An idea about my novel

[Christine]

After jpaul mentioned his regrets in consinder of my novel that´s only available in german, I had an idea while doing the late shift. I would like to translate the novel in english, but I need help for this. I need someone who´s a native speaker and would like to read and correct the chapters if nessecary. I think my publisher wouldn´t have anything against it, if we find a way to sell the ebook. And of course I would share my royalties with the one who helps me.

Edited March 10, 2021 by Christine

[miamijimf]

Christine - I would like to help somehow.  I'm a native (American) English speaker.  Even though I was assigned to Germany for three years I'm sorry to say my German consists of "Ein beer bitte mit Pommes frittes."  My excuse is that it was a pretty hectic three years during the Cold War.  If you use Google translate into English I could try to smooth it out for you.  How long is it?  Capturing the essence of your meaning we might have to work out.  Not interested in royalties.

Edited March 10, 2021 by miamijimf

[jpaul1]

just a small point that involves myself only. i'm highly interested but not by an ebook. i'm kinda addict to the paper feel . this being said, did you consider online payware solutions Christine. but i have absolutely no idea of what it costs. the point is you will be sure it'll be made as it should, assuming you choose a translator with good reputation of course. parenthesis closed

[Tom]

How much work (how many pages) is this? I did a lot of translations already bidirectionally. General problem with German to English  is there are very few English native speakers who speak German good enough to get the nuances transferred. So you need to stick to a bilingual person in most cases.

[Robbie C.]

One thing I'd caution is don't use an English speaker who happens to be British. They did that with the Gaeron Rath books, and the translator's fetish for turning every German police term and rank into its British equivalent was a major turn-off for me.

[jpaul1]

12 hours ago, Robbie C. said:

One thing I'd caution is don't use an English speaker who happens to be British. They did that with the Gaeron Rath books, and the translator's fetish for turning every German police term and rank into its British equivalent was a major turn-off for me.

this, and the meghan, and Harry interview. i think Americans are gonna see few man o wars in Boston harbor soon

[Christine]

I got in touch with my publisher today and asked her what she thought of my idea. In principle she is not against it, BUT ...
I'll translate what she wrote to me:
"The idea is not bad, but a hell of a lot depends on a project like this, even if it is corrected by a native speaker. It doesn't just have to be translated, but also proofread again. Is a native speaker enough for it? I don't know . Selling an e-book would of course be relatively easy, with a print version it looks different again, because you cannot simply distribute it from Germany. You need agents / distributors in the respective country. That would not be a problem if an American publisher ( or similar) would like to buy the license to translate, because then it would be his job to take care of everything. "
I confess that I hadn't considered these things, which of course has to do with the fact that I'm not a publisher. Is this the end of my idea and my dream?

[Tom]

vor 59 Minuten schrieb Christine:

I got in touch with my publisher today and asked her what she thought of my idea. In principle she is not against it, BUT ...
I'll translate what she wrote to me:
"The idea is not bad, but a hell of a lot depends on a project like this, even if it is corrected by a native speaker. It doesn't just have to be translated, but also proofread again. Is a native speaker enough for it? I don't know . Selling an e-book would of course be relatively easy, with a print version it looks different again, because you cannot simply distribute it from Germany. You need agents / distributors in the respective country. That would not be a problem if an American publisher ( or similar) would like to buy the license to translate, because then it would be his job to take care of everything. "
I confess that I hadn't considered these things, which of course has to do with the fact that I'm not a publisher. Is this the end of my idea and my dream?

I don´t see the big issue. With internet publishers like lulu.com you can easily publish worldwide, e-books or in print. You don´t need an agent/distributor in the respective country. That´s traditional thinking and time-consuming and too costly for a small budget. I have published my book as well worldwide and I don´t have any agent or traditional publisher.

What you need is a person who can translate your novel from German to English on a professional level. And then somebody else (native speaker) to proof-read. In my case, I did it all by myself and I was satisfied with both guys .

