A death is always a birth in another timeline.
You’ve probably noticed it too: TV seasons are getting shorter, but episodes are getting longer. Streaming has transformed the way we consume both film and television. Meanwhile, we’re being fed constant remakes of the same stories, while original screenplays gather dust on producers’ shelves. Screenwriters, both emerging and established, are struggling to make ends meet in an industry that seems to be eating itself.
It’s no secret that COVID deeply affected the film industry. But the people most overlooked in all of this? Screenwriters. The ones who craft the blueprint of every movie and show we binge, yet are rarely celebrated. At awards shows, the spotlight always lands on actors and directors. Unless a screenwriter is also a showrunner (and even then), their names are barely known outside the industry.
Now, we’re not necessarily looking for the spotlight (okay, maybe a little), but we are seeking recognition, not just for ourselves, but for screenwriting as an art form. Not merely as a production tool, but as something literary. As something to be read, cherished, and sold. And in a time when the industry is in crisis, I believe this is the perfect moment to get creative. Art is political. And screenplay books may just be the revolution we need.
What is ScriptLit?
ScriptLit™, short for Script or Screen Literature, is a new literary genre: screenplays written and published as books. It’s not just an idea I had. It’s a movement. A form. A reclamation.
ScriptLit bridges cinema and literature, creating a space where screenwriters can share their stories directly with readers without waiting for greenlights, agents, or gatekeepers. It opens up creative freedom, artistic ownership, and new income opportunities. It’s for visual storytellers who dream in scenes. It’s for people like me, and maybe for people like you too.
I hope ScriptLit becomes a global community of readers and writers who value screenwriting as a literary art form, just like poetry, novels, and plays.
Screenplay books: creative freedom and ownership
Screenplay books already exist, but mostly as collector’s items, fancy coffee table editions published by production companies after a show or film has become successful. You can find them at A24 shops, Faber, Barnes & Noble, or even the Academy. But it’s still a niche.
ScriptLit flips the script (hehe). Instead of waiting years for a studio to approve a story, writers can publish their screenplays directly as books. We live in a world where not everyone is based in LA, and not everyone wants to be. That shouldn’t make us invisible.
ScriptLit knows no borders. It’s for every ethnicity, every race, every language, every imagination. You can put your story out there, with total creative freedom, and build an audience from the ground up. Imagine being an indie screenwriter who publishes a ScriptLit book, gains a following, lands a book deal, and a production deal. But for that to happen, you need belief. Belief in your vision. Belief in your voice. Belief in your craft. Renaissance movements aren’t built by quitters, they’re built by artists who trust their work more than their circumstances.
A new way to consume TV and Film in the digital age
I used to read constantly, paperbacks, PDFs, Kindle books, on my phone. But over time, like many, my attention span was hijacked by social media, streaming apps, and dopamine loops.
Then I discovered screenplays. At first, I was intimidated. The format looked alien, all those margins, caps, and technical directions. I didn’t understand it, and I felt shut out. So I chose directing instead. But the truth is, screenplays are readable. They’re just rarely introduced to readers as something meant to be read.
People read poetry, plays, zines, why not screenplays?
ScriptLit helps reconnect readers to the rhythm and imagery of visual storytelling, while repairing attention spans and reshaping how we engage with story. It’s binge-watching with your eyes and your imagination.
Visibility for BIPOC screenwriters and diverse storytelling
As a French Black woman living in Europe, I struggled as a child and teen to see myself in the stories I consumed. The protagonists in books were almost always white. The TV and films with Black characters followed predictable, reductive storylines: trauma, slavery, poverty, gang violence, toxic love, the “sassy” best friend, the “dangerous” Black man.
I highly recommend watching Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s TED Talk “The Danger of a Single Story.” It was her novel Americanah that first made me feel seen. For once, a story featured a Black woman not framed through the white gaze. It gave me hope that my own characters, complex, tender, messy, could exist too.
I want to encourage Black and BIPOC writers everywhere to publish their stories as ScriptLit books. Don’t wait to be chosen. Choose yourself. Let’s build this literary space together, a space where our stories thrive on our terms.
The vision : what’s next for ScriptLit
This is just the beginning. The goal is for more and more writers to self-publish screenplay books and promote them across social media. If the audience shows up, if readers and viewers fall in love with this format, publishers and studios will follow.
I envision a future where:
- ScriptLit books are stocked in major bookstores.
- ScriptLit authors are reviewed in literary magazines.
- ScriptLit awards are created for drama, comedy, sci-fi, horror, romance and other genres.
- ScriptLit deals lead to real development offers and adaptations.
The global film industry is worth over $100 billion. The publishing industry brings in more than $120 billion annually. Even the indie publishing market alone is projected to reach $17 billion by 2025. These are multi-billion dollar industries, so why shouldn’t screenwriters claim a piece of that pie by publishing their own stories?
In this digital age, showing your work is no longer optional. And with ScriptLit, we now have a movement to do just that, even if Hollywood isn’t knocking (yet).
Who am I?
You can find out more about me on my website, but here’s the short version: I’m a storyteller craving more diverse Black French representation on screen. I graduated from film school a few months ago and began The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron with a friend, a journey that helped me remember who I’ve always been. A writer. A dreamer. A scene-builder.
I’ve expressed that storytelling through poetry, short films, essays, but ScriptLit is the form that feels most me. The traditional film industry doesn’t excite me right now, but that doesn’t mean we all have to be struggling, LA-based screenwriters hoping to be discovered.
I’m not a master screenwriter. Like many, I learned from YouTube tutorials, film school, and sheer obsession. What I am is determined. I want to write the stories I see in my mind’s eye and share them, on the big screen, on the small screen, or on the page.
I’m tired of gatekeepers. I’m tired of rules that box us out. Yes, learn the craft. But also rewrite the future.
ScriptLit is the beginning of a renaissance
Imagine screenwriters being treated like novelists. Imagine getting a ScriptLit book deal. Imagine awards, scholarships, and fellowships for ScriptLit authors. Imagine a whole shelf in bookstores just for screenplay books. This is just the beginning. And I believe we’re about to write the next great chapter of storytelling, together.
Website : https://scriptlit.carrd.co/
Instagram : @readscriptlit
TikTok : Delali Amegah Screenwriter
Email : readscriptlit@gmail.com
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