Alliance of Independent Authors teams up with agency for rights help

The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) has joined up with New York's Ethan Ellenberg Literary Agency to help members with the management and licensing of their rights.

The agency will provide an advisory service, one-off representation on contract offers and full rights representation to qualifying ALLi authors.

Advice is free, there is no obligation to employ the agency and it offers assessment of contracts with publishers and other rights buyers and sample agreements.

ALLi director Orna Ross explained: “As their income streams continue to diversify, independent authors have many choices as to how to exploit their intellectual property, from self-publishing to selectively licensing rights to trade publishers, TV, audiobook and film producers, and other rights buyers. If they choose to license rights to their work, it is crucial that they have access to the knowledge and services they need to protect their financial and legal interests. They also need access to the rights buyers that will help them grow their businesses. ALLi is very pleased to work with the Ellenberg Agency as one of a suite of services that assist our members in selectively licensing their publishing rights, in the appropriate way to different member levels.”

Agency president Ethan Ellenberg added: “We're very excited to add our expertise and experience to the services that ALLi provides independent authors. Book publishing and rights licensing are vast areas full of complex and difficult decisions. We've worked with every kind of traditional publisher and licensing company over our 30-plus years in business and we're eager to partner with members of the indie author community who are so quickly becoming vital members of the publishing business. We want authors to succeed, avoid serious problems, and create the kinds of careers that enrich them personally and professionally.”