Who pays for book translations? Thread poster: Stanley Malinowitz
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If anyone out there has done full book translations, I'm interested in how it works (and I know it's not always the same way). Is the usual procedure to pitch the book to the publisher with your rate and get paid by them? Plus, I'm in an unusual situation. I proposed a translation to an author of a book published by a small, topical publisher in South America. He'd like it to be published in English by another small, same-topic publisher in India headed by a friend of his (political compatibilit... See more If anyone out there has done full book translations, I'm interested in how it works (and I know it's not always the same way). Is the usual procedure to pitch the book to the publisher with your rate and get paid by them? Plus, I'm in an unusual situation. I proposed a translation to an author of a book published by a small, topical publisher in South America. He'd like it to be published in English by another small, same-topic publisher in India headed by a friend of his (political compatibility is an issue). The friend (who I know a bit, he's a well-known author and honest) told me the company doesn't have a budget for translations but is very interested in publishing it, and suggested we both look for grants. My impression browsing the internet is that it's generally the publisher that looks for the grant, but I don't think he's really working on it. I'm already working on the translation (it's a labor of love that I really want to do, and that I think will have a good audience, but I also need some income from it). Any advice - where to look for grants? Who should be looking? Should I just look for another publisher? The author said he would understand if I did, but would like me to exhaust all possibilities with his friend's publishing house first. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Lingua 5B 
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 06:47
Member (2009)
English to Croatian
+ ...
I’m not familiar with grants in this scenario. Is this a non-fiction book, what’s the field?
From the look of things, you’re working on translation on the basis of pure trust, do you have any contract? Then don’t be surprised if you end up making nothing.
[Edited at 2020-11-16 22:53 GMT]
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It's a non-fiction book in the social sciences (political economy). I don't have a contract, but also no obligation to the would-be publisher. Would like them to keep up good relations with both the author and the publisher, as I'm in the same field (I was an academic before recently switching to translation), admire them, and would like to maintain the relationships beyond this book; also, the translation is already accepted without going through the whole proposal process. On the other hand, I... See more It's a non-fiction book in the social sciences (political economy). I don't have a contract, but also no obligation to the would-be publisher. Would like them to keep up good relations with both the author and the publisher, as I'm in the same field (I was an academic before recently switching to translation), admire them, and would like to maintain the relationships beyond this book; also, the translation is already accepted without going through the whole proposal process. On the other hand, I might get paid by another publisher without looking for grants, and a well-established publisher in the US (or even the UK) would probably do better at marketing it. The author has even offered to let me have the royalty rights instead of him if I can't get funding, but I have no idea how much to expect from that - there will be interest in the (sub)field and it should well if well marketed, but that means well for an academic book.
So, all advice welcome, but back to my original question: if I pitch it to a publisher, as an academic book, should I assume its the publisher that pays the translator? I know some academics translate to have it on their CV as a publication, not for money as with other academic writing, so I'm not sure what to assume. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Grants and other options | Nov 17, 2020 |
Hello Stanley. The world of publishing is quite varied and there is not a hard and fast rule. You seem to care a lot about this project, so it's worth to explore your options. I don't consider myself an expert, but I have worked on a few book projects and I can offer a few considerations below.
Who pays for book translations
Usually it's the foreign publisher: they buy the rights on the book from the author or the original publisher, and they buy the rights on the translation ... See more Hello Stanley. The world of publishing is quite varied and there is not a hard and fast rule. You seem to care a lot about this project, so it's worth to explore your options. I don't consider myself an expert, but I have worked on a few book projects and I can offer a few considerations below.
Who pays for book translations
Usually it's the foreign publisher: they buy the rights on the book from the author or the original publisher, and they buy the rights on the translation from the translator.
Sometimes it's the author, but it's usually because they want to self-publish or have an agreement already in place with a publisher and they want to vet the translator.
Grants
Many countries and institutions offer grants for translations. Start from the ministry of culture of the author's country, or any big cultural institution in that country. If there are any book fairs there, those may also have information on possible grants.
You ask who should be looking for grants, but in my opinion the question is moot. You should all be looking (you, the author, the foreign publisher). You, speaking the source language, can more easily find information from the source country; the foreign publisher can more easily know about funds that may be available locally, e.g. from organizations that care about the topic.
Royalties
You mention the author giving their royalties to you, but you can also be paid in royalties for your translation, because you are formally selling the rights to publish it.
It is not usually a good idea to be paid in royalties only, because you have no way of knowing how many copies have actually been sold (you have to trust the publisher) and most importantly you have no control on how the book is marketed. If the publisher prints the book and leaves all the copies in a warehouse, there is nothing you can do. (I am not saying that this is the case with this publisher, just something to be aware of and a reason why it is mostly a bad idea to accept a payment in royalties only.) Also a small publisher will probably not print/sell huge numbers, so the royalties may not amount to much in the end.
The best publishing contracts will have a flat rate + royalties for the translator. You can then consider accepting a lower initial payment in exchange for higher royalties, or make your own considerations based on what you know of the specific project (how many copies has the book sold in its original language? What kind of circulation does the publisher have for other titles they published? etc.).
Another option?
When you sell the rights to your translation, it will be for a specific market. Same for the author: they can sell the right to publish their book for a specific market, in this case the Indian market. So maybe you can look for several publishers in several countries and sell the rights separately to each of them. You say that political compatibility is an issue, so maybe it would be more difficult to find a well-established publisher who is interested and accepted by the author. (At least that is what I imagine, as otherwise the author would have tried to sell the book to a bigger publisher first.)
I have no experience at all with this kind of project, i.e. selling the book and translation to different markets separately, it's just an idea that might be worth to explore.
Finally: you may want to have a look at literary translators associations' guidelines for translation contracts, such as:
https://www.ceatl.eu/translators-rights/guidelines-for-fair-translation-contracts
(If you are already aware of that, please ignore. But often translators are not aware of their rights when it comes to book translations and publishing.)
Hope this helps. ▲ Collapse
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Peter Motte
Belgium
Local time: 06:47
Member (2009)
English to Dutch
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| The publisher | Nov 17, 2020 |
That's it.
It's rather unusual the author pays for it.
And certainly not the translator.
[Edited at 2020-11-17 13:58 GMT]
| | | | | always the other contract party and if he tries to pass this obligation onto somebody else, disagree | Nov 17, 2020 |
unless this other entity is properly bound to do so.
| | | | Mervyn Henderson (X)
Spain
Local time: 06:47
Spanish to English
+ ...
| Translator looking for grants? | Nov 19, 2020 |
Where to get a grant? If it's a book on economics, apply to the Research Department in the Ministry of Finance in the country you're talking about. Or the IMF or the World Bank. If it's leaning more towards social affairs, the Ministry of Social Affairs. Or UNESCO. And so on.
But it sounds like other people want you to do all the leg work for a common purpose. Any of those authorities issuing a grant would be more likely to take notice of a publisher or an author than the translator... See more Where to get a grant? If it's a book on economics, apply to the Research Department in the Ministry of Finance in the country you're talking about. Or the IMF or the World Bank. If it's leaning more towards social affairs, the Ministry of Social Affairs. Or UNESCO. And so on.
But it sounds like other people want you to do all the leg work for a common purpose. Any of those authorities issuing a grant would be more likely to take notice of a publisher or an author than the translator, surely, so why not just encourage them to contact UNESCO or whatever?
[Edited at 2020-11-19 15:50 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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