International Book Deal

[Mark Robson]

Originally Posted by Marky Lazer

Hey Mark, I was wondering how this all happens. Is just someone starting to translate your story and then call your agent or publisher to say, "Um... Hi, this Skolle Johanson, I just translated your book into Danish?" If that's the case, I might as well just do that for the Dutch edition, and Scalem can back me up...

My understanding is that the International Rights department at Simon & Schuster contact overseas publishers and pitch their titles at them for consideration. Bear in mind that all of the other publishers, major and minor, are doing the same thing. Publishers in each territory that they approach then have the opportunity to make offers on any of the books that they think will suit their own particular market. In some territories, if more than one publisher show an interest in a particular title, an auction may be set up to try to win the best possible deal for the author (and the UK publisher in this case, as they take a percentage of the royalties - everybody has to have their piece of the pie!)

Once an agreement is reached on the amount of the advance of royalties, the royalty rates, whether the book is to printed in hard back, or paperback and a whole host of other details, then the deal is signed. Considering this is my first title with a traditional publisher, I'm delighted to have won three such contracts already with the prospect of a few more to come. I don't know whether there will be a dutch company with interest in my work, but who knows? Maybe they will be next.

[Patrick Mahon]

Are there any signs that there will be early translations of Imperial Assassin? I'm sure there would be takers...

[AmazingAmanda253]

Originally Posted by Aerin

Let's see how long it takes for you to make it to Chinese!

Would make sense, I got my copy of the imperial Spy when I was in the Hong Kong airport.

[Mark Robson]

Anyone here speak Italian? If anyone's interested, here's what the cover for the Italian version of Imperial Spy looks like:

©Terra-di-Mezzo.it | Autori | Mark Robson

I kind of like that cover. (Though I'd love to know where she got that sword from! Femke doesn't carry a sword!)

Oh, and Patrick - still waiting to hear on deals for Imperial Assassin. I'm hoping that deals will start being signed soon.

[Joel007]

I like the cover. "The spy of shandar". I must admit, the sword is a mystery to me too.

[Patrick Mahon]

Blimey! I wouldn't want to meet her on a dark night!

But it's great to see Imperial Spy travelling to Italy, even if they have changed the name. Hope it sells well - and with that cover, I'm sure it will

[dwndrgn]

Great cover! Tell whomever made the decision to go with that cover (sword notwithstanding) they should come and work for a US publisher. We get some seriously crap covers over here (not inlcuding yours Mark, I happen to like those so far).

[SpaceShip]

Well done Mark! It gives us all hope - it really can be done. Congratulations and hope it won't be long before they do all the others too. Again, very well done.

[Mark Robson]

Thanks, guys. I had a bit of a laugh last night as I used the Babel Fish site to translate the reader reviews here: La spia di Shandar - Robson Mark

The results were quite funny to read, but the general gist was that they enjoyed La Spia Di Shandar very much, which is most gratifying.

It seems that Mondadori have gained a quote from an Italian Author, Licia Troisi, which features on the cover above the title. Again the babelfish translation was entertaining, but what words it did translate were complimentary, so thank you, Licia!

[scalem X]

cool, I don't speak Italian though.
Waiting for Dutch/German/French/Japanese .

[Mark Robson]

After quite a long break, I am pleased to be able to announce another international sale, this time for the Romanian rights to the entire Imperial Trilogy. I understand this is a bit of a coup, as apparently it is the first ever translation deal with a Romanian company made by the International Rights Team for the children's department of Simon & Schuster UK.

The books are to be published by Editura Corint Junior in Bucharest.

[Patrick Mahon]

Great news Mark - when will the Romanian versions come out?

Anyone here live in Romania?

[Mark Robson]

I've no idea when the Romanian books will launch, Patrick. I imagine it will take them at least a year to get the books translated, so I'm not going to hold my breath. I must admit to being very intrigued to see what they will do with the cover and layout. The Italian publisher, Mondadori, did a wonderful job with 'La Spia di Shandar'. I find the whole idea that people will be reading my work in several different languages very exciting.

[Mark Robson]

I just heard today that Mondadori (Italian Publisher of Imperial Spy as La Spia di Shandar) have taken up their option and bought Imperial Assassin. They will be publishing it in Spring 2008. This is great news, as it's a good indicator that La Spia di Shandar is doing well in Italy. After the magnificent cover they did for Imperial Spy, I'm looking forward very much to seeing what they do with Imperial Assassin. Let's hope its success will trigger further deals in the future.

[M@.Price]

That is great. Im sure they will be quick to do a deal for imperial traitor aswell. Should be a good summer for reading. Harry potter and just after the holidays we have imperial traitor! What more could we want (other than dragon oracle)