How do rights work in book publishing, and how does Whitefox help authors to manage their rights?

Of all the knotty, complex aspects of publishing (and we’re not an industry renowned for startling simplicity), rights can feel like one of the most head-scratching. You’ve written a book and it’s going to be published, but how much control will you have over the different formats in which it appears, where in the world it will be available to buy, and who is allowed to use your meticulously crafted work?

Knowledge is power so it’s essential to establish an understanding of your rights early on in your publishing journey, regardless of whether you’re taking a traditional or independently published route to market. Today’s authors need to be savvy and entrepreneurial to maximise the potential of their book, and do so on their own terms. 

What Are Rights?

Essentially rights are legal permissions for the work you’ve created. In traditional publishing, this begins with a signed contract granting the publishing company exclusive rights to publish your book for an agreed period, which can be for a number of years (5/7/10 years) but is often for ‘the term of copyright’ (meaning as long as it is in print and available for purchase), and in specific territories, one of which may be ‘the World’. In other words, they’ve bought the book and its content, and it is theirs to exclusively use as they see fit under the terms agreed. In exchange, the author may be given an advance against future royalties, which are negotiated percentages of the income from various types of sales of the work.  

Usually, a literary agent will be involved in the contract and rights negotiations, and, in this traditional model, the publisher takes on the initial financial risk of the project, covering all of the costs of development, production and distribution, but also the majority of the income from it. Conversely, in a self-publishing model, the author themself makes the upfront investment and retains ownership and control of their rights. Hybrid publishers, who sit on the scale between the two, may or may not control the publishing rights and will have varying levels of risk and author-required investment. It’s an opaque area which should be approached with some caution.

How Does the Rights Process Work?

The primary publishing contract is just one of several ways in which the rights to your work can be licensed – usually in different formats and territories. In a traditional publishing contract, the primary and subsidiary rights will be defined and royalties negotiated and detailed. Traditionally, primary rights were considered to be physical print rights (hardcover, paperback) held by the contracting publisher, but now they generally include ebooks as well because the ebook has matured into a format expected as standard by readers. 

Subsidiary rights generally cover other types of use of the work, such as audiobooks, foreign-language translations, or – the dream of many authors – film/television/streaming adaptation rights. Just to keep it confusing, digital rights encompassing ebooks are sometimes considered subsidiary rights. These agreements have implications on your future earning potential and your creative freedom so make sure you understand the nuances of each one, including the timescales involved and any rights reversion clauses.  

Independent authors should retain their own rights, allowing them to build and manage a rights portfolio on their own terms, comprising different revenue streams, and under their own control. As empowering as that is, authors still need to be educated and informed when signing deals with distribution platforms like Amazon KDP or IngramSpark, and especially with third parties like foreign publishers, media groups (i.e. newspapers, magazines) or production companies. It’s best to bring in expert advice here when possible. 

Traditional publishers will make the grant of primary and most (if not all) subrights a requirement of an agreement with them. 

What Different Types of Publishing Rights Are There?

Digital and Audio Rights – These are the rights to publish and distribute your book in different formats, including ebook and audiobook. The audiobook market is rapidly growing year on year and has been for the last decade, with audiobook revenue generated by UK publishers up by 31% between 2023 and 2024. It’s a lucrative sector offering the opportunity to reach a wider audience who ‘read’ by listening or prefer a format that can be used while travelling or doing other things. Digital and audiobook rights will almost certainly be included as a required grant in a traditional publishing contract, while independently published authors can choose to utilise them or not. The barrier to doing so for an independent author has been lowered to the point where producing an ebook is an almost-automatic yes, and the audiobook is moving in that direction too, given the uptake in the market and the royalties on offer when working directly with distribution platforms. 

Territorial Rights – In a traditional publishing contract, the publisher might acquire World rights, World English Language rights or specific territorial rights, for example UK & Commonwealth or North American rights in a specific language or languages. This gives them the option to exploit sales in those territories granted (the home and export markets) or to sublicense the work to other publishers (particularly foreign translation rights, below).  

Translation Rights – These are licences sold to foreign publishing companies to translate, adapt and publish your book in another language in a particular territory or territories. The Spanish-language rights for a book can be sold to a publisher in Spain to include Spain & Latin America, restricting their sale to specific countries, or World Spanish rights, allowing them all markets in the Spanish language. Sometimes this might even break up a single language into territories with separate publishers, such as a French publisher holding French rights in France and specific regions, while a Canadian publisher may have the French rights exclusively in Canada. 

These rights are often negotiated and sold at annual international book fairs in London, Frankfurt, Guadalajara, Bologna and Beijing, although good rights agents are working with their publisher clients around the world throughout the year. Foreign-language editions of your book can significantly expand its reach and introduce your work to a global audience, as well as bring in a great income boost. If the publisher has World rights, they will manage any international licensing deals but this will only benefit the author if the publisher is proactively selling those rights, which unfortunately isn’t always the case – and when they do, the sale will be shared with them. Independent and self-published authors can work with specialist rights agents to maximise opportunities for their work and retain a much larger percentage of the income.

Serialisation – If your book has significant media potential, exclusive serialisation rights can be sold to a newspaper or magazine who will publish excerpts in advance of publication. This usually only happens with high-profile biography and non-fiction but is a very effective way of building interest and excitement around the launch of a book as part of a wider publicity campaign. An example is the recent exclusive serialisation of Lesley-Ann Jones’s Love, Freddie: Freddie Mercury’s Secret Life and Love in the Daily Mail. Serialisation was once a huge source of publisher and author income for certain types of books, but with the decline of print news media sales, it’s now more important as a promotional tool for fuelling sales.

Film and TV Rights – A production company buying the rights to your book can feel like the holy grail for authors. They are buying the legal permission to adapt your work for the screen, usually, initially, in the form of an ‘exclusive option’ that allows them to develop the concept over an agreed period. There’s no standard time period, but it’s usually one to two years. If they are successful in doing so and secure funding, they will then buy full adaptation rights, and aspects like creative control and merchandise can be negotiated. Or if they want to continue to hold the option, it can be extended for a price. However, sale of film and TV rights is rarely a quick process. Author and podcaster Elizabeth Day’s novel The Party is currently being adapted into a five-part ITV drama, over eight years since it was first published, which is a very average timeline.

If I Publish My Book with Whitefox, Who Owns the Rights to My Work?

As a Whitefox author, you retain the full rights to your work, giving you total control over any licensing agreements you choose to pursue. Drawing on our in-house knowledge, our previous experience within traditional publishing, our freelance network of publishing specialists and the current work we’re doing with our clients in the rights arena, we can help you navigate the process if you’d like guidance or would like to discuss our rights management service and the likely options for your work.

Get in touch with us to find out more about publishing your book with Whitefox and to discuss rights options.