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Publishing: What are the possible variants to translate a book?
DK
DK
David Kadavy – Self Publishing Coach, Self publishing coach answered:

If it's your first book, I would recommend publishing and marketing in your native language (I'm assuming English), before worrying too much about translations.

It's hard enough to market your book in your native language and market. Doing so in another language and market is generally more trouble than it's worth, especially if you have the privilege of being a native English speaker in the golden goose of the U.S. market.

I know self-published fiction authors who went through the trouble and expense of getting their books translated, and had a bad time.

I did talk to a non-fiction author who writes titles that are keyword rich (in other words, they're about things that people are searching about a lot on Amazon), and he said Spanish and German-translated books sell themselves.

So I personally ran a test with one of my shorter books, one that is keyword rich. I got 7,000 words translated into Spanish on Upwork, for about $250.

That was several months ago, and I'm nowhere near turning a profit. Amazon won't allow me to run ads for the book, and even though I have native Spanish speakers on my email list, few of them bought.

Now, if you can get a publisher in another territory to translate, publish, and market your book, then that's great. They know the market and can do the marketing. But, I wouldn't recommend putting much energy into that.

Long story short, I recommend concentrating on your native language and market first, and sell so many books that a foreign publisher reaches out to you and asks to buy translation rights.

I hope that helps. Feel free to book a call if you have further questions.

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