Cheryl: On August
24, 2011, I was contacted online by an agent who had a client that wanted the
Turkish rights to THE RIVER. That deal went ahead and GIZEMLI NEHIR was
released about a year later as well. It was actually prominently displayed at
the Frankfurt Book Fair. In March 2012, I signed a two-book deal with a Chinese
company for the translations of CHILDREN OF THE FOG and WHALE SONG. I believe
it took about a year for the ebook editions to come out. However, they are
illustrated inside and much went into their production.
On October 18th, 2013, I was contacted by a
representative from Amazon Crossing. Here’s what she said: “We’re launching an
invite-only beta program focused on literary translation for select KDP authors
to translate their works into German. We think your title, Children of the Fog,
would be a good fit for this program.” I was elated! It took just under 8
months before DES NEBELS KINDER was released.
I was paid an advance for my German and Turkish
translations. I received no advance for the Chinese editions, but I did not
have to pay them. I did pay for the
Spanish translation of my non-fiction marketing book.
How about you,
Theresa? When were you approached, and how long did it take?
Theresa: In
October, 2012, Amazon Crossing translated Abducted which I had sold to Thomas
& Mercer. Abducted, IM NETZ DES SPINNENMANNS: THRILLER, hit #1 on Amazon.de
and stayed there for over a month. The book did so well I decided to look into
finding a German translator and having my KDP books translated. I ended up finding
the Libelli Agency in March 2013 and I signed a contract to have them translate
HAVING MY BABY, a contemporary romance. Nine months later, in November 2013,
Having My Baby (Plötzlich Vater) was released. The entire process for that one
title cost me a little over $8,000, but at 70% royalties, I made my initial
investment back in the first week! Getting 70% royalties is nice, but it takes
money to make money.
By the time Amazon Crossing approached me in July, 2013, I
had already signed with the Libelli Agency to translate two of my books. Since
I like to try everything, I signed three of my books with Amazon Crossing. I
signed a contract in October and eight months later, on June 10th, SPIELZUG INS GLÜCK was released! Two more books are
coming soon.
Cheryl, what was your first reaction to
seeing the cover? Did you ask for any changes?
Cheryl: My first
reaction was absolute joy when I saw the cover for DES NEBELS KINDER. Like most
authors, I am very particular about my covers, and since Amazon Crossing was
new to me, I was hoping I’d get a cover I liked. Not only do I “like” it, I
LOVE it! They perfectly captured an element of the story, the mood and the atmosphere.
Then there’s the way they stacked my name. Funny thing, I had once stacked my
name like they did, and for some reason I didn’t like it, so I changed it. Yet
on the cover of DES NEBELS KINDER it
works. Maybe it’s the font, I don’t know. The cover was perfect, so I had no
reason to ask for any changes. I am also very happy with the covers for my
Chinese, Spanish and Turkish translations.
Theresa, how do you
feel about your cover? Did you suggest any changes or tweaks?
Theresa: My
biggest problem with being an independent author is choosing a great cover. I
go back and forth and I swear I can’t always tell a great cover from an okay
cover. It’s so subjective, in my opinion. Anyhow, I didn’t like the font on one
of the books, so we played with that for a while and then I wasn’t sure about
the color of the font, so I ended up choosing black for the author name. I am
so original. Ha! Lucky for me, Amazon Crossing is easy to work with. And
patient!
Did you do anything
different with the editing process, Cheryl? How involved were you in the
process?
Cheryl: Amazon
Crossing was very easy to work with and very diligent about keeping my story
intact. We had a minor challenge in one chapter where we had to come up with
different items as the first letter of each was to spell out a message. But we
were able to agree on those items. And there was a poem in the English version
that had to be replaced with a different poem so that everything would flow.
Other than these, I left it up to my translator. Trust goes a long way to
making the process easy. All in all, I would have no problem with them
translating any of my books.
With the Turkish and Spanish translations I trusted the
process. With the Chinese ebooks I did have to explain a few times what a
character was doing or saying. I had a fair amount of input into the editing
and the creation of the illustrations, which are beautiful.
How about you,
Theresa? Was your editing process challenging?
Theresa: The
editing process for all of my translations have been fairly simple and
straightforward. Like you, I did have one problem in that one of my characters,
a small child, had a lisp. That lisp did not translate well, so we had to do
some tweaking to make it make sense for German readers. I believe the character
ended up having a problem with “S” instead of “L”. To tell you the truth, any
of these foreign books could be someone else’s story altogether. I don’t mean
to scare anyone. I took two years of German when I was very young, but unless
you are Tina Folsom and you speak the language, how can you be sure every
sentence is your own? It’s called trust. I trust the people at Amazon Crossing
and I trust the people at the Libelli Agency. I trust them to care about the
books they put out and their reputation. So, overall, it’s been fun.
Is there anything
else you’d like to add, Cheryl?
Cheryl: Just my
extreme gratefulness to my translator, Ingrid
Könemann-Yarnell, and my Amazon Crossing representative, Katrin
Mueller, for making my first German translation such an enjoyable experience. I
hope to have more works with Amazon Crossing soon. I love that my works are
available to those who speak/read other languages. Now if only I had some
French translations—half of Quebec might buy them (all the Tardifs). J
Any last words,
Theresa?
This has been fun, Cheryl. I’m so glad we’ve had a chance
to meet and blog together. I must say I do love your cover for Des Nebels
Kinder. Very eerie…which I love. Congratulations on your success in the foreign
markets. I would also like to thank Katrin Mueller with Amazon Crossing, and
Birte and Ute with the Libelli Agency. I
couldn’t have asked for better people to work with.
One last thing…I also had a book translated in Spanish.
The book is doing great. I have 15 five stars, which tells me that my
translator did a great job. También
es hijo mío has been doing well in the U.S. and Spain. For anyone
interested in having a novel translated in Spanish, feel free to contact Angeles Aragón. Her
website is http://www.elregalodesuvida.com. You can email Angeles at geleraragon@gmail.com and ask her for a quote on what it would cost to
have your book translated.
Author Bios:
New York Times
and USA Today bestselling author Theresa Ragan grew up with four sisters
in Lafayette, California. She has garnered six Golden Heart nominations in
Romance Writers of America's prestigious Golden Heart Competition for her work.
After writing for twenty years, Theresa decided to self-publish in March, 2011,
and has sold over one million books since that time. In 2012, she signed with
Thomas & Mercer and is having the time of her life. Theresa writes medieval
time travels, contemporary romance, romantic suspense, and thrillers under the
name T.R. Ragan. OBSESSED, the fourth book in her bestselling Lizzy Gardner series
is available for pre-order. To learn more about Theresa you can visit her website
at www.theresaragan.com.
Cheryl Kaye
Tardif is an
award-winning, international bestselling Canadian suspense author represented
by Trident Media Group in New York. Her novels include Divine Sanctuary, Submerged,
Divine Justice, Children of the Fog, The
River, Divine Intervention, Lancelot’s Lady (written under the pen
name of Cherish D’Angelo) and Whale Song,
which New York Times bestselling
author Luanne Rice calls "a compelling story of love and family and the
mysteries of the human heart...a beautiful, haunting novel." Cheryl also
has three Stephen King-inspired works: Dream
House (short story), Skeletons in the
Closet & Other Creepy Stories and Remote
Control (novelette). Cheryl is also the owner/publisher of Imajin Books, a
hybrid publishing company.
Booklist raves, "Tardif, already
a big hit in Canada…a name to reckon with south of the border."
Cheryl's website: www.cherylktardif.com
Imajin
Books: www.imajinbooks.com
