We wouldnt have to sell portuguese translation rights to a brazilian publisher to meet the demand for steves work. The majority were opposed to selling all rights, but many had mixed reactions, offering interesting and compelling arguments in. This means that the purchaser can use excerpts from your piece in other instances. Title of the book language into which you wish to translate the text distribution territory intended size of first print run proposed selling price in local currency if you are interested in any electronic rights, be sure to outline terms of. Elliott katz got his self published book translated into 24 languages, and now hes sharing his stepbystep foreign language rights sales system for free. Authors, pro tips on how to sell the rights to your book. Ibpa members can download a sample translation rights licensing agreement as a tool for developing a contract for licensing foreign and translation rights from a u. News about international trade shows and book fairs, books in translation, foreign rights sales, and international bestsellers. We have a very international focus and are dedicated to selling the translation rights to all our titles.
And on february 5 and 6, when frankfurter buchmesse stages its twoday frankfurt publishers training program at the taipei international book exhibition. Ive been in development hell for 16 years, but im not complaining. If your book has sold only ten copies in its home market, foreign publishers will see it as much riskier than if your book has sold 2,000 copies. How much money do publishers generally get for selling the foreign. There are a few situations in which you may want to buy the rights to a book. If youre an indie author but havent explored the opportunity of selling film, tv, audio and translation rights to your book, youre leaving money on the table. And if you have remainders that dont sell, consider looking for a charity that ships books into those countries where you havent sold the rights, and give your. Please include the following information in your request. Understanding foreign rights by greenleaf greenleaf book group. And since the holders of the in a work are generally eager to sell translation rights, you should get a. Selling foreign language rights for your book with elliott katz. How authors sell publishing rights with orna ross the. The united kingdom is obviously a very attractive choice if youre a us author because if you have already published in english, you dont need to deal with translations.
Its no longer about throwing up an ebook up on amazon, its about professional standards, creating an excellent book and turning your intellectual property assets into multiple streams of income. In todays article, tom chalmers from ipr license takes this even further. Generally englishlanguage publishers who buy translation rights purchase whats known as world english rights, which means that a publisher then has sole permission to print and distribute a translation of this work anywhere in the world. Black irish books like it is in the united states, canada and the uk would actually be the publisher in brazil too. Instead, we could publish the book ourselves and for that effort. If you are one of the millions of people who has selfpublished your book, or whose publisher didnt sell translation rights, you are losing money every day. Im excited about how the opportunities for selling our books around the world keeps on growing.
While hollywood has not yet made any of my books into a feature film, tv movie known in the trade as an mow, or movie of the week or series, i still get paid. This option happens more than you think and is very beneficial to the author, as well as an international book publishing company. For yet another, youll reap more monetary rewards, generate more publicity, and. Many subrights sales transacted at major book publishing industry trade shows that take place throughout the year. My first foreign rights sales occurred as a result of book expo america, where for a small fee, the book was displayed in a coop booth. The following are a few of the questions john kremer has answered during the past four years of writing the free book marketing tip of the week ezine. Weve also looked at some of the international possibilities for your book. Whether youre an author or a publisher, book publishing rights and other intellectual property rights such as film rights or translation rights and book royalties are considerations when youre determining the profitability of publishingor selfpublishinga book. I am the author and owner of rights to several popular travel books. But the good news is that there are many options you can use to get your book translated. The big traditional publishers often promote their books by highlighting the number of languages the books has been translated into. I asked kelvin kong, rights manager for torontobased agency the rights factory, to explain how foreign rights are sold for books.
E stablished in 2002, andrew nurnberg associates china is a goto agency for a many looking to sell rights into the chinese market. If you feel you could do a better job of finding rights buyers, your agent might be able to negotiate for you letting you keep the rights. All other rights, such as serial rights, are usually retained. Selling your books internationally jane friedman when it comes to selling your work overseas, there are two channels. With the global publishing marketplace easier to access than ever, selfpublished authors are selling foreign rights to grow their audience around the world and promote the number of foreign rights sales to increase sales at home just like the big publishers. The advent of electronic and printondemand publishing is making it more important for the english language publisher to discuss the grant of these rights with the foreign publisher. Instead, we could publish the book ourselves and for that effort, receive ten times as much revenue per copy sold than we would under the old model. The translator grants the following exclusive rights to the publisher for the legal term of. At dropcap, we rely on two powerful tools to sell our publishers books to global rights buyers. International publishing, book fairs and trade shows.
After reading how authors sell publishing rights, youll know how to pitch, negotiate and close a sale, as well as how to work with literary agents and global publishing companies, how to make the most out of book fairs, and how to keep track of your rights. How to buy the rights to a book with pictures wikihow. In this article, we look at how to a book, including some of the rights to his work that an author can sell to a publisher. More than 175 readers responded, with answers that demonstrated just how complex this issue is. If you have a foreign translated version see below. Posted in resources getting published, rights royalties contracts. Selling canadian books and translation rights in china 2016. To acquire that documentation, write to the holder of the rights check the notice inside the book to see who it is and ask simply whether the translation rights for english are available.
