Interview with Paranormal Romance Author April L. Moon
Step into the shadows with paranormal romance author April L. Moon as she unveils the mysterious journey of bringing her tales to life in German. Her fated-mates series “The Hunted Omegas” captivate readers across languages. Today, in this interview, she opens up about working with literary translators, the thrill of reaching new German-speaking audiences, and how translating the supernatural brings its own set of unexpected challenges—and rewards. Read on to find out some valuable advice on how to approach literary translations and reach new markets!
Hello, April, and welcome to Spanish Book Translations! Would you like to introduce yourself and briefly tell us a bit about your career as an author? For example, when you started writing and publishing? Are you a traditionally published author, or are you an indie or hybrid writer? How has your author brand developed over the years?)
April L. Moon: Hi, Carolina and Ayelen! Thanks for having me. Technically my author career started in 2020, publishing in a small niche genre for YA books. I’ve always been indie, with occasional trad deals for sub-rights here and there. My April brand is still pretty new, but I plan to stick with it for the foreseeable future, mostly because I love these books and playing with magic in my writing.
How did you decide to translate your series The Hunted Omegas into German? What research did you do before choosing German as your next target market, and how did you approach book translations?
ALM: Honestly? I asked my author community what my next steps should be. I’d met four lovely ladies at NINC who all were earning more than me at the time, and they recommended German translations as the next step.
For research, I dug around in the German online bookstores, checking to see how well wolf shifter romance seemed to be doing over there, as well as what cover/title trends I could expect. It seemed pretty consistent with a lot of what I was already doing in the US market, so I decided to make the leap.
How did you find the right professionals to handle your foreign editions? How did you test their skill set and experience? Did you always work with the same linguist team? Do you think this is important? If so, why?
ALM: I found Literary Queens as my translation company via a personal recommendation. Yanina has been great to work with from the beginning, and I felt really comfortable with the amount of support they provide on the back end.
As far as testing skill and experience goes, I checked online to see the reviews for other books they’d translated, and made sure they didn’t have any negative reviews for translation quality. I do know Melissa Storm also offers a translation excerpt checking service, as well, which sounds like a really great option. I haven’t used it yet, but I’m planning to before branching into further languages.
How much say did you have in the decision-making process during the translation? How long did the process take, and what was that experience like?
ALM: During the translation things were pretty quiet, which was perfect for me. I was free to focus on my writing. If they had questions or issues they’d always let me know, but mostly it was smooth and quiet. It takes a few months per book, but each one has been delivered on time or a little early, and honestly, very easy! The hardest part has been me realizing how many little bits and pieces I’d need translated after the fact to make it smooth for my German readers to do things like join my newsletters and download bonus scenes. Or, as they say, Bonusszenes.
So far, you have released the first three books in The Hunted Omegas series for the German market and there is one more book on the way. The first book was released in April 2025, the second one in June, and the third one in August (just a few weeks ago!). The three titles seemed to have been received very well by German-speaking readers, based on the high number of reviews and their ratings. Could you tell us a bit about this experience? What does it feel like to reach a new market with your writing? What were your initial expectations? Were they met?
ALM: I am still working with my translation team to produce the entire series as it comes out, so it’s an ongoing process. The German readers have been SO overwhelmingly great. I get tagged pretty frequently in reviews and things on social media that I enjoy having Meta translate so I can attempt to reply.
As far as expectations, they’ve been blown out of the water. I was just hoping to break even, but hitting the top 100 in Germany with all three books so far has been phenomenally unexpected.
Let’s talk about book sales. How do the sales of the translated books compare to the titles published in the English market? Did you recover the investment in translation? If so, how fast? If not, how long do you think it might take at this rate? Do you think having an established author brand beforehand helped succeed in a new market?
ALM: At this point I have recovered my initial investment for the first two books; the third just came out, but it’s already over 50% of the way there. The first book took the longest, just because momentum takes a bit to build. I’m not honestly sure if my branding here helped moving to a new market; I think it’s mostly about product quality and strategic marketing, wherever you want to sell books.
Would you like to share what your main concerns were when hiring a translator and an editor, and how you handled them? What advice would you offer to other indies dealing with similar fears?
ALM: Oh, gosh. I’m sure the same as most authors:
1. How do I know if I’m getting a great translation that will meet reader expectations?
2. What if the books don’t earn back the investment?
My advice would be to talk to other authors who’ve already done it. Conferences are a great place to do that, so try to find a good indie conference with other people attending at your level and above, who can give advice and swap recommendations. I’m an introvert, so networking is difficult for me, but has been worth it.
In terms of marketing foreign titles, how do you approach this? Do you have a special Newsletter to connect with foreign readers and let them know about your releases in their language? Do you share updates on social media? Is this something you outsource altogether? How different are your English marketing campaigns from the German ones?
ALM: I do have my assistant translate my monthly newsletter into German (using a tool) so that they can also receive a German newsletter at the same frequency as my English readers. We make sure to include a disclaimer at the bottom of the newsletter so there’s never any confusion about what’s human translated (all of my books, blurbs, marketing materials, etc.) and what we plugged into a translation tool (just the newsletter).
My social media presence is only in English, for now. Many social sites have built in “translate” options, and so far that has been sufficient, though I’m always open to trying new things.
German campaigns are nearly identical to my English ones! I make sure everything is professionally translated, but I run them the exact same way.
Have you received any specific feedback on the quality of the translations? Are there any recurring comments that keep showing up?
ALM: Mostly people just comment on the story or characters, which to me says the translations are exactly how they should be; they let people get lost in the story.
Would you recommend other authors to explore the exploitation of foreign rights? In your opinion, is it worth the time and investment? If so, what advice would you give to other writers in your genre?
ALM: I have found it very worth the investment. Next on my list is French, and I hope to do Spanish and Italian eventually. The main thing is to not be afraid to take it slowly, at the pace you find sustainable.
In recent times, there has been an increasing trend for AI translation, including literary translation. As a creator and an author who has worked with human translators and editors, what are your thoughts on this?
ALM: It’s not my preference, mostly because I think a human translator has a greater capacity for understanding the nuance that makes writing great. I also prefer to have human options, which means I need to keep supporting my fellow humans at their own art (cover design, translation, editing, etc.). I don’t want to do everything by myself; I like having a team around me.
What is next in your writing journey? Are you planning new books? Are you considering translating into new languages? If so, which ones have crossed your mind, and why?
ALM: Right now I’m still finishing up the Hunted Omegas series, and I have another series penciled in to start when it’s done next year. Definitely yes on the new languages, as I said before. I’m hopeful from this point forward to translate all of my books that sell well enough to support a translation.
Are there any final words or advice you would like to share?
ALM: Hmm… That it’s okay to wait until you’re ready, and the money wouldn’t hurt you if it was slow to come back or even a loss. I wouldn’t translate books that sell poorly in English, I’d keep writing in English until I found that successful series to take the leap with.
I also have a podcast launching soon (the Tough Love Publishing podcast), if they’d like to hear more about my publishing journey and advice for authors.
Thank you so much for your time today, April! We are positive your experience will shed some light on the sometimes obscure world of literary translations and inspire many aspiring authors out there.
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