Shows
The Entertainment Business PodcastUnraveling Foreign Rights in Publishing with Agent Marleen Seegers
In this episode, host Tisha Morris welcomes foreign rights agent Marleen Seegers, co-founder of 2 Seas Agency, to explore the intricate world of foreign rights in publishing. Marleen, who has extensive experience in selling and pitching books across the globe, sheds light on the importance of foreign rights, the process of becoming a foreign rights agent, and the nuances of negotiating these rights. They discuss the role of international book fairs, the value of in-person meetings, and the current trends in the publishing market. Listeners will gain valuable insights into the complexities of foreign rights and the impact...
2025-07-0229 min
The Make Books Travel PodcastS3 E9: A Close Look at the Romanian Publishing Market with Ana Lotts-NicolauToday’s guest is Ana Lotts-Nicolau of Nemira Publishing House in Romania. Ana has had an impressive career so far: she currently is the CEO of Nemira, was for many years a member on the Board of the Romanian Publishers’ Association, and if that wasn’t enough on her plate already, in 2021 Ana founded the first audiobook platform on the Romanian market in partnership with her brother Radu Nicolau.
Show Notes:
Ana's book recommendation:
- The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson
About Ana:
Ana Lotts-Nicolau was born and raised in Buchar...
2022-09-0659 min
The Make Books Travel PodcastS3 E8: Agent Yasmina Jraissati on Selling Arabic Literature InternationallyToday I’m speaking with Yasmina Jraissati, owner of Raya Agency for Arabic Literature. Yasmina and I covered many different topics, including her beginnings as a literary agent and how one particular Frankfurt Book Fair played an essential role, the current publishing and bookselling landscape in Lebanon where she resides most of the time, the challenge brought on by piracy in the Arab-speaking publishing market, the position of audiobooks in Arabic, and much more.
Show Notes:
Yasmina's book recommendation:
- Foundation by Isaac Asimov
About Yasmina:
Yasmina Jraissati has a PhD in Philosophy an...
2022-08-1154 min
The Make Books Travel PodcastS3 E7: The Place of Literary Agents in France: An Interview with Sophie LanglaisIt’s been a while since I recorded and published the previous episode. Landing back on my feet after my 5-week trip to Europe around the London Book Fair was a bit more challenging this time, due to some lingering fatigue after I caught Covid at the fair, like many others. Luckily that’s all behind me now!
Today I’m speaking with Sophie Langlais, literary agent at #BAM - Books and More Agency in Paris. We discussed many topics, including the rise of literary agents in France, where the publishing landscape was pretty reluctant to embrace this ro...
2022-07-0454 min
The Make Books Travel PodcastS3 E6: Les Argonautes Founder Katharina Loix Van Hooff on Making European Literature Travel to FranceThis is the last episode I recorded before traveling to Europe again at the end of March, to attend the London Book Fair but also to visit publishers in Amsterdam and Paris.
I wanted to alert you before you listen to today’s interview with Les Argonautes Editeur founder Katharina Loix Van Hooff that Russia comes up a couple of times during our conversation. We mention it in the context of European literature, and more precisely because Katharina has acquired the French rights in two novels written by Dutch author Marente de Moor. Marente used to live in...
2022-03-2542 min
The Make Books Travel PodcastS3 E5: The Australian Publishing and Bookselling Landscape: An Interview with Penny HuestonToday’s interview features Penny Hueston, who is Senior Editor at Text Publishing in Melbourne, Australia as well as a literary translator from the French.
Independent publisher Text Publishing has been championing translations from languages around the world since it started out in 1994. And Penny is passionate about her work as a translator.
I was looking forward to speaking with her about these two subjects, that are at the heart of this podcast.
Show Notes:
Some of the books mentioned by Penny:
- Olga Tokarczuk, Flights, The...
2022-03-1044 min
The Make Books Travel PodcastS3 E4: A Close Look at the Finnish Publishing Market with Outi KaremaaToday I am speaking with Finnish publisher Outi Karemaa.
I personally find the Nordic publishing market fascinating, not least because it is relatively difficult to sell into those markets. I like challenges!
Outi and I speak about those challenges, the state of the Finnish publishing market, and also about the rising popularity, and therefore competition, of English-language books on the Finnish market which we're seeing in other Nordic countries and the Netherlands as well.
Show Notes:
Outi's book recommendations:
- The Spy and the Traitor (Crown, 2019) and Agent Sonya: Moscow's Most Da...
