Books & rights
Royalties from publishers
A percentage of each copy sold, once the advance has been paid back.
Needs a bookSolid ceiling
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Catalogue
The streams
34 ways writers have been known to turn the skill into money — from the contract you hope for to the invoice you can send on Thursday.
Every categoryBooks & rightsSelf-publishingAppearancesTeaching & coachingCommissioned writingDigital & audienceCollecting, prizes & grantsAdjacent skills
11 streams
Books & rights
Subsidiary rights
Every way a book can be reused: serial, clubs, large print, digest, and the rest of the small print.
Needs a bookSolid ceiling
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Books & rights
Translation rights
The same book, in another language, with another publisher, and another cheque.
Needs a bookUncapped
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Books & rights
Audio rights
The book as a performance: studio, narrator, and a royalty that now rivals print.
Needs a bookSolid ceiling
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Books & rights
Film, TV and option deals
Someone pays for the exclusive chance to adapt your book — usually without ever making the film.
Needs a bookUncapped
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Books & rights
Serialisation and extracts
A newspaper or magazine pays to run a piece of the book — and tells a million people it exists.
Needs a bookSolid ceilingLess obvious
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Books & rights
Book clubs, large print and special editions
The same text, reset for a different reader — and licensed again.
Needs a bookModest ceilingLess obvious
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Appearances
Festivals and personal appearances
A fee, a train ticket, a signing table, and a room full of people who already like books.
Needs a bookSolid ceiling
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Appearances
School and library visits
A day's work, a room of readers who have not yet learned to be jaded, and a fee that is not a royalty statement.
Needs a bookSolid ceilingLess obvious
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Collecting, prizes & grants
Public Lending Right
A payment for library loans — real money, once a year, if you registered.
Needs a bookModest ceilingLess obvious
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Collecting, prizes & grants
ALCS and copyright collecting
Money from photocopying, educational use, retransmission — collected in bulk, paid to those who joined.
Needs a bookModest ceilingLess obvious
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