We endeavour to be as open as possible in the submission and publication process, and are always looking for ways to improve (suggestions, polite please, always welcomed). The details below will give you some idea of what happens to your script from first submission to a finished product.

New members and new submissions welcome

Submission

Please note that we only accept play submissions from members of the Co-operative. That's not trying to exclude anyone - we welcome all new members with open arms - but it's how we operate and how we continue to operate in financial terms. The membership fee, currently £15 per annum, contributes towards the expenses of running NTP.

If you want to submit a script, you must first join. For membership details click here

We encourage the use of email wherever possible, thereby saving both time and expense - the scripts can be sent to all readers at the same time rather than in series. If you have no access to email, submissions can be on disk (preferred) or paper. Include a suitable self-addressed stamped envelope if you'd like your script returned and a stamped, addressed postcard or your email address if you are requesting acknowledgement. Scripts with no return postage will not be returned.

Assessment

Each script is read by experienced readers. They will use their judgment to decide whether the play is suitable for publication or not. This is based on several factors, including its market potential, its feasibility for staging and production and its artistic merit.

Again, to cover expenses, we charge a small reading fee (currently £20 for a full length play and £10 for a one act play). This is all you will ever have to pay towards publication - there are no extra or hidden fees.

There are four possibilities arising from the assessment stage:-

1. The play is worth publication as is - you will be offered a contract immediately;

2. The play is promising, but the readers believe it could be improved. We should like you to consider the readers' comments and make any alterations you agree with before resubmitting. In this case, we leave the choice of whether to alter it to you - we will offer to publish regardless of whether you choose to take on the readers' suggestions or not. Please note that there is no additional reading fee for a resubmission;

3. As above, we believe the play could be improved. This time, however, we are unwilling to publish in its present form, and - if you wish to resubmit - alterations must be made before we will accept it for publication;

4. The play is considered unsuitable for publication by NTP.

Please do not feel too downhearted if your play is not accepted outright. The judgment is that NTP does not wish to publish, but that does not mean other publishers won't want it either. In case 2, where suggestions are offered, think of these as suggested improvements rather than hurtful criticisms. No doubt before submitting your play, you will have shown it to friends or members of a local theatre group - all that is valuable input, but they all know you and will be supportive and polite. Our readers do not know you, so they can be totally, sometimes brutally, honest. But they have plenty of experience to back up their comments and are genuinely giving you their opinions as to how to improve the work. But, in the end, it is their opinion - you can choose to accept or ignore it.

Common reasons for suggestions, rejections, etc.

There are far too many of these to include them all here, but we think a few pointers may help you.

Content is obviously a large factor. We do not seek to avoid challenging content. We encourage people to address topical issues, but we have to take judgments as to whether some content, or maybe the way it is presented, could be offensive and leave you or us open to legal action. It is a very delicate judgment - for example, something that addresses racism might include content that, in real life, would leave a person open to prosecution under the Race Relations Act, but there is no reason whatsoever why an author shouldn't write a play with a character who does just that. Such people exist, so we can write about them. The marketability of the play then becomes a factor, however - you can write a really brilliant play about racism, but if it is so hard-hitting that nobody wants it for fear of legal action, protest action and so on, commercial reality would affect our decision as to publication.

Setting is another important factor. A large percentage of NTP sales and performances is for amateur theatre groups. They, generally, want single set plays. We have had plays submitted that change the scene every few lines to a totally different situation (flat, airport, pub, restaurant and so on) and would be likely to be rejected by potential groups on that basis alone. This type of script is more like a screenplay than a stage play. That is not to say such plays should be avoided, but the author should give consideration within the script as to how a small group could set it. A simple curtained stage might be the obvious answer, but you need to help out your customers when they pick up the script to browse. "The play uses a simple curtained set" would be far more attractive than "Scene 1 - an airport departure lounge, Scene 2 - Daisy's flat, Scene 3 - the Taj Mahal restaurant..."

Casting - following on from the points above, please be as flexible as possible. The reality of life is that theatre groups have limited resources in terms of actors, so often have to be creative when considering suitability for a part. Couples usually have to be of similar age, but if you have, for example, a visiting doctor whose sex and age are not all that important. It would be sad if a group discarded your play because the cast list dictated "Dr Jones, male, aged 30" when he could usefully be any age and needn't be a man at all!

It is worth remembering that you know your play inside out - you know when setting, casting, etc. can be flexible. Your potential customers do not. They will consider your play based on a catalogue synopsis, perhaps, or by thumbing through a copy in a library. The script is not simply a script, it is also a sales tool, so use it wisely.

If you are offered a contract (after the acceptance procedures outlined above), you should submit your script in electronic format (floppy disk, CD or email) as detailed in our submission guidelines. 

The script should conform as closely as possible with those guidelines, and we cannot emphasize enough to spell check and proof read your submission thoroughly.

Once we have the script, we will typeset it in our booklet format and send you a paper proof copy. We can send in electronic Adobe pdf format if you prefer (saving time, expense and trees).

Go through the proof and clearly mark any errors or changes that need to be made at this time. Also pay attention to any page numbering (e.g. in effects or properties lists), and return it to us. Don't worry if you don't know the correct proofing marks - just make it clear, in the margins, the script or even on an email or separate piece of paper, what changes are required.

Once we have amended the script, we save the completed file on our database, which can be accessed by our printers. It may interest you to know that we do not hold shelf stocks of most plays and that each is printed to order. The printing company we use download the file from our database and print every copy as an original. This is neither the fastest nor the cheapest way to print, but it does not tie up NTP cash in unmoving stock. It does mean that orders are not delivered from stock, however, but we do have a few days' turnaround.

You are entitled to one copy free of charge, and this will be sent to you as soon as it is printed.

For your information, publishers are required by law to register all published books with the Legal Deposit Office (The British Library). They can request (and usually do) up to an additional 5 copies for the Bodleian Library, Oxford; the University Library, Cambridge; the National Library of Scotland; the Library of Trinity College, Dublin; and the National Library of Wales. All these copies have to be delivered at NTP's expense.

This usually means that the first print run is your copy plus 6 more for legal deposit. It makes economic and logistical sense for you to order any copies you would like for yourself at the same time. You are the best marketeer of your own work. At this, or any other, time, you can buy copies of your plays (or any other NTP plays) at the author's discount of 10%.

Remember, please, that we are a group of playwrights with a common interest - seeing our work performed. If you have opportunities, recommend theatre companies to look at other plays in our catalogue, not just your own. By this mutual support we can all increase our chances.

As soon as the play has been proof corrected, it is entered into our database and marked as available. This means it will appear immediately in the online catalogue on this website, and will appear in the next printed paper catalogue.

As a member, you are entitled to your own "profile" page on the website. This is done manually and on request, so it's up to you whether you want one or not.

If you do, please submit details (email is again preferable) of your name (author name is preferable if you use an alias), your place of residence, your background, experience, etc., a list of your plays and, if published, the publishers. You are entitled to list all your plays, whether or not they are published and no matter by whom.

Lastly, you may wish to provide your email address, website or other contact details, but do remember it will be going on a public website - whilst we will never pass your contact details on to anyone without your specific permission (for example if a theatre group need to discuss an alteration of one of your scripts with you), we cannot guarantee that someone looking at our site will not send you marketing information.

You may also wish to have a "Work sought" entry.