/publishing

Rights Inventory And One-Sheets

A book is a bundle of separate rights. The author owns all of them until a contract licenses one away. Keep track of them in publishing/rights.md; use one-sheets to pitch a right to a licensee (an audio publisher, a foreign publisher, a film producer, or an agent who sells those rights).

Nothing here is legal advice. Terms come from signed contracts; ask the author for them, and for anything unclear, point them to their agent or a lawyer.

Rights Inventory

---
type: rights-inventory
story: {story-id}
updated: YYYY-MM-DD
---

# Rights: {Title}

| Right | Territory / language | Holder | Contract date | Term | Reversion | Status |
|-------|----------------------|--------|---------------|------|-----------|--------|
| Print (paperback) | World English | Author | - | - | - | self-published |
| Ebook | World English | Author | - | - | - | self-published |
| Audio | World English | Author | - | - | - | available |
| Translation: German | Germany, Austria, Switzerland | Author | - | - | - | available |
| Film and TV | World | Author | - | - | - | available |

## Contracts

- {Contract name}: signed {date}; copy kept at {location}; notes.

Rights to consider, each its own row when relevant:

• Print: paperback, hardcover, large print, book club, special editions
• Ebook
• Audio: unabridged, abridged, dramatized
• Translation: by language, often by territory within a language
• English-language territories: North America, UK and Commonwealth, world
• Serial: first serial (excerpts before publication), second serial
• Dramatic: film, TV, stage, radio, podcast adaptation
• Games and interactive
• Merchandise and licensing
• Anthology and permissions: reprinting excerpts

Status values: self-published, licensed, available, optioned, in-negotiation, reverted. Set a reminder for every option expiry and reversion date the contract gives.

One-Sheet Template

Save as publishing/one-sheet-{right}.md. One page. Every fact comes from the author; mark unconfirmed items [TODO: author to supply].

---
type: rights-one-sheet
story: {story-id}
right: {audio | translation | film}
updated: YYYY-MM-DD
---

# {Title} by {Author}

**Rights available:** {right, territory or language}
**Contact:** {author or agent contact}

**Logline:** {one sentence}

**Pitch:** {100-150 words: premise, protagonist, stakes, tone}

**Book facts:** {genre}, {word count}, published {date} by {publisher},
{series and book number}; {formats available}

**Track record:** {sales, rankings, reviews, awards, as supplied by the
author}

**Comparable titles:** {two or three, verified}

**Why this right:** {the right-specific section below}

Right-Specific Sections

• Foreign rights: where the book is already sold or published, why it travels (a universal premise, a setting with appeal in the target market, genre strength there), and whether an English sample and full manuscript are ready. Translation publishers often ask for sales history and reader reviews.
• Audio rights: length (word count and estimated finished hours; see the adaptation skill's narration build), cast size and accents, pronunciation needs, point of view (a dual-narrator candidate?), and the series' audio potential.
• Film and TV rights: the logline, the visual set pieces, the lead roles and their appeal to actors, whether it suits a film or a series (how many seasons the story holds), and budget-relevant facts (period, effects, locations). Producers often want a short treatment; the adaptation skill covers screenplay and scene-list work.

Rules

• Never state sales, rankings, or awards the author has not given you.
• Keep the one-sheet consistent with the retailer description and the metadata sheet.
• Update publishing/rights.md when a right is licensed, optioned, or reverted, and remove it from any available-rights one-sheet.