Why selling subsidiary rights can turn your book into a bestseller

Everything you need to know about what subsidiary rights are, why you really want them to sell and how to make your work more internationally appealing

It’s the week after Bologna book fair and all around the world agents, editors, designers and rights staff face a mountain of follow up to make sure quotes, artwork and manuscripts are sent out to everyone who wants them.

We’ve written before about what actually happens at book fairs like Bologna and London but in this post we want to cover why selling subsidiary rights at a book fair is so important to publishers, authors and illustrators alike.

Naomi spent eight years working in rights at Penguin Random House and Hachette Children’s Books. During her time there she regularly travelled abroad meeting publishers in their offices as well as at all the major book fairs.

She saw rights deals help books become commercially successful, learned why publishers consider a book’s international appeal before they acquire it and crucially discovered what makes a book more likely to sell abroad.

In this post we’re going to share all our insider knowledge to explain what subsidiary rights are, why as an author/illustrator you really want them to be sold and how you can make your book more internationally appealing.

(If you haven’t already read this post explaining how advances work, you may want to take a read before diving into the world of rights.)

So, what are subsidiary rights?

Every contract has a section for subsidiary rights - these can include translation, audio books, film, TV, dramatic (theatre adaptations), licensing, large print etc.

When an editor makes an offer for a book they will let the agent know how much they’re offering for the advance and they will say whether it’s for world rights or not.