ScreenCraft
ScreenCraft Cinematic Book Competition
2024
Reads in Coverfly
Active Since 2018
Author/producer Sara Shepard (PRETTY LITTLE LIARS) joins as VIP mentor! Jury includes Showrunner Charlie Craig,and industry professionals from Verve, & Howland Agency.
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About

Our Jury is looking for great stories with potential to be adapted for the screen. We’re looking for novels, novellas, true stories and biographies. 

This year we welcome VIP mentor Sara Shepard! She is the author of nearly 40 books, including the #1 New York Times bestselling series, PRETTY LITTLE LIARS, which aired for seven seasons on Freeform.

Add feedback notes to your entry, and receive insight into the story, characters, and commercial potential showcased in the first 50 pages and synopsis of your project.

VIP MENTOR

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Sara will identify two writers from this year's competition who will receive personalized feedback on their project, as well as a general meeting.

Sara Shepard is the author of nearly 40 books, including the #1 New York Times bestselling series, PRETTY LITTLE LIARS, which aired for seven seasons on Freeform. She has also had two other book series adapted for television, writes and illustrates novels for teens, adults, and elementary age children, and writes and produces for television and podcasts as well.

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Benefits

JURY
Get in front of Hollywood judges who love great books!

CHARLIE CRAIG

Writer, Showrunner, Pretty Little Liars

Charlie Craig is an award-winning TV Writer/Showrunner who’s credits include everything from the X-FILES, EUREKA and THE 100, to running PRETTY LITTLE LIARS and its spin-off THE PERFECTIONISTS. He most recently sold and developed a pilot for NBC. He has taught Television Writing both at USC and UCLA.

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CHARLOTTE GUSAY

Agent and Owner, Charlotte Gusay Literary Agency

Charlotte Gusay, founder-owner of The Charlotte Gusay Literary Agency, represents both fiction and nonfiction books, selected young adult books with movie potential, entertainment rights, books to film, selected screenplays and screenwriters, often partnering with WGA film agents. Her clients have sold titles such as: A Mystery of Mysteries: The Death and Life of Edgar Allan Poe by television and film journalist Mark Dawidziak; Working Actor: Breaking in, Making a Living, and Making a Life in the Fabulous Trenches of Show Business; Waco, A Survivor’s Story, now a Paramount Six-Part Television Series; and its second season streaming now on Showtime and more. Charlotte is a member of PEN America and The Authors Guild. .

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ERIN CLYBURN

Literary Agent, Howland Literary

Erin Clyburn is a literary agent with Howland Literary, representing middle grade, YA, and adult fiction and nonfiction. Prior to joining Howland Literary, Erin was an associate agent with The Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency. She has over a decade of experience in magazine publishing, having worked for brands including Food & Wine, Cooking Light, People, and Entertainment Weekly.

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EMMA KAPSON

Junior Agent and IP Coordinator, Verve

Emma Kapson is a native Los Angeleno and a Junior Agent and IP Coordinator at Verve Talent & Literary Agency. She started her career in publishing at Regan Arts and has since transitioned to representation. She is passionate about literature and bringing stories she believes in to life in various mediums like film, television, and audio. She has an eye for women’s voices, strong female-driven narratives, epic worlds, romance, horror, thriller, and works by foreign and diverse writers.

GRAND PRIZE


The overall Grand Prize winner will be welcomed to the ScreenCraft Writer Development Program and receive personal introductions and phone calls with one or more top industry producers, agents, or managers.


ScreenCraft has a proven track record for getting writers signed with managers, agents, and staffed in writing rooms.


They'll also receive:

  • • Personal Introduction to top industry professionals
  • • Accepted into the ScreenCraft Development Program
  • • $1,000 cash award
  • • An exclusive invitation to a Finalist only workshop to position yourself and your writing to the industry


Runner-Up

  • • $500 cash award
  • • Accepted into the ScreenCraft Development Program
  • • An exclusive invitation to a Finalist only workshop to position yourself and your writing to the industry


Finalists

  • • An exclusive invitation to a Finalist only workshop to position yourself and your writing to the industry

Writer Success

I signed with John W. Beach and Kevin Cleary at Gravity Squared as a direct result of the Screencraft Cinematic Book Competition.
Romily Bernard
2022 Finalist
Signed with John W. Beach at Gravity Squared Entertainment
Almost immediately after winning the Screencraft Cinematic Book Contest, my book garnered interest from several literary agents and I signed with my top choice.
TRAVIS KENNEDY
2020 - 2021 Winner
Signed with Yfat Reiss Gendell at YRG Partners
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Coverfly Program Insights
Coverfly vets all programs on its platform, but not every program is right for every writer. Program Insights help you decide where to submit your work.

2024 Winners on Coverfly

Top 6%
Manuscript  · Historical  · 368 Pages
The war is over, yet hatred has not surrendered. 18 year old pianist Eva and the five other surviving Jews of Laszlo, Hungary, return home to find their houses and businesses owned by their former neighbors.
Leverett, MA
Dean Cycon is an acclaimed author, lawyer, human rights advocate and internationally renowned social entrepreneur who has lived and worked in over sixty countries. Cycon is a passionate explorer of culture and history, seeking out unexamined corners that illuminate the human condition. FINDING HOME (Hungary, 1945) is his first novel (but not his las...
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Top 6%
Manuscript  · Thriller  · 292 Pages
After being sent on a failed mission, Russian agent Nina Palester, raised as an Illegal by adoptive parents, must find out who has lied to and betrayed her as she fights to save herself.
Montreal, Quebec, CA
Born and bred Montrealer with so many plans I might need three lives.
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Announcements

Feb 7th
Semifinalists
Mar 20th
Finalists
Apr 17th
Winners