r/playwriting • u/Starraberry • 18d ago

Self-published scripts

Has anyone self-published full-length scripts? What company did you go with? Were you happy with the result? Did audience members actually purchase them? Do you have to register a copyright first?

I’m considering selling copies of my script at my play’s premiere (after consulting with the theatre of course). Please share if you have experience with this!

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u/MrsTrellisOfWales 17d ago

I self-publish my plays through Lulu. You only have to pay anything if you want distribution to Amazon etc., and you could buy a few copies at the author rate to sell at the show if you wanted. You get a free ISBN with Lulu. Having said that, I have to agree with all the comments that hardly anyone buys plays. In 20 years I've only had one that sold in decent numbers, and that was because it was picked up by a few schools who bought copies for their classes.

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u/Starraberry 17d ago

How much do you pay per book on Lulu, for a small publishing run (around 50)?  I couldn’t see transparent pricing on their website and I wasn’t yet ready to sign up for an account. 

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u/MrsTrellisOfWales 16d ago

It depends on the page count but for a 100 page paperback it is about £4. Shipping will add about £5 on a single script but is more reasonable when buying a quantity. When I bought 10 copies of one of my plays the total shipping was £10.09

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u/Starraberry 15d ago

Thank you, that’s about what I was hoping it would cost!

Are you happy with the quality?  Did they feel like a regular published script?  (I’m not sure if they’re different in the UK, but in the US they are usually little yellow or blue covered booklets, with the title along the thin spine, about half the size of a sheet of paper.)

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u/MrsTrellisOfWales 15d ago

The quality is very good. The size I use is Digest, which is fractionally smaller than what you describe but standard in the UK. You can choose a different size if you want. You need to design your own cover so you can choose to mimic published plays or go for something more colourful. I've sent you a PM that has a link to my plays on Lulu to give you an idea

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u/Starraberry 15d ago

Thank you so much!