Foreign Rights and Translations

Your graphic novel can reach readers in other languages in two ways: by translating and publishing it yourself, or by licensing the rights to a foreign publisher who translates and sells it in their country. Here's an overview.

Rights deals involve contracts — consider professional advice before signing one.

Licensing foreign rights

A foreign publisher pays you for the right to publish a translated edition in their language and territory, usually as an advance plus royalties. They handle translation, printing, and selling in their market.

Good for: reaching markets you couldn't reach yourself, with local expertise.

Things to agree: language and territory, how long the license lasts, formats (print, digital), payment, and who approves the translation and lettering.

How rights get sold

• Rights agents specialize in selling foreign rights and take a commission.
• Book fairs where rights are traded — the Bologna Children's Book Fair is a major one for children's and illustrated books, and the Frankfurt Book Fair is the largest overall.
• Direct contact with publishers who already publish graphic novels for your audience.

A strong sales history, good reviews, and a series all make your book more attractive to foreign publishers.

Translating it yourself

You can hire a translator and publish the edition yourself through KDP and other platforms.

• Use a professional translator, ideally one who knows comics.
• Plan for lettering: translated text can be longer than English, so balloons may need resizing.
• Get a native-speaking reader to check the final pages.
• Treat it as a new edition with its own ISBN and listing.

Classics have an advantage

Adaptations of world classics travel well — readers everywhere know Pride and Prejudice or Heidi. Korean classics like Hong Gil-dong and Chunhyangjeon may especially interest Korean-language publishers and Korean-learning readers.

Start with your English edition

Make your English edition successful first — see selling internationally on Amazon. Strong sales and reviews are your best pitch to foreign publishers.