In a recent article in The Bookseller (2024), it was
reported that Bluemoose Books, a relatively small independent publisher, has made
a five-figure profit through 2024, an astounding success for a publishing house
of its size. A large factor in its success goes to its international rights
sales, which topped £100,000, and its sales for books in translation, which
passed a staggering £1.8 million.
This got me thinking about the culture, or lack thereof,
surrounding translated books. While the
majority of people you come across today will know of a k-pop song, or a
Bollywood movie, the written novel seems to lack that sense of globalisation –
sure, books from other countries do become global phenomena, but rarely are
these linked back to the country they came from, and rarely do they come from
countries with a distinctly different culture than our own. Of course, the
opposite is true for more visual forms of reading like manga, but that is a
different story entirely.
As far as the plain,
written novel goes, the bulk of what you’ll find on the shelves is European and
North American – what we are familiar with. This hasn’t changed despite the growth
of the translated book market over the past decade, with Anderson (2019) reporting
that the percentage of translated book in the UK had surpassed the
three-percent rule and now stood at 5.63%, yet still describing the
translations as ‘overwhelmingly European.’
So, this begs the question, can more be done to help the
popularity of translated books outside of Europe? And perhaps an equally
important question is should more be done?
The most obvious benefit of making an effort to be more
global in book translations is the variety readers will be exposed to.
Translated books can also breathe new life into genres that many would now
consider stale, an example being Soyoung Park’s innovate take on a YA dystopia
in Snowglobe. A more global market for translations can also open
reader’s minds to new perspectives and help them to become more informed on
other cultures and struggles around the world.
However, there are also some serious downsides that would
come with an influx of translated books. UK authors would no doubt come out
worse for it, and would have an even harder time standing out in an already
oversaturated market. There’s also a difficulty with translation certain ideas,
phrases, and concepts over from other countries, and failure to do this well
could result in some seriously confusing reads.
What are your thoughts on expanding the market for
translated books? Is it something worth looking into, or is it better off
avoided. We would love to hear your thoughts! You can send them over to us at publishing.soc@derbyunion.co.uk,
or come and see us at our regular meetings!
References
Spanoudi, M. (2024) ‘Bluemoose Books reports five-figure profit
as sales for books in translation soar’, The Bookseller. Available at: https://www.thebookseller.com/news/bluemoose-books-reports-five-figure-profit-as-sales-for-books-in-translation-soar
Anderson, P. (2019) ‘Nielson reports translated literature
in the UK grew 5.5 percent in 2018’, Publishing Perspectives. Available
at: https://publishingperspectives.com/2019/03/nielsen-reports-translated-literature-in-uk-grows-5-percent-in-2018-booker/
Park, S. (2024) Snowglobe, Delacorte Press
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