Publishing Upheaval Leads Author to New Career as Indy Screenwriter/Producer

Three years ago, author Gini Graham Scott was a successful writer specializing in books on work relationships, professional development, and business success, with books published by major publishers, including AMACOM and Random House. She had also sold a service connecting writers to publishers and agents, the film industry, and the media, which she still works with as a consultant. But then the economy tanked, publishers cut back, and the e-book revolution happened, making it harder than ever to make a living writing one's own books.

But after two desperate years of living on the edge while commuting between L.A. and Oakland, Gini Graham Scott has found a new career as an indy screenwriter and producer, as well as helping would-be writers, speakers, and businesspeople write, publish, and promote their own books through her new company: Changemakers Publishing and Writing (www.changemakerspublishingandwriting.com). As an indy filmmaker, she has written and produced over three dozen short films and trailers for features, which are now featured on YouTube at changemakersprod. Her most recent films are trailers for the feature, The Engagement at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rU15IABpr_4, and for a documentary for geocaching, Hide and Seek at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szRNRoJB5Pk

Scott has additionally written a book on low-budget filmmaking: THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO WRITING, PRODUCING AND DIRECTING A LOW-BUDGET SHORT FILM to be published by Hal Leonard in November. In the meantime, an e-book version is available through Smashwords and Kindle, and she is currently working on her next book for filmmakers: FINDING FUNDS FOR YOUR FILM, since she is doing exactly that for some of her feature films. She is also leading workshops on writing, producing, and promoting short films, as well as on how to write, publish, and promote one's own book and find a publisher or agent.