The Check’s in the Airmail: Foreign Rights

By Greenleaf Team - Mar 30 , 2007

By Aaron Hierholzer

What do Dan Brown and Pope Benedict have in common? Well, not a lot, but they do both know how to take advantage of foreign book sales, a growing sector of the publishing industry where the right book and the right deal can provide a nice padding to authors’ and publishers’ revenue.

Dan Brown’s cultural juggernaut, The Da Vinci Code, managed to get translated into well over forty languages. It has done particularly well in Europe, where publishers obtained rights to the ubiquitous book and watched it top bestseller lists for months. Even the French—seemingly unimpressed by fanny-packed Americans making Da Vinci Code pilgrimages to the Louvre—bought enough translated copies to make it the top-selling commercial book of all time in that country, with over 5 million copies sold, according to Business Week.

And the pope? His Italian publisher, Rizzoli, sold North American rights to his upcoming Jesus of Nazareth (due in spring 2007) to Random House imprint Doubleday this month. Doubleday wisely bought not only the English rights to the book in North America, but snapped up Spanish-language rights as well, securing access to the vast population of Spanish-speaking Catholics on the continent.

These deals demonstrate both ways that foreign rights negotiations can work for U.S. publishers: we can license rights to foreign publishers to translate, distribute, and sell titles initially published in America, or we can buy the right to distribute foreign books that have an audience here. The former is by far more common, and many authors have found that selling foreign rights to their book is a nifty way to diversify and increase revenue, often with little up-front cost.

If you think your title has potential for overseas distribution, here are some things to remember:

Your Book Must Travel Well. Content must be relevant to appeal to foreign publishers and agents. Books that hit the big time in foreign markets must have somewhat universal subject matter, and it helps if they are easily translated as well; the prospect of spending valuable time and money on a long and difficult translation can kill off agents’ and publishers’ interest in no time. Popular categories tend to be business, self-help, parenting, and personal empowerment. Fiction is likely to do well only if it has a stellar track record and broad appeal.

Also remember that changes in format may occur. A slim book may fatten considerably in certain languages. Your trim size may change. Pictures and illustrations you don’t have the right to sell may have to be removed. And don’t leave any ugly messages on your Israeli publisher’s voicemail for printing your book backwards—it’s supposed to be like that.

The Price Must Be Right. Hammering out the royalties and advance with a foreign publisher can be tricky, particularly when dealing with exchange rates and cross-cultural bargaining. Royalty rates are typically between 5 and 10 percent. A couple of seasoned foreign rights negotiators suggest using the following formula to come up with a rough idea of a reasonable advance:

[anticipated first print run] x [royalty percentage] x [retail price] = [your advance]

You may also consider an agreement in which a foreign publisher pays you a fixed amount to print a given number of copies. Foreign rights grants generally last around four to five years, and royalties can be paid anywhere from every six months to annually.

Terms Must Be Defined. Always make sure you know exactly what you sold and for how long. Are audio rights and book club rights included in the deal? Are you selling the right to distribute your book in Spain, or anywhere Spanish is spoken? Clearing up issues like these can help you sidestep future catastrophes.

Communication Must Be Sustained. Don’t just send your book to Taiwan and get frustrated that you never heard back. Without being pushy, try to keep up with your contacts in foreign countries and cultivate a healthy relationship. Great distances can create great frustration when the lines go dead for long periods of time. Many newbies to foreign distribution tell horror stories of backed-up royalties and unresponsive contacts.

Longtime foreign rights negotiators emphasize that personal relationships are often vital in a successful deal. Your contacts will probably speak English for the most part, but cultural differences remain. Naturally, remember to be polite, friendly, and respectful, and studying up on the country in question doesn’t hurt either. Embarrassing geography gaffes or a bad attitude could easily prompt a publisher to pass you over for another of the many titles ripe for successful foreign distribution.

At the end of the day, it’s not likely that the foreign rights to your book will get you rich. It may seem a daunting task for a modest amount of money, but anything you make is basically found money—you’ve already done all the hard work. (It’s also cool to tell your friends your book is big in Scandinavia.)

Foreign readers are hungry for quality books. If yours fits the bill, why not send it packing and see what happens?