2022-02-1933 min
The Make Books Travel PodcastS3 E3: Amélie Louat on Leaving International Publishing to Open an Indie BookstoreToday’s guest is Amélie Louat, whom some of you may know from her time at the French independent publishing house Editions Zulma. Amélie did something that I believe is incredibly courageous: during the pandemic, she quit her job at Zulma, moved away from Paris with her family to a small town in Brittany, and opened an independent bookstore. I had so many questions for her, not only about how this major life change unfolded, but also about her bookstore, since she is the very first bookseller I had on the podcast.
Show Notes:
Amél...
2022-01-2954 min
The Make Books Travel PodcastS3 E2: Looking at the Japanese Publishing Market with Manami TamaokiToday’s guest is Manami Tamaoki, Director of Tuttle-Mori Agency, Inc in Tokyo. We recorded this interview a little while ago, when Manami just got out of a true virtual meeting marathon that took place before, during and after the Frankfurt Book Fair. I did not envy her!
I just wanted to mention that at some point during the interview, Manami talks about the Swedish bestseller titled Smart Phone Brain, which was indeed as she indicates the bestselling book of the year in Japan, and topped several year-end lists. However, Manami would like to correct that it has...
2022-01-1956 min
The Make Books Travel PodcastS3 E1: A Conversation with Stella Jóhannesdóttir, Director of the Reykjavík International Literary FestivalI am very excited to be back with season 3 of the Make Books Travel podcast. I took a two-month break from recording, one of which I spent on the road, in Europe. I actually had in-person meetings again, and drinks, and dinners, meeting publishers in Amsterdam, at the Frankfurt Book Fair, and in Paris. It was amazing!
Today’s guest, Stella Soffia Jóhannesdóttir, had the pleasure of hosting one of the few in-person fellowships of this year, back in September, in her capacity as director of the Reykjavík International Literary Festival. Besides this role, she i...
2021-12-1847 min
Agent ProvocateurAgent Provocateur S2 Ep 02: Frankfurt Book Fair Redux, On Receiving Passes from Editors, and Bad Art FriendThis week we fondly look back at Frankfurt 2021 with special guest, literary agent, and host of the Make Books Travel podcast, Marleen Seegers; an opinion piece by TRF agent Kathryn Willms on receiving passes; and our first in-house panel discussion on the Bad Art Friend drama, made famous by Robert Kolker in the NYT magazine, featuring editor Diane Terrana, agent Natalie Kimber, brand manager Anne Sampson, and moderated by Kathryn Willms.
2021-12-1432 min
The Make Books Travel PodcastS2 E22: A Discussion with Edward Nawotka, international and bookselling editor at Publishers WeeklyWelcome to the last episode of season two of the Make Books Travel Podcast!
I’ll be taking a break for the next month or so in order to focus on my virtual and in-person meetings before and during the Frankfurt Book Fair.
I’m SO excited to be taking part in the fair, and to be back in Europe for the entire month of October after having stayed put in California for the last 19 months.
Today’s guest, Edward Nawotka, is the international and bookselling editor of Publishers Weekly and co-founder of Publisher...
2021-10-101h 02
The Make Books Travel PodcastS2 E21: Author, Translator, Publisher Lawrence Schimel on Book Hunting and Much MoreWelcome to another episode of the Make Books Travel Podcast!
Usually I give a short introduction on the person that I’ll be interviewing on this episode. However, as you’re about to find out, it is a seemingly impossible task to do so for today’s guest Lawrence Schimel, as he wears a multitude of hats... So I'll just let Lawrence introduce himself!
Lawrence's book recommendations
- Alyssa Cole's Reluctant Royals series
- Alex Pavesi's The Eighth Detective
About Lawrence
Lawrence Schimel (New York, 1971) is a full-time author...
2021-09-271h 13
The Make Books Travel PodcastS2 E20: An Interview with Astra Magazine's Editor-in-Chief Nadja SpiegelmanWelcome to another episode of the Make Books Travel podcast! I’m happy to be back after having taken some time off this summer.
I’m preparing a trip to Europe (I still can’t believe I’m saying this!), we just sent our Fall Rights Lists out, and both my virtual and my in-person meeting schedules are filling up, so it’s safe to say that the fall season is in full swing.
There will be one or two more episodes after this one, and then I’ll take a break while I’m in Europe. Sea...
2021-09-1434 min
The Make Books Travel PodcastS2 E19: Marie Vinter on Danish Publishing & Starting Vinter ForlagToday I’m excited to welcome my first guest from Scandinavia: Danish publisher Marie Vinter. Marie is founder and publisher of Vinter Forlag, which she started last fall.
