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 < back to full question list < back to academic authors question list < back to textbook authors question list Q: "Recently I was contacted by a group from Japan that wants to translate my book into Japanese. I have heard that my usual 10 percent royalty would be shared equally between me and my publisher. This does not sound great. What's your advice?" A: Frank Silverman, former TAA president: I have never directly negotiated translation rights for a book, but Prentice-Hall, my publisher, once negotiated the sale of rights that called for the Japanese publisher to pay a fee for translation rights. The fee was split 50-50 between myself and Prentice-Hall. You might mention to the Japanese publisher that you would like to go to Japan to do seminars, then negotiate for the publisher to pay your travel expenses and provide an honorarium. Soon I will be flying business class to Saudi Arabia for a workshop as payment for allowing them to do an Arabic translation of one of my books. They are paying all of my travel expenses, approximately $6,000 for airfare alone, and are providing an honorarium. The amount of money that I am directly and indirectly receiving is far more than I ever could have received from a rights payment or royalties -- and it doesn't have to be shared with my publisher. < Previous question | Next question >
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