{"id":1053,"date":"2017-09-27T12:27:41","date_gmt":"2017-09-27T06:57:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ulatus.com\/translation-blog\/?p=1053"},"modified":"2021-06-07T19:51:52","modified_gmt":"2021-06-07T14:21:52","slug":"the-whos-who-of-book-translation-7-important-players-you-should-know-about","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ulatus.com\/translation-blog\/the-whos-who-of-book-translation-7-important-players-you-should-know-about\/","title":{"rendered":"The Who\u2019s Who of Book Translation: 7 Important Players You Should Know about"},"content":{"rendered":"

Translating a book into another language exposes it to an entirely new market. This is extremely valuable for both the publisher and the author: both increases the book\u2019s potential revenue and extends its reach to a global audience. Publishing a book in English makes it accessible to 360 million native speakers, plus the billion people who speak it as a second language; but publishing a translation to Mandarin, for example, exposes it to an additional potential audience of 955 million! Of course, that book can\u2019t reach an audience without good distribution; thankfully, the publishing industry in China is thriving \u2014 topping even the USA in the number of titles printed in 2015 (470,000 titles versus 338,986). The publishing industry of Germany brought in 5.4 billion Euros in revenue in 2015, and 40% of the books it publishes are translated \u2014 meaning that the rights holders who profit from those sales are located in other countries.<\/p>\n

In other words, translating a book<\/a> is well worth the investment. Here are the important players in the industry.<\/p>\n

1) Publishers<\/strong><\/p>\n

A publisher, of course, is a company that produces books from the editing through the printing stage. Traditional publishers sometimes acquire translation and foreign rights as part of a book contract; sometimes, those rights remain with the author. A publisher seeking to translate a title to which it owns translation rights may work with a foreign rights agent (see below) or sub-right the sales to a foreign publisher, and split its profits with the author. Percentages vary by contract, of course, but the industry standard is 75% of net proceeds to the publisher and 25% to the author.<\/p>\n

Traditional publishers interested in acquiring foreign literature and translate it into their own language hire readers and\/or scouts (explained below) to seek appropriate titles.<\/p>\n

Authors who retain foreign rights may hire a translation service <\/a>and try to market the book to a foreign market themselves; however, the book is very unlikely to find its audience without good contacts and marketing in the target country. A more viable option is to sell the rights to a foreign publisher (independently or through a foreign rights agent) who can market and distribute more effectively.<\/p>\n

2) Readers & Scouts<\/strong><\/p>\n

Readers and\/or scouts are hired by publishing companies to read foreign literature and recommend titles that the publisher may want to acquire and translate. Readers receive assignments, while scouts actively seek books for their publishers.<\/p>\n

3) Literary Agents<\/strong><\/p>\n

Literary agents are the gateway to the major publishers, since most major publishing companies won\u2019t consider unsolicited or \u201cunagented\u201d submissions. Literary agents pitch manuscripts to editors and negotiate book contracts for their authors. They take a commission for their services, usually around 10-15% of the author\u2019s royalties.<\/p>\n

Many literary agents will also represent a book to publishers overseas\u2014sometimes working with a \u201cco-agent\u201d abroad or with a foreign rights agent (explained below). Agents generally take a higher commission for this service, usually around 15-20%.<\/p>\n

4) Foreign Rights Agents<\/strong><\/p>\n

Agents who specialize in foreign rights representation are called foreign rights agents. They take a commission for their work (as above), but their expertise, contacts, and familiarity with the target markets put them in a unique position to effectively pitch and sell a book to a foreign publisher. This means they\u2019re likely to help bring in greater revenue from foreign sales that more than make up for whatever the rights holder might lose on the commission.<\/p>\n

5) Translators<\/strong><\/p>\n

Obviously, translators are responsible for translating the book into a new language. They may be hired independently, or commissioned by a publisher that has acquired the rights to the book.<\/p>\n

6) Distributors<\/strong><\/p>\n

Distributors are the companies that sell the books to booksellers and libraries. Major publishing companies act as their own distributors, while smaller presses and self-published authors use distributors such as Ingram Content Group, Alibris, or Small Press Distribution in the USA; 66 Books or Bertrams in the UK; Diamond Comics or India Book House in India; Libri GmbH in Germany; Logista in Spain, etc.<\/p>\n

