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independent publishers guild
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Subsidiary Rights
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The main rights that can be sold by the publisher are:
Same language territorial rights
Translation rights or foreign language rights
Book Club rights
Reprint rights
Paperback rights
Serial rights
Electronic publishing rights
Audio rights
Merchandising rights.
Same language territorial rights: rights sold by the originating publisher to a publisher in another English-speaking country to publish the same book under their imprint for sale in their specified territory – e.g. USA, Australia, Canada, South Africa or India. If the two different editions of the same English language title are published at the same time, then these rights are sometimes called ‘co-edition rights’. The global range of internet bookselling has begun to disrupt the trade in traditional territorial rights over recent years. This is a growing concern for publishers.
Translation rights or foreign language rights: publisher sells the right to publish the work in a foreign language to another publisher, for publication and sales in a specific country or group of countries. The purchasing publisher usually commissions the translation.
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Book Club rights: the publisher’s own book is sold in a bulk quantity at a large discount to a book club for it to retail to its members at a discount. This is often a hardback edition, and the stipulation is usually that no paperback appears for at least six months after the book club has started to sell the discounted hardback to its members.
Reprint rights: this covers a variety of different rights: examples are a cheap edition for the developing world, a promotional (and cheaper) edition, sometimes with a different cover, for sale to a wider audience; for example through reps calling on hospitals, nursing homes, and large companies.
Paperback rights: the hardback publisher sells the right to publish the paperback to a different publisher.
Serial rights: extracts are sold to a newspaper or magazine for publication before the book is published. “Second serial rights” are sold similarly, to appear after the book’s publication. While this may increase sales of the newspaper or magazine, it may act as promotion for the book itself, and increase sales when it is published.
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Electronic publishing rights: the content is sold to appear in some kind of electronic format.
Audio rights: content is sold for creation as an audio tape.
Merchandising rights: particularly common with children’s publishers, the right to use a fictional character in non-book merchandise, such as toys, clothes etc. Well-known examples are Peter Rabbit, Winnie the Pooh, Postman Pat, Harry Potter, and so on. Merchandising rights do extend to adult books as well — the Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady spawned numerous social stationery products etc.
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