Hello TCers!

First want to say my name is Justin and this is my first time posting on this site. What a great resource this is! Peroused many posts and found many useful tid-bits of the trade. Thank you to all. Now I shall take a turn posting a question.

I am interested in translating French children's novel  into English, and selling it to a US publisher.  I have permission from the author who is widely read in France (JC Mourlevat). I would like to hear from the community what different literary translators are paid and how. I know this is a big subject with lots of discussion on this site. For example,  I read that literary translation pays less than other types. But I have yet to find any real numbers or get a clear picture of what a novel can produce in terms of income, from the smaller publications to the larger ones. This will be very useful for me if I am in the position to negotiate a contract with a publisher.  I'll know what the terrain is ahead of time.

I've been translating from French to English for a few years, mostly articles and general things with a rate of around 12 euro cents a word or 30 euros a feuillet, but nothing that has ever been published so I have never dealt with the question of royalties. I have translated a book before, but that was a commission paid by the author who wanted to sell the book in English, but it never found a publisher. ( I'm also the author of several plays, so have some real background in the field of writing.) I say all this to point out that I don't know what standard rate there is for a literary translation. Is it a flat rate for the whole book? A page rate? How are royalties factured in? Does the popularity of the book in the original country facture into the final rate, especially if I sell my copyright up front?

The book in question has been translated into 9 languages already, but not English. The author has had two of his other novels translated in English and sold in the US, one with some moderate success.  I was thinking of contacting the publishing houses that published those two books (Candlewick and Random House) to see if they are interested in the one I am interested in. Does anyone know where I can find the contact info for editors in publishing houses? I have not found the juvenile fiction editors of these two houses online.

That's lots of questions already so I will leave it at that.

Thanks for reading!

Justin

Hi Justin, and welcome to the forums!

A possible exception: a very popular book by a very popular author, and the publisher wants it now!

There`s no standard rate as such. It all depends, form country to country, form language to language, from publisher to publisher... Rates and royalties depend on what kind of contract one is able to get. And while the popularity of a book matters, it`s rather wide-world popularity than the original country popularity. Well, that kinda depends on the country, of course.

But translating literature is still fun!

Thank you very much Dodo!

Yes it is still fun and that is why I would like to give it a go.

So it sounds like in your experience, there is no standard rate for translating a novel as the variables are too numerous. You say it all depends on what kind of contract "you can get". Does the publisher usually make the first offer if they are interested in my project?

Thanks again,

Justin

Publishers usually make offers if they are interested in their projects. I don`t want to discourage you, but it is, more often than not, like this: if a publisher wants a book translated and approaches a translator, then the translator might (or in some cases might not) argue about some contract points; but if it is a translator trying to "push" a book, even a wonderful book, it`s the other way round... And if the publisher sees the translator wants a particular book published very much, it might be the translator who will have to pay...

It`s Lithuanian experience, of course, but from what I hear the things are like that in other countries, too.

Still, I repeat: translating fiction is fun, and translating great fiction is great fun!

Good luck, Justin!

Thanks very much again Dodo.

I guess the best is to just give it a go and see what happens. Do you know how long it usually takes between the proposition of a translation and the signing of a contract?

Cordially

Justin

That`s the spirit! And "if at first you don`t succed, try, try again!"

This really depends. If the publisher does want the book, and wants it now, the contract can be signed the very same day. But if not... it might take months. I`m not kidding.

Hi Justin,

Try contacting the French Book Agency in New York. See http://www.bief.org or contact the French Embassy.

They could help you get in touch with editors.

They offer grants to translators and publishers for the translation of French books. Ask them what their rate is.

Good luck!