7) eBook Platforms<\/strong><\/p>\n

eBooks are far more cost-effective and convenient than their dead-tree counterparts\u2014especially considering there are virtually no production costs (beyond the initial formatting, editing, and design) or shipping costs. This makes them especially convenient for breaking in to a new language market overseas. The most well-known eBook platform in the USA is Amazon Kindle, but other digital booksellers are popular as well, such as Kobo, Apple iBooks, Google Play, etc. Not all platforms support all languages, and some are more popular in some countries than others, so make sure to do your research before selecting one.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Translating a book into another language exposes it to an entirely new market. This is extremely valuable for…
Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1057,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Translating a book into another language exposes it to an entirely new market. But,\u00a0translating a book is well worth the investment. Here are the important players in the industry.","footnotes":""},"categories":[97],"tags":[115,120,277,127,105,303],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Who\u2019s Who of Book Translation: 7 Important Players You Should Know about - Ulatus Translation Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Translating a book into another language exposes it to an entirely new market. But,\u00a0translating a book is well worth the investment. Here are the important players in the industry.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ulatus.com\/translation-blog\/the-whos-who-of-book-translation-7-important-players-you-should-know-about\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Who\u2019s Who of Book Translation: 7 Important Players You Should Know about - Ulatus Translation Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Translating a book into another language exposes it to an entirely new market. But,\u00a0translating a book is well worth the investment. Here are the important players in the industry.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ulatus.com\/translation-blog\/the-whos-who-of-book-translation-7-important-players-you-should-know-about\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ulatus Translation Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-09-27T06:57:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-06-07T14:21:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ulatus.com\/translation-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/7StepsBookTranslationOption01.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"930\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ulatus\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ulatus\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ulatus\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ulatus\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ulatus.com\/translation-blog\/the-whos-who-of-book-translation-7-important-players-you-should-know-about\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ulatus.com\/translation-blog\/the-whos-who-of-book-translation-7-important-players-you-should-know-about\/\",\"name\":\"The Who\u2019s Who of Book Translation: 7 Important Players You Should Know about - Ulatus Translation Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ulatus.com\/translation-blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-09-27T06:57:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-06-07T14:21:52+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ulatus.com\/translation-blog\/#\/schema\/person\/c9d0e17194263c08780b5ee65db70abf\"},\"description\":\"Translating a book into another language exposes it to an entirely new market. But,\u00a0translating a book is well worth the investment. Here are the important players in the industry.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ulatus.com\/translation-blog\/the-whos-who-of-book-translation-7-important-players-you-should-know-about\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ulatus.com\/translation-blog\/the-whos-who-of-book-translation-7-important-players-you-should-know-about\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ulatus.com\/translation-blog\/the-whos-who-of-book-translation-7-important-players-you-should-know-about\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.ulatus.com\/translation-blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Who\u2019s Who of Book Translation: 7 Important Players You Should Know about\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ulatus.com\/translation-blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ulatus.com\/translation-blog\/\",\"name\":\"Ulatus Translation Blog\",\"description\":\"Translation Trends & Insights\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.ulatus.com\/translation-blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ulatus.com\/translation-blog\/#\/schema\/person\/c9d0e17194263c08780b5ee65db70abf\",\"name\":\"Ulatus\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ulatus.com\/translation-blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8c2dc3dd7a4d0d29a1f014025211b3a9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8c2dc3dd7a4d0d29a1f014025211b3a9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ulatus\"},\"description\":\"The Ulatus blog is a source of insight into topics related to globalization and international expansion. We seek to share meaningful content that will help you communicate to audiences in whole new locations in their preferred language. Our content covers a variety of industries and international business topics that we think would be useful to those looking to grow beyond their regional borders. Subscribe or leave us some feedback on what you think would make our content even better About Us Ulatus, a Crimson Interactive company, is a trusted brand for professional localization services. We established in 2005, with a mission to eliminate language as a barrier to globalization. We empower companies with quality and customizable localization solutions that drive continuous business growth through effective communication coupled with the latest in technology. What sets us apart? We work with 3000+ linguists to provide subject area expertise in 200+ languages. Our state-of-the-art technology and robust ISO-certified Quality Control Processes ensure positive experiences and impactful results for all our clients. For more information, please email us at Connect@Ulatus.com\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.ulatus.