Giving authors the best opportunities in international markets
The rights team very rarely get to meet or speak with authors until the book is at the stage of publication. It has certainly been planned and mostly written by the time it passes our desks! However, there are some really important considerations that we think authors should be made more aware of when planning and writing their books.
If you are a publisher or working in rights, please share this list and do educate your authors. Translation deals are incredibly lucrative, and small changes can make a big difference.
Why it is important to educate authors
Let’s explore what things we wish authors thought about in relation to the future sales-ability of their work for different markets. We do appreciate this is a big ask. Most authors are probably not generally thinking about international markets when they put their book together. And we also appreciate that there are lots of other things to think about, including their primary market needs, as well as the time pressures and the effort it takes to write a book, in general.
However, as rights professionals, it is important to educate authors. Don’t you agree? Especially as there are actually some relatively simple things to do, or at least, consider at the writing stage that could make a big difference to global sales opportunities.
From left to right – Traditional Chinese characters, German, Brazillian Portuguese, Simplified Chinese and the original English cover.
How to help a book’s global sales, translation and licensing opportunities
There are a range of things to consider, and some vary from region to region. However, here are 4 tips on how to help a book’s global sales, translation and licensing opportunities.
Avoiding colloquial expressions
For starters, avoiding colloquial expressions and really local references can help to make a book more appealing worldwide (let alone making it just simpler to translate).
The odd one could be endearing, or easy to replace for a licensee but a book littered with odd phrases, as well as references to businesses, cultural landmarks and places that only those in the home market would be familiar with will quickly put international rights buyers off.
Reduce permissions required
Another thing to consider (and this is particularly close to Clare’s heart here at RightsZone), is permissions!
This includes any items that require permission to include in the original text from a third party. They automatically make things more complex. We will need to check that you have clear rights that cover not only international distribution but also translated editions that we might license. In addition, even if the permissions grantor were willing to give such expansive rights, it may be beyond the budget to do so.
Be aware also that not clearing permissions and just ‘waiting to see’ could also put off potential purchasers who would be faced with re-clearance. It can slow down the whole process (and hence threaten a deal) if items need to be re-cleared by the author later on. Therefore, the preference would be to avoid items needing permission as much as possible, unless they are absolutely integral to the book.
Research international trends
We are lucky to live in a time where much of the globe in interconnected and, thanks in part to social media, we definitely see more global trends and commonalities across more regions. With this in mind, perhaps particularly for fiction books, it is important to consider what genres will be trending at different times in different markets. Certain types of character or character traits may work well in one market and not in others. Whereas there are some story lines, characters or plots which have a more global appeal.
Build an international presence
Probably the single most important thing non fiction authors can do to boost their chances of getting international rights deals for their work is to build their own international presence.
Those buying rights have to be able to sell and market the books they produce. If the author is known in a few key markets or has a strong social media presence with international reach, the marketing of their book in different territories becomes a little easier.
Rights Professionals – always up for the challenge
This blog is very much about giving some advice and some quick win tips for authors to consider that they may have never thought about. However, none of these things should be changed or a book altered significantly at the risk of threatening the overall quality or impact of the content. It is more about educating and warning authors so that they can make informed decisions about their book and increase its chance of making global sales and deals.
Having said all of this, of course, part of the challenge of being a rights professional is to get our books into unexpected
places. It is very satisfying when you manage to get a deal for a book that breaks the rules that you would usually expect to apply!
We have put together this short list, but we are sure there will be more, so please do let us know. We’d love to hear about the kind of rights you are selling and the areas of publishing you work in.
So, tell us: What do you wish your authors knew about rights selling before they wrote their book?
Email info@rightszone.co.uk
FEATURE IMAGE CREDIT: Man Reading Book by Dean Drobot via Canva