Rights People

What Rights People does

Rights People is a London-based, full-service rights agency dedicated exclusively to children's and young adult (YA) book rights. Founded in 2006 by Alexandra Devlin and headquartered at 9 Kingsway, the firm represents literary agents, publishers, and packagers in the international placement of translation, film/TV, and other ancillary rights across North America, the UK, Australia, and approximately 18 additional territories. Revenue is generated on a commission/fee basis tied to each rights deal brokered, making the business a pure specialist intermediary rather than a rights owner.

The firm operates as a services business without a proprietary technology platform; its product is the expertise, network access, and negotiating capability of its rights professionals, several of whom are described as having backgrounds at top publishers. The team is distributed across London, Toronto, Dublin, and Brussels, which supports near-real-time coverage of English- and European-language publishing markets. Operational administration, including contract handling, is supported through a partnership with Contracts People, and the firm attends major international book fairs as a core channel for both sourcing and selling rights.

With approximately 8 employees and no disclosed external funding, Rights People runs as a privately held, founder-led micro-cap agency. The customer base is B2B — agents and publishers entrusting titles to the firm for international sale — and the children's/YA specialization is the central positioning choice that defines both the client pool and the competitive set. Growth, scale, and financial performance are not publicly disclosed, limiting visibility into deal volume, average commission, and client retention.

Name

Rights People

Legal name

Rights People

Website

https://rightspeople.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Rights People is a London-based full-service rights agency specializing in children's and young adult books, representing literary agents, publishers, and packagers across approximately 18 international territories on a commission basis.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Publishing Rights Representation

NAICS

Book Publishers (513130)

SIC

Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731)

akta.pro primary industry

Rights, ISBN & Publishing Administration Services (Identifiers, Metadata, Royalties) (MPAJAJAK)

Keywords

• Rights representation services
• Translation rights sales
• Children's book licensing
• International publishing rights
• Literary rights agency

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Rights representation and sales: Rights People provides a complete rights service for both English language and translation sales. They handle submissions, marketing materials, deal negotiations, contracts, and all payments, taking a commission or fee for facilitating these transactions between rights holders and licensees in various territories.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

Rights People is a full-service rights agency that represents English language and translation rights for children's and YA books on behalf of literary agents, publishers, and packagers. The firm handles the entire rights workflow from submissions, marketing materials, and deal negotiations through contracts and payments, selling directly into nearly every market worldwide through a dedicated team based in Toronto, Dublin, London, and Brussels.

Product overview

Rights People is a full-service rights agency (a service business, not a technology product company). The company provides rights representation services for English language and translation rights for children's and YA books, representing literary agents, publishers, and packagers worldwide. Services include handling submissions, marketing materials, deal negotiations, contracts, and payments across multiple international markets including North America, UK, Australia, Germany, Dutch territories, Asia, Turkey, Italy, Scandinavia, Spanish and Portuguese territories, France, Poland, Hungary, Israel, and the Baltics.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• English Language Rights Representation Full-service representation of English language (UK & Commonwealth, US, English language audio) rights for children's and YA book titles on behalf of literary agents, publishers, and packagers. Service includes submissions, marketing materials, deal negotiations, contract administration, and payment processing.
• Translation Rights Representation Representation of translation rights across multiple language territories including German, Dutch, Italian, Scandinavian, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Polish, Hungarian, Hebrew, Baltic, Slovenian, and Balkan territories. Service covers submissions, marketing, negotiation, contract management, and royalty processing for licensed publishers in each territory.

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Contracts PeoplecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRights People works closely with their colleagues at Contracts People to ensure licensing agreements are thorough and up to date in the ever-changing rights landscape. This partnership ensures comprehensive contract management alongside rights sales services.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves1 record

Expansion highlights1 record

Direct peers

• Casanovas & Lynch: International literary agency specializing in translation rights across Spanish, Portuguese, and other languages, with focus on children's and adult titles. Comparable as a multilingual rights intermediary with overlapping geographic coverage.
• Pontas Literary & Film Agency: International literary and film rights agency representing authors across multiple languages and territories. Directly comparable as a curatorial rights intermediary that sells translation and subsidiary rights globally.
• Andrew Nurnberg Associates: International literary agency and rights representation firm covering translation rights across most major territories for both children's and adult books. Directly comparable to Rights People in business model, territorial breadth, and book rights focus.
• Susanne Lea Associates: Boutique literary agency with significant international rights sales activity, particularly for translated fiction and nonfiction. Closely comparable in scale and in the role of selling rights on behalf of publishers and authors.
• The Susijn Agency: Book rights agency with strong translation rights representation across European and Latin American territories. Operates the same intermediary model of selling foreign and translation rights on behalf of publishers and literary agents.
• Translation Rights Group: Boutique international rights agency focused on translation rights representation across multiple languages. Highly comparable as a focused, intermediary-style rights agency serving literary agents and publishers.
• Bardon-Chinese Media Agency: Specialist rights agency representing translation rights for books in Chinese and other Asian languages. Comparable as a focused, territory-driven book rights agency that bridges Western publishers and Asian licensees.

Emerging players

• Astoria Literary Agency: Smaller literary agency with a children's and YA focus and active rights representation. Provides a like-for-like comparison for the children's/YA specialist positioning of Rights People, though at an earlier stage of scale.

Broad incumbents

• Penguin Random House Rights Division: In-house rights and licensing arm of one of the world's largest trade publishers, conducting translation and subsidiary rights sales for its own catalog. Comparable as a rights intermediary but as part of a global publisher rather than an independent agency.
• Curtis Brown: Large UK literary agency with significant international rights sales capabilities across many genres and territories. Comparable in offering rights representation but operates at substantially greater scale and genre breadth than Rights People.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/rigthspeople

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Rights People