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ulatus.com\/translation-blog\/author\/admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Who\u2019s Who of Book Translation: 7 Important Players You Should Know about - Ulatus Translation Blog","description":"Translating a book into another language exposes it to an entirely new market. But,\u00a0translating a book is well worth the investment. Here are the important players in the industry.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ulatus.com\/translation-blog\/the-whos-who-of-book-translation-7-important-players-you-should-know-about\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Who\u2019s Who of Book Translation: 7 Important Players You Should Know about - Ulatus Translation Blog","og_description":"Translating a book into another language exposes it to an entirely new market. But,\u00a0translating a book is well worth the investment. Here are the important players in the industry.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.ulatus.com\/translation-blog\/the-whos-who-of-book-translation-7-important-players-you-should-know-about\/","og_site_name":"Ulatus Translation Blog","article_published_time":"2017-09-27T06:57:41+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-06-07T14:21:52+00:00","og_image":[{"width":930,"height":300,"url":"https:\/\/www.ulatus.com\/translation-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/7StepsBookTranslationOption01.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Ulatus","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ulatus","twitter_site":"@ulatus","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ulatus","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ulatus.com\/translation-blog\/the-whos-who-of-book-translation-7-important-players-you-should-know-about\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ulatus.com\/translation-blog\/the-whos-who-of-book-translation-7-important-players-you-should-know-about\/","name":"The Who\u2019s Who of Book Translation: 7 Important Players You Should Know about - Ulatus Translation Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ulatus.com\/translation-blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-09-27T06:57:41+00:00","dateModified":"2021-06-07T14:21:52+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ulatus.com\/translation-blog\/#\/schema\/person\/c9d0e17194263c08780b5ee65db70abf"},"description":"Translating a book into another language exposes it to an entirely new market. But,\u00a0translating a book is well worth the investment. Here are the important players in the industry.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ulatus.com\/translation-blog\/the-whos-who-of-book-translation-7-important-players-you-should-know-about\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ulatus.com\/translation-blog\/the-whos-who-of-book-translation-7-important-players-you-should-know-about\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.ulatus.com\/translation-blog\/the-whos-who-of-book-translation-7-important-players-you-should-know-about\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.ulatus.com\/translation-blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Who\u2019s Who of Book Translation: 7 Important Players You Should Know about"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ulatus.com\/translation-blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ulatus.com\/translation-blog\/","name":"Ulatus Translation Blog","description":"Translation Trends & Insights","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ulatus.com\/translation-blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.ulatus.com\/translation-blog\/#\/schema\/person\/c9d0e17194263c08780b5ee65db70abf","name":"Ulatus","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ulatus.com\/translation-blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8c2dc3dd7a4d0d29a1f014025211b3a9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8c2dc3dd7a4d0d29a1f014025211b3a9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Ulatus"},"description":"The Ulatus blog is a source of insight into topics related to globalization and international expansion. We seek to share meaningful content that will help you communicate to audiences in whole new locations in their preferred language. Our content covers a variety of industries and international business topics that we think would be useful to those looking to grow beyond their regional borders. Subscribe or leave us some feedback on what you think would make our content even better About Us Ulatus, a Crimson Interactive company, is a trusted brand for professional localization services. We established in 2005, with a mission to eliminate language as a barrier to globalization. We empower companies with quality and customizable localization solutions that drive continuous business growth through effective communication coupled with the latest in technology. What sets us apart? We work with 3000+ linguists to provide subject area expertise in 200+ languages. Our state-of-the-art technology and robust ISO-certified Quality Control Processes ensure positive experiences and impactful results for all our clients. For more information, please email us at Connect@Ulatus.com","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.ulatus.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.ulatus.com\/translation-blog\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ulatus.com\/translation-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1053"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ulatus.com\/translation-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ulatus.com\/translation-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ulatus.com\/translation-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ulatus.com\/translation-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1053"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ulatus.com\/translation-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1053\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ulatus.com\/translation-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1057"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ulatus.com\/translation-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1053"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ulatus.com\/translation-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1053"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ulatus.com\/translation-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1053"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}