submissions than men.  In our group, that's certainly not the case.


Here's a snapshot of Binge #19 and a cross-section of our membership:


Response Summary
Total Completed Survey: 74 (100%)
Total number of scripts and queries submitted during Binge #19 (by these 74 writers): 2,270 

How many years have you Binged? 
This is my first time.   15.1%
1-2 years    26.0%
3-4 years    24.7%
5-6 years    19.2%
7-8 years     4.1%
9-10 years   6.8%
Who can remember that far back? 4.1%

Has your work ever been produced? 
Yes   94.4%
No      5.6%

Has your work ever been published? 
Yes    69.9%
No    30.1%

Has your work ever received a reading? 
Yes 97.3%
No 2.7%

Have you ever been paid for any of the readings/productions/publications of your work? 
Yes   87.8%
No    12.2% 

Have you ever received a reading, production, or publication as a result of a Binge submission?
Reading        54.1% 
Production    67.6%
Publication   21.6% 
Not yet         27.0% 

How often do you post to the Binge list?
Often   23.0%
A couple times each Binge    27.0%
A couple times a year    14.9%
Rarely   23.0%
Never   12.2% 

Are you male or female? 

Male  39.2%
Female  60.8%