If I public a book in Spanish, can I sell it to another publishing house to publish it in English?

Question

Bear in mind that I would do the translation myself.

Answer 1

That should be covered in your contract to publish. The company owns some right of exclusively publishing the intellectual property.

Changing the language doesn't change the ideas...just like you can't republish the same book with different phrasing of the same idea.

It's the ideas that are the intellectual property, not just the mechanical words.

Answer 2

It depends on what rights you granted to the publisher. If the contract does not specifically conver translations of the book, then you can legally translate it and sell it to another publisher. HOWEVER, even if it is legal, you may earn the loathing of your current publisher. So you should discuss the idea with your current publisher first.

Common "rights" are:

First Time North American Rights: Gives the publisher the right to produce and sell the book in North America before anyone else can publish it. Often, this includes publication in both Spanish and English (and French, depending on the book). Obviously, this is because Mexico and Canada are part of North America.

First Time Worldwide Rights: Gives the publisher the right to produce and sell the book anywhere in the world before another publisher can publish it. Normally this will also cover translations.

Reprint Rights: You grant the publisher the right to produce and sell a book that has been previously published, but the rights revered back to you upon publication. Very common with poetry, articles, and short fiction.Normally covers only a specific incarnation (for example, reprint rights in a single issue of a magazine, reprint rights on a website)

So it depends on the contract terms and what rights you originally sold.

Answer 3

If you have published it previously, then you cannot just sell the book to another publisher even if you do the translation yourself. You should know this in the first place. Ever heard of copyright? Be careful because you might end up in court with your plans.

Answer 4

If you published a book you would most likely be under contract. So your company would simply have it translated to English.