The Foreign Rights perspective - let's talk about translation!

Hachette UK Foreign Rights Director Melis Dagoglu shares her insights into how US and translation rights work, why markets differ, and what's on-trend right now...

Hi everyone, happy Sunday!

Today I have the pleasure of bringing you the perspective of Melis Dagoglu, the amazing Foreign Rights Director at Hachette UK. Melis works with me and is such a pro - her view on new submissions is always invaluable, and she has struck deals for our authors all around the world. She joined our Rights Department in November 2017 after 7 years at Blake Friedmann Agency (so she has seen it from both sides!) and is currently the Foreign Rights Director for Hodder & Stoughton, selling translation rights in all direct territories and serial rights across the division. This includes selling to America, which can be done in several ways (I will go into this in another post) and to major territories such as Germany, too. It’s always a good day when Melis emails me to say she has an offer for one of my authors, and she also gives me excellent feedback on our IP ideas (where we generate ideas in house to give to authors - again I will do another post about this).

For authors, translation rights can be a really fun and lucrative side of things. I absolutely LOVE seeing foreign editions of my own books - I am lucky enough to be published in about ten territories and most of them have different jackets and sometimes entirely different titles! But translation rights are not always guaranteed, and the foreign markets go through ups and downs just as the UK market does, and financially, deals can vary wildly (from very low to very high). So I thought speaking to someone who sells translation rights for a living would be really useful for all of you readers.

As always, thank you for reading The Honest Editor, and enjoy the interview!

1. Hi Melis. Thank you so much for speaking to The Honest Editor. To start with, please can you tell us about your role as Rights Director at Hachette UK?

I have the wonderful task of trying to find international publishers for our authors. More specifically this means finding, for example, a dedicated US publisher who will publish the book in North America, or a German publisher who will translate, publish and market the book in Germany…or a Japanese publisher who will do the same in Japan.

When a book is submitted to an editor, my team and I will discuss whether we believe there is any US or translation potential (i.e. is there a big enough appetite for this kind of book in the relevant translation markets?). If yes, we’ll make an offer for World All Languages and if we are successful in our bid, it is our job to submit the book to publishers around the world and negotiate deals in as many markets as possible! We work closely with editorial teams and different departments in house to ensure we are aligned on the strategy and vision of the books where we have these rights. We are the link between the UK publisher, international publishers and agent/author, so continued communication between all parties is an essential part of my role.

Much like other parts of publishing, working in Rights is about cultivating relationships, old and new. I am in touch with publishers throughout the year and we attend book fairs and do regular market trips. I also need to build and nurture my relationships in house (to make sure editors know what we are looking for so we can swoop in and buy World All Languages from agents as quickly as possible!) and crucially with agents and authors. I love working in Rights because not only do we get the thrill of reading something special at acquisition stage, we also participate in the excitement of making an offer (or pre-empt!) and then we get to champion and channel our passion into making deals for the author.

2. How has selling translation rights changed over your career?

I started my career at Blake Friedmann Agency and had a publishing legend, Carole Blake, as my mentor who had some brilliant stories about selling translation rights ‘back in the day’. She’d tell me how they had to print tens of manuscripts and send them by post for submissions to publishers around the world and would wait weeks to hear back. While today we send manuscripts by email, the waiting around is still very much the same!

So it’s incredible to think that even in the 15 years since I started in this industry, there have been some quite significant changes! Though in a very different way of course. As with the UK, international publishers face the same challenges with the rise in social media, a decline in reading amongst young people and the rising costs of production. At the beginning of my career, I would have been confident about selling a book in at least three or five markets and even more if it had a big UK/US deal. Then a big German pre-empt or auction would certainly spark many other markets to swiftly follow suit. But now deals are taking longer and buzz is harder to generate because there are so many more books, other forms of entertainment and translation publishers are competing with English language editions. Readers in the Netherlands and Germany are finding books themselves via TikTok and reading them in English. So unsurprisingly, translation publishers are much more cautious about what they buy and are increasingly looking at local authors. This is especially true for non-fiction where platform and publicity are crucial for a book’s success. This means Rights teams need to become more agile and more creative in how we sell our books.

