Selling book translation rights

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. There are several reasons to sell foreign, or translation, rights of your book into other languages. Selling your books internationally jane friedman when it comes to selling your work overseas, there are two channels. Foreign rights contracts usually grant the publisher only the right to publish the book in its language. It might be tricky to sell rights in englishspeaking countries, but you should be able to sell. One could grant traditional british commonwealth rights in the english language to a publisher, thereby reserving american and translation rights to be sold separately. 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. Below are a few answers having to do with selling your company or selling rights. 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. Posted in resources getting published, rights royalties contracts. 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.

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. There are so many other rights that you can sell too, such as video games, merchandising, large print, audio and many more. Selling foreign rights in a book already published is one thing. But the good news is that there are many options you can use to get your book translated. Although the book didnt take book expo by storm as i somehow thought it would it received interest from and i sold translation. Make money from your book worldwide translation rights. 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. Selling foreign language rights for your book with elliott katz. Writing right american society of authors and writers. How much money do publishers generally get for selling the foreign. 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. 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.

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. Before i go further, let me explain the types of licensing rights authors usually exploit. 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. An indie authors guide to selling foreign rights lifetree media. How we sell foreign language publishing rights for book publishers. Authors who have retained translation rights for their books may. Translation rights are the right to publish a book in languages other than the original language. The only exception should be if there are other significant reasons for licensing the translation rights. 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. My role is to sell the rights to books to publishers and other licensors. Black irish books like it is in the united states, canada and the uk would actually be the publisher in brazil too. Before selling your rights before you enter into negotiations to sell rights, it helps to understand the legal ramifications. Lets face it, a book in english will not do near as well as a book in italian for the italian market.

And on february 5 and 6, when frankfurter buchmesse stages its twoday frankfurt publishers training program at the taipei international book exhibition. A publication may purchase the right to print your story or article in japanese, german, russian, or spanish. And since the holders of the in a work are generally eager to sell translation rights, you should get a. Weve also looked at some of the international possibilities for your book. Foreign rights in publishing explained 2 seas agency. 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. 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. 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. Ive covered how its not just one book, and how your manuscript can be turned into multiple products. 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. Many subrights sales transacted at major book publishing industry trade shows that take place throughout the year. 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.

We wouldnt have to sell portuguese translation rights to a brazilian publisher to meet the demand for steves work. If you have a foreign translated version see below. International publishing, book fairs and trade shows. Im excited about how the opportunities for selling our books around the world keeps on growing. In many cases, you may want to think about just selling the rights to your book in a certain amazon market, instead of getting it translated yourself and then having to market in that country. In todays article, tom chalmers from ipr license takes this even further. Our foreign rights teams offer a prompt, efficient and friendly service to foreignlanguage publishers worldwide. Get an agent to sell your rights to foreign publishers who will translate and sell your book. The big traditional publishers often promote their books by highlighting the number of languages the books has been translated into. If you are a selfpublished author, you can sell the rights to publish and promote your book to publishers in other countries. More than 175 readers responded, with answers that demonstrated just how complex this issue is.

News about international trade shows and book fairs, books in translation, foreign rights sales, and international bestsellers. You can make more money from your book by selling translation rights worldwide. 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. Getting your book translated and published in other. Selling your books movie and tv rights what you need to. We have a very international focus and are dedicated to selling the translation rights to all our titles. 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.

The translator grants the following exclusive rights to the publisher for the legal term of. 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. Selling canadian books and translation rights in china 2016. 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. Today i talk to orna ross about how authors sell publishing rights. 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. This means that the purchaser can use excerpts from your piece in other instances. China has the largest population in the world and is growing at a rate of 0. Or one could grant world english language rights, so the publisher can sell on us rights while translation rights are.

Please include the following information in your request. Instead, we could publish the book ourselves and for that effort. 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. Ive been in development hell for 16 years, but im not complaining. Selling foreign language rights for your book with. 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. For yet another, youll reap more monetary rewards, generate more publicity, and. This is why its so important for authors to know what exactly they are selling in a publishing contract. 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. 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. Now, one thing that stops people from doing international sales is the translation process.

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. A model contract for literary translations pen america. The majority were opposed to selling all rights, but many had mixed reactions, offering interesting and compelling arguments in. This option happens more than you think and is very beneficial to the author, as well as an international book publishing company. Selling your books movie and tv rights what you need to know. I have been approached to sell my content and translation rights by a company that has many websites throughout england and europe. Understanding foreign rights by greenleaf greenleaf book group. Sell your book to film, tv, translation, and other rights buyers an alliance of independent authors guide. 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. Selfpublishing success series volume 3 ross, orna, sedwick, helen on. Selling foreign rights it is easier than you think. Authors, pro tips on how to sell the rights to your book. How authors sell publishing rights with orna ross the. 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.

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. Elliott katz got his self published book translated into 24 languages, and now hes sharing his stepbystep foreign language rights sales system for free. All other rights, such as serial rights, are usually retained. I am the author and owner of rights to several popular travel books. There are a few situations in which you may want to buy the rights to a book.

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. 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. How to buy the rights to a book with pictures wikihow. I asked kelvin kong, rights manager for torontobased agency the rights factory, to explain how foreign rights are sold for books. Sell your book to film, tv, translation, and other rights buyers an alliance of. Once youve written a book, there are many ways you can deliver it to the world. 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. 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. 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. 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. At dropcap, we rely on two powerful tools to sell our publishers books to global rights buyers.

When and author or their agent makes a deal with a publisher, it can be for a variety of rights. If you are selling your books only in english, set up your bio and book information in english. Hi carter, no, you wont need a special certificate. 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. E stablished in 2002, andrew nurnberg associates china is a goto agency for a many looking to sell rights into the chinese market.