A thought provoking question for which I am struggling to pin down a single answer. My novel THE SQUIRREL HUNTER (which I am currently redrafting and will almost certainly retitle) is based on a universal theme, essentially an extension of Khayyam's moving finger writes, which poses the question "What if you wrote the story of your life before you were old enough to read it?".
Is there anyone anywhere who wouldn't want to know the answer?
My historical novel is about Irish stained glass artist and illustrator Harry Clarke and I hope it would appeal to his many fans. I was amazed to discover a book in a gallery shop recently, ‘Harry Clarke: An Imaginative Genius in Illustrations and Stained-Glass Arts’, which is written entirely in Japanese with just a few English captions. His illustrations were influenced by Japanese art, so I wonder if he has fans there too? I would love to think so, and I fantasise about a Japanese translation of my novel. There’s just the small matter of publication in English first.
My book is very quaint and set in the English countryside, so I think some Americans might lap it up, but of course that doesn't require translation ... hmm, and it has an element of fantasy in it, so from a comment I see below, perhaps translation into Spanish might be desirable.
China. I’d love to know how this market would perceive my creations, in this looking game of life. I have Chinese characters in my story set in the West of Ireland. To see a tale from a slightly different perspective can really unlock a story’s direction.
We work extensively with translated works☺️ only some marketing hints for authors from our experience. Eastern philosophy sells quite well in France and… Germany (no surprise here), not so much in Italy and Spain. YA and Fantasy perform very well in Spanish, then the market of Spanish work is way bigger than just Spain.
French, because, in addition to opening up a big audience in my home country of Canada, it would give me something I could share with the Malagasy people I've befriended during my time here in Madagascar. I'd enjoy a secondary translation into Malagasy, though the market for that book translation is essentially non-existent.
Though I write in English, French is my mother tongue. I’m a freelance translator who would not enjoy translating her own work… but I would be over the moon to see it in a librairie parisienne, and as a linguist, curious to hear my writing, which is infused with a French rhythm and syntax, “back-translated.”
I'd have it translated from English into Welsh. I live in Carmarthensihre, the Welsh deserve to know the story of what happened to Plath after she survived her 1963 suicide!
Of the literally thousands of comments from agents I have vetted I have yet to hear a single one ever mention they have been party in helping to bring a classic to print, even a period classic for that matter. Why is this? Does anyone dare to think that a classic book has or will not be written in this time...in any language?
Spanish I would say or Portuguese and Catalan as I work with predominantly people who speak these languages. It would be great to see them with a copy of my book and enjoying it on their break. And I can do a modest Irish thank you when they compliment it. Plus the gangland activity stretches to Spain in my book
Although I am Irish, I studied the close of the Hundred Years' War at Centre d'Études Supérieures de la Renaissance in Tours, France. I have written a novel-length manuscript, AGNÈS SOREL: THE SEARCH FOR HER ASSASSAN. This work is a historical "Whodunnit" since the question, "Who murdered Agnès Sorel?" is an unsolved cold case to this day. Forensic archeologist Dr. Philippe Charlier exhumed the remains of Agnès in 2004 and announced to reporters waiting outside his lab in Lille in 2005, "I can't say who poisoned Agnès Sorel in 1450, but someone did." Dr. Charlier had found amounts of mercury in the remains of Agnès that are 10,000 higher than normally found in the human body. I have pointed to the only likely murderer after 12 years of research. Certainly, this crime novel should be published in France. Thank you for your consideration.
French, Italian, and Dutch, all countries that love film and agriculture and history. Thank you for lovely your letter to us readers/writers. So glad - for you - you are working with My Agent Secret. Enjoy.
A thought provoking question for which I am struggling to pin down a single answer. My novel THE SQUIRREL HUNTER (which I am currently redrafting and will almost certainly retitle) is based on a universal theme, essentially an extension of Khayyam's moving finger writes, which poses the question "What if you wrote the story of your life before you were old enough to read it?".
