Masked Translator has a very insightful and much-needed post for people who want to become literary translators. We’ve all heard the discouraging advice (literary translation doesn’t pay, Americans don’t read literature much less literature in translation, publishers don’t want to use newbies, etc.), but MT gives some very helpful and concrete tips on how to break into the literary translation world.
A few tips that I would add:
–Think about publishing your literary translation yourself. One great tip that MT offers is to consider translating a work that’s in the public domain and thus not subject to copyright restrictions. For example in France, most works of which the author has been dead for more than 70 years are in the public domain, so most of the French classics are up for grabs. Once you’ve done your translation, publish and market it yourself, using a print on demand service like Lulu. This is the service I used for my book on how to become a translator and I’ve been extremely happy with it, and the book has sold almost 2,000 copies with just my (mediocre!) marketing efforts, so your literary translation could probably sell quite a few copies too!
–Don’t count yourself out just because you’re a first-timer. Sandra Smith (who will be speaking at the upcoming ATA conference) has won numerous awards for her outstanding translation of Irene Nemirovsky’s novel Suite Francaise and it was the first book she ever translated. Hopefully Sandra will let us in on some of her secrets at the conference, but there’s definitely hope even if you’re a first-time literary translator.
MT’s post really says it all, so if you’re interested in literary translations, click on over and give it a read!
Dear Corinne,
Your first tip is a very good one. Books out of copyright provide endless material for the fledgling translator to hone his/her skills.
Do you know what would be the legality of translating a book that is still in copyright and publishing it on the web eg. serialized in a blog? (And, obviously, not making any money from it). Would one need various permissions for this?
Thank you
@Bernie, thanks for your comment. I’m not an attorney, but my understanding of US copyright law is that you have to obtain the copyright holder’s permission to do anything with a copyrighted work other than citing brief passages in a review or similar article. In the US at least, copyright law is relatively unconcerned with whether you make money off someone else’s work or not; using a copyrighted work without permission is a copyright violation even if you can make a case that the copyright holder may have benefited from your use of the work. So, if in doubt, I would definitely contact the copyright holder.
Thank you for this article, Corinne. Your tips seem really helpful!
One big question I have though, is that, since many of the French classics (as well as classics in any language) have probably already been translated before, then, even if the original work is in public domain, should we still be on the look-out for if the translator has copyrighted their translation if the translated version is not also in public domain? If a translator has copyrighted their translation, would our own translation be considered different despite both versions being English versions of the original? Or does the copyright cover any English translation of that work?
I would like to make sure before digging into the classics and self-publishing my translations.
Thank you in advance!