[Tom]

vor 16 Stunden schrieb Robbie C.:

One thing I'd caution is don't use an English speaker who happens to be British. They did that with the Gaeron Rath books, and the translator's fetish for turning every German police term and rank into its British equivalent was a major turn-off for me.

You´re so right. I see a more general issue with Brits and translations beyond police terms. It´s simply that many British native speakers try to differentiate themselves from the rest of the world by re-establishing a self-perceived language standard that has never existed but for most people sounds like Klingonian in Star Trek movies. in other words, they try to make a language crusade or lecture out of everything, even at cost of readability. And, let´s face it, British English is as much global language standard as French. Right or wrong, but it´s a fact that most potential readers either are Americans themselves or at least influenced by American English via TV series and movies and will scratch their heads over "lorry" (instead of "truck") or "bloke" (instead of "guy").

And, as an author, you have to write for the global majority, not for a small minority of language colonial thinkers 

P.S. Same in German. I am Austrian and of course I think my Austrian German sounds way better than "German German".

But when writing a book in German I need to use plain German if I want to sell it to a German speaking audience (which consists of Germany, Austria and Switzerland and each country has its own version of German.

Edited March 11, 2021 by Tom

[Christine]

vor 16 Minuten schrieb Tom:

I don´t see the big issue. With internet publishers like lulu.com you can easily publish worldwide, e-books or in print. You don´t need an agent/distributor in the respective country. That´s traditional thinking and time-consuming and too costly for a small budget. I have published my book as well worldwide and I don´t have any agent or traditional publisher.

 

So you published as a self-publisher. But I have a contract with a very small publisher. On the one hand, such a publisher is practical, but on the other hand, you are of course bound by the specifications of the contract.
In addition to the novel that has already been published, I also have a crime fiction manuscript that has not yet found a "home" with a publisher, as the revision has only just been completed. I could do this myself in this way. It is, however, much more extensive than "City under Glass - The Privileged", the novel we are talking about here.

[Tom]

vor 1 Minute schrieb Christine:

So you published as a self-publisher. But I have a contract with a very small publisher. On the one hand, such a publisher is practical, but on the other hand, you are of course bound by the specifications of the contract.
In addition to the novel that has already been published, I also have a crime fiction manuscript that has not yet found a "home" with a publisher, as the revision has only just been completed. I could do this myself in this way. It is, however, much more extensive than "City under Glass - The Privileged", the novel we are talking about here.

Then, maybe you are allowed by the contract (or change it accordingly) that you can self publish your book in other countries or in English? 

[Christine]

vor 17 Minuten schrieb Tom:

What you need is a person who can translate your novel from German to English on a professional level. And then somebody else (native speaker) to proof-read. In my case, I did it all by myself and I was satisfied with both guys .

Yes, you are right and what luck that you wre satisfied with the work of these two guys.  Unfortunately I'm unable to do it all myself, but fortunately there are some nice guys here who have offered their help.

[Tom]

vor 4 Minuten schrieb Christine:

So you published as a self-publisher. But I have a contract with a very small publisher. On the one hand, such a publisher is practical, but on the other hand, you are of course bound by the specifications of the contract.
In addition to the novel that has already been published, I also have a crime fiction manuscript that has not yet found a "home" with a publisher, as the revision has only just been completed. I could do this myself in this way. It is, however, much more extensive than "City under Glass - The Privileged", the novel we are talking about here.

I did not publish a novel. A novel has its own laws. But, either way, the limitations you mentioned were the reason why I decided not to see a traditional publisher. Too many legal and cost implications that made it impractical for me.

[Christine]

vor 3 Minuten schrieb Tom:

Then, maybe you are allowed by the contract (or change it accordingly) that you can self publish your book in other countries or in English? 

Not with "City under Glass - The Privileged", but with every novel that hasn´t found a publisher yet.

[Tom]

vor 1 Minute schrieb Christine:

Yes, you are right and what luck that you wre satisfied with the work of these two guys.  Unfortunately I'm unable to do it all myself, but fortunately there are some nice guys here who have offered their help.

