How to get your books noticed by international book publishers
At DropCap, one of the most common questions we see from publishers and authors looking for foreign rights licensing opportunities is this:
How can I best position myself and my books for international success?
Great question! You’ve probably already done some of the most important things:
Write and publish a great book with universal themes
Write and publish a great book that is timely or consistently relevant
Optimize your sales and marketing to show your book’s wider appeal
All of those things are very important, but the truth is that navigating the world of global rights deals comes with cultural and technological complexities that even the most seasoned publishers and authors might not be aware of.
We asked our DropCap agents, Allison and Monica, for a few of their tips for publishers and authors to position their books for international success. Here are their top four:
1 - Optimize sales and accolades
Obviously, it is always beneficial to show strong sales for your books across any number of channels. For the books we represent, this usually means a combination of a few things:
Cultivating an ad strategy on Amazon to boost sales and the number of reviews
Optimizing your social media platforms and maximizing the chances of your platforms being seen by a global audience.
Similarly, excellent reviews from places like Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, or an award from a prestigious organization like IBPA can all help draw attention to your titles internationally.
“For international book buyers, showing multiple levels of success is a great way to show your book has global appeal. It’s almost always a good idea to spend time optimizing your sales pages, creating a strategy for selling more books across all channels, and seeking out prestigious accolades.”
2 - Think globally
The books that do best across the world are ones that deal with–you guessed it–universal themes. If your book is centered around cultural aspects that are specifically American, your book might not be appealing to a global audience, no matter how many books you’ve sold at home.
Obviously, issues that resonate on the global level are always in flux. At DropCap, some successful recent titles have included such global themes as:
How to deal with bullying
How to make sound financial investments
Body consent
Self improvement
Mind/body/spirit connections
“Our global rights buyers are looking for books that are culturally relevant to them. If your book talks about a universal theme or has worldwide–not just nationwide–appeal, you’re likely to find more success in the global market.”
3 - Make sure your book is easily accessible and available
When overseas publishers and agents show interest in a particular title, our agents at DropCap move quickly to start negotiations. If the publisher or author who owns the rights isn’t responsive to email, for example, that can be a detriment for securing a contract.
“Time is of the essence in this business. The rights management software we created for DropCap ensures that rights buyers have immediate access to the titles they are interested in. It’s key to making deals happen and has helped us secure more than 7,500 licenses in 120 countries and 180 languages for the publishers we work with.”
4 - Leave the negotiations to the pros
Writing and publishing great books is one thing. Navigating the international relationships required to secure advances, sign contracts, and manage royalty payments is quite another.
Add on top of that, you’re dealing with publishers and agents in countries with different norms, customs, and business practices as they relate to acquiring and publishing books.
If you are a publisher, the effort you could spend to get up to speed on another publisher and publishing process halfway around the world is not a good use of your time. Our experienced rights agents have spent decades vetting rights buyers and tracking overseas contracts quickly and effectively.
“It’s incredibly important that authors and publishers have a trusted agency like DropCap to help them with expanding their books into the global market. We have been attending international book fairs for decades and have built long lasting relationships with partners around the world.
There is so much that can be lost in translation so to speak… and it would be a shame to lose out on an incredible opportunity simply because an author or publisher wasn’t professionally represented in the international publishing space.”
Our agents work around the clock and around the world to represent DropCap’s titles to international rights buyers. If you are ready to take your books global, reach out to us here.
