As sales of trade books in the U.S. have stalled since the pandemic peak, publishers are taking a harder look at expanding into international markets. How to best break into different territories was the focus of the November webinar “Publishing Now Fall ’24: Strategies for Success in International Markets,” presented by PW with support from Westchester Publishing Services.

Inez Munsch, managing director at Abrams & Chronicle Books, started the conversation with a broad glance at the relationship between U.S. and international markets. She estimated that, depending on a publisher’s list, 10% to 30% of its total revenue could come from the U.K. and export sales.

One of the biggest challenges of selling in international markets is the perception that American companies publish books for the American market only. “Think about your U.K. and European markets the minute you start thinking about buying a book,” Munsch said, adding that planning ahead and incorporating the international editions into the publication cycle of a book has never been more important. This is due, in part, to the role social media plays in global sales. TikTok, for example, wants books to appear in all markets on the same day and with the same covers, Munsch says; yet, while styles across the globe have become more homogenized, there are some exceptions. In the U.K., cookbook covers need to be different from the U.S. editions, and when it comes to spelling, U.K. publishers want the correct U.K spelling, especially for children’s books. “The one thing you cannot do in the U.K. is spell the word ‘mom’ with an ‘o,’” Munsch said. “We just don't do that.”

International markets, including rights sales, represent “a material amount” of sales at Princeton University Press, said Christie Henry, PUP director. She agreed with Munsch that the same covers increasingly work on a global basis and stressed the importance of synchronizing publication dates and publicity across different markets. She added, however, that a company needs to strike a balance between global publishing and the needs of individual markets.

For companies thinking about entering the international market, Henry stressed that looking for partners is the first step in selling abroad. There are consortiums and sales groups that publishers can tap into in different areas, she said, adding that for PUP independent booksellers and libraries are other “critical constituencies.” Another good way for publishers to test the international waters is to attend international book fairs, which have bounced back after shutting down during the pandemic, Henry said.

A final point Henry made is that publishers need to be aware of compliance issues in various geographies. Publishers who want to sell e-books and apps in the European Union, for example, need to meet the requirements of the European Accessibility Act, which is slated to go into effect on June 28, 2025.

Dan Vidra, who worked in international sales with Simon & Schuster and HarperCollins and is now an international publishing consultant, provided a deep dive into the current Chinese market, where a long-running sales boom for U.S. publishers peaked in 2018 and dropped off just before the pandemic. The market is now slowly rebounding, Vidra said, but remains highly focused on books for early and middle grade readers, with some YA sales. Virtually all sales go through online channels, and the adult market is limited to the business and self-improvement categories, Vidra said.

In terms of reaching the Chinese market, publishers need to work with authorized state distributors, who, Vidra said, act as a “soft layer of censorship.” To sell books to China, “it pays to have a footprint there,” Vidra said, either through an office or a sales manager. Beyond exporting books to China, Vidra said Chinese publishers are interested in “an unbelievable permutation of possible rights combinations,” involving such things as e-book rights, digital audio rights, and animation rights. While the actual value of those rights deals are likely to be “minimal,” Vidra said Chinese publishers see these packages as increasing the sales of print books.

In addition to examining the Chinese market, Vidra offered some practical advice for selling abroad. He said that if a publisher has good metadata for the U.S., there is no need to adapt it to international accounts. He advised independent publishers that if they have distribution in the U.S. from a major company like Simon & Schuster, they are likely already getting some kind of international representation, particularly through online channels. “Will you be 100% happy with this arrangement?” Vidra asked. “That’s an open question, but the low hanging fruit will be caught.” And smaller publishers might also be picking up sales through one of Amazon’s international marketplaces, usually through a third-party seller, Vidra said. “You might well be passively selling internationally right now, without really being able to see it.”

Vidra also addressed the changes to selling in Europe prompted by Amazon’s decision in March 2023 to source books locally rather than import them from the U.S. The changes shocked U.S. publishers, who adapted in different ways. For many smaller publishers, the easiest solution could be to use print-on-demand services offered by Amazon or Ingram.

Cecilia de la Campa, executive VP, global media and licensing at Writers House, discussed the interplay between exporting books and selling translation rights. Rights sales are not necessarily in opposition to export sales. “They can coexist and we have to keep our eye on all of them,” de la Campa said, noting that translation sales are an option all publishers need to explore. And to do that, de la Campa said, they need to find the right partners, since selling rights is really a license agreement and not a one-time sale. Publishers need to work with someone they can rely on through the entire term of the deal.

De la Campa also addressed a concern among European publishers that the growing sales of English editions in European countries are eating into sales of translations. She said there are discussions of solutions, including “windowing,” in which translated editions appear ahead of the English version. To facilitate translation sales, de la Campa advised that publishers have a translated manuscript available four to five months ahead of publication so they can match the release of the book in the U.S.

The market for audio rights overseas is booming, de la Campa said, cautioning also that publishers need to be careful when discussing terms because many countries use “‘streaming’ and ‘subscription’ interchangeably, and they are not the same.” She also warned publishers against depending on AI-generated translations and narrations of audiobooks. “We have to weigh the benefit of distribution against the value of having it done the right way,” de la Campa said.

TRENDS
Having recently attended the Frankfurt Book Fair, de la Campa said that romantasy is “still the reigning genre.” The interest in romantasy “is not a trend,” she said. “I think it’s a wave, and it is really transforming fandom and readership and audience engagement in how they are finding content.”

A recurring theme throughout the webinar was the increased importance that consumers are placing on books as collectible objects. “One of the biggest trends I’m seeing is the physical object of the book becoming so important,” Munsch said. “People are buying books because they like the cover and how they look in their house.” Of course, the book as an object also involves sophisticated printing methods. While POD has become “a brilliant resource and so useful” for many books, Munsch said, it still doesn’t quite “cut the mustard” when it comes to the “beautiful finishes that customers are becoming more savvy about.” PUP’s Henry said that while “the craft of book-making is alive and well,” the press also uses POD to bring the production of books closer to different markets for reasons of timing and sustainability