Is there anyone anywhere who wouldn't want to know the answer?
My historical novel is about Irish stained glass artist and illustrator Harry Clarke and I hope it would appeal to his many fans. I was amazed to discover a book in a gallery shop recently, ‘Harry Clarke: An Imaginative Genius in Illustrations and Stained-Glass Arts’, which is written entirely in Japanese with just a few English captions. His illustrations were influenced by Japanese art, so I wonder if he has fans there too? I would love to think so, and I fantasise about a Japanese translation of my novel. There’s just the small matter of publication in English first.
My book is very quaint and set in the English countryside, so I think some Americans might lap it up, but of course that doesn't require translation ... hmm, and it has an element of fantasy in it, so from a comment I see below, perhaps translation into Spanish might be desirable.
China. I’d love to know how this market would perceive my creations, in this looking game of life. I have Chinese characters in my story set in the West of Ireland. To see a tale from a slightly different perspective can really unlock a story’s direction.
https://substack.com/@dukelott/note/c-109597000?r=5h1xth&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action
We work extensively with translated works☺️ only some marketing hints for authors from our experience. Eastern philosophy sells quite well in France and… Germany (no surprise here), not so much in Italy and Spain. YA and Fantasy perform very well in Spanish, then the market of Spanish work is way bigger than just Spain.
One additional note: art-related books sell surprisingly well in all main European countries (might be only from our limited experience).
French, because, in addition to opening up a big audience in my home country of Canada, it would give me something I could share with the Malagasy people I've befriended during my time here in Madagascar. I'd enjoy a secondary translation into Malagasy, though the market for that book translation is essentially non-existent.
Greek!! As one of the stories is set in Cyprus during the war of 1974. It deserves to be told in Greek too and Turkish.
En français, bien sûr !
Though I write in English, French is my mother tongue. I’m a freelance translator who would not enjoy translating her own work… but I would be over the moon to see it in a librairie parisienne, and as a linguist, curious to hear my writing, which is infused with a French rhythm and syntax, “back-translated.”
I'd have it translated from English into Welsh. I live in Carmarthensihre, the Welsh deserve to know the story of what happened to Plath after she survived her 1963 suicide!
This is a 'bit' off topic yet still resonates...
Of the literally thousands of comments from agents I have vetted I have yet to hear a single one ever mention they have been party in helping to bring a classic to print, even a period classic for that matter. Why is this? Does anyone dare to think that a classic book has or will not be written in this time...in any language?
Spanish I would say or Portuguese and Catalan as I work with predominantly people who speak these languages. It would be great to see them with a copy of my book and enjoying it on their break. And I can do a modest Irish thank you when they compliment it. Plus the gangland activity stretches to Spain in my book
Russian or German
Although I am Irish, I studied the close of the Hundred Years' War at Centre d'Études Supérieures de la Renaissance in Tours, France. I have written a novel-length manuscript, AGNÈS SOREL: THE SEARCH FOR HER ASSASSAN. This work is a historical "Whodunnit" since the question, "Who murdered Agnès Sorel?" is an unsolved cold case to this day. Forensic archeologist Dr. Philippe Charlier exhumed the remains of Agnès in 2004 and announced to reporters waiting outside his lab in Lille in 2005, "I can't say who poisoned Agnès Sorel in 1450, but someone did." Dr. Charlier had found amounts of mercury in the remains of Agnès that are 10,000 higher than normally found in the human body. I have pointed to the only likely murderer after 12 years of research. Certainly, this crime novel should be published in France. Thank you for your consideration.
Elisabeth Bell Carroll (email address; IVORY.TOWER@VERIZON.NET
French, Italian, and Dutch, all countries that love film and agriculture and history. Thank you for lovely your letter to us readers/writers. So glad - for you - you are working with My Agent Secret. Enjoy.
Italian, as I think they’d love the wit and the relationship dynamics.