Foreign Rights - The Proactive Process

Select the countries you feel would be most receptive to a particular book or booklet, remembering that what seems obvious may not be true. In fact, for example, Germany and Japan don’t want books about World War II. And, perhaps surprisingly unless you’ve been active in foreign rights markets for a while, countries like China, Indonesia, Eastern European nations, and India are now active rights-buyers.

Although there are other resources, your best prospecting aid in the beginning will be International Literary Market Place. This is an expensive directory, published by R.R. Bowker, that you may be able to find at your library and that you can access online on a limited or fee basis (see www.literarymarketplace.com). It lists nearly all the world’s publishers by country. Within each listing you will find information on the kinds of books they publish and contact information. Create a short list of the countries and publishers that you will want to contact. You may also want to target foreign agents, who will charge a commission; they are listed separately in ILMP under "Literary Agents."

Create a detailed Fact Sheet, including a small picture of the book’s cover. List the elements most important to a foreign publisher–U.S. sales, author credentials, compelling features, countries to which rights have already been sold, quotes from important reviewers, trim size, page count, copyright date, etc. Be succinct but thorough. Email the fact sheet to each selected foreign publisher and/or agent with a cover note asking them to contact you if they’re interested in your fine book. Interested publishers and agents will respond by asking for review copies.

(c) 2005, Bob Erdmann

Publishing Consultant Bob Erdmann is a four-decade veteran of book publishing and a two-term past president of PMA. He created the PMA Trade Distribution Program, which has gained more than $20 million in sales for members. Through his popular Frankfurt/Foreign Rights Program he has negotiated more than 2,000 foreign rights sales for clients. Visit www.bob-erdmann.com to learn more, or contact him via bob@bob-erdmann.com or 707/726-9200.

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Where are you considering going to develop foreign rights opportunities for your book or booklet? How are you preparing to do that?

Until next time,
Paulette - who combines proactive and reactive approaches for securing foreign rights deals

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