International marketing

Starchaser3000

Science fiction fantasy
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Jan 5, 2012
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Just recently self published a dark fantasy/parody
How can a recently self published author like me begin the process of having my book translated into different languages like Spanish, German, Japanese, to reach a broader audience that does not read or comprehend English? Or at least what is the financial criteria for this to be achieved?
 
oooh, smart idea (if you're sure the market is there for your book). I guess you'll have to bite the bullet and pay for translation. I bet there are University Language students who'd do a great job in their vacations, to earn money... be a lot less than a 'professional'...

Advertise for an exchange student who lives in your house for a month, doing the translating in the morning, and having ther afternoons off to visit your wonderful town/county/country.
 
As Boneman says, if you want a professional job done, you'll have to pay. It takes more than speaking both language to translate properly. Technical terms, slang, idioms and phrases (think: touch wood, piece of cake) all come to bear if you're trying to translate/interpret a document or speech.

I've done a little, very amateur level, translating, but those who do it well have studied hard and worked at it to achieve a higher level of excellence. They would be taking your work and re-writing it (in effect) so that it could be understood by others. No small feat.
 
Yeah this is something I would like to do in the future. Just trying to gather info now so I can invest money into it later. I just thought it would be interesting to read my written work in other languages besides english and hear how it sounds. But I think I would need to do research on what is popular in regards to fiction/fantasy with violence and other mature themes in those countries. Unless any of you can give me internet references that would direct me there.
 
Ideally you'd want to find resources showing what people are buying online, or befiend people who work in book shops and have done for at least a year or so, so they have some idea of what is selling in their countries. Bear in mind that nobody reading the kind of stuff you're writing won't make it impossible to sell, just more difficult. Sometimes it's not even books that ignite a genre, but a movie that becomes extremely popular. Gladiator, for example. Goes to the big screen, is well received and historical fiction (especially Roman) takes off.

Then you'll need people who are fluent in English and the language you want to translate to, as said above. babelfish or google translate just won't do the job :)
 
This is true. Like I said, there is no way I have the financial resources to do this right now. Would like to develop a small niche following first in the English market before I even start thinking about translating my work into other languages. I just think this is a good method to reach a broader audience of fiction/fantasy fans who can't read or understand English very well. Hopefully I can do this in my lifetime before I'm just another financially struggling author that dies in obscurity. haha
 

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