Among the different Scandinavian markets, the Danish publishing market in particular has seen many changes in recent years. Imprints were discontinued, publishers merged or were bought by publishing groups, streaming saw an impressive and quite aggressive growth, and several new publishing houses were created, both independently like Vinter Forlag, and under the umbrella of publishing groups.
We’re taking a deep dive into the Danish publishing market, and...
2021-08-0446 min
The Make Books Travel PodcastS2 E18: A Deep Dive into the Audiobook Market with Lance FitzgeraldWelcome to a new episode of the Make Books Travel podcast, on which I’m speaking to Lance Fitzgerald, VP, Content and Business Development for Penguin Random House Audio.
On season 1 episode 15, I interviewed Jamie Dupras, General Manager of audiobook producer Deyan Audio. What I took away from that interview was that the audiobook format is an even more important, and explosively growing, player in our industry than I’d already thought.
So I’d been wanting to speak with Lance, an audiobook publisher, to better understand this growth, and discuss what trends he has seen...
2021-07-1657 min
The Make Books Travel PodcastS2 E17: Prashant Pathak on Weathering the Pandemic in India and Publishers Without BordersWelcome to a new episode of the Make Books Travel podcast!
Today I’m excited to speak with Prashant Pathak, who joins us from just outside of New Delhi in India.
Prashant gives us insights into the current situation of the Indian publishing market and explains how the publishing house he started 4 years ago, Wonder House Books, has weathered the challenges brought on by the pandemic.
He also discusses how the Facebook Group Publishers Without Borders got started, right at the beginning of the lockdowns related to the pandemic, where the group is at...
2021-07-0552 min
The Make Books Travel PodcastS2 E16: Natalia Poleva on the Current State of the Russian Publishing MarketWelcome to another episode of the Make Books Travel podcast.
This time we’re traveling all the way to Moscow, Russia to speak with Natalia Poleva.
Natalia started out on the acquisitions side, and more recently made the switch to selling translation rights to fiction and non fiction titles published by Eksmo Publishers. I was interested in hearing how she felt about switching to the ‘other side’ and what the Russian publishing landscape looks like at what hopefully is the tail-end of the Covid-19 pandemic.
I also wanted to give you a heads-up here, a...
2021-06-2137 min
The Make Books Travel PodcastS2 E15: Sherif Bakr Discusses the Latest Developments in the Egyptian Publishing IndustryWelcome to another episode of The Make Books Travel podcast!
Today I have the pleasure of speaking with Sherif Bakr, General Manager of the Egyptian publishing house Al Arabi. To say Sherif is well-travelled is quite an understatement; in fact he explains during the interview how important it’s been for him to participate in fellowships around the world.
We address many different topics, including the increase in popularity of the audiobook in Egypt and elsewhere in the Arab world, distribution challenges between the different Arabic-speaking countries, the imminent arrival of Amazon in Egypt, and th...
2021-06-071h 16
The Make Books Travel PodcastS2 E14: Challenging the Amazon Empire: Bookshop.org Founder & CEO Andy HunterToday’s guest is Andy Hunter, Founder and CEO of Bookshop.org.
Often referred to as the indie alternative to Amazon.com, Bookshop.org proposes a socially conscious way to buy books online. On the day our interview was recorded, it had since its launch in January 2020 raised close to $14 million for local bookstores in the US.
Amazon has seen an alarming growth in the ecosystem of book sales in the US. Andy explains why it was important to act immediately when he came up with the idea. He also gives us an insight into th...
2021-05-2455 min
The Make Books Travel PodcastS2 E13: Being an Acquisitions Editor in the Educational Publishing Market: A Conversation with Allison ScottToday’s guest is Allison Scott, who works as Senior Acquisitions Editor in the book publishing arm of ASCD, a Washington, DC-based nonprofit education association that provides professional learning products and services for K-12 educators.
That is quite a mouthful! What it boils down to is that Allison works on books that help teachers and school administrators in the K-12 system do their job better. For non-US listeners, K-12 means from kindergarten to 12th grade, and includes children aged roughly between 5 and 18 years old.
This is the first time I’m interviewing a publishing professional who’...
2021-05-1659 min
The Make Books Travel PodcastS2 E12: An Interview with Deborah Kaufmann, VP of Literary Affairs at Legendary EntertainmentToday's guest is Deborah Kaufmann, VP of Literary Affairs at Legendary Entertainment.
