- Selling to a Foreign Publisher – Part One
- Selling to a Foreign Publisher – Part Two
- Selling to a Foreign Publisher – Part Three
- Selling to a Foreign Publisher – Part Four
- Selling to a Foreign Publisher – Part Five
Once I had selected a foreign publisher and decided to approach them about the possibility of publishing some of my work, I would next need to write an introductory query letter or email to catch their attention. Like most of what I do, I usually approach this process in a step-by-step fashion:
- Decide which of my works would best fit into their catalog
- Develop a short summary that highlights the work itself.
- Cover a few high points that show why it would be beneficial for them to acquire the work in question
Using our hypothetical submission to Bragelonne as an example, here is how I would work through this process if I were doing it today.
I currently control subsidiary rights to several of my books, including my debut novel Riverwatch, the three books in the Templar Chronicles series (Heretic, A Scream of Angels, and A Tear in the Sky) and the Jeremiah Hunt trilogy (Eyes to See, Hands to Heal, and A Soul to Lose.) Interestingly enough, I’ve sold foreign language rights in different territories to all of them – Riverwatch to Italy, the Templar Chronicles to Germany, Russia and Poland, and the Hunt trilogy to Germany.
If I were submitting to Brageloone, I would probably decide to eliminate Riverwatch as a possible contender as it is a horror novel and Bragelonne’s catalog runs more toward SF and urban fantasy. Riverwatch was also the very first novel I ever wrote and after seven years I’m not as confident in my ability to sell it as I am in some of my more recent works.
That would leave me to choose between the two trilogies.
Five of the six books were sold as originals to Droemer Knaur, a major publisher in Germany (the exception being the first book in the Templar Chronicles, which first sold to Pocket Books.) The Templar Chronicles books were released in 2007 and 2008, to good results; the first book debuted on the German and Swiss bestsellers lists and has sold more than 50,000 copies to date while books two and three have each sold more than 25,000 copies. That they have also been acquired for publication in Russia and Poland is another point in their favor as this shows their viability in more than one market.
On the other hand, the Jeremiah Hunt books are scheduled to be released starting in Dec 2009 as part of the launch of a brand new imprint for Droemer Knaur, Pan Books, which means they will have a lot of promotional push behind them. They also just sold in the US to Tor Books for my first hardcover publication, which means a fair promotional push on that end as well.
Either one would actually be worth submitting. I would probably lean more toward the Templar Chronicles trilogy if I were actually doing this today, as I’ve got a bit more of a success story to tell regarding them right now and the fact that they did so well in a nearby European country bodes well for their success in France.
On to Step Two.
Developing a short summary that highlights the series will be easy in this case, as one already exists. I put one together for the original proposal and I’m going to dig that out and use it for this proposal as well.
“In the Templar Chronicles, an action-oriented urban fantasy series, the ancient Templar Order has been resurrected as a secret combat arm of the Vatican, charged with defending mankind from supernatural threats and enemies. The world at large is unaware of the Order’s existence and the Templars take great pains to keep it that way. “Sometimes the Lord’s work is best accomplished in the shadows”, is a popular saying among the troops.
At center stage is Knight Commander Cade Williams, a veteran of the Order and a man torn between his thirst for vengeance and his need to discover what happened to him during an encounter with a supernatural entity five years before. Cade leads the famed Echo Team, a special forces-style unit that is called in only when the situation has become particularly dire. Echo is the best of the best, there is no doubt about that, but the fact that they are led by a man rumored to have more than a few unusual abilities of his own leave many within the Order more than a little uncomfortable in dealing with them. Darkness surrounds us, even in the light of day, and the series is designed to reflect this. In the Templar world, all is not as it seems, and it is up to the Order to protect man from his own ignorance.”
My next step would be to craft a paragraph that highlights some of the success I’ve achieved with the trilogy in other markets in order to show the target publisher why they might benefit through its publication as well.
I’ll cover that in the next installment of this series…
