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INVEST IN YOURSELF
INVEST IN YOURSELF
Making money as an author is challenging, so I can understand if you're looking for an inexpensive way to get your book translated. Be aware, however, that there's a significant risk in going this route.
Here's a real-life example from a wonderful author I recently worked with. The author had had her book translated by a translator who (unbeknownst to the author) had relied excessively on DeepL. If you're not familiar with DeepL, it's an extremely good AI-powered translation tool—probably one of the best there is! Unfortunately, it's still far from good enough to be used for book translation on its own.
After the translation was completed, the author excitedly published her book for her new English-speaking audience. Soon, however, the reviews started coming in on Amazon and Goodreads, and they weren't so good: ("DNF" means "did not finish.")
Readers specifically cited that the book was hard to read and seemed like a translation. While the Italian original of this book had received hundreds of 4 and 5 star reviews, and was even featured at the most prestigious Salone Internazionale del Libro in Torino (Turin International Book Fair), the new English translation was littered with 1, 2, and 3 star reviews.
The author realized she needed to pull the book from Amazon and have it retranslated. This is where I came in to help! I retranslated the entire book from scratch, using my professional, slow, and meticulous process to capture both the meaning and beauty of each word.
As a result, the new English translation, like the Italian original, received a majority of 4 and 5 star reviews. The reviews make no mention of awkward wording or translations. Instead, each review focuses on the story itself, the characters, and the writing.
My translation does justice to the author's original creation in Italian. This is what good, professional translation is all about: letting an English-speaking reader experience what your Italian-speaking readers experience, the beauty that you spent so much time and effort creating.
Unfortunately, the author paid for a translation twice: first for the original translation, and then for my second translation. In addition, Amazon doesn't let you remove an old translation. The most you can do is mark it as "out of print." You'll be able to post a new translation, but the old translation and all the bad reviews will live next to your name forever. Don't let this happen to you! It's simply not worth the risk.
Sadly, this isn't even an unusual occurrence. There are many so-called "translators" out there trying to make some extra money by delivering these poorly translated books. For a similar scenario involving the translation of books from English to Italian, see this post by translator Isabella Nanni: Book Translation and AI – Beware of Scammers and this Instagram post.
Your book is a part of you and translation is an investment in that part of yourself. If you cannot afford a proper translation at this time, I recommend that you wait until you can. A poor translation isn't worth the money or the damage to your reputation.
To be clear: it's impossible to get a high-quality translation cheaply or quickly. I stand by my words. If you've found someone who says they'll translate your book for €0.02 per word or less, please try my "Is It Too Good to Be True?" Challenge!
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