Bill Johnson's A Story is a Promise & The Spirit of Storytelling book cover

A seventh edition of A Story is a Promise and The Spirit of Storytelling is available on Amazon.


Movie poster for the film Polterheist "Why do I keep coming back for more? Because Bill keeps me on the straight and narrow. He keeps me focused on the task at hand: creating a compelling screenplay that delivers on its central idea. He's honest. He's knowledgeable. He's relentless. Make a good screenplay great. Talk to Johnson and get serious about turning your screenplay into a film. Make it happen.
Dave Gilbank, Director and Writer of award winning feature film Polterheist."


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Bill Johnson Manuscript Review Services

My reviews and critiques are meant to help writers fix common story and structure problems and help writers understand how to create stories that engage and satisfy an audience. Reviews are also meant to help folks self-publishing a novel to overcome common story problems or to help with revisions of already self-published work.

My reviews and critiques are submitted in writing, but I'm also happy to chat with clients.


   I offer three levels of service for novels.

image of books   Notes on the first three chapters of a novel (or first 50 pages), $25. Includes 2-3 pages of feedback, some line editing and notes on sentence structure.


  A Review of a novel up to 80,000 words is $150. I charge $1 for every 300 words over 80,000. Review runs 6-8 pages. Time line, two weeks.


  Novel Critique, $250. Critique runs 12-16 pages with more detailed insight into scenes and sentence structure.


   I offer three levels of service for screenplays.

movie slate image Notes on a 120 page screenplay run 2-3 pages. I offer comments on story structure, some line editing, and my recommendations on formatting for new screenwriters. Cost, $50; $60 if a script is emailed to me for printing and return mailing in the US. Time line for Notes is a week.


 A Review of a 120 page screenplay includes 5-7 pages of notes. It goes over a story's structure and various scenes, some line editing, and my recommendations. Cost, $100. Time line for a review is ten days.


 A Critique of a 120 page screenplay includes 10 pages of notes. It includes a page by page breakdown of what I find in the script, plus a review. Cost, $150.
Time line, two weeks.


Payment accepted via PayPal, Venmo, or check. Contact me at bjscript@teleport.com for more details.

Some of my other clients include:

Mindy and Clark Kohanek, Return to Sender, a novel set on the Oregon Coast about a Catholic priest who with some old warriors set out to send evil back to hell and a few good souls to heaven.

Dr. Philip Shapiro's Healing Power offers a ten-step, self-help model that he uses himself and teaches to his students and patients to help them find inner peace and healing.

Kwik Jones is an amazing playwright who has been produced around the United States. He can be followed on Facebook at Kwik Jones.