A Day in the Life of a … Rights Executive

Posted on September 25, 2010 in Uncategorized

What does your job involve?

My official title is Rights and Digital Executive, but in reality if you take into account all the different aspects of my job it could be an awful lot longer! In a nutshell, though, I sell large print and audio rights in Orion’s adult titles, process reversions and arrange for material sales for English Language publishers on the rights side, as well as assisting the UK and Group rights directors. I am also involved with our ebooks – helping to co-ordinate our backlist programme and monitoring new digital projects.

I have also recently started work in Orion’s audio department, where I arrange readers and recordings, as well as helping to manage our audio schedules.

How did you get where you are today?

Like a lot of publishers I started off in an English Literature degree (in my case at Durham) but didn’t have a clue where I wanted to go when I finished so I ended up as a waiter for 18 months after graduating before eventually settling on Publishing as the right career for me. After a few work experience periods I left the restaurant and went to Canada for a month’s travelling and then was lucky enough to get a seasonal bookselling job at a Waterstones. I wasn’t kept on in January, but a colleague there told me about a role in the Orion rights team (he wasn’t going for it as he wanted to become an editor) and I was lucky enough to be hired by Orion. I’ve enjoyed working here enough to stick it out for well over 3 and a half years now!

What does a typical working day involve?

Well, I spend a fair amount of time emailing my client publishers to try and tie up deals and preparing material for submission – we handle large print rights in pretty much everything we publish, so there is a lot to send out! From an audio perspective I’ll often have to spend a part of the day out of the office at a recording to make sure all is going ahead as expected. As I also provide support for two rights directors and an audio manager I’m never quite certain what I’ll be doing from one day to the next – there is always something urgent that crops up and needs immediate attention.

Unfortunately, though, a lot of any rights job at any level is taken up with record keeping and paperwork. You have to make sure that every submission and deal is well recorded, as well as making sure copies of the correspondence and contracts are going to the right places. Reversions need to be processed in time and with the right people involved, materials need to be forwarded to the right people at the right time, clearance details need to be sent out to the right people at the right time and then you’ve got the author copies to forward on… On a good day I can see about four square inches of my desk that isn’t covered with paper, discs and books, and that’s with five bookshelves and two chests of drawers already filled…

What attracted you to a career in publishing in general, and rights in particular?

I’ve always been into books and reading and for a while I had thought about trying to be a writer myself, but it would have turned out to be the wrong move for me. Once I’d ruled out writing, Publishing seemed the logical place to go.

In terms of Rights, I rather fell into that part of the industry – it seemed like an interesting way to learn the industry when I researched and applied for the role here, but I rather thought I’d end up moving into editorial when I could. Rights suits me, though – I’m involved with the books we publish and get to read everything early and give feedback, but I don’t have the kind of day-to-day hands-on involvement with heavy text editing that I think would dent my passion for books. Plus you get a chance to travel when you work in rights, and experience an international publishing market that most other parts of the industry don’t get to see.

What is the best part of the job? 

I love the deal making – particularly running auctions. I still get a real sense of pride when I open a box to see a new and different edition of a book that I know I helped to bring about.

Working in audio also means that I get to go to recordings, and there is nothing more fun than going to watch voice actors work, particularly when they work on children’s books.

And the worst?

Well it’s hard to get past the amount of admin and paperwork you have to do, but that’s an unavoidable part of the job. Around bookfairs it also gets very tricky – your whole life becomes controlled by getting ready for them, attending them, and then following up on meetings. I don’t actually use seasons to mark the passage of time anymore – as far as I’m concerned I’m either pre-London, post-london, pre-Frankfurt or post-Frankfurt!

Do you get to attend the book fairs? Tell us a little about your experiences there.

Yes, I get to go to London and Frankfurt every year. I know that a lot of people think that the fairs are just a great excuse for a bit of casual networking over copious amounts of alcohol in a foreign country (or Earls Court), but the book fairs are actually bloody hard work. My more senior colleagues here will take appointments from 9am to 6pm every day of the fair without a break. I spend less time in meetings than them; instead I run our stand reception, look after Orion attendees, show people to meetings, direct members of the public, empty bins, make coffee and generally try to help out as much as I can. It’s exhausting! London is particularly difficult as I still need to try and get into the office to check my emails and look after urgent work before and after the fair. At least when you are in Frankfurt the rest of the world can be put to one side!

Some people might be tempted to overlook a career in rights for one in editorial or marketing – what do you think are the advantages to working in rights?

Even if you have your heart set on going into editorial or some other area, I’d always recommend trying rights first. Rights gives you the best overall view of publishing – particularly if you want to become an agent some day. You get to see scripts as they are edited and work through the publishing process, you write your own contracts and help monitor royalty income, you work closely with production on coeditioning and file supply, you need to keep a very close eye on the sales of key titles so you know where and when to have your next big rights push… the list goes on. From a purely mercenary point of view, it also has its benefits – it’s not one of the most popular areas, so there are usually a few more jobs out there and the pay can be a little bit higher. Rights might not be the most glamorous of areas (you certainly don’t get invited to many launch parties), but there is no better way to get an education in the way publishing works! Who knows, you may get hooked – I know so many people who went into rights work as a short term option, but never left.

What would your advice be to those aspiring to work in rights? 

Read as much as you can and keep an eye on where the market is going. If you find yourself abroad then take the time to visit a bookshop or two – see what they’re stocking (in English and in translation) so you can get an idea of what’s working where. Knowledge of foreign languages is also useful, but not essential In terms of going to interviews, just follow the usual rules – know their lists as well as you can, and remember to ask about what the big ‘rights’ books and authors are for them – they can be different to the big ‘sales’ titles.

Interview with Paul Stark, Rights and Digital Executive at Orion Books.