I had read this masterpiece from a futurist of our time Nicholas Negroponte in his famous book “ Being Digital .” That one day everything will be digital and technology will rule tales hence he way we work and see the content. Two decades hence I am in a race to sell my books and stories to be adapted as Web content, Originals, and even a feature film. My learnings as I pitch my stories to production houses, OTT platform bosses and other heads of the film and media industry.
The Bible :
The Bible or your book self published or otherwise is your starting piece of content and that is what sets the tone and nature of what you are trying to make as digital content. You should be clear on the genre and nature of the content. Who will be the target audience and does it have any social or relevant message to it. Does your story inspire people, has it got a moral tale or learning that the audience can take. Can it cross over to other countries and can it be easily adapted to other languages? How large is the scope of the project and can the story be adapted at a grand scale. These are things that will define your project and give the buyer or producer enough insights as to whether he should put his money in it or not.
Multiple Stories: Ideally when you start making your pitch have three or four stories that you can make the platform and producer listen too, each should be different in genre and in treatment. If you are an author have multiple books that can be adapted into the audiovisual format. This way the prospects get a variety and there are more chances that one of your stories will stick and fit into their content plans.
Screenplay and Dialogues: Make sure that at least a couple of your books also have episodic screenplay and dialogue already done with the episodic graph and content for series two if need be. I really you should have more content so that if it works more episodes can be made from it. It is best to collaborate with a specialist screenplay writer to convert your books and stories into web or film format depending on the need for the hour.
Analysis: Study the content history of the major OTT platforms how and what kind of content position they have in the market. Do the same for the production houses that you pitch to. Some specialize in crime only the others look for romantic and love stories. That way you can funnel and target only those prospects that are in alignment with the stories and content you are selling.
Targeting: Well as a start send out personalized emails to your prospects get contact details and arrange meetings through the linked In network. Talk to old industry contacts, casting agents to find out the decision-makers. Participate in industry events and. Conferences. I get to do a lot of that and benefit also because I am a screenwriter association member. Call up directly, get to the personal secretary and arrange for a meeting.
IPR Lawyer: Make sure that you have a good IPR lawyer on your side, you will be going through a lot of contracts and studying IPR and copyright laws. Before you sign a deal or sell the rights of your book make sure your lawyer as studied the contract and you get a fair deal in terms of money and rights to your IP.
Think Different; Look at a cross over cinema and content creators who cater to the international market, look for stories that can cross over different regions of the globe irrespective of the differences in culture and language.
Pricing: Make sure you price your story competitively in the market ask for a fair price for your work depending on how much time it took you to write it, how many pages the book is and what was the research and other complexities in drafting the Bible of your story. You can increase your price after you have sold a couple of the stories and maybe even asked for a 2 % revenue share from the profits if the project is of a large scale.
Influencers: Try and befriend a well-known name or influencer like a famous actor or director who keeps meeting important people. Try and arrange meetings and sell your story through his contacts, you can share the proceeds of the revenue latter with him.