I’ve had a couple of folks email me because they were looking for work, translating English books into their native tongues (I think I’ve heard from French and Spanish-speaking/writing folks so far). I have a number of balls in the air right now, so I simply kept the people’s contact information in case I wanted to get in touch later, but I have been curious about this. As an independent ebook author, it’s pretty easy to get your books into other countries (Apple, Kobo, and Amazon all have stores overseas), but at the end of the day, the books are still in English, and I’m sure you’d appeal to a different audience if you had offerings in people’s native tongues.
When I saw fellow indie Susanne O’Leary mention that she was having some luck with the German-language version of her ebook, I decided to ask her if she’d answer some questions for us. She said yes, so here are the details:
Getting Your Book Translating into a Foreign Language with Susanne O’Leary
What made you decide to pursue a German translation of your ebook?
I wanted to get into the German market and had heard it was about to take off. But I also heard that German language books are more popular over there and that womens’ contemporary romantic fiction is in great demand there.
How did you go about uploading the book into the Kindle, Apple, B&N stores, etc.? Do you just go through the regular self-publishing dashboards, or do you need to make an account in the other country?
I only published this book on Amazon (because I wanted to put it into the Select programme) and KDP will get it out into all Amazon outlets worldwide.
How did you go about finding someone to do the translation?
I asked an author friend who had just had her own books translated into German and she put me in touch with the translator.
And how do you know if he/she did a good job?
First of all, I knew that the translator’s husband is a German teacher and would be proof reading the book. And I also have some German friends who were willing to beta read the translation for me. They gave me the thumbs up.
Can you give us an idea about the costs and whether you’ve made your money back through sales in other countries?
What I paid is confidential but I can tell you that it wasn’t cheap. I haven’t made the money back yet but the way the sales increased after my three day free run makes me confident that I will in a couple of months. That said, I might mention that sales of some of my English titles are also beginning to increase in Germany. I have to date 9 reviews on this book and they are all positive.
Does your German book only sell in Germany or is there a market for German-speaking readers in other countries?
I have seen sales in Italy and France with this book and I know that Amazon.de also covers Austria and Switzerland.
Do you think you’ll have the book translated into other languages as well?
I might have it translated into French if I can find a good translator. And in this instance, I can check the book myself, as I speak French fluently.
Susanne’s bio:
Susanne O’Leary is Swedish and lives in Ireland. She married an Irish diplomat at a very young age and travelled the world with her family for many years. She started writing about 12 years ago and her books reflect her globetrotting life, drawing on her experiences as an expat. She started her novelist career with a romantic comedy called ‘Diplomatic Incidents’, which was published in Ireland in 2001 (it was re-written and published on Amazon Kindle as ‘Duty Free’ in 2011).
She published Virtual Suspects (a sequel to Virtual Strangers) in December 2012 and ‘Frischer Schnee‘, the German translation of Fresh Powder, also in December 2012. She is currently working on her 11th novel, a romantic comedy set in the west of Ireland, which she hopes will be published later this year.
Be very careful when choosing a translator. A friend translated my novel into her language. We live in her country. She had gone to American schools all her life, including university, and is an official translator. I thought, “great!” especially since she did it for free, as a hobby on her summer break.
Afterwards other people have read it and say it is a terrible translation. She apparently knows English very well but can’t write fluently in her own language.
She mistranslated key terms, omitted sentences and even passages, and merged two of my chapters.
I suppose it is better than nothing, but if I self-publish and put it online, she will be ridiculed by the local literary crowd and I can’t have that.
Egads! On behalf of the literary translation community, I apologize for such a poor translation. Omitting, merging, and not asking you about key terms she doesn’t understand is inexcusable. Unfortunately, in the translation community, you can say you are a translator the same way you can call yourself a writer.
A bad translation is not better than nothing. In this case, nothing is better than putting up a bad reputation and damaging your own name and reputation thereby. Literary translators rarely get any credit for their work, so it would be the author’s own name taking the blame for it.
My advice in choosing a good translator would be to look for their portfolio and credentials on their website. Make sure they’ve had training in literary translation specifically and/or experience. Ask them to translate a sample chapter, and then use that sample to see how good a writer they are and if you want them to translate your whole book.
Oops, typo – *putting up a bad translation and damaging your own name
Hello Janet,
I am doing a project for the ministry I am working for. I need to find any translated book (from English or other language) by a certain author. Do you know of any website that shows American authors who have books translated in to other languages. With or without permission. The project is to get this author’s books translated into 25 European language zones. So I need to know where we are with these books in these zones. I hope that is clear enough. Thank you for your help. Tom
Janet, I couldn’t agree with you more. The translator must be a good writer too. It takes a special skill to translate a work of fiction.
I am positive that this translation is good, otherwise German readers would have let me know in no uncertain terms. I now have 10 great reviews on this book. And it’s still selling very well.
Thank you for this information. If anyone wants to chime in it’d be very helpful to get a ballpark figure on what this costs.
My other source of income besides writing is working as a technical translator for German. Literary translators tend to make less than technical translators, but the average is still about 18 Euros per page (250 words or 1500 characters with spaces). That would put a 100,000 word manuscript at over 7000 Euros.
