Anna Termine spends an hour teaching us all a great deal about subsidiary rights and foreign language rights sales.  Watch this video and use the materials Anna so generously provided.

Publishers and Agents

A great resource for foreign publisher lists and sub agents are the book fair exhibitor directories – you can search by country and this also has agents listed as well. Here are a few examples:

London Book Fair (held in April)  http://www.londonbookfair.co.uk/exhibitor-directory/  .

Frankfurt Book Fair (held in October): http://catalog.services.book-fair.com/en/exhibitors-and-directories/exhibitors-a-z/letter/all/xoffset/0

Book Expo (BEA held the end of May/early June) in NYC the end of May,: http://www.bookexpoamerica.com/The-Floor/Exhibitor-List/#

New York Rights Fair (held the same time as BEA) http://www.newyorkrightsfair.com/exhibitor/directory-listing

Other key rights fairs are:

Bologna Children’s Books Fair held in late March/early April

Gothenburg Sweden Book Fair for Scandinavia in September

Guadalajara Mexico  Book Fair held in late November

 Here are the basics that should be included in a pitch email:

Subject line should say Translation rights available (specify language if it is not a blast email ie: Translations rights available: Spanish Language)

Short description of the book and table of contents

Any reviews

Author bio

Links to the book’s Web site/Amazon/ publicity – radio/tv

Catalog

Offer to send PDF’s or hard copies if interested.

I was recently at the Dublin Writers Conference and met several authors who were curious about how to find quality editors. A few months ago, I asked Jerry Friends, the Publishing and Distribution Manager at Thompson Shore to sit down with me. Jerry and I met at AuthorU Extravaganza last September and I was impressed with his knowledge of self-publishing. Jerry has seen thousands of books succeed and fail in the last few years and so I asked him to join me.

Jerry and I both agree that it is very tempting to save money (and some hurt feelings) by letting someone who “gets” you read your manuscript. I mean, just because they are related to you does not mean that they are not qualified to edit a manuscript! What about authors who KNOW a professional editor?

In spite of all the “good” reasons to hire or use someone you know to edit your book, you should not do it. Ever. Nope. No exceptions. Nada. Sorry.

Editors need to start from a place of complete “zero” when approaching a manuscript. They have to read the writing from a position of complete ignorance about the writer or their decisions and suggestions will be shaded by what they know. The reader will not have the benefit of shared experience with the author and neither should the editor. No matter how tempted you are, give the reader the benefit of an edited manuscript that was reviewed by a complete stranger.

In addition, professional editing is ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY when professionally publishing a book. If you want reviews and strong sales, hiring and using a professional editor with extensive publishing experience is NOT optional. It is a must.

But how much does it cost? Editors and editorial services will do evaluations of a set number of pages for a small fee. Thompson Shore charges $100 to completely edit and evaluate the first 10-12 pages of a manuscript. Other editorial services are also out there and are a TERRIFIC investment even when in the middle of writing. How great would it be to get coaching on your writing tone, voice, and style BEFORE you finished?

Below are some services and organizations that will help you find the right editor for your book:

Proofed to Perfection Editing Services