Thanks, as they so often do, go to Mark Williams for alerting me to a story I had missed about Sarah J. Maas. Unusually so, because I have spent a considerable part of this year writing about romantasy, a genre that Maas has arguably done more than any other author to propel to the status of reading phenomenon it currently holds.
ALLi News Editor Dan Holloway
At the end of June, Maas signed a massive contract. That, of course, is not new. In the press releases surrounding this, her achievements to date are duly united, including translation into 38 languages and 70 million sales.
Beyond the Books
But it’s not a book that she has sold now. Rather, it’s a licensing agreement that she has entered into—and not even a licensing agreement for a book. Maas has signed a deal with giants IMG (International Management Group), who represent the likes of Naomi Osaka, Novak Djokovic, and many other superstar sportspeople, models, and other celebrities.
What she has signed a deal for relates to the whole universe in which her A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR) takes place. That is, anyone who wants to work on a project based on her books—or anything else in their “universe”—has to negotiate terms with IMG for doing so.
And as The Hollywood Reporter puts it, “Licensing will extend well-loved characters and stories beyond the pages and into apparel, beauty, lifestyle, home décor, wine and spirits, food and beverage, toys and games, collectibles, cosplay, and immersive fan experiences.” Or what you and I would call merch.
Expect a whole line of ACOTAR products to delight fans—all of them earning royalties for Maas.
Indie Spirit at the Core
To go back to Mark Williams’s post, the interesting and revolutionary part of all this for us as indie authors to note is that there is not a publisher in sight in this deal. This is Maas teaming up directly to exploit her own rights.
It might be more a million true fans than a thousand, and of course, she has options most of us could only dream of. But there is something fundamentally indie about the approach.
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