BEA14: Honoring Books in Translation

BEA14: Honoring Books in Translation

The 2 Seas team will be discussing books in translation at BookExpo America 2014

By Marleen Seegers – first posted in May 2014.

As soon as we heard that the 2014 Global Market Focus of America’s #1 book and author event BookExpo America was going to be “Books in Translation: Wanderlust for the Written Word” we knew we simply HAD to jump at the occasion and fly over to New York City!

The oft-cited Three Percent blog of the University of Rochester indicates, “only about 3% of all books published in the United States are works in translation. […] And that 3% figure includes all books in translation—in terms of literary fiction and poetry, the number is actually closer to 0.7%.”

We can’t complain, having sold no less than 10 foreign titles to US publishers since the launch of our agency nearly 3 years ago. That is more than 8% of the total number of sales (120) we’ve concluded so far! Some of these US sales are a concrete result of meetings we had at BookExpo America in 2012, which once again underlines the importance of meeting international publishing professionals in person—and if possible outside of major book fairs such as those in London or Frankfurt.

But of course we are always in favor of strengthening our existing relationships and creating new ones, and we’re very excited about our packed meeting schedule in New York from May 26 – 31.

What is more, I’ve been invited to participate in a panel discussion during one of the conference sessions of the Global Market Forum entitled “What Editors Need to Know: Successful Translations into English” (May 28, 2:00-2:50 pm, Room 1E11, Javitz Center). The particular area of expertise I will be bringing to the conversation concerns working with translation grants.

So feel free to attend the Global Market Forum conference sessions if you are in New York City on Wednesday May 28! An exciting program has been put together. Other speakers include representatives from publishers as diverse as Knopf Doubleday, New Vessel Press, Penguin, Melville House, St. Martin’s Press and Europa Editions; literary scouts and agents; internationally acclaimed authors such as Swiss-born Joel Dicker; translators; academics; and directors of organizations for the promotion of foreign literature (the German Book Office in New York, the Sharjah International Book Fair).

And don’t forget to check out our special BookExpo America 2014 Hot List here!

 

 

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