Subsidiary rights representation for independent authors
Backlist Literary is a subsidiary rights agency for self-published authors who intend to stay self-published. We license translation, audio, film and television, special editions, and subscription box rights, and more!
What We Represent
Translation and foreign language
Territory by territory, language by language. We pitch directly into our core markets and work with vetted co-agents in multiple territories.
Audio
English-language audio, foreign-language audio, and dramatized or full-cast productions.
Special editions and subscription boxes
A license for someone else to print their own edition of your book. Foiled covers, sprayed edges, signed and numbered runs, box exclusives, collector sets. One of the most active licensing markets in publishing right now.
Film, television and dramatic
A producer pays to hold the exclusive right to try to make your book into a film or series.
Serial, excerpt, and anthology
Magazines, apps, and serialization platforms pay to run part of your book—a chapter, an excerpt, or the whole thing released in installments.
Large print, book club and library
A license to produce your book in large print, or for a book club to make its own edition for members, etc.
Merchandising and brand extension
A license to use your characters, your world, or your title on something that isn't a book. Pins, prints, apparel, games. Worth pursuing when your readers already want more than the story.
Graphic novel, and comics adaptation
The right to adapt your book into illustrated or comic form. This is a separate right from your print rights, and a growing market for romantasy, fantasy, and thriller backlists.
Meet the Founder
Mark Ryan
Subsidiary Rights Director
Mark is a publishing strategist and the Founder of Backlist Literary Rights & Management, leveraging years of contract negotiation, data analysis, and an educator's clarity to fight for indie author rights and backlist revenue. He has run high-impact advertising campaigns for large and mid-size traditional publishers. He's a father of two, an animal lover, the child of a Cuban immigrant, and he plays multiple instruments.
The agency has a singular mission: to serve as a fierce advocate for independent authors. Mark specializes in demystifying complex contract terms and helping writers retain, monetize, and maximize the long-term value of the rights they own—ensuring no author ever signs away their hard-earned work without complete clarity and control.
Frequently asked questions
Everything you need to know about us
Nothing upfront. No reading fee, listing fee, or paid retainer. We're paid a commission on what we sell and nothing when we don't. Full terms come with an offer of representation.
A traditional agency sells your book to a publisher and represents everything that follows from it. We don't sell books to publishers at all. We license the rights around a book you've already self-published, and your print and ebook editions stay entirely yours. If a traditional deal is what you want, we're the wrong agency and we'll tell you so.
Absolutely! You can sign with us for your backlist or your self-published titles and sign with a traditional agent for your unpublished frontlist or traditional projects. Have a conversation with your literary agent and keep the lines of communication open between all parties.
Yes, and that's a good moment to bring us in. Send it over along with the deadline you're working against.
We're new and aggressively growing our list. If your work is a fit, we want to see it!
Nope! That's a different person.
