Screenwriters can sell script feedback directly from a bio link by pricing a scoped custom request for full-script coverage and a text-based Paid Question for a single scene or logline question. A priced, async script-feedback offer replaces the unpaid "can you just read this?" favor and the general coverage-service subscription with a single defined deliverable, a stated turnaround, and payment collected before the read begins. Custom Work lets you offer clearly scoped commissions and services: you set the price, the scope and the delivery time, and followers submit a brief and pay before you start.
No monthly fee, you only pay a small platform fee when you get paid. 8% platform fee when a follower pays for work, 5% platform fee on tips and goals. Card processing is separate. Brillay pricing
A common DM for a working screenwriter is: "Would you mind reading my pilot before I submit it?" or "Can you tell me if this logline is even sellable?" Redirecting that person to a generic coverage-service subscription or a marketplace listing adds friction they may not push through. A priced offer on the link already in your bio keeps the request, payment, and delivery in one place.
Script coverage exists as its own paid category because reading and evaluating a screenplay well takes real time: a full feature or pilot needs structural notes, not a quick opinion. The Black List, a widely used script-hosting and evaluation site for screenwriters, charges $100 per screenplay evaluation and $70 per half-hour pilot evaluation, plus a $30 monthly hosting fee to keep a project online (Black List Help Center: "How much does an evaluation cost?"). The Black List's published $100-per-evaluation rate is a public reference point for pricing your own coverage offer, not a rule any independent reader has to follow. Musicians run a comparable paid-feedback model on their own material — see how beatmakers price paid track feedback for a parallel example outside screenwriting.
What does a script-feedback service on Brillay actually include?
A script-feedback service on Brillay is priced as Custom Work: the follower pays upfront, attaches their script, and states what notes they want before you open the file. You set the title, price, delivery time, and scope, and you can decline any request that falls outside your stated scope.
Brillay documents the delivery package for Custom Work as a written note plus up to 5 files — video, audio, images, PDF, Word, Excel, or PowerPoint, with video or audio up to 20 minutes — and/or a private link for anything larger, such as a Google Drive or Loom URL. Marked-up pages, a written coverage report, and a voice-note read-through all fit inside Brillay's written-note-plus-five-files delivery package.
A priced script-feedback listing therefore differs from a general "I'll help with your writing" DM because the deliverable is defined before money changes hands. You are not promising representation, a sale, or a guaranteed rewrite — you are selling your read and your notes on the pages submitted.
Should you use a Paid Question or a custom request for script notes?
Use Custom Work whenever the follower needs to attach a script, pages, or a treatment document.
| Need | Better-fit format | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Full feature, pilot, or short script | custom request | Requires a file upload and a full read |
| One logline, title, or premise opinion | Paid Questions | A follower types the question, and you reply in writing |
| One pasted scene or page of dialogue | Paid Questions | The follower pastes the text, and you reply in writing |
| Marked-up pages or a voice-note read-through | custom request | Delivery includes files or audio, not just text |
How much does professional script coverage typically cost?
Professional script coverage is priced per script, not per hour. The Black List charges $100 per feature screenplay evaluation, and AI coverage vendor OnDesk's market survey puts the wider 2026 coverage market at $80–$449 per script (OnDesk). Depth of notes, delivery time, and provider drive the difference between an $80 read and a $449 one.
The Black List charges $100 per screenplay evaluation, $100 per one-hour pilot, $70 per half-hour pilot, and $150 per manuscript excerpt. The Black List also states that its evaluations "generally arrive within a window of three weeks (21 days), usually much sooner," and that a project hosted online is visible to over 7,000 film, television, publishing, and theater industry members. The Black List Help Center also publishes a repeat-customer rate: after a first evaluation, the next one is offered at $60 for screenplays, one-hour pilots, plays, and musicals, and $45 for half-hour pilots (Black List Help Center: "Are there any discounts?"), which shows that even a published price list treats a second read as a cheaper product than a first read.
