In today's episode we speak with Greenleaf Book Group Distribution Account Executive, Kristine Peyre-Ferry, about foreign rights and why they're an exciting aspect of book publishing.

1:12 - Why don't you start by telling us a bit about your background and what you do here at Greenleaf?

• I have worked in publishing for 8 years now. I started as an intern and then began my career at Greenleaf right out of college as a member of the distribution team.
• I am a distribution account executive, which means I help guide authors through the distribution phase of publishing their book.
• As my role at Greenleaf grew and evolved I took over also managing our Foreign Rights program.

2:30 - First off, can you explain the definition of foreign rights in publishing?

• Foreign rights are technically the rights to the content of a book that are available to publishers in other countries.
• Every book has foreign rights so it’s up to the rights holder essentially if they want to sell the rights or not.
• Foreign Rights works like traditional publishing so it very much follows that same model of an advance and royalties.

3:12 - How does foreign rights differ from subsidiary rights?

• Foreign rights is a category of subsidiary rights, so any rights that fall outside the physical book contract are open for use by the rights holder later on.
• Examples of those are eBooks, or audio books, or film and T.V. rights.

3:45 - What is the typical timeline to get your book distributed to foreign countries?

• A standard foreign rights contract will allow the foreign publisher twelve to eighteen months to produce the book.
• However on the front end there’s also the review process and negotiation of the contract and that can usually take anywhere from one to six months also, so you’re looking at about a whole year or two from start to finish.

4:40 - How can an author negotiate foreign rights?

• I would typically recommend if they don’t have any experience in foreign rights that it’s really best to get a foreign rights agent.
• Foreign rights agents usually do take a fifteen percent fee, but I think it’s worth it for what they bring to the table and the context that they have as well in those countries, that an author might not have.

6:40 - How long do foreign rights usually last?

• For most standard contracts that I’ve worked with the term tends to fall at about five years.
• Once that time is up the rights revert back to the original rights holder, so that means at that time the foreign publisher can choose to renew, or if they don't renew, the rights can be sold again to another publisher.

7:25 - What genre of books tend to appeal most to foreign publishers?

• I would say the content of the book is more important rather than if it's fiction or non-fiction, because we’ve sold rights across the board.
• The content has to resonate and be one that a foreign publisher is interested in.

8:31 Do you have and final thoughts regarding foreign rights?

• Although it’s complicated, selling the foreign rights is really fun. It’s something really exciting when you get that final product with the cover redesigned and in a completely different language.

About Kristine

Kristine is responsible for guiding authors through the distribution process. She strives to understand each author’s personal goals and helps devise a successful strategy for each book’s distribution. Kristine joined Greenleaf in 2011 and has worn many hats in the Distribution department since, most recently, as logistics coordinator. She enjoys seeing a book go from an idea to a finished product in the hands of readers. Kristine is a graduate of the University of Texas and is a lifelong bookworm.