Brooklyn Publishers writers guidelines

(Brooklyn Publishers is located in Texas, not NYC)

web site

PLAYS WE PUBLISH
Brooklyn publishes plays and theatre books for teens and youth, and we specialize in scripts that are clean, yet have a cutting-edge quality. The genre of works we publish is broad and includes comedy, drama, mystery, fantasy, farce and melodrama from 10 to 120 minutes in length.

Though it may be a challenge to write strong plays void of language or content issues, the rewards are great. The many thousands of public and private schools, high schools and middle schools, elementaries and youth theatres are searching for shows to fill their school year. Many of our writers have seen great success through strictly writing for this challenging but rewarding market.

WHAT WE SEEK
The following are the types of plays we seek:
* Full Length Plays
* One Act Plays
* Ten Minute Monologues
* Ten Minute Duets
* Ten Minute Skits and Plays
* Short Play Collections

We publish plays for the following markets:
High School
Middle School / Junior High
Children's Theatre / Youth Theatre

Brooklyn publishes plays that appeal to the teen market. We look for stage plays and competition pieces and works that address issues for young people in today's world. We do not want weak stories, cardboard characters, or juvenile approaches. Young actors want fresh material with over-the-top comedy or realistic approaches to dramatic issues.

What plays best in our market:
*Full lengths and one acts with multiple characters, especially female roles
*Strong, well-developed characters that will allow young actors to grow and develop their acting skills
*Ten minute comedic or dramatic duets or monologues for competition
*Fun, over-the-top characters
*Realistic dramatic characters facing a crisis
*Thematic dramas with strong conflict and resolution
*Clever parodies of any popular entity (i.e. American Idle)
*Silly comedies (but well-written - there's a fine line here) that appeal to teens or children

TOP REASONS FOR REJECTION
Plays with adult language. Many high school competitions disqualify competitors if adult language is used. While we are not attempting to censor our authors, we are looking for plays that will best fit our market and its requirements. There are occasional exceptions to this rule, but overall we are looking for language that is creative, inventive, and clean.

Too juvenile or cliche - Just because you're writing for young people doesn't mean they'll accept nonsense. Even silliness needs to be clever and well-written. Order some sample copies of our plays as examples. We like slapstick comedy and broad comedic characters (although subtlety is nice as well), and we want realistic characters faced with a crisis in drama.

Plays that don't go anywhere - Be sure your play builds. Teens have short attention spans (for that matter, so do most adults), and if the story is too bogged down in excessive dialogue, or if the play wonders aimlessly, they will simply tune out. If the comedy or suspense doesn't build from scene to scene, if we're not involved with the main character(s) or the dramatic question, then the play isn't going anywhere.

Plays with too few characters - Although there is a market in professional and community theatre for two or three character plays, they are extremely difficult for us to market. For ten minute plays or shorter works, this is okay, but for most one acts and full lengths, large casts work best. Also, we're interested in well-drawn, multi-dimensional female characters.

HOW TO SUBMIT AND WHAT TO INCLUDE
We highly encourage you to send your submission via our Web site at www.brookpub.com, by clicking on Submit a Play in the Author’s Corner on the left border. You may also submit a play by e-mail with attachment at editor@brookpub.com or by snail-mail with a complete manuscript to me at:
Brooklyn Publishers
Attn: Editor
5213 New Orleans Drive
Odessa, Texas 79762

When you submit a play, please include the following:
Short synopsis of the work
The play’s genre, duration, and cast size
Character list
Production history (if any - not required)
Short bio of the playwright
Contact information, including e-mail address, phone number, and mailing address

Microsoft Word and Adobe Acrobat are our preferred text processing programs; however, if you use another program please use Rich Text Format (rtf). This option is available in most word processing programs by going to the “File” menu and selecting “Save As…” If you are only able to submit a manuscript by mail, then please send the manuscript to the address mentioned earlier in this section. Again, be sure to include your full contact information and the play’s genre, duration, etc. ELECTRONIC SUBMISSIONS SUBMITTED THROUGH THE AUTHOR'S CORNER ON OUR WEB SITE ARE PREFERRED.

Advice from the editor:
Keep writing and don't become discouraged. Don't be afraid to rewrite your work. Don't be discouraged by a rejection. Write every day. And please, be patient with response times. Although we try to respond within a short time, response times vary according to the time of the year. Just remember, we will give your script individual attention, and we don't want to rush the process.