"Our evaluation services are meant to best duplicate the type of feedback a writer might get if they were cold-contacting industry professionals. This style of feedback is geared toward identifying how a given project might be received within the industry in its current form. It is not traditional coverage." — The Black List Help Center (help.blcklst.com)
A wider market range comes from a third-party estimate rather than a provider price list: AI coverage vendor OnDesk — a commercially interested secondary source that sells a competing product — publishes a market survey putting traditional coverage at $150–$250 per screenplay and the broader market at $80–$449. Treat the OnDesk figures as a vendor's market estimate, and the Black List figures as a primary, published price list.
| Route to paid script feedback | Published price | Stated delivery time | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Black List evaluation | $100 per screenplay, plus $30/month hosting | "Within a window of three weeks (21 days), usually much sooner" | Black List Help Center |
| Wider coverage market (third-party estimate) | $80–$449 depending on service and depth | Varies by provider | OnDesk market survey |
| Your own Brillay custom request | You set the price | You set the delivery time on the listing | Brillay Custom Work |
Any price example on this page is illustrative, not an earnings guarantee. What a specific offer can charge depends on your audience, your credits, your positioning, and demand.
What should a script-feedback listing spell out before payment?
A script-feedback listing should define six things before a follower pays: the script format and page limit, what notes they receive, the depth of those notes, your delivery time, whether delivery is a single one-time package, and what is outside scope. Naming all six upfront is what prevents a $75 notes request from turning into an unpaid rewrite after delivery.
At minimum, state:
- Input: Format (feature, pilot, short, treatment), page count limit, and genre if relevant.
- Deliverable: A written coverage report, marked-up pages, a voice-note read-through, or a defined combination — Brillay allows a written note plus up to 5 files, or a private link for anything larger.
- Depth: Whether notes cover structure and character only, or also line-level dialogue and formatting.
- delivery time: A delivery time you can reliably meet, which you set yourself on the listing when you create the service.
- One delivery: State that the price covers the defined notes package once; a follow-up question or second read requires a separate order.
- Exclusions: State clearly that coverage is not a rewrite, a pitch to producers, or a guarantee of representation or a sale.
For example: "Written coverage (2-3 pages) on a feature script up to 120 pages, covering structure, character, and marketability. Does not include line edits or a rewrite."
Why do screenwriters need paid feedback before contests and submissions?
Screenwriters buy a professional read before a submission deadline because a competition entry is a one-shot, stranger-read event with a large field behind it. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences reported that 5,500 scripts, from 80 countries, were submitted for the 2024 Academy Nicholl Fellowships (Academy press release).
The Academy states that the Academy Nicholl competition awards up to five $35,000 fellowships to amateur screenwriters each year. The Nicholl program has since moved from open entry to partner nomination, so the 2024 and 2025-2026 fields are not comparable: the Academy reported that 40 partners submitted 101 scripts for the 2025-2026 Nicholl Fellowships program (Academy press release: partners for the 2026-2027 Nicholl Fellowships). The Academy also reported that more than 500 Academy members from all 19 branches opted in to read and evaluate the 2025-2026 Nicholl scripts to determine the 10 finalists.
"The Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting is a vital program that identifies and nurtures talented emerging screenwriters." — Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Whether the field is the 5,500 open-entry scripts the Academy counted in 2024 or the 101 partner-nominated scripts the Academy counted for 2025-2026, the writer's problem is identical: the pages have to work on a first read by a stranger who owes them nothing. Buying a professional read before a deadline is how many screenwriters get that stranger's reaction early, because an outside reader can flag pacing, clarity, or formatting problems that are easy to miss after dozens of personal rewrites. Paid coverage does not guarantee placement in any competition or a sale — paid coverage is feedback on the pages as submitted.
What else can screenwriters sell alongside script feedback?
Script feedback does not have to be the only offer on a screenwriter's Brillay page. Paid Questions, goals, tips, and personalized videos each capture a different request that a full coverage read does not fit, and every offer is priced and turned on individually (how Brillay works).
- Paid Questions: A quick logline gut-check or a single-scene dialogue question, with one written reply.