3. What is the best part of your job? Any particular highlight of your career?

The best part of my job is being able to talk about books with other book lovers and engaging with people from different cultures. It’s a wonderful feeling when you pitch a book to a publisher and they leave the table with a copy of the book in their hand.

So many highlights stand out for me. One being my first time running a big auction in Germany (with eleven publishers in!) for a book I absolutely adored. It was equally terrifying and thrilling! Another is when I received an email from an incredible author, who after being persuaded to change the ending of his masterpiece of a book, thanked me for believing in his book and the ending it was meant to have. The connections we make in this industry are one of a kind and it is those moments that make you work harder.

4. And the most challenging?

With so many amazing books, it’s always disappointing when we are unable to secure any international deals. There is a lot of expectation around selling translation and US rights, not only because it’s desirable to have your book sold in several markets around the world, but it can be a crucial stream of income for authors. However, this taps into the joys and hardships of publishing in general in that everyone connects differently to a book. A book you might love, might not connect in the same way with someone else. Or it could be just bad timing – the publisher has just acquired a similar book, or that trend hasn’t taken off in that market. Whatever the reason may be, it’s always difficult to disappoint an author. The upside is, that a really great book can have a long life internationally and we will continue to pitch a book long after it’s been published in the UK.

5. Is there anything authors can do to help themselves when it comes to selling translation rights?

A good question, but honestly, in the first stages of an international submission the author must trust in their book, and their rights team, to do the work for them. Once a (or hopefully several) deals are secured then it would be helpful if they are able to give some of their time for any marketing or publicity requests that come through as it can really help the success of a book in that market. If the author has any connections in a specific country (and this is particularly helpful for non-fiction books) then please do flag early on as we’ll use that in our submissions in that market.

6. How much of a difference can a translation deal make to an author's career?

There is the financial aspect of course - certain markets, for certain books, can be very profitable. Getting a deal in one market can also influence other markets (publishing is a small world, we all talk!).

Then reputationally and for brand building it can be hugely beneficial to have lots of international publishers on board. I’ll also cheekily add that a benefit of having an in-house rights team sell your translation rights is that we can be instrumental in building buzz in house for the book. Once we start getting rights deals it can elevate the book as a priority for other departments too. [From Phoebe: when you get a book deal, you can either sell the language rights to the publisher, or keep them within your literary agency. Both routes have pros and cons and this is your decision - though your agent will have a view too, and some agencies never want to give rights to the publishers because they prefer to let their own in-house agents sell the rights. Lots of agencies do sell World All Languages to publishers though and obviously, the publisher will pay more up-front for more territories. You can read more about how book deals work here.]

7. Does success in the UK always mean success internationally, and vice versa?

I’m afraid not! Though there are some overall trends that can take off around the world, each market also has its own trends or cultural differences which means that a hugely successful series in the UK does not necessarily take off elsewhere.

Conversely, I have seen some cases where an English language book has done well in a translation market but not break out here.

8. What is 'on trend' now in your markets?

Trends come and go, but there’s always appetite for a great multigeneration family drama or a sweeping love story. The market was saturated with psychological suspense so after a few years, it seems to be on the rise again - the Frieda McFadden effect! Romantasy and dark romance is still very popular and doesn’t show signs of waning. In non-fiction, it’s still about big ideas, with takeaways combined with a considerable platform. [From Phoebe: around the time of the big international book fairs, namely Frankfurt in October, London in the Spring, and the Bologna Children’s Book Fair - also in Spring - you can often read trend pieces in the Bookseller about what is and isn’t on trend/what the hot books of the season are, if you’re interested!]

Thank you so much, Melis, for giving up your time to explain all of this to the readership of The Honest Editor.

Do you have any questions about translation? Pop them below, and as always, thank you again for reading.

Phoebe x