• Welcome to the Fantasy Writing Forums. Register Now to join us!

To speak or not to speak....

ravenowl

Acolyte
Not sure if this is the right place, so please ignore or delete if it belongs somewhere else or nowhere at all.

In a group just like this one I know a writer who has self published several books. She prides herself on her (very thorough) research and getting things 'right'. She also criticises those who are not as meticulous.
A couple of days ago Amazon suggested one of her books in English (she writes in her native language usually). Being curious I had a look at the first few pages. She had done the translation herself and it is so bad that not a single sentence is correct. This will hurt her chances of anybody ever picking up her books in English, it would be better she didn't publish them at all the way they are now.
As an editor and translator (as well as a writer) it bugs me when someone is losing out on a chance to be read (and sell) because of a very avoidable problem.

Should I mention it in a private message? Or just let it go? Not my problem if a fellow writer is going to fall flat on their face? How would you feel if someone approached you with this?
 

CupofJoe

Myth Weaver
I can't speak for this other writer, but I would appreciate the feed back especially if it was made positively and didn't seem like you were trying to tout to do the translation yourself [not that I think you are].
I write and contribute to academic papers and there is a lot of honest, forthright and sometimes brutal feedback but as we know the paper will be all the better for it, we take it onboard and try to deal with the problem.
As a hobby-writer [not looking for sales, just enjoying writing] that sort of "honesty" would probably destroy me.
 

ravenowl

Acolyte
I can't speak for this other writer, but I would appreciate the feed back especially if it was made positively and didn't seem like you were trying to tout to do the translation yourself [not that I think you are].
I write and contribute to academic papers and there is a lot of honest, forthright and sometimes brutal feedback but as we know the paper will be all the better for it, we take it onboard and try to deal with the problem.
As a hobby-writer [not looking for sales, just enjoying writing] that sort of "honesty" would probably destroy me.

Thanks for you insights. She is definitely publishing to sell, not a hobby writer. That is a good point of difference. I might actually send her a private message and just ask wether she would like feedback. That way I don't end up 'clobbering' her over the head with something she might not be interested in. And you are right. The last thing I need is more work, besides, I only translate into my native tongue (which isn't English ;).
 

skip.knox

toujours gai, archie
Moderator
Translation services are frighteningly expensive, which likely is why she did the work herself. I would message her privately. She might try her hand at writing a short story in English. Wattpad would be a good place to post such a work--or perhaps Chapter One of the novel--to get some wider feedback. I would suggest to her exactly what you said: publishing a bad translation is worse than publishing no translation at all. She should pull the book at once.
 

ravenowl

Acolyte
Thanks skip, that was my instinct as well. Better to have no book than 'burn' the author's name with a really bad one.
 

pmmg

Myth Weaver
Writing in a language that is not your own and not natural to you is very hard. Very often it shows. I would have to tell them. Its not a knock on their ability, they are just out of their element. I am not sure i would feel a strong need to be secret about it. The purpose of the group is to improve i would think.
 

EponasSong

Scribe
I double on the private message. In my opinion doing nothing in this situation is worse than saying something. If she gets angry then that is on her (as long as you are nice about it of course).
 

Demesnedenoir

Myth Weaver
Yes, absolutely, do message this person. That's tough, and I'd have tremors hitting send... but... yeah.

Kind of an aside... Translating a book fascinates me on some tiny level. The skill of a translator to not only get something technically correct, but beautiful is a staggering feat. The one that just floors me is The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco, and translated by William Weaver. Such a beautiful book via translation is amazing to me.
 

ravenowl

Acolyte
To the aside of translating. Amongst other things I'm also a translator. It is a wonderful skill to have and a really difficult one as well because to a degree you have to interpret what the author might have wanted to say. Sometimes translating one to one just doesn't work. A good translation can really make the book in the 'foreign' language and a bad one can completely kill it :)
 

ravenowl

Acolyte
Update: thanks for all your advice. I sent the writer a pm and just mentioned that the quality of the translation wasn’t good and hurting her sales. I got back that her skills were above average and that native speakers were happy with it.
Time to step back, waste of time, she doesn’t want to know.
I know it probably sounds arrogant, I’ve been a translator and editor for longer than the author has been on the planet, but what do I know
 
Top