Translated into lay, non-Hollywood terms, this means that Deborah is some sort of in-house scout for Legendary, in charge of finding literary properties that can be adapted to the big or small screen. As you’ll find out, such properties can include books, but also unpublished short stories, podcasts, and news and magazine articles.
It was fascinating to get to know Deborah’s work a bit more in depth, and to hear her thoughts on the current state of the movie business and the...
2021-05-011h 01
The Make Books Travel PodcastS2 E11: Promoting French Publishing Abroad during the Ongoing Pandemic. An Interview with Nicolas RocheOn this episode I’m joined by Nicolas Roche.
Nicolas and I were colleagues for a short while, in another lifetime it seems, at Editions Stock. I am glad I got to interview him in his capacity as Managing Director of the Bureau International de l’Edition Française, or in short, the BIEF.
Together with his team, Nicolas is charged with promoting French publishing abroad. We discuss in detail what this really entails, how his publishing career got started, a brief history of the BIEF, and how the pandemic has impacted his day-to-day activities.
In...
2021-04-0150 min
The Make Books Travel PodcastS2 E10: Gunnar Cynybulk Discusses Founding His Independent Publishing House (during a Pandemic)Today’s guest is Gunnar Cynybulk, who recently founded his own independent publishing house in Germany called Kanon Verlag.
Gunnar’s publishing career spans 25 years. Previously he was publisher of Aufbau, and most recently publisher of Ullstein.
Founding an indie publishing house in the midst of a pandemic may sound like a crazy idea. I wanted to better understand Gunnar’s motivations and decision-making process, and decided to invite him as a guest on this podcast.
You’ll find out during the interview that it can be summarized as Eat, Pray, Publish! Jokes aside, I...
2021-03-2055 min
The Make Books Travel PodcastS2 E9: The Infamous "Three Percent" - An Interview with Chad PostWelcome to a new episode of the Make Books Travel Podcast!
Joining me today is Chad Post, publisher of Open Letter Books at the University of Rochester in upstate New York, which is dedicated to publishing contemporary literature from around the world. At Open Letter, he also oversees the Three Percent website, the Translation Database, and the Best Translated Book Awards.
In addition to many articles and reviews, he is the author of The Three Percent Problem and the editorial consultant for Dalkey Archive Press.
Over the course of the years, Chad and...
2021-03-161h 08
The Make Books Travel PodcastS2 E8: Literary Scouting: John Bowers Lifts a Tip of the VeilWelcome to season 2, episode 8!
After having spoken with editors, agents, translators, and people who work for cultural and governmental organizations that promote books, I’m excited to be talking to a literary scout today.
Scouting is one of the more obscure parts of the international publishing scene. My guest, John Bowers of Sanford J Greenburger Associates, was happy to shed some light on his activities, both pre-covid and during the pandemic. You’ll hear that there are quite a few differences between the two...
SHOW NOTES
John's book recommendations:
- Rob...
2021-02-2037 min
The Make Books Travel PodcastS2 E7: A Close Look at the Central & Eastern European Publishing Markets with Livia StoiaOn this podcast episode, I am speaking with Livia Stoia, founder of the Livia Stoia Literary Agency.
Based in Bucharest, Romania, Livia and her team represent international publishers and agents into many Central and Eastern European countries and the Baltic States, as well as Western Europe, Latin America and Asia.
For the sake of brevity, our conversation on this podcast episode focuses mainly on some of the publishing markets in Central and Eastern Europe, including Romania and the countries that were once part of Yugoslavia. These are the territories where Livia represents 2 Seas Agency, and wh...
2021-01-3046 min
The Make Books Travel PodcastS2 E6: The Resilience of the Greek Publishing Market. An Interview with Evangelia AvlonitiToday’s guest is Evangelia Avloniti, founder of Ersilia Literary Agency. Her agency represents Greek and foreign authors in Greece and worldwide, and foreign publishers and agents, including 2 Seas Agency, in Greece.
Greece has had its share of crises these last 10-15 years or so, even before the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic. On this episode, we discuss amongst others how this has helped make the Greek publishing market more resilient, the impact of the pandemic on the country’s publishing industry, what led Evangelia to found her own literary agency back in 2009, the challenges she faced then...
2021-01-2335 min
Behind the Book CoverMarleen Seegers on Selling the Foreign Rights to Your BookMarleen Seegers is the co-founder of 2 Seas Agency, which sells the foreign rights of books by authors such as James Altucher. She's also the host of the Make Books Travel podcast. Her team pays regular visits to international book fairs such as those in Beijing, Turin, Guadalajara, Rio de Janeiro, Sharjah, New York, Leipzig and of course Frankfurt and London, combined with trips to major publishing cities including Paris, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Munich and Berlin. Jealous yet? Well, COVID put a damper in that publishing schedule. Yet Marleen has still managed to thrive—and educate the res...
