Hatrack River Forum: Getting translations published

This is topic Getting translations published in forum Books, Films, Food and Culture at Hatrack River Forum.

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Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :

Does anyone know anything about how translated books are published? Is it pretty much always the publisher commissioning someone to translate, or can you ever approach them with a manuscript?

I ask this because one of my favorite books, Abbé Pierre's Fraternité, has no English translation and I'd really like to see it published here. It's simple enough prose that I think my own translation is pretty good, but have no idea about who I could approach with that.

Any ideas out there?

Posted by Hobbes (Member # 433) on :

*bump*

Hobbes [Smile]

Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :

Assuming I followed the French on the pages I googled, this work is still under copyright. You would need permission of the copyright holder to make a translation, which is considered a derivative work.

The publisher of the book is probably the best place to start.

I have no idea how to find a publisher once you get permission, but I bet the publisher would have ideas and preferences on that as well, assuming the author did not retain translation rights.

Dagonee

Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :

Ooh. That sounds like it involves writing a very polite letter in the French format. That was daunting last time I tried it.

I really think the book's worth it, though.

Posted by Scythrop (Member # 5731) on :

I can tell you that my most recent book is being translated overseas under licence from my Australian publisher, with the overseas publisher commissioning their own translator, and paying royalties to me via my publisher here. Perhaps you could approach a suitable English Language publisher with your proposal. They might then be able to negotiate with the French copyright holder. You'd have to find a suitable company, though. In Australia, the commercial divisions of the larger university presses are often interested in this type of publication. I don't know if this is the case in the States, though.

Posted by Kayla (Member # 2403) on :

I would think OSC or Kristine, or heck Kathryn for that matter, would know all about this. I know OSC has had books translated. You should e-mail one of them and ask them if they wouldn't mind giving you the broad strokes on how something like that works.

Or maybe they'll answer your question here later. Geoff might even know how it works. Ask him. He's got at least one book out there. Maybe it's been translated.

Scott R's been published, too, hasn't he? And there are a couple of others.

Wow, there are a lot of authors here. What a great place to ask writer questions.

Posted by Teshi (Member # 5024) on :

Isn't that kind of the point [Wink]

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