By Hannah Johnson Gathered from Boersenblatt.net, here are the top ten fiction and nonfiction hardcover bestsellers in Germany this week. Top 10 Hardcover Fiction Bestsellers in Germany (Oct 28 – Nov 3) (From Boersenblatt.net) Ken Follett: Sturz der Titanen German Publisher: Bastei Luebbe (Translated from English) Original: Fall of Giants, published by Dutton Adult Elizabeth George: Wer dem Tode geweiht …
Is the Lack of Interest in Translations a Global Problem?
By Edward Nawotka In today’s editorial Chad Post makes a compelling argument for the utility of publishing both translations with the potential to be blockbuster bestsellers and those that cater to a more niche audience. Post is writing primarily with American readers in mind, with the understanding being that US publishers are largely reticent to publish translated works due to …
How Do You Get People Interested in Your Books?
By Hannah Johnson In today’s editorial, Chad Post argues that when it comes to publishing translations in the USA, publishers should not first ask how they can pay for the production costs, but rather how they can get people interested in these translated titles. So how do you get people interested in the books you publish? What has worked the …
Irish Kids Co Little Island Launches Today, Heads for Bologna
By Siobhán Parkinson Little Island is a baby imprint. It’s all-grown-up and very-much-wiser parent is New Island Books, an established Dublin-based independent publishing house. When I say baby, I don’t mean Little Island actually publishes books for babies –- for children, yes, but what we hilariously call “older children.” (How old can you get and still be a child? It’s …
Notes from the Underground: Indie Publishing in Putin’s Russia
By Daniel Kalder MOSCOW: Back in 1993 a group of philosophers from the Russian Academy of Sciences formed Ad Marginem Press in Moscow. Their plan was simple: to publish translations of late 20th century Western philosophy that had been unavailable in the USSR, alongside works of contemporary Russian fiction. After 70 years of totalitarianism Russians were hungry for new ideas …
Best Translated Book Award Finalists
By Edward Nawotka The finalists for the Best Translated Book Award were announced tonight in New York City, with ten titles making the cut in the categories of fiction and poetry. The winners will be announced on March 10th. “This is definitely the most diverse and interesting group of finalists yet,” said Chad W. Post, director of Three Percent, the …
Name Your “Lost” Books
By Edward Nawotka Today’s lead story discusses the phenomenon of the bookseller who is frustrated at not being able to deliver the books that his customer is asking for — some obscure, some rather well-known, but for some reason, unavailable for purchase. These aren’t necessarily books that haven’t been translated. On the contrary, they are often available in an English …
Introducing the Best Books You’ll Never Find
By Lewis Manalo NEW YORK: In Spring 2008, when David Del Vecchio opened Idlewild Books in New York City, he decided to take a different approach to the bookshop: rather than organize by genre, the books would be organized by place. Often when traveling for his previous job with the UN, David had had to scour the shelves of a …
Looking at Arabic Fiction in Translation
By Chip Rossetti The January 18 issue of the New Yorker has a great piece by Claudia Roth Pierpont (already available online) on Arabic novels in translation: I worked with some of these authors during my time at the American University in Cairo Press, so it’s a pleasure to see the New Yorker giving this growing literary landscape some well-deserved …
The Translation Gap: Why More Foreign Writers Aren’t Published in America
By Emily Williams NEW YORK: Parts one, two and three of my series on scouting looked at American efforts to sell American books overseas. Today, this fourth and final installment of the series looks at the other side of the equation and brings us to a question most scouts run into sooner or later, often posed by one of their …