Written by Tabitha Topping

For any author it’s obviously incredibly exciting when a translation rights deal is done, however there is an aspect of these sort of deals that is rarely discussed… tax forms.

For the uninitiated, many countries have double taxation agreements with one another which means if a resident of one country is expecting income from another and they have the relevant documentation, they can avoid paying tax twice. Sounds simple, right? You’d be surprised…

At the beginning of each calendar year we have to assess which of our clients are most likely to receive translation rights income and from where. Are we in the middle of negotiating a Spanish deal for Author A? Has Author B been selling well in France, and are we expecting a sizeable royalty payment for them? Often it can be difficult to predict, but once we have a list (and obviously this list is not comprehensive – for example, we often make translation rights deals later in the year we were not expecting to in January), we can then send the relevant instructions to the relevant clients.

These differ from country to country. Some countries have specific forms that need to be filled out by the author and then stamped by their tax authority, while a simple certificate of residence will suffice for others.

We always advise that authors apply for tax forms as soon as they can. It can take months for tax forms to be returned to clients and publishers cannot make payment without them. Furthermore, tax forms may only be used for the year they are issued (Germany is the sole exception to this) so if an author’s form only arrives in November and misses the publisher’s last pay run of the year, the author will have to start the process all over again in January. This often means that large swathes of income is held up, which can be enormously frustrating for publishers and authors alike.

As an agency we are legally not allowed to complete tax forms on behalf of our clients, so our role is to mediate between client and publisher/co-agent. We share the relevant documentation with our clients and then send periodic reminders to them about completing the forms in good time.

Authors are obviously free to go without the tax forms and subject their income to the full withholding tax (and sometimes a tax form only reduces the tax by such a negligible amount it’s not worth going through the whole arduous process), but given the squeezing of author incomes in recent years we usually recommend that authors apply for tax forms.

So, in essence tax forms are great! They allow authors to keep more of their advance and/or royalties, which usually means that an author can afford to write more – yay! Unfortunately the tax forms process is labor-intensive and time consuming… but as agents we will be there for every step of the journey and do our best to make the process as easy and pain-free as we can. So, if you’re an author and receive an email saying ‘it’s time to apply for your [insert country]’s tax forms’, please don’t panic!

Written by James Pusey and Nicole Etherington

So, you’ve hooked an agent, and said agent has just submitted your debut novel to UK and US editors. At what stage does the translation rights department get involved, and in what capacity?

First off, it’s likely that the TR department will have been one of the early readers of your novel – we’re often asked to assess new manuscripts that an agent is about to send out in the UK, in order to offer an opinion about its potential for translation. We’d be looking for comparable titles that have seen success abroad and discussing amongst ourselves as to who we might target, and which markets seem likeliest. Each market has its own trends, periods of boom and bust, but there’s also a diversity of tastes within each one.

If we have a very strong feeling that the novel would be up a particular editor’s street, we might send it to them early, before a UK/US deal has been struck. The reality, however, is that the wheels of acquisition often turn slower than we’d like, and to give the novel the very best chances of success we’ll need some help.

By sharing your manuscript with trusted book scouts and our co-agents (our eyes and ears on the ground in capital cities around the world), we can ensure that the novel is considered by a range of the right editors. Co-operating with third parties in this way offers the novel greater visibility and gets people talking. Publishing remains a ‘people’ industry and fostering positive relationships with these contacts is priceless.

Timing is everything and it’s often the case that we won’t achieve proper lift-off in translation until the book has been sold in the UK. Given the vast amount of time, effort and expense that editing, translating and production entails, it’s important that overseas editors have access to copy-edited and proofread manuscripts, possibly cover art and design, and the boost that UK publication and its attendant publicity can give. This is not to say that it’s impossible to sell a title abroad that doesn’t already have a UK publisher, but it’s the exception that proves the rule.

The greatest joy, and biggest challenge, of our work in rights comes from successfully matching up a book with its perfect overseas editor. The first translation deal we make for a book is always a cause of excitemen, and can have a knock-on effect in other markets.

These are the beginnings, then, but, in fact, our engagement with the novel doesn’t end at this stage, or indeed at all. First publication, second (paperback) publication, reviews, prize listings, strong sales figures in the UK or elsewhere, all provide the opportunity for us to continue attempting to place the novel with suitable overseas partners, giving your novel a second, third, or hopefully twentieth life!