Just for a ballpark figure for German.
As a professional translator of the technical variety, I can tell you that for Swedish, literary translators all have to make a living from something else – usually technical/financial/legal translations, which is why I know about this. It’s perhaps not strange that the fee is related to the size of the target market! You could get Swedish for about half the price of German, but the market size is less than 20% of the German market; translating from another language into English, arguably the largest market in the world, is much more expensive and a 100,000 word ms would cost around 10,000 Euros. (Fees for technical/financial/legal translations vary much less, and are more related to cost of living in the target country.)
Do keep in mind, though, that it’s tax-deductible.
Thank you to Ruth and Pelotard for sharing the costs. It’s definitely not cheap but I can see where it’d be worth it over the life of the book, especially if you’re already selling well and building a brand as an English-language author.
I just wanted to point out that clicking on the German cover brought up the German translation for me to buy if I so wished, so German readers in the US (and presumably other countries) can certainly get hold of it.
One of the toughest things about translating fiction is you can’t just translate the words. You have to try to translate the author’s voice as well. A skilled translator is worth every pfennig. (Yeah it’s euros now, but that doesn’t translate as well.) 😉
As a German myself, I can confirm that you will have a much greater reader audience if you have your books translated into German. There is only a very small fraction of Germans who read foreign language books in their leisure time.
When it comes to the translation quality, I can only second Janet to say you should be careful in the selection of your translator. If you go for German, don’t settle for anything less than a German native speaker who has lived in Germany/Austria/Switzerland for a considerable time.
Considering the financial side, you should have a look at the ebook prices on Amazon.de. German language ebooks are priced considerably higher than English language ebooks. Plus, Germans are used to paying much higher prices for their books than UK people or US Americans. So by adjusting your prices you might be able to recuperate your investments faster than you might think.
If you need a beta reader, e-mail me. 😀
Thank you, Katharina. I will keep you in mind for my next German translation.
I was so lucky that my translator truly matched my voice. I could tell this even reading through with my rusty school German. But my beat readers confirmed it for me.
sorry, should say beta readers, of course…
Please contact me for German translation information.
Hi Laila – Are you the one who translated Ms. O’Leary’s work for her? I have two books out in a paranormal romantic suspense series, Updrift (1) and Breakwater (2), and I’m just starting to look into what all it would take to get Updrift translated, with German being one of languages I’m considering. Have you done this sort of work before?
Thank you in advance for your consideration and your response.
Hi Katharina – I realize this thread is years old… and I’m really in the baby stages of considering translation at the moment, but are you still translating novels into German? I’m toying with where to put my mktg $ next (and I’m about to bring out my third in this series), but would be interested in corresponding with you re: my first work, Updrift, if you are interested. If you prefer to message me, find me on Facebook at @author.errin.stevens and message me within the app if you like. Here is a link to the work I would farm out: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25114259-updrift
Yes, as a professional literary translator myself, I can say that you never ever ever hire a native English speaker to translate your book out of English. And just because they are native German/Spanish/French does not guarantee a good translation. You also need to find a translator who is well acquainted with your genre.
For example, if you use a lot of made-up words to describe your technology or magic, the translator needs to be familiar with the fact that there will be some words that he/she won’t recognize as English and may have to come up with equivalents for.
If you use poetry at all in your chapter headings. Your translator should have a good grasp at writing poetry in their native language.
A literary translator should be, first and foremost, a good writer in their native language. And not just that, but familiar with writing the genre your book is in.
As for your job as a writer towards your translator, make sure that you are on hand to answer any questions he or she might have. It is better for him/her to ask if they have a question than for him/her to push through.
If I might ask, what languages to you translate works into? I have a book out I’m thinking about this for.
That’s so true, Laura. And I really enjoyed working with my translator. She was always on the ball with what I wanted to say.
She is mostly an expert on romantic fiction like mine. This was a great help.
Excellent! I’m really glad you’ve had a great experience working with your translator. 😀
I can see why Susanne picked German, but now I’m wondering what would be the best language to choose if you were going to pick just one to do at first. I’d think Spanish might open things up to more countries, or maybe Chinese or Indian since they have such huge populations? No Amazon stores in many of those countries yet though I suppose.
It depends on what genre you are writing. Different genres are more popular in different countries.
So I guess my question would be–what genre are you writing?
So, of the major fiction genre, does anyone know what languages are best to translate into?
Well… without trying to guess all the different major genres out there, I’ll just stick with the one this blog is connected to.
So, science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Let’s see.
SF&F is especially popular in Germany. If you are going to start with any language, I’d start with German. Followed by French (especially if it’s YA SF&F), Italian, Japanese & Chinese. (Though you might have problems getting your work translated into the latter.)
Magical realism is popular with Spanish, so if you’re leaning more that direction, I’d give Spanish a try first.
I’m not acquainted with what all countries have an open indie market, though, via Amazon. But Kobo, for example, is well established in Canada and France, and I know Smashwords has International use.
