We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Georgia Bodnar a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Georgia, thanks for joining us today. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?
I think being successful requires a lot of things that we typically consider to be the traits of successful people: resilience, consistency, patience, discipline, and hard work. But I think it requires one more thing, and that is, the ability to identify an opportunity and leap at it. I was fairly uncertain about what I wanted to pursue when I graduated from college. It was 2008 when I moved to New York, and it seemed that there were no jobs. After over one hundred applications–exclusively for nonprofit jobs–I finally landed a job at a medical nonprofit. I’d end up working there for five years. Midway through, I met a book editor at an event totally unrelated to books, and I fell in love with her description of what she did for a living. It was like a light went on, and after years of uncertainty about my professional future, all at once, I had utter clarity about what I wanted to do. I began a long arduous road of networking.
Early on in the process, a coworker of mine got wind that I was looking to break into the publishing industry. She told me that her husband was the managing director of an imprint at one of the major publishing houses and that he was currently hiring a coordinator in the production department. The role wasn’t what I wanted. I was set on getting an entry- to mid-level job in editorial, so despite her total willingness to speak to her husband and recommend me for the job, I told her that I wasn’t interested in exploring the opportunity. I then spent month after month networking to get into editorial, and after two years, that same coworker returned to me to say that the job was open again. At that point, I went for the job.
The lesson here is obvious. I was so focused on the top of the mountain that I ignored a critical stepping stone that would help me get there, and I lost two years in the process. Successful people identify opportunities and leap at them.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
A native of Omaha, Nebraska, I moved to New York in 2008, beginning my career in the nonprofit sector before landing my first publishing job at Macmillan. In joined Viking Books (Penguin Random House) where I worked as an editor for eight years. I then became an agent at United Talent Agency in 2022. While there, I represented the New York Times bestseller Say More by Jen Psaki, as well as current and forthcoming titles by Uzo Aduba, the late anthropologist Helen Fisher, Ben Crump, Luvvie Ajayi Jones, Gisele Barreto Fetterman, Chelsea Handler, Santigold, Martin Lawrence, and others.
I founded Noyan Literary in 2024. We are passionate advocates for writers. We aim to connect authors’ books with the broadest possible readership by brokering book deals with publishers in domestic and foreign territories and through new forms of media. We represent fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and select young adult books. My dual experience as an editor and agent has granted me a rare level of insight into how different industry stakeholders are navigating today’s rapidly evolving marketplace.
Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?
I listen to the Diary of a CEO podcast a lot, and two things I’ve heard over and over from a lot of CEOs that have significantly impacted my entrepreneurial philosophy are, “I had no business starting a company when I did it,” and “I had no money when I started my company.” To hear these two lines again and again has been incredibly affirming. So often you look over the aisle at successful companies, and it’s easy to forget that they weren’t always the juggernauts that they became. These comments are powerful reminders that for many people, the early days are messy, imperfect, and often times under-resourced, but they start it anyway.
Where do you think you get most of your clients from?
The simple answer is networking. Whether it’s from colleagues and friends, or random conversations that happen at the grocery store, being out in the world has been the best source of discovering new clients. I receive hundreds and hundreds of solicitations for representation through my website–and of course, I want them, and I read them. Of course, if someone who knows my taste and what I’m after recommends someone, or if I meet someone in person and discuss their objectives, the odds are better that that person will be a fit.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://noyanliterary.com
- Instagram: @noyanliterary