As said, I can do a translation to English if needed and if it´s not hundreds of pages (War and Peace Part 2). I lived in the US and am very close to native level. I paid my dues when I wrote my thesis in English and more than 5 mistakes would have resulted in a rejection of the 100 pager. Some US native speaker here on the forum (@miamijimf volunteered already?) could proof-read.

[Christine]

vor 2 Minuten schrieb Tom:

I did not publish a novel. 

What have you published?

 

[Tom]

Gerade eben schrieb Christine:

What have you published?

 

My MV episode guide in German and English.

[Christine]

vor 1 Minute schrieb Tom:

As said, I can do a translation to English if needed and if it´s not hundreds of pages (War and Peace Part 2). I lived in the US and am very close to native level. I paid my dues when I wrote my thesis in English and more than 5 mistakes would have resulted in a rejection of the 100 pager. Some US native speaker here on the forum (@miamijimf volunteered already?) could proof-read.

Don´t worry. War and Peace has a lot more pages than my novel. But the crime fiction manuscript is about ... 633 pages.

[Tom]

vor 1 Minute schrieb Christine:

Don´t worry. War and Peace has a lot more pages than my novel. But the crime fiction manuscript is about ... 633 pages.

Uff...maybe that´s the reason it´s hard to find a publisher?  Just kidding...

All joking aside, this IS a cost and time factor if you are bound to a publisher/translator and maybe also some inhibitor for potential audiences. Only few people are willing to read such volumes on a crime fiction novel in my observation. Have you discussed the volume factor with your publisher? He should have experience with that part of the equation.

I am willing to help, but a professional translation for 600+ pages will over exceed my spare time plan by far ....

[Christine]

vor 10 Minuten schrieb Tom:

Uff...maybe that´s the reason it´s hard to find a publisher?  Just kidding...

All joking aside, this IS a cost and time factor if you are bound to a publisher/translator and maybe also some inhibitor for potential audiences. Only few people are willing to read such volumes on a crime fiction novel in my observation. Have you discussed the volume factor with your publisher? He should have experience with that part of the equation.

I am willing to help, but a professional translation for 600+ pages will over exceed my spare time plan by far ....

The publisher in which I published "Stadt unter Glas-Die Privilegierte" is not a publisher for crime novels or thrillers. He specializes more in mystery and horror. That's why I haven't offered the crime thriller there yet. However, I know a lot of people for whom a 633-page novel is still too thin. THey only find novels interesting from 800 pages.
I have time. It's not that I really want the novel to be published next year, for example. I would also translate the individual chapters (also with the help of the Google Translator). My main concern is smoothing out the language and eliminating mistakes

[Tom]

vor 1 Minute schrieb Christine:

My main concern is smoothing out the language and eliminating mistakes

That’s my least concern if the base translation was done properly. Google translate is not a companion I would use and will not be practical at that scale anyway.

[Christine]

vor 6 Minuten schrieb Tom:

That’s my least concern if the base translation was done properly. Google translate is not a companion I would use and will not be practical at that scale anyway.

Unfortunately, the Google Translator is currently my only resource that I can use, but of course you are right. I couldn't put all of the text in there. Which I wouldn't do anyway.

[Tom]

vor 1 Minute schrieb Christine:

Unfortunately, the Google Translator is currently my only resource that I can use, but of course you are right. I couldn't put all of the text in there. Which I wouldn't do anyway.

With the 450(?) letter limit per portion in Google translate you will go nuts. Have you calculated how many (copy paste) portions you will need for all 633 pages? 
You will need to hire a patient help to do that? Izzy‘s Manny perhaps? 

[jpaul1]

Christine, your english is not bad. why don't you do the translation yourself. then you proof read with friends, or MV fellas. who could add the little final touch. that would go much faster, and much cheaper than the other solutions. then if your book has success, with the money you order a reliable online translation with a 1st class translation service. that would imply a reprint. but it won't be the first book to get a reprint

[Christine]

According to the information here in the translator, the limit is 5000 signs. You can do a lot with that. Some short stories are not allowed to have more signs.