Karen Gantz Zahler
Literary Agent and Attorney at Law
Contents
Work Information
We are hired for two purposes, one as lawyers to negotiate publishing agreements, option agreements and other entertainment deals and two as literary agents to help in all aspects of the publishing field.
We help structure proposals, pitch and present to publishers, coordinate with in-house publicity departments, and complete all of the legal work. Karen Gantz Zahler is both a literary agent and a literary property lawyer. Thus, Karen involves herself in all stages of a book's development including the collaboration agreement with the writer, advice regarding the book proposal, presentations to the publisher, negotiations including the legal work for the publishing agreement and other rights to be negotiated, and work with the publisher and public relations firm so that the book gets the best possible media coverage.
All types of non-fiction are our specialty. If a piece of fiction is outstanding, we will certainly consider it. The best way for unsolicited writers to pitch to us is to email a summary. Our dream client is someone who is a professional writer and a great listener. What writers can do to increase the likelihood of our retainer is to write an excellent summary and provide a great marketing plan for their proposal in an excellent presentation. Any typos or grammatical mistakes do not resonate well. If we want to read it, we will ask you to send a copy by snail mail with an envelope and return postage enclosed. We don't call people unless we have something to report. Living in New York, Karen meets with editors weekly, identifying those editors who are hands-on editors and are the most passionate advocates for her authors.
In general, we do not charge reading
fees. However, we have writers on staff who charge editing
fees, write and edit proposals and books. For an extensive
manuscript analysis, there is a charge of $600. Additional
services include: complete manuscript analyses for $750;
editorial services for proposals and books at $40-$80
per hour depending on the amount of work involved; ghost
writers provided on a project-by-project basis.
Biographical Information
Karen Gantz Zahler attended Vassar College and is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and the Cardozo Law School. She is a literary property lawyer and literary agent. She has written two well-received cookbooks, Taste of New York (Addison-Wesley 1993) and Superchefs (John Wiley & Sons 1996). She also participated in a Presidential Advisory Committee on Intellectual Property, U.S. Department of Commerce. She has been an active board member of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee since 1989. She and her husband, through the National Foundation of Jewish Culture, on whose board she sits, give grants to authors whose books are being published and have Jewish content. She is Chairman of the Great Books Program Club. She also sits on the Board of Trustees of the Literary and Media Committee where best-selling authors are invited to speak.
Karen Gantz Zahler practiced law in the field of intellectual property. Individuals requested that she read their manuscripts and movie scripts and she found that most satisfying. Her specialty is negotiating contracts both as a lawyer and literary agent.
Karen's favorite talk shows are the
McLaughlin Report, Tim Russert, Nightline and
The Today Show. Her favorite books are The
Quiet American, The Human Stain and Anna Karenina
and her favorite movies are Pearl Harbor, To Kill
A Mockingbird, Roman Holiday, The King and I, Hamlet,
and Gigi.
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