The translation of your book is a onetime cost so its fair to ask the publisher to give you more money on a sliding scale as they sell more books. I have been approached to sell my content and translation rights by a company that has many websites throughout england and europe. Authors who have retained translation rights for their books may. Selling foreign rights in a book already published is one thing. A publication may purchase the right to print your story or article in japanese, german, russian, or spanish. My role is to sell the rights to books to publishers and other licensors. One could grant traditional british commonwealth rights in the english language to a publisher, thereby reserving american and translation rights to be sold separately. If you are selling your books only in english, set up your bio and book information in english. Selfpublishing success series volume 3 ross, orna, sedwick, helen on. Or does the publisher then also own the rights to any version of that book sold in their country including the english version marleen. Ask your agent about withholding tax that is paid to that countrys government.
A model contract for literary translations pen america. Hi carter, no, you wont need a special certificate. Once youve written a book, there are many ways you can deliver it to the world. Now, one thing that stops people from doing international sales is the translation process. Selling foreign language rights for your book with. Sometimes publishers ask for worldwide rights in all languages, which gives the publisher the right to sell the book in any language, anywhere in the world i. Our foreign rights teams offer a prompt, efficient and friendly service to foreignlanguage publishers worldwide. If an agent believes money can be made from your book, he or she will work for you on a commission basis, usually 20% of advances and subsequent royalties in foreign markets. If you are a selfpublished author, you can sell the rights to publish and promote your book to publishers in other countries. Now available in its third edition, selling canadian books and translation rights in china provides invaluable insight into one of the most attractive and valuable international markets for canadian publishers.
You can make more money from your book by selling translation rights worldwide. It is also important to note that when you sell foreign publishing rights, the only thing youre selling is the right to publish your book in that country. Berghahn books on translation rights and the value of english. We attend all the major book fairs london, frankfurt and bologna as well as making a number of trips abroad throughout the year with the aim of selling our authors translation rights in. Selling your books movie and tv rights what you need to. Ive covered how its not just one book, and how your manuscript can be turned into multiple products. Make money from your book worldwide translation rights. Selling your books movie and tv rights what you need to know. For example, you may be a publisher who wants to publish a book in your country, or you may want to purchase the rights of a. An indie authors guide to selling foreign rights lifetree media. The sub rights department in a book publishing house is charged with selling subsidiary rights to the parties who will exploit themfor example, to book clubs, audiobook publishers, foreign publishers, movie producers, etc. Selling english, not translation rights g ermanborn marion berghahn is publisher and editorinchief of berghahn books, a publisher of academic books and journals with about 20 staff split three to one between its headquarters in brooklyn, new york, and an office in oxford. Writing right american society of authors and writers. Foreign rights contracts usually grant the publisher only the right to publish the book in its language.
When and author or their agent makes a deal with a publisher, it can be for a variety of rights. I believe they think they can take advantage of my lack of knowledge about translation rights and have offered me a pittance for these rights. Or one could grant world english language rights, so the publisher can sell on us rights while translation rights are. Sell your rights directly to foreign publishers who will translate and sell your book the popular selfpublishing guru, dean wesley smith, recommends a more diy approach, cutting out the agent to contact the overseas publishers yourself to try to sell it to them directly. There are so many other rights that you can sell too, such as video games, merchandising, large print, audio and many more. The only exception should be if there are other significant reasons for licensing the translation rights.
Sell your book to film, tv, translation, and other rights buyers an alliance of independent authors guide. Many authors have found that selling foreign rights to their book is a nifty way to diversify and expand revenue, often with little upfront cost. When i sold my first novel, my agent told me specifically that he had retained the foreign rights because that was something he was good at. Regarding film rights to your book or translation rights, or any other rights, with a traditional publisher, your agent would negotiate these rights up front and the details would be covered in your book contract. Today i talk to orna ross about how authors sell publishing rights. It might be tricky to sell rights in englishspeaking countries, but you should be able to sell.
Before i go further, let me explain the types of licensing rights authors usually exploit. Below are a few answers having to do with selling your company or selling rights. Getting your book translated and published in other. Translation rights are the right to publish a book in languages other than the original language. There are several reasons to sell foreign, or translation, rights of your book into other languages. China has the largest population in the world and is growing at a rate of 0. Selling foreign rights it is easier than you think. Remember that youre only paying for the exclusive option to buy the film rights at this point, not buying the rights themselves thats another story altogether. Although the book didnt take book expo by storm as i somehow thought it would it received interest from and i sold translation. Lets face it, a book in english will not do near as well as a book in italian for the italian market. Get an agent to sell your rights to foreign publishers who will translate and sell your book. How we sell foreign language publishing rights for book publishers.