2021-01-0631 min
The Make Books Travel PodcastS2 E5: Ruben Padilla Discusses this Year's Digital Edition of the Guadalajara Book FairThis is the last podcast episode I am recording before the end of this crazy, intense, and just straight out tough year that 2020 turned out to be. So I just wanted to say thank you to the guests of all 26 episodes I’ve recorded so far. I really appreciate that you set aside some of your precious time to talk with me, sometimes during quite stressful moments. This was especially the case for the episodes I recorded early on in the pandemic, when there was so much more uncertainty than there is now.
I also wanted to say...
2020-12-2249 min
The Make Books Travel PodcastS2 E4: Olivia Snaije Discusses the Arab-Speaking Publishing WorldToday’s guest is Paris-based journalist, author, translator and editor Olivia Snaije. For those of you who read the international publishing industry news, Olivia’s name probably sounds familiar as she is a contributing editor to Publishing Perspectives.
Besides Publishing Perspectives, she has written for a variety of magazines and newspapers including The Guardian and the New York Times.
One of the subjects she has written a lot about is the publishing and book industry of the Middle East and the Arabic-speaking world in general, which is also the central topic of our interview.
Sho...
2020-12-1740 min
The Make Books Travel PodcastS2 E3: The Turkish Publishing Market Seen from Within. An Interview with Amy SpanglerMy guest of Season 2, episode 3 is Amy Marie Spangler, Co-Founder and Co-Director of Istanbul-based AnatoliaLit Agency.
Like several of my previous guests on this podcast, Amy took part in the Jerusalem Book Fair fellowship in which I took part as well, in 2017. A few months later, we started working with AnatoliaLit to represent our list in Turkey, and I’m very happy with our collaboration in this market which does have its challenges.
This podcast episode turned out to be a speed-course on the state of the Turkish publishing market. But we also talked about Amy’...
2020-11-2748 min
Smart Habits for TranslatorsSmart Habits for Maintaining Your Language Skills with Eve BodeuxIn today’s episode we’re excited to welcome our friend and colleague, Eve Bodeux. Eve Lindemuth Bodeux is a 20+-year veteran of the language services industry and has worn many hats. She is an ATA-certified French to English translator focusing on the translation of corporate communications, market research and international development content. She is also the owner of Bodeux International LLC, offering multilingual project management to clients worldwide. Eve is co-host of the long-running Speaking of Translation podcast and author of Maintaining Your Second Language: practical and productive strategies for translators, teachers, interpreters and othe...
2020-11-1700 min
The Make Books Travel PodcastS2 E2: "Good Literature Has Universal Appeal:" an Interview with Judith UyterlindeWelcome to Season 2, episode 2 of Make Books Travel Podcast, during which I interviewed Judith Uyterlinde.
Judith has had a diverse career in publishing, and for the past few years she’s been Publishing Director of the very internationally-minded publishing house World Editions.
It's one of the few publishing houses that focuses on bringing international literature to an English readership. If you listened to episode 20 of the first season, you may remember that translator Eve Bodeux and I discussed the challenges of translated literature on the English language market.
Yet 2020, in spite of the gener...
2020-11-1542 min
The Make Books Travel PodcastS2 E1: Gillian Fizet Discusses Canada's Guest of Honor Program at the Frankfurt Book Fair 2020/21I am really excited to be back with Season 2 of The Make Books Travel Podcast! I took a break from recording new episodes earlier this fall to focus on the virtual Frankfurt Book Fair season.
On this episode I’m joined by Gillian Fizet. Gillian is Executive Director of the Canada FBM2020 Committee, the entity responsible for representing the Canada's Guest of Honor (GoH) program at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2020/21. As most of you know, the GoH program for 2020 has been postponed to 2021.
I was curious to hear about her journey during this challenging yea...
2020-11-0944 min
The Make Books Travel PodcastS1 E21: How Publishing Trends Are Influenced by Historical Context. A Conversation with Daniel BunyardWelcome to episode #21 of the Make Books Travel podcast.
Today's guest is Daniel Bunyard, Publishing Director and Head of Non-Fiction Publishing at Penguin Michael Joseph in the UK.
