New Translated Series – Already #1 Best-Seller on Amazon
New translated series alert! Following the success of Mariah Stone’s previous series of Spanish translations — Al tiempo del Highlander, Al tiempo del vikingo, Al tiempo del pirata, and Duques y secretos — readers are now delighted with the release of the first book in a brand-new Regency series: Los siete lores de los pecados.
Released not even three weeks ago, El duque de la ira, the first in a seven-book series, has already become a #1 best-seller on Amazon, remains the #1 best-seller in its categories weeks after its release and is the #30 best-seller on Amazon Spain at the time of writing. Today we set off to analyse all the work behind the scenes that makes up for another successful launch.
A Killer Premise
The Seven Dukes of Sin series’ premise is simple and yet captivating—seven dukes, seven capital sins, seven books. Together, the dukes form a brotherhood of sin with a credo of its own, made up of, you guessed it, seven principles that resonate with each duke in a unique way.
Soon after Mariah Stone released the first books in the English market, Regency lovers quickly fell in love with these flawed characters and their sharp, audacious heroines with their deep love for science.
But what about their translations? Well, German and Spanish readers are loving them too! Why? Because of the hard, skilled labour of the translators behind each story.
Planning a Book Translation with Simultaneous Ebook, Paperback and Audiobook Releases
Behind the success of each title, there is a lot of work. And it is not just the translator’s. To begin with, an author must work out the deadlines with the translator and the editor. That is: when the book will be ready for the first round of edits; when the editor will deliver the manuscript back to the translator for revision; when the translator will be able to deliver the final version, and if the book will require a final round of edits.
After all the I’s are dotted and all the T’s are crossed, the author needs to figure out the formatting of the paperbacks, ebooks, and special editions (if any). At the same time, the narrator of the foreign language audiobook gets the translated manuscript to start producing the audiobook.
It is crucial for everyone to be realistic about the deadlines before starting the translation process and to keep the communication flowing when something is not clear.
And the results? Totally worth it…
Bonus Tip:
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Decisions, Decisions…
Characters Last Names
The first hard translation decision for this series was what to do with the book titles and character names. In English, all characters have a last name clearly alluding to a capital sin—Rath, Luhst, Pryde, Enveigh, Eccess, Irevrence, and Fortyne.
Had these been nicknames rather than last names, there wouldn’t have been any doubts. As a translator, I would have chosen natural flow over foreign words, diverting readers from the story. This means I would have translated the sins. However, since Mariah cleverly adapted the sins to fit actual last names in this universe, translating them seemed like sinning by overtranslating. In this particular case, keeping their last names English-sounding added to the Regency world-building and the London setting of the stories.
The conversations regarding this decision included the author, the translator, and also the translation editor (Have I mentioned how much I like working with her?). In the end, a unanimous decision was reached—all characters were to keep their original last names, but their capital sins needed to be present in all book titles. Additionally, I needed to introduce characterisations of the sins for each character throughout the Spanish versions of the books to recover what would have been lost in translation — the very essence of each character: the flaw they would have to overcome while falling in love with their true loves: Patience, Chastity, and Modesty (and here we go with more meaningful names…).
Long story short, in order to be faithful to the story, I, the translator, decided to introduce clever storytelling (using adjectives, or descriptions of looks, sighs, behaviour, and body language) that would reflect layers of allusion and give the foreign reader the same reading experience as the original audience.
The Blackmailer’s Gender
These seven dukes of sin are not only bound by their sinful brotherhood, but some of them also share a common enemy—an unscrupulous blackmailer that’s out to get them.
Throughout the books, the dukes receive blackmailing letters, all signed by “A Friend” or “Anonymous.” As a translator, it is important to understand the mystery this character embodies—it could be a man or a woman, it could be a character introduced from book 1 or a character we are yet to discover.
It is equally important, then, to come up with a translation that still embodies this enigma, rather than spoiling it or making readers get the wrong impression with a mistranslation.
In Spanish, most nouns have a gender, so “a friend” is “un amigo” if it refers to a man or “una amiga” if it refers to a woman. The decision here was easy, though. Since this is a Regency book and women in society at the time tended to be denied agency (something all books in the series denounce with their unruly heroines), it would be natural that the dukes assumed they were being blackmailed by a man. Furthermore, women in art and science at the time hid behind male pen names, so it would also be smart for a woman who was blackmailing these powerful men to try to pass as a male blackmailer.
Of course, I am translating the series as it’s being released, so I am also yet to discover the real identity of the blackmailer myself. However, I am positive Spanish readers will experience the same degree of surprise as English fans when the extortionist’s identity is finally revealed.
First Impressions
And one of my personal favourites, a reader who is a fan of Mariah Stone thanks to the books being available in Spanish:
Rounding Up…
The launch week success of Mariah Stone’s newly translated Regency book, El duque de la ira, first in the series Los siete lores de los pecados, is a powerful reminder of what human translation can achieve. Beyond simply converting words from one language to another, professional literary translators capture the nuances, tone, and emotional depth that resonate with readers, especially in genres like historical romance, where setting, dialogue, and cultural cues are everything.
Although the focus of this article is to celebrate another great achievement by an author committed to delivering quality products to her foreign audience, as translators, we believe it is worth mentioning that in the era of AI, many authors and publishing houses might feel tempted to cut costs and corners by using machine translation or AI, and some might have to learn from their mistake the hard way. If you don’t believe us, just look at the case of the Pumpkin Spice Café Spanish translation and the disastrous audience response to the publisher’s decision.
At the end of the day, the overwhelmingly positive response from Spanish-speaking readers of Mariah Stone’s latest work speaks volumes: they didn’t just read a story—they experienced it. And that’s the true value of a skilled translator. When done right, translation becomes an art form that bridges cultures, expands audiences, and opens doors to international success. And, for authors looking to grow their readership and turn a great book into a global phenomenon, investing in quality translation isn’t just a smart move—it’s a game-changer.
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