- Goals: One-time contributions toward a specific goal, such as a table read, a short-film shoot, or a spec-script writing sprint, shown with a funding progress bar and nothing to ship.
- Tips: A way for a supporter who found your writing advice useful to send a one-time thank-you, with nothing to deliver in return.
- Personalized Videos: A congratulations or pep-talk video for a fellow writer hitting a milestone, like a first table read or a competition placement.
Keep script coverage focused on script notes rather than folding unrelated requests into the same listing. If you also field client-writing inquiries, that's a separate offer; sibling coverage on copy review services and ghostwriting inquiries and sample edits walks through pricing an inquiry-plus-sample-deliverable format for adjacent writing work, and the same scoped-deliverable approach carries over to pricing a resume rewrite service for writers who also take on resume clients. For the fuller picture of offers available to writers on Brillay, treat script coverage as one offer on your page rather than the only one — followers who don't need a full read can still tip, ask a quick question, or chip in toward a goal.
Do you need a WGA credit or industry credential to sell script notes?
No credential is required by Brillay to sell script notes. What you owe followers is an accurate description of your own reading and writing background.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the median annual wage for writers and authors — the occupational category that includes screenwriters — was $76,910 in May 2025 (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook: Writers and Authors). The same BLS handbook page states that "many writers and authors are self-employed" (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook: Writers and Authors), which is context on the occupation rather than a finding about any individual writer's income. The BLS also projects about 11,900 openings for writers and authors each year, on average, over the decade (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook: Writers and Authors) — a figure about salaried and freelance job openings, not about demand for paid script notes.
As editorial advice and not a claim drawn from the BLS wage data: a bounded, repeatable feedback offer is one way a self-employed writer can add a predictable line of work between projects. Represent your credits and coverage experience accurately, and don't imply a produced credit, guild membership, or industry placement you don't hold.
How do you set up a script-feedback offer on Brillay?
Setting up a script-feedback offer on Brillay takes four steps: decide whether requests need a file upload, which means Custom Work, or fit as text, which means Paid Questions; define the input, deliverable, delivery time, and exclusions; publish the listing; and put the link in your bio. Brillay has no follower minimum and nothing to apply for. Followers can pay by card without creating an account, and creators can connect a bank through Stripe in 41 payout countries.
Begin with one bounded offer — for example, written coverage on one feature script — then create a separate Custom Work listing if you want to sell a second read or a pilot-specific package. Watching what followers actually request will tell you more about which tiers are worth adding than guessing in advance.
Frequently asked questions
The questions screenwriters ask most before listing a paid feedback offer cover credentials, format choice, price, out-of-scope submissions, and fees. Short answers follow, each sourced to Brillay's own documentation or to a published price list from the Black List, OnDesk, or Stripe.
Do I need a WGA credit to sell script coverage on Brillay?
No. Custom Work and Paid Questions are available without a WGA credit, produced credit, or coverage certification. Describe your actual writing and reading experience accurately rather than implying credentials you don't hold.
Should a script read be a Paid Question or a custom request?
A full script, pilot, or set of pages needs a custom request, since Custom Work is built to take a file upload; a single logline or pasted scene can be handled through Paid Questions instead.
How much should I charge for script coverage?
The Black List publishes $100 per screenplay evaluation and $70 per half-hour pilot evaluation, while a third-party market survey from AI coverage vendor OnDesk estimates the wider market at $80–$449 per script. Treat both as reference points; your own price depends on your audience, credits, and the depth of notes you provide.
What if the script is longer or more work than what the follower paid for?
Decline and refund a request that falls outside your stated scope, such as a 130-page script submitted to a listing capped at 120 pages.
What does Brillay charge to sell script feedback?
You connect your bank through Stripe. Brillay's terms say a follower's payment goes to your connected Stripe account after Brillay's platform fee and Stripe processing fees, so a script-read order carries two separate deductions: Brillay's platform fee, the per-payment fee set out in the pricing line on this page, and Stripe's card processing. Stripe's published pricing lists 2.9% + 30¢ per successful transaction as its standard US online card rate (Stripe pricing); international cards and other payment methods are priced differently.
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