Request How Much Does It Cost To License a Japanese Light Novel?

Discussion in 'Novel General' started by Wujigege, Jan 20, 2020.

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  1. Wujigege

    Wujigege *Christian*SIMP*Comedian

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  2. Jeebus

    Jeebus Well-Known Member

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    Asking how much it costs to license a LN is like asking how much it would cost to rent a box truck. Box trucks come in different shapes and sizes, and each one will have a different upfront fee associated with the rental. After that, you're also charged for mileage and a daily flat fee if you're keeping the box truck longer than a day.

    To license a LN, you typically have to pay a lump sum upfront to secure the rights. After you've published the work, you will also have to pay a flat fee per sale or a percent of sales or profits in royalties. The more popular the novel, the more those fees will be.

    There's even more to it than that, though. You'd also need to know if the rights are for digital publishing, print publishing, or both. Then, there's the duration of the license.

    So much goes into determining the cost of a license that it would be hard to give an average figure.
     
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  3. Wujigege

    Wujigege *Christian*SIMP*Comedian

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    Still an estimate.. no guestimate.
    I want a number
     
  4. Jeebus

    Jeebus Well-Known Member

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    I'm not knowledgable about LN licensing, so I couldn't even begin to guess. On the off chance that Sam or someone else does come in here to offer an estimate, you might want to include some works that you're interested in or sales numbers in Japan for the titles you want to secure. It might also be helpful to include the publisher if you don't want to divulge specific titles. Also, do you want to do print publication, or only digital? If you want to do print, do you want a worldwide English license, or only for one region, if so which region(s)? How long do you want to exploit your license?

    You'll also need to consider your revenue stream. Even if you can afford the upfront cost of the license, if you're only making money through ads, most publishers won't license novels to you because the revenue (and royalties) from ads alone is pretty abysmal in most circumstances.
     
  5. Wujigege

    Wujigege *Christian*SIMP*Comedian

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    Just digital ebooks.
    Ads certainly won't be sufficient
     
  6. Sam Pinansky

    Sam Pinansky Well-Known Member

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    I'll say that the cost of translation and editing is higher than the up front rights cost.
    But licensing light novels is about way more than the amount of $$$ you offer, it's about your reputation as a company/publisher.
     
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  7. Wujigege

    Wujigege *Christian*SIMP*Comedian

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    I am confident in my ability to sweet talk but it seems that yet again, I won't be getting any hard numbers.
     
  8. Kadmos1

    Kadmos1 Well-Known Member

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    Not as much as it costs for @Ai chan to get a life.
     
  9. Bachingchung

    Bachingchung Well-Known Member

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  10. Wujigege

    Wujigege *Christian*SIMP*Comedian

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    Thats the plan
     
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