World rights/royalties

No, that's about right for French. They do much smaller print runs. But they're a very reading country, so the chances are good you'll see more money in the future if sales are good.

I'd let them keep ebook rights. The reason? You'd have to hire a separate translator, where they'll pay for the translation if they do it.

I would suggest you only offer EU rights. Giving world rights would REPLACE you as the U.S. publisher. And the asian market can be lucrative. But if it's all or nothing, at least try to lock down what you're doing now to keep.

Also be sure there's no required option for the sequel. You're stuck with them, if so, on future books.

Oh, and make sure there's mandated publication for no more than 24 months. That means if they don't publish it in 2 years, the rights are returned.

Ask for at least two copies of the final, and more if they'll do it. They're fun giveaways for U.S. readers.

Honestly, this might be a time to look for an agent. There are some oddities in foreign contracts that might bear looking at.

Good luck!

Just to clear up my own confusion on this point - world rights don't include the English-language rights that the author is already using?

World rights is generally the whole world. Everywhere.

Okay, that is important information. They're French language only, and will look for publishing partners. That could work. But I'd still recommend an agent look it over when you have the first draft of the contract in hand.

Glad you enjoy my books. Thanks!

I suggest you contact an agent and do it fast. Like, today. They may not be interested but it never hurts to see what can happen.

Find an agent who deals in foreign rights and zip them an email detailing your issue.

Sure can't hurt! And the French publisher can wait a day or so... nothing needs to be done this second!

Good luck!

cutecontinent said:

All right, I'm on it. Looks like I've got two weeks anyway, since they're all on holiday over there. Thanks a lot, guys. I'm so clueless about this stuff...

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Are you selling them World FRENCH rights or plain old world rights, all languages? Two VERY VERY different things. French is the official langauge in many countries (Canada, Belgium, etc) so they could sell FRENCH rights to various local publishers in those countries if they so wanted to and yousold them only World French Rights.

For example, I can sell World English to a US publisher and then go sell translation rights all over the world. But I can't sell the UK or NZ/Aus any thing because they want English.

Either way, they buy X rights and if they can sublicense them around the world to other territories, they get a cut. They'll probably start out saying they'll split it 50/50 with you.

I would not negotiate this deal yourself, and while you can ask questions here for basic understanding, don't rely on a message board to figure out if it's a fair deal.