Dan has been looking in detail at historical sales of books, in an effort to better understand what people’s book buying motivations and patterns are. Why did certain books sell well at a given moment in time, and why did others hardly sell any copies during that same period?
And what book buying patterns are we seeing in times of Corona?
These ar...
2020-09-1159 min
The Make Books Travel PodcastS1 E20: Translating from French to English, Its Challenges and Rewards, with Eve BodeuxToday I’m speaking with French-to-English translator Eve Bodeux.
As a translator, Eve is someone who literally makes books travel. We discuss many things on this 20th episode of the Make Books Travel Podcast, including her professional journey, the challenges and rewards of being a translator from French to English, the American Translators Association, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on her work, and why the English language book market is so challenging for translated literature.
SHOW NOTES
Eve’s book recommendations:
– Natalia Ginzburg, Family Lexicon (translated from the Italian by Jenny McPhee; NYRB C...
2020-09-0943 min
The Make Books Travel PodcastS1 E19: The Lisbon Book Fair, a Breath of Fresh Air for the Portuguese Publishing Industry. An Interview with Rita FazendaFor today’s show we’re going back overseas (at least from an American standpoint) as I’m speaking with Rita Fazenda from Portugal. Rita works as a publisher at one of Portugal’s major publishing houses called Leya Portugal.
The Portuguese publishing market has seen many challenges over the years. I wanted to ask Rita how things are looking now, with the additional restraints imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
I’m happy to say that at least one good thing is happening at the moment, namely the Lisbon Book Fair, which is held from late August...
2020-08-2938 min
The Make Books Travel PodcastS1 E18: Always Be Learning. Author & Writing Coach Becca Puglisi Shares Tips for Aspiring WritersOn this episode of the Make Books Travel podcast I’m speaking with Becca Puglisi.
Becca is an international speaker, writing coach, and bestselling author of The Emotion Thesaurus and other books for writers.
Not only does Becca help make books travel in the US and other English speaking countries through her creative writing books and her coaching work, she also does so in other languages. 2 Seas Agency represents translation rights in her books, which have sold into numerous countries.
We discuss what led her to becoming a writing coach, the impact the Cov...
2020-08-2542 min
The Make Books Travel PodcastS1 E17: How a Bestselling Author Became a Successful Publisher. An Interview with Rohit BhargavaToday’s podcast guest is Rohit Bhargava.
Not only is Rohit a #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author, a much-demanded speaker worldwide on disruption, trends and marketing, and an adjunct professor of marketing and storytelling at Georgetown University, he has also co-founded his own publishing house: IdeaPress Publishing.
2 Seas Agency handles foreign rights in their books, whose topics mostly focus on business, marketing, leadership and creativity. Since we started working together in 2015 we’ve managed to secure hundreds of rights deals for them (alright, so much for the self-promotion!).
I have been curious to know...
2020-08-1533 min
The Make Books Travel PodcastS1 E16: How the Dutch Foundation for Literature Helps Foreign Publishers during the Pandemic (and beyond). An Interview with Barbara den OudenToday I’m speaking with Barbara den Ouden of the Dutch Foundation for Literature. Anyone who has traveled to an international book fair is bound to have run into Barbara, who I believe to be something like a fixture at such events!
The Dutch Foundation for Literature supports writers and translators, and promotes Dutch literature abroad. A few months into the pandemic, they announced to have set aside an additional budget amongst others to help foreign publishers who acquire Dutch titles during these challenging times. So I reached out to Barbara to ask her for further details ab...
2020-08-0434 min
The Make Books Travel PodcastS1 E15: All Things Audio. The Audiobook Production Process, the Industry's Explosive Growth, and Working with the German Voice of Brad Pitt. An Interview with Deyan Audio's Jamie DuprasOn episode 15 I’m speaking with Jamie Dupras, General Manager of Los Angeles-based Deyan Audio. Deyan Audio is the largest independent producer of audiobooks and has won multiple awards for their productions.
I was eager to learn more about the actual production process of an audiobook, and hearing about overall trends in the industry. As a rights seller, I only get to take part in the licensing side of audio rights. The licensing of such rights has been on the rise not only in the US and the UK but also in many other languages. For instance a...
2020-07-291h 06
The Make Books Travel PodcastS1 E14: Talking Movie, TV and Podcast Adaptations with Maylis VauterinToday I’m speaking with Maÿlis Vauterin, Rights Director at Editions Stock in France.
I’ve previously interviewed various rights sellers about one specific type of subsidiary rights sales: the sale of translation rights. This means that a book is translated in another language and published in the local market of that language.
