Interview: Literary Agent Megan Close Zavala Interviewed by Nancy Fulton
1h 39m
·
Hollywood Insider Help by Nancy Fulton
·
Topics covered in this interview include:
- How writers should approach literary agents and how to find the agents most appropriate for their work.
- What fiction and non-fiction writers should have in hand before they reach out to an agent about their work.
- What an author platform is and why writers should start building one before they approach agents.
- How authors can work with an agent most effectively.
- Whether screenwriters who want to author print books should mention their work in creating film and television content.
- How self-publishing on Amazon can be part of building author platform.
- Three kinds of author/agent relationships, and the one you most want to build.
- How to know when an agent/author relationship isn't working and how to legally, professionally, and comfortably let an agent go.
- The work you need to do in order to be able to support your career (appearances, blogging, creating more content to sell, etc)
- How to approach your agent about opportunities or publishers you'd like your agent to pursue.
This is an excellent interview for you to listen to if you are currently looking for a literary agent, or you have an agent but the relationship doesn't seem to be working well for you.
About Megan Close Zavala
Megan Close Zavala is a literary agent at Keller Media. Her passion lies not only in getting great books published, but in working closely with the authors who write them. Nothing is more exciting than a great new idea or story!
A bibliophile for as long as she can remember, Megan has found her dream job working in the world of publishing. Prior to her agenting career, Megan read, reviewed, edited, rejected and selected thousands of book and script projects for agencies, film companies and publishing companies. She uses her background in entertainment and legal affairs in negotiating the best deals for her clients and in helping them think outside of the box.
While she represents books in all genres, she is currently most interested in the following genres: Self-Help, Relationships, Pop Culture, Pop Psychology, Parenting, Management, Career, Entrepreneurship, Business, Personal Finance, and Fiction (especially Crime, Mystery/Suspense, and Literary).
Note, Megan represents books but not screenplays. If you have a book that would make a good movie after publication, she can work to sell those rights, but she's not the right agent for a screenwriter who wants to sell a script to Hollywood.
Some of her clients include:
Mark O’Connell, prolific film and television writer: https://www.amazon.com/Close-Encounters-Man-World-Believe/dp/0062484176
Natalie McCain, photographer and body image thought leader: https://www.amazon.com/Honest-Body-Project-Untouched-Portraits/dp/1510720936
The episode Interview: Literary Agent Megan Close Zavala Interviewed by Nancy Fulton from the podcast Hollywood Insider Help by Nancy Fulton has a duration of
1:39:42. It was first published
More episodes from Hollywood Insider Help by Nancy Fulton
4 Funding Strategies for Projects Large and Small: Reg D, Reg CF, Crowdfunding, etc.
Remember you can always find videos, workbooks, and live interactive events designed to help you earn a good living doing what you love at NancyFultonMeetups.com. In this podcast I provide four strategies I think every creative pro needs to know in order to fund projects both large and small. They include raising money from investors using Regulation D or Regulation CF, presales, donation-based crowdfunding through sites like IndieGoGo and Kickstarter, and swiftly selling your creative work directly to customers through services with few if any start up costs.
Making a Film or Web Series with Friends as Partners
This is the perfect podcast to listen to if you want to produced one or more projects with a friend or family member. It provides very specific advice and step-by-step guidance that will help you avoid specific risks and stumbling blocks in forming businesses that incorporate on these relationships.
Over time most of us working in the entertainment industry develop close personal, professional, and creative relationships with people who seem to share our vision for the kinds of projects we want to produce. Some of us are even fortunate enough to have family members in the industry who want to work beside us to bring common dreams to fruition. And, indeed, one can point to some very long term production partnerships like the Coen Brothers, the Wachowskis, Michael Bay, Brad Fuller & Andrew Form, that have turned out to be incredibly profitable and creatively powerful over many decades.
Having said that, one of the most dangerous things you can do from a financial, personal, and a creative perspective is to commit to producing a project with a friend or a family member without carefully weighing the risks and taking significant steps to limit them. It would be a shame if deciding to produce a film with someone you love and love to work with resulted in the termination of an important relationship and an expensive financial disaster. It’s also true that even people love you can make expensive mistakes that cause you significant personal, professional, and financial harm.
Interview: Building Fundable Films featuring Warren Ostergard co-Founder Producer Capital Fund
In this episode filmmakers learn what executive producers look for when funding films. Note this is a posting of an interview which is a couple of years old. I'm making it available now because it helps those seeking executive producers and/or co-producers understand what stage a deal should be in before they approach.
Interview: Beyond the Craft with Jim Jermanok, Writer, Director, Producer & Previously ICM Agent
This is a great interview to listen to if you feel stuck and need help moving your career in the entertainment industry forward. Jim Jermanok (jimjermanok.com) is an award-winning writer, director, stage and film producer based in New York who started his career as a beloved agent at ICM representing leading lights like Alan Arkin, E.L. Doctorow, Helen Hayes, Ben Kingsley, Shirley MacLaine, Arthur Miller, Dudley Moore, Andy Rooney and Henry Winkler, among many others. He is also an entrepreneurship expert and speaker who actively works with creative pros to help them earn more from their work. His recent bestseller, BEYOND THE CRAFT: What You Need to Know to Make A Living Creatively! (http://amzn.to/2hmx6YQ), and the workshops he delivers worldwide help entertainment industry creatives master the skills they need to achieve their personal, professional, and financial objectives.
5 Steps for Becoming Profitably Famous Swiftly for Writers, Producers, and Actors
In this podcast we are going to talk about how to become profitably famous when you are a writer, actor, producer, or other entertainment industry pro. The mechanics of creating your own fame, and earning a great living while you do it, are something anyone can learn quickly. In fact, by the end of this podcast you will realize you already understand how fame is profitably manufactured. What this podcast will do is help you see how to apply this insight to your own work.
This is an important podcast for you if you feel like people only ever get famous or wealthy by accident, or if it seems that nothing you do really moves your career toward the kind of success you would like to achieve.