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To succeed as a publishing rights manager, you'll need strong negotiation skills, the ability to build and maintain industry contacts and commercial awareness

As a publishing rights manager, you'll develop and oversee rights for books and related products, ensuring a publishing company maximises its profit. This includes arranging foreign rights, selling rights to book clubs, paperbacks, North American editions, serials, audio/electronic formats and translations.

Rights managers coordinate the entire rights process, from initiating rights sales with new contacts to ensuring timely production. You’ll liaise with editors and publishers and, depending on your organisation’s size, you may cover a specific list or the entire publishing rights portfolio.

Responsibilities

Your duties will vary depending on the type of publications you work on - for example, illustrated books require more technical coordination than fiction, but you'll usually:

• manage a small team (in-house and freelance)
• liaise with editors, publishers and production teams
• agree rights for foreign editions, updates and co-editions
• negotiate translation rights
• maintain positive relationships with publishing contacts
• share market information and recommendations
• identify and propose new titles for rights deals
• develop new UK and international publishing links
• write pitch letters and 'soft sell' titles
• negotiate contractual and legal agreements
• initiate new rights opportunities
• submit proposals to editorial teams based on market knowledge
• prepare for and attend trade events, e.g. London and Frankfurt book fairs
• travel internationally for conferences, networking and meetings
• ensure publications remain on schedule
• assess financial viability of rights deals
• oversee invoicing and monitor payments
• keep accurate, up-to-date records
• set departmental targets and drive to meet them.

Salary

• An entry-level rights assistant typically earns between £22,000 to £25,000, rising to £30,000 as a mid-level rights executive.
• As a rights manager or senior rights manager, you'll earn in the region of £38,000 to £45,000.
• Heads of rights/directors earn £55,000 to £75,000.

Salaries vary according to the region and publishing sector (e.g. book, academic, trade) you work in.

Income figures are intended as a guide only.

Working hours

You'll generally work regular office hours but expect to work some evenings or weekends during key periods, such as book fairs, rights negotiations or publication launches.

What to expect

• Most roles are in-house at publishers or agencies, though experienced professionals can work freelance on commission.
• In England, publishing jobs are concentrated in London, the South East, Oxford, Cambridge; in Scotland they're mainly in Edinburgh and Glasgow. Living costs in these areas can be high.
• The role can be demanding as you'll need to manage production issues, complex client negotiations and tight deadlines and in smaller companies, you may also have to combine rights duties with sales, marketing or editorial work.
• The industry still struggles with diversity; for information about initiatives to address this see .
• Expect frequent travel, including meetings and international book fairs.

Qualifications

Although the requirements of employers vary, modern language degrees can be particularly useful for rights management, particularly when dealing with translation rights.

Other relevant subjects include:

• English
• history
• publishing
• media
• marketing
• journalism.

Subject-specific knowledge is helpful for specialist areas of publishing, such as science for scientific publishing.

Entry is sometimes possible with an HND only, although a degree-level qualification is the norm in this highly competitive industry.

Postgraduate study is not essential for entry to the profession but may be useful. Many people in publishing, particularly journal publishing, have a Masters degree. Courses tend to cover the whole area of publishing rather than rights management, although rights management may be covered as part of the course.

Masters and diploma courses are available in subjects such as electronic communication and publishing, and publishing/publishing studies. Do your research thoroughly to carefully consider which courses are most aligned to your interests and career direction.

Search postgraduate courses in publishing.

Skills

You'll need:

• excellent oral and written communication skills
• strong negotiation skills
• commercial awareness and an excellent sales technique
• the ability to identify and utilise opportunities
• organisation, planning and administrative ability
• ability to prioritise and manage your time to handle your workload effectively and meet deadlines
• teamworking skills
• a keen eye for detail and meticulous approach
• persuasion, influence and strategic thinking.

Work experience

Practical publishing experience is highly valued and often essential for securing entry-level posts.

Look to gain experience through rights-related or broader publishing internships or placements. Consult for guidance on finding work experience opportunities and preparing to apply.

Network at held by relevant organisations such as the Society of Young Publishers (SYP).

Find out more about the different kinds of work experience and internships that are available.

Employers

As rights sales are a key part of the profit-making process for companies, typical employers include large and small-scale publishing companies from a variety of sectors. The types of publications they produce include:

• children's books
• illustrated books
• academic and educational publications
• fiction
• professional publications.

Rights sales may involve books, journals, magazines, e‑books and serials.

For example, selling rights for publications with large colour illustrations is likely to require more technical knowledge and a more artistic eye than selling rights for fiction.

Look for rights manager jobs at:

• - you'll need to become a member to view jobs.
• publishing company websites
• LinkedIn.

Specialist publishing recruitment agencies such as advertise vacancies.

Use resources such as the Directory of Publishing: United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland (usually available in your university careers service or in your university library) and the charitable network organisation to research publishers for work experience and employment opportunities.

Professional development

Progression is usually from rights assistant to rights executive and then to rights manager.

Much of your training will be done on the job. Opportunities will vary according to the nature and size of the company you work for, but the provision is generally good.

Postgraduate and professional training courses can provide a valuable background to the world of publishing and may also provide useful contacts.

Professional training opportunities specifically in rights management are limited, as most publishing courses offered by training providers, universities and colleges focus on areas like proofreading, editing and production.

You can manage your continuing professional development (CPD) through on-the-job training, industry events, formal courses, and online resources. Organisations like the ,Ìý, Ìý²¹²Ô»å also offer support and specific training and resources for rights management within the publishing industry. 

Switching into rights from other publishing areas is common.

Career prospects

You can expect to progress from an entry-level role to the position of rights manager in about five years.

From this you could progress further to more senior roles, such as head of rights or rights director, though to make this possible you may need to move to a larger or more specialist publisher.

Other options include switching the publishing sector you work in, becoming freelance - earning commission on rights deals, or transferring to a role in a literary agency, where you would represent authors.

Building new contacts and following industry trends can contribute to long-term success in this career.