Subsidiary Rights

You never know where a book will end up. Once it out to the world so many things can happen, and this is good news for an author.  If you’ve ever heard an author say, my books have been published in thirty-five languages…or my book has been optioned, or my book is available is audio, what they are essentially saying is that their publishing house has sold their subrights.  

Subsidiary rights or subrights as we call it in the industry can be a major revenue boost to an author’s primary book contract. 

So, what are subrights?

They are the permission granted to a third party to use the content from the primary book license in different formats to generate new revenue streams for the book. Subsidiary rights cover every form of the book that is not the physical book or an eBook.  Common subrights include film and video rights, audio books, workbooks, gift books, e-books, translations, book club editions, international editions, commercial rights, gift products, and so on.

Subrights are one reason you should care about constantly promoting and standing behind your book.   You just never know. Twelve Years a Slave, a book written by Solomon Northrup in 1841 was made into a movie in 2013…it also prompted new editions of the book and made the career of Chiwetel Ejiofor.

Need I say more. The more your book bubbles and percolates in the reader’s universe, the more opportunity it will find. What did you do last week to promote your book?