In this episode however, Maylis and I discuss another type of subsidiary rights sales - and therefore a different potential income stream for authors - which is the licensing of audiovisual rights. We specifically cover movie and TV adaptations, as well as a...
2020-07-1246 min
The Make Books Travel PodcastS1 E13: Championing European Literature in English Translation. An Interview with Trafika Europe's Andrew SingerThe 13th episode of the Make Books Travel Podcast welcomes Andrew Singer, Director of the literary journal Trafika Europe and of the literary radio station Trafika Europe Radio.
This is the first time that the podcast features an interview with someone who is not either a rights seller or a rights buyer. Yet Andrew plays a very important role in making books travel. His literary journal and radio station have enabled the discovery of many European authors’ work outside of their local and national borders. On several occasions, this has led to their work being translated and pu...
2020-07-0345 min
The Make Books Travel PodcastS1 E12: "Think Outside the Book." An Interview with Quebec Publisher Antoine TanguayOn episode 12 of the Make Books Travel podcast I’m talking to Antoine Tanguay, who founded the Quebec publishing house Editions Alto in 2005.
When I asked Antoine if there were any specific topics he wanted to discuss on the podcast, he mentioned that for the past few years he’d been focusing quite a bit on publishing innovations, on new ways to spread writing and people's stories.
During the interview it turned out that he is indeed full of ideas to try out different ways of telling stories, and isn’t afraid of unusual, out-of-the-box ideas...
2020-06-2958 min
The Make Books Travel PodcastS1 E11: The Italian Publishing Scene Before, During and After the Covid-19 Lockdown. An Interview with Chiara ScaglioniWelcome to episode 11 of the Make Books Travel podcast. Today’s guest is Chiara Scaglioni, editor of international fiction at Mondadori in Italy.
Chiara and I met a couple of times at various book fairs last few years, and had in fact scheduled to meet at the Mondadori offices in Milan early April this year. That obviously did not happen...
Italy was the first Western country to be hit by the Covid-19 virus, late February, and for a while it was the global epicenter of the pandemic. So of course the coronavirus is an important to...
2020-06-2233 min
The Make Books Travel PodcastS1 E10: A Close Look at the Global Children's Book Industry with Stephanie BarrouilletOn today's show I am talking to Stephanie Barrouillet, founder of SB Rights Agency in Tel Aviv that represents foreign rights in children's books around the world.
The 10-hour time difference between California and Israel didn’t stop us from having a great conversation about the global children’s book market.
As we were talking, I realized Stephanie and I have a lot in common: we both live in a country we weren’t born in -Stephanie was born in France and I’m originally from the Netherlands-, we started our publishing career in yet another...
2020-06-1546 min
The Make Books Travel PodcastS1 E9: "Readiness Is All." Luciana Villas-Boas & Anna Luiza Cardoso Talk about Brazil's Publishing Industry, and Life, during these Challenging TimesFor this episode I am talking to not one but two guests, Luciana Villas-Boas and Anna Luiza Cardoso from the Villas-Boas & Moss Literary Agency & Consultancy in Brazil.
Luciana Villas-Boas founded her literary agency in 2012, just one year after 2 Seas Agency was launched. Yet we knew each other from before, when I was working in French publishing and Luciana was editorial director at Editora Record. I have the feeling that our agencies kind of grew up together, as we started working together right away: Villas-Boas & Moss to represent our catalog into Brazil, and 2 Seas to represent their catalogue in the English l...
2020-06-091h 03
The Make Books Travel PodcastS1 E8: Current French Publishing Industry Challenges Seen from an Indie Point of View. An Interview with Florent MassotToday I am talking to Florent Massot, who founded the independent French publishing house Massot Editions in 2017. This isn’t Florent’s first publishing venture however, as he has been publishing books for over 35 years.
I wanted to sit down with him and discuss amongst others the impact of the strict lockdown measures the French government imposed in March.
For about 2 months, it was virtually impossible to buy a book anywhere in France, either in physical or online bookstores. The French Publishers’ Union recently published a survey that showed a pretty gloomy picture of the state o...
2020-05-2748 min
The Make Books Travel PodcastS1 E7: "You Don't Have to Be A Comics Reader to Read Comics." An Interview with Amber GarzaJoining me today from Los Angeles is Amber Garza, Director of International Licensing at Sequential Rights. Amber sells translation rights in English language comic books, a genre - or rather, as Amber rightfully points out during the episode - a medium that I am not very familiar with.
