Pioneer and Samuel French are very different publishing houses. Pioneer specializes in plays for the youth market, while Samuel French has more of a focus on plays that were previously hits on Broadway, off-Broadway and regional stages (and typically headed to professional or community theatre producers). It's not to say schools don't produce them--obviously, they do--but the origins and ethos of the plays are very different.
Playscripts, which no longer accepts unsolicited scripts, has a bit of both, as does a publisher like Dramatic (which I believe still takes unsolicited submissions). Of course, there are also numerous play publishing houses that specialize in plays for teens/youth: YouthPLAYS (my own), Brooklyn Publishers (Heuer, their sister company, is more community-theatre oriented), Theatrefolk, Stage Partners, etc.--and I think they all take unsolicited scripts. We certainly do at YouthPLAYS, but we prefer plays that have been produced first, so that the playwright has an opportunity to road-test it and refine the play in front of an audience.
Royalties really vary, and just because you're with a quality publisher doesn't mean you're going to start raking in the cash. Sometimes one play will do well at a publisher, while another one won't--even though it's at the same publisher. It may be the subject matter, casting or production requirements, or just that one play got some good buzz and snowballed, while the other one got buried. Very often, this has nothing to do with one play actually being "better" than the other.
What I think many playwrights don't understand is that just because your play is published, it doesn't mean your job is done. The publisher will do some marketing of your play, but their larger concern is to market the brand (because a rising tide floats all boats). It's still up to you to market your play, whether that's through websites (yours or the play's), social media, an email list, etc. Successful playwrights (for better or worse) have to work as hard at marketing as they do on writing. Of course, none of that matters if the work isn't good. :-)
Robert, if you're not already, you should join the Dramatists Guild of America. I recommend that anyone who is serious about their writing become a member. Also, given that you're in Monrovia (i.e. in the LA area), I'd recommend joining the Alliance of Los Angeles Playwrights, so that you can meet local playwrights and learn from their own experiences.
Cheers,
Jonathan
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Jonathan Dorf
Playwright/ Co-founder of YouthPLAYS/ Co-chair of The Alliance Of Los Angeles Playwrights
Los Angeles CA
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Original Message:
Sent: 11-15-2017 01:51
From: Robert Hansen
Subject: Has anyone had play published with Pioneer or other publishing companies?
I'm a playwright and want to find out what kind of experience anyone has had having their play published at publishing houses such as Pioneer or Samuel French? Are you satisfied with the residuals? Know of any publishing places accepting unsolicited manuscripts?
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Robert Hansen
Monrovia CA
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