Should I Hire Several Translators for My Book Series?

Should I Hire Several Translators for My Book Series?

Up to now, we have deeply analysed what Literary Translation is. Then we have looked at some red flags that will help you stay away from bad linguists. So, it might be a good time to start thinking about effective ways to enter new markets through translations.

Most indie authors who have been in the authorship business for a while must have heard, at the very least, about the rapid release strategy other indies use when launching titles in the same series or universe.

The strategy basically consists of holding off the launch of the titles that make up a series until it is complete (or almost complete) and then proceeding to release the books in short intervals. This technique offers authors tempting benefits, such as getting readers hooked and reading the author’s series non-stop. This can easily result in increased sales and potentially reaching #1 New Release on their Amazon categories, for example.

Nonetheless, not everything that shines is gold. In fact, this strategy also has its cons, which is why some experts think it only works for established writers with a solid fan base and a good author platform.

Now, When it Comes to Translating Books: Is this the Right Approach?

Authors often feel tempted to hire several translators to work on different titles in the same series in order to release faster. After all, the book is already written. So, why should they wait for the three to four months it’d take one professional translator to do the job when they can have a whole series translated in the same amount of time?

All in all, it certainly sounds like irrefutable logic, right?

However, first as an avid reader (one of those binge-readers even) and second as a literary translator, I strongly recommend you not to do this. Even though the pros of this decision might seem to surpass the cons, more often than not the reality proves to be different.

On the one hand, each literary translator possesses unique knowledge, creativity, and skill which are, of course, reflected in their translations. On the other hand, as they perform their work, they must make decisions or resort to different techniques, resources and literary devices to solve translation problems and overcome obstacles. Multiple ways of solving these issues might be equally valid, and the truth is there might be as many ways of solving them as translators available.

Maybe Not...

Once readers get used to their voice, which is the translator’s take on the voice of the author, changing narrators might not be the best call. As a matter of fact, it could even backfire on you due to the potentially jarring change in tone.

One of the greatest advantages of sticking to your translator for a whole series is that this one professional knows the whole story. Thus, the translator is familiar with all its subtleties, characters, settings, and every detail that makes the narrative and the author’s voice. Your readers might get deeply upset when encountering inconsistencies in a series. And this is more likely to happen the more different translators work on the same series, even if your translators work together and share a glossary of terms.

No doubt, you have made a huge investment in finding the right professionals (not just your translator, but also the translations’ editor, the cover artist, the book formatter, etc.). And that is why you should be aiming to make sales, not lose readers who will get irritated by the change of narrative on the second or third book in your series.

It is okay to feel eager to enter a new market, to connect with a new audience, and to want to please your readers with quicker releases. But as a rule of thumb, remember what Bruce Lee once said:

“Long-term consistency trumps short-term intensity.”

This does not mean you can’t aim for a quick release schedule and have to launch three or four translated titles a year (depending on your translator’s turnaround and availability).

What You Can Do Instead...

If you have decided to have your titles translated into Spanish (or any other language, for that matter) and are hell-bent on launching your books as quickly as possible, you could do what many writers do when choosing the rapid release strategy:

Choose your translator based not only on their experience and skill, but also on their availability and turnaround
Consider increasing your translators’ fees in exchange for exclusivity and faster turnaround. (But bear in mind, some professionals will decline these sorts of offers)
Hold off the release date until more books in the series are available (though if you do this and you haven’t worked with the translator before, it’d be a good idea to ask a few native speakers to beta read for you. This way, you can make sure the audience won’t find any issues with the translation when you release a couple of books in a row)
Start connecting with your Spanish speaking audience before launching your first book; generate momentum! (Psst! You probably have a lot more Spanish speaking readers on your social media or Newsletter list than you know!)
Start building book buzz for your upcoming translated titles (work with your translator and hire a professional graphic designer)
Do not delegate marketing translations to someone else to keep your translator focused on your books. Do not underestimate your audience. Remember readers will judge the quality of your work based on the translation of your marketing campaigns and if they find your social media content poor and unengaging in their language, they’ll certainly not be buying your books
Get your audience involved and have them become your first fans (ask them to review your ARCs of your Spanish translations and to join your Spanish Street Team)
If you absolutely must, hire a second translator to start working on a different series

Final Thoughts

As a literary translator, meeting authors who are successful in their markets and have done thorough research to effectively reach new audiences is always a thrill. Especially when they’re ready to dive in!

However, when it comes to the world of translations, there seems to be a lot of (un)reliable sources providing incomplete or incorrect information which might prove harmful both to authors and translators; for example, encouraging authors to make potentially bad decisions when it comes to exploiting their foreign rights.

As discussed in several instances in this blog and in our upcoming book, literary translation is a profession that requires much more than the ability to write a text in a foreign language.

I hope this article sheds some light on what literary translation really is and the importance of not taking your future new audience for granted. Instead, I strongly encourage you to respect it and have fun getting to know it.

Lastly, please don’t take literary translation advice from people who simply write advice on where to find the cheapest translators (a.k.a., not skilled or professionals), how to make “the most” of your investment the fastest way possible or how these professionals should be paid. After all, would you tell an accountant how much they should charge you for completing your yearly tax forms?

Understandably, this is a new subject for you, so you should be excited to explore it and find out all there is to know about this profession and how working with the right professionals will benefit you as an author.

And even though at SBT we might not always have availability to take on new customers, we’d be happy to answer any literary translation questions you might have in the comments or on a separate post, so don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and inquiries.