Germany would have been my guess for fantasy too. Compared to other non-English-as-a-first-language countries, I get more sales from Germany than anywhere else.
My perspective on this is a bit strange. I was lucky enough to have a Bulgarian publisher approach me to do a translation of my work. Financially it has been a bit of a wash (despite the fact that they paid for translation and such, there were legal fees and the like), but I’ve heard from at least three Bulgarian fans since then. One even gave me some top notch fan art! So I can say that even a relatively small market can at the very least increase the fan base and build the community, if nothing else.
Bulgaria is known for its SF&F fans, so I’m not surprised your books have made inroads there! Congratulations!
Thanks!
It’s already been said, but be very careful with the translator. I’ve seen even Google translated books, but not going that far, there are books with glaring translation mistakes.
If you decide to translate into Spanish, take into account there are 3 big Spanish dialects: Porteño (Argentinian), Mexican and Spanish from Spain. So, remind that when choosing your translation depending on the target audience you want and, if possible, ask them to avoid as much slang as possible.
I’m German and part of the fraction that indeed reads english books. But my wife isn’t. I came here because I very much enjoy the Emperor’s Edge and I know my wife would also, if it was or will be translated well.
But as previous commenters argued a bad translation isn’t more then nothing. Most Germans aren’t really aware off the fact, that the book they hold in their hands is a translation. But only the authors name is on the cover. So strive for good translations.
There are really poor (professional) translations out there, and that falls back to the author. Prominent example: the “Song of Ice and Fire” series. It really hurts reading the German translation. It is the second take on a translation, though. The first was even worse.
I always wondered how the translation business works. As for “Song of Ice and Fire” I thought: ‘Even I could do this better’. I don’t consider myself being a good writer and haven’t translated anything of considerable length, but I really could do it better. Almost everyone who actually read the English version and enjoyed it, could translate it better.
Why not find someone translating the book in his/her mother language with no upfront payment and give him a share of the sales of that translated version? That would be a better fit, especially for indie authors, I guess.
One thought I’ve thought about is to remember to consider overseas audiences. Some people on facebook, such as the Japanese or Korean, with millions of users. Yes, there are problems where we don’t speak their audience’s language. But think about this: just one once-a-week pass by the translator could add 50,000 customers. Isn’t that worth it?
I need a book to translate from english to persian. I’m asking for nothing, just your book and permission to be translated. I will published it myself. You just get your share of books sold. thanks email me at: taherkhanial@gmail.com
I am a native Tamil translator (Tamilnadu, India) working as a full time freelance translator for the past 6 years.
I am a proz certified translator with 71+ve WWA (Willingness to Work Again) entries from my clients.
http://www.proz.com/wwa/1122026
My proz profile:
http://www.proz.com/translator/1122026
I would like to translate English books into Tamil.
I do have good experience in translating few books:
1) ”Predictable Results in Unpredictable Times”
2) ”ABC’s of Speaking”
3) ”Read & Get Rich”
4) “It only takes a minute to change your life”.
I am flexible with the rate you offer & assure you industry best quality.
Looking forward to work with you.
Email: ashok1in1000@gmail.com
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All of the above has made for interesting reading!
I translated two books by the same author from French to English. I did it for free, on a volunteer basis because I thought the stories were off the charts good and deserved to reach those who read English but not French. Both books received literary awards in France, although I know that awards don’t necessarily translate into bestsellers – more often the opposite is true! The author was happy to accept my translations, and even spoke of getting them published, saying that he would speak to his publisher in France, who, he says, have the worldwide rights. He did manage to have both his books translated into Japanese and published there, but as it turns out, he is not very interested/motivated to get them published in English! I’ve offered to speak to the publisher myself, even provided an intro letter, but my efforts have gone nowhere. Since I don’t have the rights (the intellectual property belongs to the publisher, I think) I can’t publish an e-book, which is something I would have been happy to finance – that’s how much I believe in these stories!
Does anyone have any ideas? Thanks.
Cheers,
Nancy
I am looking for a publisher that is able to translate my memoirs from English into the ten major languages of the world.
A yogi/psychic told me that my book will travel around the world like wildfire as soon as it is published. Can any one publisher help make this happen?
Hello,
I could translate to French myself as well as having it translated to other languages if it interests you.
Best regards,
Charles
Hi there, I have been reading this with interest. I have a few of my books translated from English to French and I am slowly building a new audience there with four more books coming out next year.
As a self-published author I am fronting the costs myself. My books are in the m/m paranormal genre and if anyone is interested, or knows someone that is interested in translating a couple of my books for me into German, I would love to hear from them. You can contact me through my weblink 🙂 Lisa.
I am looking for someone to translate my self-published novel in verse from English to German. This is rhyming poetry that tells a story. It is a rather short book, 166 pages.
I would appreciate hearing from anyone who would be interested. You can contact me via my email address: las1943@bellsouth.net
Thank you very much. Lynda
Loved the article but what are your thoughts on translation companies like ours?
Bonjour,
Je crois pouvoir vous aider en ce qui a trait à la traduction de votre roman au français.
Au plaisir,
Charles
How would I become a book translater, how would I start, who should I talk to?