Get some lightening from me, not a lightning bug from others!
Affection is the last and final and most precious reward than any man can win, whether by character or achievement. ~ Mark Twain
The most recent traditionally published book with my name on it has sold over 80,000 copies. I LOVE teaching and helping. Here's some kudos:
Screenwriter Barry Cowan told me: I wanted to send you another “thanks.” After having one children’s fantasy/adventure feature produced, I have three contracted assignments. Your comprehensive book The Complete Idiot's Guide to Screenwriting which is how I got into writing screenplays in the first place. Thanks, Skip!!!
I consulted a friend on his first TV script (a pilot). He got a development deal with a producer at CBS.
At the Austin Film Festival screenplay competition one client came in second. The winner, Anita Skibski, wrote to say this: Remembering how you were the FIRST professional I sent the script to for coverage, and how much you helped me. Your comments were right on the money, and I can honestly say that MINE hasn't changed much since that first, post-Skip rewrite. :)
From Tony Ducklow after coaching on writing a novel & getting an agent: They picked up my manuscript! If it wasn't for you, there would be no "Summer of the Crows." You gave me the correct input to turn my short story into a children's novel.
I helped Gleb Kaminer with his script "Profile 21" - he became a semi-finalist in the Academy's Nicholl contest (the reader called him to thank him for a great script). Now he's a multi-award winner with his movie LIFT.
Mt client Joanne Wannan's script "Obituary" was made into a Lifetime movie starring Josie Bissett!
My friends and clients Brian Pittman and Rachel Long saw their feature "Dawn Patrol" go into production via my first agent in Hollywood, writer/producer Daniel Petrie Jr. Hollywood is a very small world.
I got a TV director his first feature film and sold the comic book series "Boris Karloff Presents" to be reprinted in hardback to Dark Horse Comics. Sara Karloff (Boris' daughter) had tried for years to get a deal before I came along.
I began teaching at UCLA Extension Writers Program in 1992 with "How To Write What You Want & Sell What You Write." It became my first writing book. The edition published by Barnes & Noble Books. helped a lot of people get book deals.
My "Writer's Guide to Hollywood Producers, Directors and Screenwriters' Agents" put me in touch with writers all over the world. My "Complete Idiot's Guide to Screenwriting" became a best-seller also available in Russia.
Giving Hollywood advice led to creating my "Your Screenwriting Career" course (see the Services page).
An ongoing Substack chronicle of my spiritual journey to find a wife from another life and to build a writing career. I post a new article about every week. It's the story of how I began remembering having lived before, wondering if I was losing it, and plunging onward to understand the phenomenon. The search took me from Alabama to my native Texas, then to California. I became a staff member at the Scientology Celebrity Centre for several years, then escaped and built a life.
After winning a car and thousands of dollars on a TV game show, I began a writing career that's been successful for decades. The stories cover music legends, movie stars, and Hollywood and Los Angeles from the inside, mostly in the rowdy rocking 80s. You can hear some of my music, meet some of the people I knew, and share the insights I learned about the truths of life and human nature. You might like it enough to comment, ask questions, or even subscribe.
A veritable Swiss army knife of a "how-to" writing book, just about every format imaginable is covered within its pages. From novels, TV and Film through corporate reports, graphic novels, and magazine articles, author Skip Press gives first-rate/pro-level advice on how to get started and come off looking like a professional. I've been a paid writer for a number of years now and I still learned quite a bit. A real confidence builder for the newbie, too.
My prices are explained on the Services page. I'm 30 years as a full-time writer, editor, and media entrepreneur. I've made money with plays, books, novels, articles, videos, scripts and just about any other kind of creative writing you can name. I've put on conventions, spoken all over the U.S. I've used PayPal for years to accept money from all over the world, with never a snag on my end. Pay me with any credit card or debit card. If you've never used it I can send you an invoice and you just click through and pay. I'm also old-fashioned; I'll take a check or even a barter!
I also take Zelle, Venmo, Stripe, Square, and the Cash app. I'll even take a check. Call me old school, just call me.
Never give up on your greatest dreams! I found this quote one day in the Wall Street Journal:
"Heaven, when it is about to place a great responsibility on a man, always first tests his resolution, wears out his sinews and bones with toil, exposes his body to starvation, subjects him to extreme poverty, frustrates his efforts so as to stimulate his mind, toughens his nature and makes good his deficiencies. Men for the most part can mend their ways only after they make mistakes. Only when they are frustrated in mind and in their deliberations can they stand up anew. Only when their intentions become visible on their countenances and audible in their voices can they be understood by others. As a rule, a state without law–abiding families and trustworthy Gentlemen on the one hand, and, on the other, without the threat of external aggression, will perish. Only then do we realize that anxiety and distress lead to life and that ease and comfort end in death."
Chinese philosopher Mencius, Book VI Kao Tzu, Part II, 15