Ahmet Zappa, Hollywood based youngest son of late rock legend Frank Zappa, has signed a major three book deal with Puffin Books.
The first, The Monstrous Memoirs of a Mighty McFearless, will be published in the UK by Puffin in August 2006 with a simultaneous release in the US by Random House.
Legendary talent spotter, literary agent Darley Anderson, whose bestselling clients include Martina Cole, Lee Child, Lesley Pearse, John Connolly, Constance Briscoe and children’s author Cathy Cassidy conducted a fiercely contested auction which finally ended with Puffin Fiction Publisher, Sarah Hughes, securing UK and Commonwealth rights.
Darley Anderson said: ‘As soon as I read the ms of The Monstrous Memoirs of a Mighty McFearless I realized it was very special and very commercial, which is why I turned down a £150,000 pre-emptive bid offer and went to auction. The auction went on for weeks and was one of the most fiercely contested I’ve ever conducted. Finally Puffin just edged it over the underbidder HarperCollins.
‘The advance is monstrously enormous by any standard but it will sell by the truckload.
‘Ahmet has a wild and wonderful imagination and as Disney recognized, his monsters will prove irresistibly appealing and highly merchandisable. Kids and adults alike will love it.’
Sarah Hughes says: ‘When I read The Monstrous Memoirs of a Mighty McFearless I got that gut reaction that told me I was reading something that had the power to reach vast numbers of children. It has such direct child appeal, it’s the kind of book that turns non-readers in to readers. This kind of distinctive talent doesn’t come along every day. We are thrilled to welcome Ahmet to Puffin.’
Walt Disney Pictures and Jerry Bruckheimer Films have already paid $1.5 million for the film rights to The Monstrous Memoirs of a Mighty McFearless. Disney and Bruckheimer won a bidding war against Warner Bros’ David Heyman and Paramount’s Plan B that began just days after Zappa finished the manuscript. Ahmet’s US agent Helen Breitweiser brokered this deal as well as the US sale to Random House.
