Writing a book is an outstanding accomplishment, but an essential part of the book’s success that many writers seem to forget is translation. If you haven’t already explored the idea of having your manuscript translated, it’s time to reconsider.
Let’s take the first Harry Potter book as an example. The book made it into Wikipedia’s Top 10 list of best-selling books after becoming a worldwide phenomenon. It would never have made it that far if it hadn’t been published in 60 different languages.
You might not need to go to the extreme of having your book translated into 60 different languages, but there are a lot of great reasons why you need to have it translated into at least one other language right away!
Translating Your Book Leads to More Sales
Generating more sales is probably the most appealing reason why any writer should want to have their literary work translated. By publishing your book in various languages, you can market it to a global audience instead of a much, much smaller local audience. When you globalize your book, your rankings will improve, and so will the revenue margin.
Most book rankings are done on cumulative sales, regardless of language, which means all versions (regardless of the language) of your book will rank higher in search engine results and generate more income.
You’ll Get Your Message Across More Effectively with Translated Literature
Many authors have a strong message to deliver but lack the right words to express those ideas. A language like French, for example, contains phrases and sayings that have no direct English translation, and these words can help authors express their complex ideas clearly.
“Dépaysement” in French describes the feeling you get when traveling somewhere and you feel like you don’t belong. But far more than just expressing an emotion, this single word sums up a state of mind. When you translate your book into another language, it might actually flow much better and significantly impact the reader.
Your Efforts Can Help Promote Cultural Competence
Besides the fact that getting your book translated can help generate more revenue and get your message across more clearly, it can also enrich others’ lives and improve cultural competency skills. Cultural competence is the ability to communicate with individuals from other cultures without bias based on traditions.
When your book is published in another language, you open up new learning pathways for people from other cultures. Not only will there be less competition for your novel to rank well, but you’ll also be enriching the lives of others by educating them on your cultural and traditional beliefs and experiences.
How to Translate Your Book
If you understand the value of having your book translated, you might be wondering where to start with the process. Computerized translations might be helpful for small tasks, but it certainly won’t suffice for translating a novel.
Using a professional, human translator is the only way to effectively and accurately localize your content so that nothing gets lost in the translation process. Professional translators can also recommend slight changes to the content that’ll ensure consistency across both languages.
At Day Translations, our translators aren’t only qualified, but they have decades of experience in literary translations, with all their puns and alliterations intact too. Our translators work hard to ensure the content of books isn’t only localized but that the regional significances are translated correctly as well, enabling your book (and your reputation as an author) to reach its full potential!