#22 AMAZON SEEMS DETERMINED TO CONQUER THE WORLD, AND, AT THIS RATE, SEEM QUITE LIKELY TO SUCCEED. FOR THEIR NEXT TRICK, THEY ARE TAKING ON HOLLYWOOD…

In truth, Amazon Studios were launched in 2010, but I don’t think they were taken too seriously originally. They should have been—because, as always, they moved fast.

Check out the sheer volume of material writers have submitted to Amazon Studios. I’ve highlighted it below.

Is this a competitive business or what?

Clearly, we writers are both masochists and optimists—and you can make a good case that we have a few screws loose. Alternatively, it is hard not to be impressed by the sheer courage and tenacity of the creative community.

The photo is of famed author, Michael Connelly.

Read and wonder:

ABOUT AMAZON STUDIOS

Amazon Studios launched in 2010 as a new way to develop feature films and episodic series--one that's open to great ideas from creators and audiences around the world. Anyone can upload a script and will then be notified within 45 days if that script is optioned. Amazon Studios will read and review all submissions and those who choose to make their projects public may also receive feedback from the Amazon Studios community. Recently, Amazon Studios announced 11 new pilots including: kids pilots Gortimer Gibbon's Life on Normal Street, Grid Smasher, Hard-Boiled Eggheads, The Jo B. & G. Raff Show, The Maker Shack Agency and Wishenpoof!; half-hour pilots Mozart in the Jungle, The Rebels and Transparent; and hour pilots Bosch and The After. The pilots will be available on Amazon Instant Video and LOVEFiLM early next year for all customers to watch and provide feedback. Last month, Amazon Studios debuted its first comedy series Alpha House and Betas available exclusively on Prime Instant Video and Amazon LOVEFiLM in the UK.

Since launch, more than 19,000 movie scripts and 5,000 series projects have been submitted to Amazon Studios. Amazon Studios continues to invite creators to upload their proposals for drama, comedy and children's programming at http://studios.amazon.com/getting-started/series or submit them privately via Amazon Studios.

Comprehensive cast and crew information, including bios and filmographies, is available on Amazon's IMDb (www.imdb.com), the world's most popular and authoritative source for movie, TV and celebrity content.

I’m constantly being told my books would make great movies—and they have all being optioned—but statistically the odd are against it. That said, if we authors contemplated the odds against writing success, we’d choose another line of work.

Every day, I give thanks that I didn’t.