If your publishing agreement includes territorial rights (meaning you only hold the rights to sell your book in certain countries), Sọna gives you the tools to manage this directly from your upload settings.
This guide explains how regional restrictions work, who they are for, and how to set them up.
What Are Territorial Rights?
Territorial rights determine where in the world a book can legally be sold. In traditional publishing, rights are often sold territory by territory. An author might retain rights for Africa and sell separate rights deals for the UK, North America, or other regions.
If you are self-published and hold world rights to your own work, you do not need to restrict anything. Your book is available globally by default.
However, if you have sold rights for your book in certain countries to a traditional publisher, or if you have a distribution agreement that limits where you can sell, you need to make sure your Sọna listing reflects those restrictions accurately.
How Regional Restrictions Work on Sọna
When uploading your book (Step 5: Pricing), you will find the Regional Restrictions section.
By default, your book is set to be available globally: any reader anywhere in the world can find and purchase it.
If you need to restrict access, you can select specific countries to block. Readers in those countries will not be able to purchase or access your book on Sọna.
You can update regional restrictions at any time through the book revision process.
Who Needs to Use This
Most self-published authors: no action needed.
If you own world rights to your book (which is the case for the vast majority of self-published authors), leave regional restrictions off. Your book will be available globally, which maximises your potential audience.
Authors with traditional publishing deals in specific territories:
If you have sold rights for your book in the UK to a UK publisher, for example, you should block the UK from your Sọna listing. Selling into a territory where another publisher holds the rights is a breach of contract.
Publishers managing multi-territory catalogues:
Publisher accounts may need to configure restrictions per title if their catalogue includes titles with varying rights by region.
Sọna Is a Global Platform
While Sọna was built for and by Africans, with a particular focus on Nigerian literature and publishing, the platform is open to readers and authors from anywhere in the world.
All prices are set in Nigerian Naira (₦). Readers in the UK, US, Canada, Germany, or anywhere else can purchase books with supported cards through Paystack; their card issuer may convert the Naira charge into their local currency. Nigerian readers can also use supported local payment methods. Reader-facing totals include the relevant payment processing gross-up for the reader's account country and payment method, while your earnings are still calculated from the Naira base price.
This means:
- As an author, you set your base price once in Naira and reach readers globally
- As a reader, you can browse and purchase from anywhere in the world with a supported card
- Regional restrictions are entirely in your control: by default, nothing is blocked
Sọna is not a Nigerian-only platform. It is a platform built around African storytelling that is open to the world. If your book has no territorial limitations, you have a global audience from day one.
Setting Regional Restrictions
To restrict access to your book by country:
- During upload, go to Step 5: Pricing
- Scroll to the Regional Restrictions section
- Select the countries you want to block from accessing your book
- Continue through the rest of the upload process as normal
To update restrictions on an already-published book:
- Go to Publish Dashboard > Books
- Click on the book you want to update
- Click Edit Book or Start Revision
- Navigate to the pricing step and update your regional settings
- Submit the revision for review
Best Practices
- Be accurate. Incorrectly blocking a territory you have rights in means leaving money on the table. Failing to block a territory where someone else holds rights is a legal issue. Know your contracts before configuring restrictions
- When in doubt, consult your publishing agreement. Rights language can be complex. If you are unsure which territories you hold rights for, ask your agent or check your contract
- Self-published authors: block nothing. If you own all rights to your work, the global default is what you want
Manage your book's regional settings during upload or from your book's detail page in the Publish Dashboard.
Related Posts
- Who Can Publish on Sọna?: how pricing, payments, and distribution work for a global audience
- How to Upload Your Book on Sọna: where territorial settings appear in the upload flow