For the lucky few who have won an Oscar for their screenplay, there are thousands of others working frantically to emerge from the pack and win fortune and fame for theirs. Hollywood is tough and unless you are connected into the business or are a certified writing genius, you're unlikely to be noticed. However, for the truly confident writer with talent, ego, and tenaciousness, a guardian angel has arrived.

In her new book The Perfect Screenplay: Writing It and Selling It veteran script analyst and Hollywood writer Katherine Atwell Herbert divulges the secrets of success and offers dependable advice for turning an original idea into a professional looking screenplay that Hollywood producers will want to read and produce.

Complete, supportive, and entertaining, The Perfect Screenplay covers the entire process from beginning to end with tips for research and writing, elements of style and formatting, networking and selling techniques, and even options outside of Hollywood. Extensive lists of agents and agencies, film festivals, and writing competitions further help the motivated screenwriter to get a foot in the door. Also included are dozens of websites with firmly established addresses that offer additional tips for those hoping to make their big break.

It is not enough to be a terrific writer with winning script; it also takes an understanding of the business. No trade secrets can guarantee writing success but every script writer needs to know and conform to common conventions, script elements, and business techniques if he or she wants their work to be taken seriously by the people in the film industry who, hopefully, will be reading it.

They say in L.A. everybody is writing a screenplay. With The Perfect Screenplay, everybody everywhere will be writing well-presented, saleable screenplays. Packed with tips from an insider on how Hollywood operates, testing script ideas, building structure, and marketing the final screenplay, this book is the key to getting work read and sold. A resource list gives Web sites, agents, and more. Writers will be thanking the little people — and The Perfect Screenplay.