Summary: Elliott Katz is the bestselling author of Being the Strong Man A Woman Wants and six other non-fiction books. He is a professional speechwriter and has written on a wide-range of subjects from the outdoors to the economy to how to stimulate ideas and innovation in the workplace.<br> When Elliott wrote Being the Strong Man A Woman Wants he was only writing it for himself and his friends. Shortly after he put it up on Amazon he was approached by agents in Mexico and Poland. That’s when he realized the book has international appeal and he became interested in the topic of foreign publishing rights. To date, the book has been translated into 24 languages.<br> Our conversation delved deeply into the topic of how to license and sell foreign language publishing rights even if you are a self published author. Elliott talked about the three major advantages of selling in foreign markets. He also talked about pitfalls to avoid when negotiating foreign publishing rights contracts.<br> Here are some of the highlights from our conversation.<br> <br> * Books aren’t like toothpaste. People look at your cover and they are looking for a book to help them with their problem. If you have a good cover and good information your book will do well.<br> * The Internet makes it much easier to find agents who want to sell your book in foreign countries. (There are links below to help you find foreign agents for your books.)<br> * The benefit to having an agent in foreign countries is they have contacts in their publishing industry. It makes your book stronger to have an agent standing behind it.<br> * Before you seek out a foreign agent ask yourself, “is this a book that would appeal to foreign markets?”<br> * Cultures may be different but human nature is the same throughout the world.<br> * In the United States and Canada it’s very common to have one agent represent you exclusively. In foreign countries you can often have several agents representing your book. When foreign agents ask for exclusivity don’t feel like you have to say yes. Think about it and the way your options before moving forward.<br> <br> 3 Advantages to Selling Your Foreign Rights<br> 1. It is another income stream.<br><br> 2. You reach people in parts of the world that don’t speak English<br><br> 3. It gives your book an extra layer of credibility it wouldn’t otherwise have.<br> A Standard Foreign Rights Publishing Deal<br> The deal is typically structured like this:<br> In their initial offer the publisher will tell you how many books with a plan to print and the commission you get on each book sold.<br> So let’s say a German publisher wants to print 5,000 copies of your book and sell it for the equivalent of $15 US. They want to give you a 7% commission on the first 5,000 copies.<br> When you do the math 7% x $15 x 5,000 copies = $5,250.<br> The Formula for Calculating Your Advance on Royalties<br> Here’s the formula most publishers use to calculate your advance on royalties for this kind of deal:<br> Royalty Rate x Retail Price x # of Copies in First Print Run = Your Advance<br> After the German publisher sells those 5,000 copies, you have “earned out” your advance and you will be paid royalties at the agreed-upon royalty rate on all sales after the first 5,000.<br> It’s important to maintain contact with your publisher because some publishers aren’t good about sending regular royalty statements. Having a literary agent who specializes in foreign rights can help because their job is to follow up on these deals and make sure you keep getting paid.<br> One thing you can negotiate is your royalty rate after the first printing. It’s legitimate to ask for a raise because in the first printing a publisher factor in the cost of a translator. The translation of your book is a one-time cost so it’s fair to ask the publisher to give you...
