Negotiating subsidiary rights to your novel can be a potential windfall or minefield, depending on how savvy your agent is and the split you’ve agreed to. Only one of my prior books ever had any subsidiary rights sold (and those rights were retained by the publisher, not me, blaaaargh), and those rights were for a Norwegian translation. Really. Norwegian. Why? Nothing about the book screamed out “Norway!” How does it differ from Sweden? Are they for or against IKEA? Why is death metal so popular there? The scant sunlight, perhaps? It could make you depressed. I can see that. Maybe there is a correlation between that and the reason they wanted my book, which I will choose not to explore.
So I’m happy to announce I’ve sold audio rights for Permanent Record. I like to think about who will narrate the book, what it will sound like. I can’t wait to hear all those big words I included that I can spell but can’t pronounce. In my head it sounds like Kal Penn.
But I’m still waiting for Norway.
