At her love german books weblog Katy Derbyshire wonders: Is Self-Translation the Future ?
She doesn't so much mean self self-translation (though that sure worked out for Paul Verhaeghen: he translated his own novel, Omega Minor, and walked away with the 2008 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize), but rather authors paying translators to translate their work (into English, obviously -- the only language that apparently counts (or, so they think, might be worth their while)) and publishing it themselves.
She writes the post in response to comments by Tom Hillenbrand, who suggests, among other things:
But, to her credit, she has other objections:
A better argument is:
I am fascinated by this development, because with the rise of cheap on-demand publishing -- which lowers the production costs far below Derbyshire's estimate (the translation itself being the remaining large(st) cost) -- I have seen a small explosion in such commissioned-translations on offer (on offer to reviewers such as myself, that is; in many cases the authors aren't so much looking for a commercial audience as looking to attract mainstream-publisher attention, in order to then get the book published via the usual routes, in this or a second translation). I also foresee this trend continuing (and, indeed, growing fast) -- there are enough desperate authors with enough money to throw around to bankroll such efforts: it's one of the self-publishing trends that will see a massive increase in coming years.
Also: variations on such 'self-translation' aren't a new phenomenon: in various shadings they've existed in the form of mainly national subsidized publishing series for decades: here a publisher translates local fiction in order to be able to say it is available in English and/or in the hope of getting English- (or other) language publishing contracts. (Proving once again that quality control is a matter of little concern or interest to commercial US and UK publishers, far too many of these translation have been adopted more or less wholesale under new covers for American and British markets .....)
She doesn't so much mean self self-translation (though that sure worked out for Paul Verhaeghen: he translated his own novel, Omega Minor, and walked away with the 2008 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize), but rather authors paying translators to translate their work (into English, obviously -- the only language that apparently counts (or, so they think, might be worth their while)) and publishing it themselves.
She writes the post in response to comments by Tom Hillenbrand, who suggests, among other things:
Even for a title that doesn't seem to have great potential for the English-language market, it will still make sense to put a translation onto the market on the off chance. The Anglo-Saxon market is gigantic and nobody really knows anyway why certain books are successful.Derbyshire responds:
To my mind, Hillenbrand has neglected one all-important factor in his calculation: the translator.Well, she would, wouldn't she ?
But, to her credit, she has other objections:
Secondly, we have the issue of quality and quality control. It's not a new argument that publishers provide these services, which are not guaranteed in self-publishing.Okay, I admit, this one had me rolling on the floor laughing (and crying). Publishers providing quality control ... oh, what a wonderful dream ! I admit that this is the way we like to think of publishers -- responsible, dedicated, thorough. I note, however, that ... how shall I put it ? they sometimes fall ... shall we say, short. (I remind you that, for example, I recently reviewed a book which includes the translated (by a respected translator, whose work I (generally) admire) sentence: "My sex was a block of wood glued to her womb" (see my previous mention); here -- and in far too many other places -- quality (and other) control has obviously gone completely by the wayside.)
A better argument is:
Moot point number three is demand.Hillenbrand obviously vastly overestimates English-language market demand -- but Derbyshire underestimates the value of having an English-language version available, which does (possibly) open doors to other language markets, especially for those writing in small/obscure/very localized languages.
I am fascinated by this development, because with the rise of cheap on-demand publishing -- which lowers the production costs far below Derbyshire's estimate (the translation itself being the remaining large(st) cost) -- I have seen a small explosion in such commissioned-translations on offer (on offer to reviewers such as myself, that is; in many cases the authors aren't so much looking for a commercial audience as looking to attract mainstream-publisher attention, in order to then get the book published via the usual routes, in this or a second translation). I also foresee this trend continuing (and, indeed, growing fast) -- there are enough desperate authors with enough money to throw around to bankroll such efforts: it's one of the self-publishing trends that will see a massive increase in coming years.
Also: variations on such 'self-translation' aren't a new phenomenon: in various shadings they've existed in the form of mainly national subsidized publishing series for decades: here a publisher translates local fiction in order to be able to say it is available in English and/or in the hope of getting English- (or other) language publishing contracts. (Proving once again that quality control is a matter of little concern or interest to commercial US and UK publishers, far too many of these translation have been adopted more or less wholesale under new covers for American and British markets .....)