The Rights department looks to generate as much profit as possible from a title by selling it to a variety of different customers and in different editions. Rights to a publication can be sold to film, TV and stage companies, newspapers, audio book publishers, book clubs, merchandising companies, and companies producing educational editions for use in schools. Rights can also be sold to foreign publishers to produce an edition in their own language or to US publishers to produce an edition for the US and/or Canadian markets. An average day may consist of liaising with contacts from national newspapers, foreign publishers or film and TV companies, working with publicity and marketing in order to create a more effective sales pitch, or learning about the markets and customers you are looking to sell to. Although largely office based, the nature of rights means that some foreign travel is likely.

Selling is only part of the job. Rights work also involves liaising with internal departments like editorial, design and production to ensure that good material is available to show to potential customers at book fairs or in meetings. There is a huge degree of negotiation and interaction with customers, authors and agents so an outgoing personality and fantastic communication skills are a real must. A love of books is of course vital as rights sellers need an in-depth knowledge of the books they’re working on. Knowledge of foreign languages can prove invaluable when selling foreign rights. Financial awareness is also useful and good record-keeping skills and attention to detail are essential.