MEDIANA
Russian Literary Agency

Who we are

MEDIANA is a Russian Literary Agency established in St.Petersburg in 2008.

The agency specializes in selling translation rights, and deals with companies and authors through a versatile network of contacts in over 20 countries.

The areas of interest include fiction and non-fiction books for adults or young adults, as well as educational and fiction books for children of different ages.

Mediana represents Russian and foreign publishers and authors; we are also interested in individual book projects with international appeal.

The company tries to make benefit from the excellent opportunities available thanks to the Internet and global remote communication. At the same time, our team regularly attends International Books Fairs and other industry events, where we can meet with our colleagues and partners personally.

Many years in rights licensing combined with innovation and initiative helps the agency grow steadily.

Our mission

Through international rights licensing the agency contributes to cultural exchange between different countries. Finding, helping to translate and bringing the right material into focus at the right time is what we think is vital for us. In the fast evolving world of publishing, we remain committed to providing top-notch services to publishers and authors.

Non-fiction

The agency focuses on non-fiction titles on a broad range of subjects for general audience:

• popular psychology and self-help
• health and fitness
• spirituality and personal growth
• biographies and historical books
• books on business and management
• cookbooks, home and leisure
• hobbies and crafts
• music
• general interest.

We offer rights for illustrated and non-illustrated titles and are interested in upmarket and mass market non-fiction books for adults.

Children’s Books

Much of our time and attention is dedicated to books for younger audience. The agency deals with picture books for children – both educational and fiction titles, such as:

• activity books and colouring books
• gift books, pop-up books
• skill development books
• illustrated stories for children by classic and contemporary authors
• illustrated fairy-tales.

Our services

The agency provides intermediary services in the field of foreign rights, and helps publishers and authors to arrange translation rights deals worldwide.

The services include foreign rights representation and literary scouting and involve:

• representing authors and publishers internationally
• editorial assessment and market analysis at your request
• improving your publishing portfolio: selecting exciting new books and recommending them for translation and publication according to your publishing needs
• assisting in communication, establishing contract terms and preparing all necessary documentation
• monitoring license contract issues and proper contract execution.

In our work we rely on editorial expertise, knowledge of the industry, and extensive experience in contract negotiations. It is utterly important for us to establish a lasting relationships between our clients and our team.

Foreign Rights Representation

The company represents foreign publishers and published authors in Russia and overseas. We negotiate and license literary rights on behalf of our clients all over the world (books, audio rights, and e-book rights).

It is our purpose to find the right publishing house for your books and assist in successful translation and publication in Russian or other languages. We support the whole process from the initial contact with potential publishers to the fine details of the deal, such as receiving complimentary book copies and author royalties.

In addition, we offer licenses for Russian literary works and help our foreign clients to buy translation licenses for various books by Russian authors.

Literary Scouting

As a literary scout, Mediana seeks top literary projects at the request of our clients – both in Russia and abroad. We are equally interested in English and non-English books of global value – ideally, combining literary merit and commercial success.

Therefore, we are always on the lookout for talented authors and high-level literary works in different countries.

Cooperation

Publishers

We would be happy to cooperate with publishers interested in buying or selling translation rights. Mediana Literary Agency can offer foreign rights representation as your exclusive agent. We mainly license works to Russian publishers, however, in particular cases we might actively look for publishers worldwide.

In addition, we are involved in literary scouting and can assist in creating your publishing portfolio.

What we do:

• represent your foreign rights list in Russia and other countries (if necessary)
• look for Russian publishers interested in buying licenses for your books
• help in finding rights owners for books by Russian authors (at your request)
• find original works by Russian authors for translation into your language
• assist in negotiations with Russian publishing companies.

Authors

We encourage you to contact us, if you own translation rights for your work and your book corresponds to the list of subjects we specialize in.

Because the agency is mainly involved in licensing translations, we are only interested in works by published authors.

If the original language of your work is not English, we would appreciate receiving a sample translation and further presentation material in the English language.

In case your book proposal is accepted, we can offer:

• representing translation rights for your works in Russia
• finding a publisher for your work in Russia
• assistance in negotiations and arranging license contracts with Russian publishers.

We basically offer representation in Russia, but in some cases we are able to find publishers in other countries too.

Before submitting your proposal, we ask you to go through our submission guidelines.

If foreign rights for your work belong to your publisher or should be handled through your literary agent, please inform us accordingly and provide the necessary contact information.

Should your submission be accepted, it will be our pleasure to get in touch with them directly on your behalf and with reference to your name and work.

Agents

We invite our colleagues around the world to work together and are interested in cooperation with sub-agents willing to promote our foreign rights offer.

On the other hand, we might also be interested in becoming your sub-agent in Russia.

We can offer:

• representing your foreign rights program in Russia
• selecting best works by Russian authors for you
• assistance in negotiations with Russian companies.

Translators

Our publishers frequently ask us to assist in finding translators for their book projects. In case you are an experienced translator with solid background in literary translation and book publishing, we are interested in getting your CV in order to place it in our database.

The languages we are interested in include Russian, English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Czech, Polish and other European languages.

If you are interested, please send us your detailed CV, relevant references and list of translated books and/or articles. Preference would be given to candidates holding a degree in literature or linguistics and translating texts from a foreign language into their native language.

In case your background meets our requirements, we’ll be happy to forward your CV and contact information to interested publishers.

Please note that even if your qualifications and experience are excellent, we cannot guarantee your immediate involvement in a particular project. Also, the terms of possible cooperation would have to be discussed directly with our publishers.

However, we can offer:

• placing your CV in our database
• promoting your services to our clients.

There is no charge for our mediation, and successful candidates might finally get involved in publishing/translation projects.

None of the above?

Let us know what way we could cooperate.