How can I edit my email address or other personal information on SpotWriters?

You can edit your profile from the dashboard section - 'My profile'. But your email and other personal information can't be changed. In order to do that, you will need to contact hello@spotwriters.com

I forgot my username or password. What should I do?

Enter your email id. Click forgot password, and an otp will be sent via email. Use the OTP to reset your new password.

Can I have more than one account on spotwriters.com?

As a storyteller, you are only allowed one account per our terms of service. Under the same account, you can submit and pitch multiple stories. In the event that you are a director/producer as well, you can use the same email id to create your profile as an industry professional.

What happens if my subscription expires?

If your subscription expires, all your published stories will be removed from the marketplace after a 3-day grace period. After the 3-day grace period, all your pending offers will be declined and cancelled. Your drafts will remain as is. The platform will be inaccessible to you upon expiry. After 90 days of expiry, all your data will be deleted from the platform.

Can I only list my idea instead of making it available to view?

Unfortunately, you can’t. Please see below the criteria for a story to be eligible for pitching to Industry Professionals.

I forgot to upload some additional material. Can I tweak my published submission to include them?

No. Stories once published can not be tweaked. You can unpublish the submission, and resubmit it. The resubmission will be treated as a fresh submission, and will be charged accordingly. Note: Any correspondence you might have had with an industry member on an active submission will be deleted forever upon resubmitting the story.

Is there a page limit for submissions?

No. There’s no page limit for your submissions. But ensure that each individual element of your submission does not exceed the stated file size limits.

Can I Upload My Treatment, Look Book, Short Script, Etc. To The Site?

Yes you can. For now, the stories uploaded on SpotWriters can be for feature films, web series, TV series, or short films. The minimum requirements for a story to get published are TITLE, LOGLINE, ONE-PAGE SYNOPSIS, GENRE, LANGUAGE, and TAGS. Your story, supporting material etc must not exceed 5MB. Plays and sketches are not accepted.

Can I submit only the first 10 pages of my screenplay?

An Industry Professional can only view the first 4 pages of your screenplay. If they like your story, they can request to see the full screenplay. Please ensure you upload the full screenplay so that you can grant them access to it. The decision to grant them access is entirely up to you.

What is a Logline?

A Logline is a one-sentence summary or description of a movie. A logline distils the important elements of your screenplay - main character, setup, central conflict, antagonist - into one clear and concise teaser. It’s compulsory to upload a logline For your logline to be eligible on SpotWriters, it has to adhere to a word limit of 50 words.

What is a Synopsis?

A Synopsis is a one-page summary of the story's core concept, major plot points, and main character arcs. A Storyteller primarily writes a story synopsis as a selling tool to convince film industry higher-ups to read the full screenplay. It’s compulsory to upload a synopsis. For your synopsis to be eligible on SpotWriters, it has to adhere to a word limit of 500 words.

What is a Screenplay?

A Screenplay, or script, is a written blueprint of a movie, television show, or other visual video-based media. It expresses the movement, actions and dialogue of the characters. Screenplays are written in a specific format to distinguish between characters, action lines, and dialogue. It’s optional to upload a screenplay. For your screenplay to be eligible on SpotWriters, your screenplay PDF should not exceed a file size of 5mb.

What is an Audio Narration?

An Audio Narration is a 3-5 minute oral summary of the story's core concept, major plot points, and main character arcs. It can be used to give the listener more context to the Synopsis submitted above. It’s optional to upload an audio narration. For your audio narration to be eligible on SpotWriters, the recording should not exceed a file size of 15mb.

What are Supporting Images?

Supporting Images help the reader visualise your story's setting. It’s optional to upload supporting images. You can upload up to 10 supporting images, of max 1MB each.

What is an Expected Price?

An Expected Price is the minimum amount a writer expects to get upon selling their story. This price is determined by the writer, and is specific to the story in question.

What are the rules for uploading a Screenplay on SpotWriters?

Include only the STORY TITLE and your NAME on the TITLE PAGE of your screenplay. No date, copyright or SWA registration information. Use a screenplay formatting software to make certain all margins, spacing and capitalisation are correct. Upload as a PDF. To be named accordingly: YOUR STORY TITLE_SCREENPLAY.

Why is my story not uploading?

Please make sure your story and other supporting material are each under 5MB. Anything over 5MB will not upload. If your story and other supporting material are under 5MB and still not uploading, contact hello@spotwriters.com and let us know which browser/version you’re using.

Can I add a poster or other artwork to my submission?

Poster and other artwork can be added as supporting images to your submission.

Can I pitch a story with a co-writer?

Yes, you can. Simply enter your co-writer’s name during the story submission process.

How long does a story remain hosted on SpotWriters?

All stories uploaded have a hosting period of 6 months. Post which, you can either extend your hosting by another 6 months, or else it will unpublished from the marketplace.

What is an Offer?

An offer is a legally-binding agreement of how much an industry member is willing to pay to option a story’s rights.

What is Optioning?

Optioning is a contractual agreement pertaining to the story rights between a potential industry professional (such as a movie studio, a production company, or an individual) and the author of source material, such as a book, play, synopsis, or screenplay. It's an exclusive, but temporary, right to purchase the story, given both the parties live up to the terms of the contract.

What happens when I accept an offer?

Once accepted, the Writer and the Industry Professional are legally bound to the offer. You then have the option of connecting with the Industry Professional directly, or through SpotWriters to complete the contract.

Can I retract a counter offer?

