The Catch 22 of Writing

As I've mentioned on this blog before, I'm writing a young age, and some readers would think "What in the hell would he know about writing, much less screenwriting at this age?'' I've been writing professionally 2 1/2 years, and writing 6 1/2 years in general since I was 15, so I do know quite a bit, even though I'm still learning.

I've learned that even though screenwriting involves more money, it's much easier to get a novel or a collection of short stories published. Even though I've never gotten paid much as an author, I've been published almost three times over by two different publishers. And even though various film and television producers have shown interest in me at one time or another, none of them have yet to sign me.

I often write screenplays in between doing novels since that's where the money is while writing novels since that's where the work is. Writing novels for a publishers gets me more experience while I learn my craft screenwriting. A writer needs to keep and reaching for the stars (screenwriting) while at the same time pulling back, and staying down to earth (writing novels). Even though you have bestsellers such as Stephen King and Danielle Steele, only a percentage of their earnings come from their book sales. The rest comes from the money they earn from those movie deals. Not to mention the lesser known authors who have to pay their bills by writing screenplays.

But here's what I still don't understand, why are published authors able to get noticed and signed within several months to a year of hard work, but it takes screenwriters years before they get noticed by film and television producers?