Getting your foot in the TV and film industry is not, as we all know, an easy task. I’m from Scotland and write feel-good romances for HarperCollins imprint One More Chapter.

Several months ago, I stumbled across Stage 32.

As soon as I saw the array of talented authors and screenwriter members, not to mention the plethora of amazing production and development executives, I knew I had nothing to lose. I was immediately drawn to checking out the pitch sessions and decided to reserve a couple of slots to face-to-face pitch my first HarperCollins IP. I was very nervous, but found the sessions informative and helpful. I received constructive feedback, but no requests for material, so I continued trying to hone my pitch and work on my work-in-progress at the time.

Over the next several months, I booked a few more slots so I could continue to pitch face-to-face with certain producers.

Again, the scorecards I received back, were very encouraging, and a request was eluding me.

By this time, it was the end of October and my latest novel, THE HIGHLAND LODGE GETAWAY*,* a festive romance, had just been released.

I wondered for variety, whether I should pitch this new story instead of my others, and ultimately decided to do that. I had a look through the latest executive pitch slots and noticed the bio of Sara Elizabeth Timmins of Life Out Loud Films. Not only is Sara Elizabeth a Stage 32 executive, but she’s also one of its educators.

I read that she was looking for romance, romcoms, and holiday-themed material, so I looked up her website. When I also read how much she champions women in the industry and her very impressive back catalog of work, I knew I had to pitch to her.

My pitch with Sara Elizabeth took place on 8th October. She was lovely – enthusiastic, knowledgeable, and approachable. She seemed interested, but I didn’t want to get my hopes up.

Eight days later, I received an email from Stage 32, informing me that Sara Elizabeth wanted to read my novel and she was also requesting an online meeting with me. She also gave me fantastic scores on my scorecard feedback.

Again, I didn’t want to get too overly optimistic. It was when Sara Elizabeth then emailed me about a month later, to say she loved my book and wanted to arrange a date and time to have an online meeting, that I began to allow myself a glimmer of hope. When we had our online meeting and Sara Elizabeth told me that she hadn’t been able to stop reading and that she’d fallen for Blake, my hero in my book, I honestly thought I was imagining everything!

Cue the beginning of December 2023 and I found myself, sitting signing a shopping agreement. I kept staring at it, blinking in disbelief.

I know there is a long road ahead and even if cameras were to start rolling, but the fact that Sara Elizabeth believes in me and my work and wants to collaborate with me to try and get my IP onto the screen, means the world.

So, my advice to anyone out there who hasn’t done a pitch session yet or has done one or two and is considering giving up -- please keep going. It only takes one person to say yes.

Of course, skill as a writer matters. But so too does determination and perseverance. I was told years ago, when I was struggling to get published, that a published writer is an unpublished writer who never gave up.

I think this same rule applies with Stage 32. Good luck!

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