On paper she and I both do the same thing: we sell translation rights. Yet the comic book market is a totally different market compared to the “normal” fiction and non-fiction book market that I operate in with 2 Seas Agency. I’ve been wanting to sit down with Amber for quite some time n...
2020-05-211h 17
The Make Books Travel PodcastS1 E6: The Chinese Publishing Industry Emerging from Covid-19 Lockdown. An Interview with Gloria MasdeuAfter having interviewed publishing professionals from Mexico, Spain and Germany and heard about their experiences connected to the Covid-19 pandemic, I now wanted to focus on a country in Asia. I’m truly delighted to be joined today by Gloria Masdeu, who works for the Rights Department of the Thinkingdom Media Group in China.
Among many things, Gloria talks about how she ended up moving from Barcelona to Beijing, what the 3-month lockdown was like for her, and how the Chinese capital is slowly opening up again.
2020-05-1633 min
The Make Books Travel PodcastS1 E5: How the German Book Market Is Coping with Covid-19. A Discussion with Elisa DialloFor this episode, I’m talking to Elisa Diallo who recently joined the independent German publishing house Schöffling as their foreign rights manager.
Elisa and I met quite a few years ago at the London Book Fair, I believe. However, like with Wendolín Perla who I interviewed for the 3rd episode, I feel like I really got to know Elisa when we were both fellows at the Jerusalem book fair in 2017. I’m excited that she reached out to me and proposed to participate in the Make Books Travel podcast.
Elisa and I will be discussing several topics, includi...
2020-05-1035 min
The Make Books Travel PodcastS1 E4: Marina Penalva on Spain's Strict Covid-19 Lockdown and the Impact on Its Publishing IndustryOn episode 4 of The Make Books Travel podcast, I’m joined by Marina Penalva, an agent at the Barcelona-based Casanovas & Lynch Literary Agency. Marina and I have known each other for many years — in fact we couldn’t even remember when it was exactly that we first met. I’m very happy she is joining me today to give an insight into the current situation of the Spanish publishing industry in light of the strict lockdown measures taken by the Spanish government to fight the Coronavirus crisis.
2020-05-0245 min
The Make Books Travel PodcastS1 E3: Wendolín Perla, or What It's Like to Start Your Own Publishing House One Month before the Start of a PandemicOn episode 3 of The Make Books Travel podcast I got together, virtually speaking, with Wendolín Perla, founder of Perla Ediciones in Mexico City.
Not only was I interested in hearing about the state of the Mexican publishing scene in light of the current COVID-19 crisis, but I was also eager to talk to her about her specific experiences of having founded her own publishing house just one month before the WHO declared the virus a pandemic.
You'll hear that I encountered issues with the recording on my end, and apologize for the poorer sound quality. I'm still learning, and th...
2020-04-2653 min
The Make Books Travel PodcastS1 E2: An Introduction to 2 Seas Agency's Virtual Office ToolsAs discussed in the previous episode, a virtual office set-up enables 2 Seas Agency to maintain business as usual during the current COVID-19 lockdown, and also during our frequent international travels during normal, non-pandemic times.
How do we manage this virtual office? We like to keep things simple and efficient. Besides being well-organized and very meticulous – which we as rights sellers should be! – all it takes are the cloud-based tools and apps that co-founder Marleen discusses in this second episode of The Make Books Travel Podcast.
2020-04-2020 min
The Make Books Travel PodcastS1 E1: The Virtual Literary Agency. An Interview with Chrysothemis ArmeftiWelcome to the very first episode of the Make Books Travel podcast. I'd been playing with the idea of starting a podcast for a while. Then COVID-19 happened. I had to cut a 5-week business trip to Europe short after only 1 week of meetings, and returned to California.
Fast forward a few weeks, and the world is a different place. Almost the entire international publishing world has had to adapt to working from home, whereas 2 Seas Agency has had a remote set-up practically since we started out. During the many virtual meetings I have had these past...
2020-04-1733 min
The Anna Rova Show#05: Foreign Rights in Publishing and Going Against The Grain with Marleen Seegers of 2 Seas AgencyInterested in writing and publishing your own book, becoming an agent or opening a publishing house as well as publishing overseas in foreign languages? Then this episode is for you. Marleen tells us her story of how she managed to combine her love of books and languages with traveling and working for herself which led her to co-founding the 2 Seas Agency in California that specializes in foreign rights in publishing. Marleen has broken family traditions by not becoming a mechanical engineer like her father and siblings, and selling everything she owned to move across the world following her heart...
2017-11-061h 33