2 Seas Agency

What 2 Seas Agency does

2 Seas Agency is a privately held foreign rights agency founded in 2011 by Marleen Seegers and headquartered in Ojai, California. The firm represents trade publishers, literary agencies, and a selective list of independent authors worldwide, brokering translation and foreign rights sales to acquiring editors across international markets. Its customer base spans publishers in Europe, the Americas, Asia-Pacific, and the Middle East, with notable client engagements including MalaTesta Literary Agency (Italian titles into North America and the Netherlands) and Dutch publisher Hollands Diep.

The agency's core delivery mechanism is a hybrid of direct sales and co-agent representation. Its team — comprising Co-Founder Marleen Seegers, Senior Agent Chrysothemis Armefti (an 11+ year veteran), Operations Coordinator Laura, and supporting contributors — attends major international book fairs including Frankfurt, London, Bologna, Turin, Paris, and Gothenburg, complemented by regular publisher visits to Amsterdam, Paris, Barcelona, New York, Berlin, and Munich. Supporting technology infrastructure includes an online rights catalog (catalog.2seasagency.com), Box-hosted client-specific rights lists, an internal rights management database, and a Calendly scheduling platform, all operated virtually. The agency also publishes a monthly newsletter reaching over 6,000 publishing professionals, a multi-season podcast on international publishing, and resource pages listing translation grants and international book fair calendars.

Revenue is generated through commissions on successful foreign rights transactions. The agency is bootstrapped with no disclosed external funding, no parent company, and ownership concentrated with the founding team. Representative deal outcomes include titles that have achieved significant international traction, such as the 'Arab of the Future' graphic novel series (over 3.5 million copies sold across 22 languages) and Dido Michielsen's 'Lighter than I' (over 120,000 copies sold, 2020 Dutch Bookseller Prize winner). The agency has remained operationally lean, with a small core staff serving a globally distributed client base.

Name

2 Seas Agency

Legal name

2 Seas Agency

Website

https://2seasagency.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

2 Seas Agency is a privately held foreign rights agency that represents publishers, literary agencies, and select authors in international translation rights sales across global markets, operating through book fair attendance, co-agent partnerships, and digital rights catalogs since 2011.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Literary Agency Services

NAICS

Book Publishers (513130)

SIC

Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731)

akta.pro primary industry

Audiobook Rights & Licensing (Territorial/Format Rights, Agencies) (MPAJAIAG)

akta.pro secondary industry

Translated & International Trade Publishing (Rights/Localizations) (MPAJAAAO)

Keywords

• Foreign rights representation
• Literary agency services
• Translation rights sales
• International book fairs
• Co-agent representation

Headquarters

HQ city

Ojai

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Foreign Rights Commission: 2 Seas Agency earns commissions on foreign/translation rights sales. They represent publishers, literary agencies, and independent authors, selling rights to publishers in international markets. The agency operates on a commission basis for rights transactions.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

2 Seas Agency represents publishers, literary agencies, and selected independent authors worldwide, selling foreign and translation rights in international markets. The agency sells directly in some territories (notably Italy) and uses co-agents in others, primarily through attendance at major international book fairs and direct outreach to acquiring editors. It earns commissions on each successful rights transaction, supported by an online catalog platform and a global co-agent network.

Product overview

2 Seas Agency is a foreign rights agency offering a unified service portfolio centered on international publishing rights representation. The core offering comprises foreign rights sales and subagent representation for publishers, literary agencies, and independent authors worldwide. This is supported by an Online Catalog system for showcasing represented titles, a Monthly Newsletter distributed to over 6,000 publishing professionals, a Podcast featuring interviews with international publishing professionals, and supplementary resources including a Translation Grants Listing and International Book Fair Calendar. The services function as an integrated agency offering rather than distinct modular products.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Foreign Rights Representation (Worldwide) Core representation service for publishers, literary agencies, and independent authors worldwide. 2 Seas Agency sells foreign and translation rights directly to acquiring editors through international book fair attendance and direct outreach, primarily in markets like Italy, with co-agent support elsewhere.
• Subagent (Co-Agent) Rights Representation Co-agent representation service in which 2 Seas Agency acts on behalf of other literary agencies or publishers to sell rights in specific territories (such as North America and the Netherlands), using dedicated catalogs and its co-agent network.

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• MalaTesta Literary AgencycoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 May 2025Italian literary agency for whom 2 Seas Agency sells into North America and the Netherlands as co-agent. Notable deal: World English rights for Leonardo San Pietro's 'Party with Cassowary' to Alfred A. Knopf editor Todd Portnowitz.
• Dutch Foundation for LiteratureminorOthersGovernment support organization for Dutch literature that awards translation grants and promotes Dutch authors internationally. Dutch author Dido Michielsen was Guest of Honor at 2025 Turin Book Fair with their support.
• France Livre (formerly BIEF)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFrench publishing network that organizes the Paris Book Market, bringing international editors to Paris to meet French and Francophone rights sellers. 2 Seas Agency attends and participates in this event.
• Co-Agents WorldwidecoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorNetwork of co-agents in various territories who help sell rights on behalf of 2 Seas Agency's clients. Contacted via the co-agents page on the 2 Seas Agency website.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• The Susijn Agency: UK-based literary and foreign rights agency representing authors for translation and film/TV rights. Comparable as a small, relationship-driven agency with international co-agent representation.
• MB Agencia Literaria: Spain-based foreign rights agency representing publishers and authors internationally. Similar model to 2 Seas in acting as co-agent for agencies and exclusive representative for publishers in Iberian and Latin American markets.
• The Bukowski Agency: Swedish literary agency representing Nordic authors and publishers internationally for foreign rights. Comparable to 2 Seas in combining primary author representation with co-agency work and active Frankfurt/Book Fair participation.
• Pontas Literary & Film Agency: Spain-based literary and film agency with international rights representation for authors and publishers. Comparable to 2 Seas in offering curated foreign rights representation with multilingual agent capability.
• Andrew Nurnberg Associates: One of the world's largest foreign rights agencies, with offices across Europe and Asia representing publishers, literary agencies, and authors for translation rights. Closest scale- and scope-comparable to 2 Seas as a multi-territory co-agent and primary rights representation firm.
• Thomas Schlück Agency: Long-established German foreign rights agency representing publishers and literary agencies across multiple territories. Comparable to 2 Seas in offering co-agency and exclusive rights representation with strong Frankfurt Book Fair presence.
• Ute Körner Literary Agent: German literary agency representing authors and publishers for foreign rights. Similar to 2 Seas in mixing primary representation with co-agency work and attending major European book fairs.
• Tuttle-Mori Agency: Foreign rights agency specializing in Asian content representation into Western markets. Comparable to 2 Seas as a co-agent and primary rights representative with deep book fair coverage (Frankfurt, London, Bologna).
• Big Apple Agency: Foreign rights agency handling translation rights for publishers and agencies across world markets. Direct co-agent and primary rights peer to 2 Seas with comparable fair-driven sales model.

Emerging players

• SalmaiaLit: Africa-focused literary agency representing African authors and publishers for international translation rights. Comparable to 2 Seas in acting as a co-agent bridge between a regional publishing ecosystem and global acquirers, though smaller and more regionally focused.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/2seasagency
• Facebookfacebook.com/2seasagency
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/2-seas-agency
• Instagraminstagram.com/2seasagency
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCqbaqYHmVOlqI0MqD00MdHw

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 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 2 Seas Agency