SHALLA CHATS with Kelly Skillen

"Call-4-Submissions"

by Shalla DeGuzman

First off, who’s Kelly?

Kelly Skillen is a manager with PMA & Film Management, Inc. She joined the company in 2004 after fleeing a successful but socially irrelevant career as a restaurant & nightclub manager.

Since then, she has placed a wide array of books, from an apocalyptical fantasy series to a hyper-literary pseudo-biography, and even the memoir of an adult film star.

She is interested in literary and high-concept fiction, as well as serious or edgy nonfiction, and anything that transcends the conventions of its genre.

Shalla: Hello Kelly, how are you? Congratulations on your recent sales which include Offspring, an apocalyptic fantasy chronicling the long-ago trysts between angels and humans, American Whore, an edgy bio of adult film star Sunset Thomas, Feed Your Tiger, etc, etc.

Kelly: Thanks, Shalla! Every time I sell a book and look back on the circumstances leading to the deal, it seems like a miracle that books ever happen. Yet they do, every day.

Shalla: Please tell us about PMA Literary and Film Management, Inc. Is it a literary agency?

Kelly: PMA is a management company. It’s like an agency in almost every respect, except Peter Miller, our president, acts as Executive Producer on film adaptations of literary properties we represent. We like the term management company, because we support all aspects of an author’s career.

Shalla: PMA’s website says you manage authors and screenwriters who create commercial fiction, non-fiction, original screenplays and film properties. What does this mean? Do you mainly focus on selling manuscripts and screenplays for film and television rights?

Kelly: I’m all about books, and if you can write, you should write a book—not a screenplay. As hard as it is to get published, it’s a hundred times harder to get a spec script produced in Hollywood. Most of our company’s success in TV and film has come from the sale of adaptations of books we represent. So it all starts with a great book.

Shalla: The site also mentions that PMA “handles Subsidiary Rights for three publishing houses.” Would you please explain what this means for the author?

Kelly: When we sell a book to a publisher, we’re selling the right to publish the book in x number of territories – sometimes just one, as in a US deal – for x dollars. But there are other rights, like audio, electronic, translation, etc, which may be negotiated at the same time—or retained by the author, to be sold at a later date. These are subsidiary rights, and PMA aggressively negotiates these.

Shalla: What kind of books and/or screenplays do you enjoy reading? Are these the same kind you sign for representation?

Kelly: I like literary fiction that says something about the past’s impact on the present, like Toni Morrison, or offers bitter social commentary, like Don DeLillo. Obviously, I like stylists. I sign books I love, because publishing is chaos—no one really knows what’s going to sell, no matter what they say. So I rep what I love, because that’s what will keep me beating down editors’ doors.

Shalla: What type of clients are perfect for PMA representation? Do you prefer someone who lives

Kelly: I don’t care where you live, although American authors living in foreign countries face annoying tax issues! You certainly don’t need to live in New York. The publishing industry happens over the phone and on the Internet. I do think it’s an advantage to have a literary representative based in New York, however. The major publishers are here, and I make it a point to know them personally.

Shalla: How long does it usually take to sell a manuscript or a screenplay for film and/or television rights?

Kelly: Between one day and twenty-two years. That’s approximate.

Shalla: What are the usual percentages sold?

Kelly: I could figure them out, but I don’t, because I wouldn’t want to discourage myself or you either. And just because I haven’t sold a book doesn’t mean I give up on it, ever. Snagging an agent is not a guarantee that you will get a deal, though. A lot of things we love don’t sell. Here are some percentages you should keep in mind, however: one hundred percent of published authors were, at one time, unpublished. One hundred percent of the projects I take on, I believe I can sell. I will put a hundred percent of my effort into selling a book.

Shalla: What are the usual reasons why a manuscript and/or a screenplay do not sell?

Kelly: Hexes. Voodoo. If it’s a project we rep, assume it’s a bold and original idea, beautiful executed … but it also has to be lucky. It has to capture the imagination of an entire publishing house, or at least enough key people with the power to make decisions. And it has to have brilliant timing. I don’t think you can plan it. It just has to happen.

Shalla: Lastly, for those looking around for the right agency to represent their work, are there things that make PMA Literary and Film Management stand out from the others?

Kelly: Our Hollywood connections are probably our most seductive quality, even though I caution authors not to get stars in their eyes while there is still work to be done. The company has been around for over thirty years, but there are also aggressive young agents here who are building their lists and will take a chance on a first time author—you get the best of both worlds. We are also very hands-on in terms of editing, packaging and market research, and we think in terms of the big picture—nurturing an author’s entire career.

Shalla: Thanks for sharing your expertise, Kelly!

For more on Kelly Skillen and the PMA Literary and Film Management’s, please visit http://www.pmalitfilm.com

Shalla DeGuzman's short stories have appeared in Poetic Diversity, the Mosaic Literary Journal, the Mad Hatters Review; her articles in The Scriptorium and L.A. Freepress; her skits at the Stella Adler Theatre. Shalla, a former writer and producer of a health and fitness cable show, is currently writing a new novel. She is President of The ShallaDeGuzman Writers Group; the Senior Editor of SHALLA Magazine where she interviews literary agents, publishers, editors, and authors; and the Publisher for SHALLA Publishing. News! Shalla has been nominated for the prestigious Pushcart Prize. SHALLA Magazine, which features short stories and excerpts from top, award-winning writers, now sold at www.amazon.com! For more on Shalla: www.shalladeguzman.com