Yes. You can retract your counter offer anytime before any action is taken by the Industry Professional. Once the Industry Professional responds, you are legally bound to the action.

If I reject an offer, can I accept it later?

No. Once you have rejected an offer, the offer process ends and only the Industry Professional can restart the process.

Does SpotWriters take a percentage of a sale?

Yes. All stories sold via SpotWriters will be charged 5% of the sale amount as commission. This commission is charged over and above the sale price and is entirely payable by the Industry Professional. For example, if a story sells for Rs. 1,00,000/-, SpotWriters will charge Rs. 5,000/- to the Industry Professional separately.

Can I contact the Production House I’ve submitted my screenplay to, directly?

No. Production Houses use SpotWriters to not only find new material, but also to avoid unsolicited calls to their office, and to protect all parties legally. Contacting any company affiliated with our site/service, if not asked by a company representative to do so, is a breach of our terms of service. Your account may be deactivated on doing so.

How do I determine which Production House is right for my story?

Go through each company’s IMDB page and assess what kind of stories they like to make. In case it’s a new Production House with no prior IMDB credits to its name, check out the individual IMDB pages of their founders, key players etc. If nothing else works, go with your gut.

Is there a SpotWriters App?

No. We are a web-based platform only.

Who is permitted on SpotWriters?

Anyone with a story to tell, or wanting to tell a story, is permitted to join SpotWriters. But you must be 18 years of age or above to use our services.

I'm a SWA member. Do I get a discount?

No. SWA members do not get a special discount to be a part of SpotWriters. That said, there’s a general discount being offered to everyone right now. The copyright and hosting fee for Storytellers has been discounted to Rs.500, from Rs.1000. Grab the offer before it disappears.

Why do I need a copyright?

All stories on SpotWriters’ Marketplace are legally protected - either through the ScreenWriters Association of India or through the Copyright Registrar of India. This is a practice that enables a fully transparent and legally protected marketplace.

Can I upload my story with an SWA registration?

Yes you can. If your story is protected with the SWA, you can enter your SWA details and your story would be verified accordingly.

How long does the Copyright process take?

The submission of your copyright takes up to 7 working days and thereon, the copyright application can take up to 1 year for the final decision. However, SpotWriters is generally able to receive a decision in about 2 months time.

How can I edit my email address or other personal information on SpotWriters?

You can edit your profile from the dashboard section - 'My profile'. But your email and other personal information can't be changed. In order to do that, you will need to contact hello@spotwriters.com. For all billing and legal information, you can make this change in your account settings.

I forgot my username or password. What should I do?

On the login screen, choose the option “Forgot Password”. You will be sent an email OTP for verification after which you can reset your password.

What happens if my subscription expires?

If your subscription expires, all your pending offers will be declined and canceled after a 3-day grace period. All your other information - favorites, saved filters, notifications etc. will remain as is but will be inaccessible to you. After 90 days of expiry, all your data will be deleted from the platform.

Does SpotWriters take a percentage of a sale?

Yes. All stories sold via SpotWriters will be charged 5% of the sale amount as commission. This commission is charged over and above the sale price and is entirely payable by the Industry Professional. For example, if a stories sells for Rs. 1,00,000/-, SpotWriters will charge Rs. 5,000/- to the Industry Professional separately.

I only want to see stories of a specific genre. What should I do?

It’s simple. Once you go to the marketplace, apply the filter to include the genre of your choice, and all the stories under that genre will show up.

How can I contact a writer?

You can contact a writer directly on SpotWriters upon placing an offer on their story. In case you want to contact a writer without placing an offer, please email us at <hello@spotwriters.cominsert email id>, and we'll put you in touch with them.

What if I have multiple people on my team?

For Industry Professionals, we have two types of substoryions - Individual and Organization. An Organization subscription gives you 1 admin user and 3 users for the platform.

How do I add more users to my Team?

Every organization account comes with 3 users. You can add more users from the account tab in your dashboard, at an additional cost of Rs. 2,190 per new user per year.

Is there a SpotWriters App?

No. We are a web-based platform only.

Who is permitted on SpotWriters?

Anyone with a story to tell, or wanting to tell a story, is permitted to join SpotWriters. But you must be 18 years of age or above to use our services.

Is an offer legally-binding?

Yes, an offer made on SpotWriters is legally binding. The industry professional has 2 weeks since making the initial offer to rescind it. In the event that 2 weeks have passed and the offer is still active, the industry professional will have to pay the writer the same. It goes both ways, with the writer also having to honor the offer and sell their story if they have not rejected the industry professional’s offer.

What happens if I encounter any legal issues with a stories I've purchased?

SpotWriters aims to uphold the highest standards of transparency and legal protection. We capture an entire audit trail of every user’s actions on the platform in order to ensure maximum protection. In case you run into any legal issues, the SpotWriters team will ensure to assist you and provide you with as much data and information as possible to help you.

Can I be held liable for copyright infringement if I purchase a stories on SpotWriters?

All stories on SpotWriters have a minimum level of legal protection. If any story bought through SpotWriters fails in its copyright application or has any other form of legal issue, we immediately remove it from the marketplace. If the story has been purchased already, we inform the industry professional and you have the option to rescind your offer and are eligible for a refund.

What happens if a legal dispute arises between a producer and a writer?

If you have chosen to complete the purchase process through SpotWriters, then we will intervene to solve the dispute amicably. However, if you have connected with the Writer directly, you will have to reconnect with SpotWriters.