Lost in translation
Posted by: Toni Jordan
7 December 2008
Over the last 12 months I’ve learnt an enormous amount about the international publishing industry. Wow. It’s a weird kind of business, actually. And nothing has taught me more than seeing the different approaches international publishers have taken when publishing Addition.
For instance, here in Australia the jacket looks like this:
It’s clearly a romance: rose-red jacket, snuggling toothbrushes. A lovely quote from the very generous Sigrid Thornton on the front, reminding us that Addition is, in fact, a love story.
In the UK, it looks like this:
They clearly need a few laughs in the UK at the moment, because there Addition is a comedy. Happy yellow colour, flippant lemon tart on the front. And, in case you missed it, it says ‘A comedy that counts’ right on the front.
In the US, when it’s published in February it will be in hardback:
Here it’s all about the emotional impact, and the writing. The fact that it’s a hardback is a bit weird to me; everywhere else it’s a paperback. My wonderful US editor had quite a lot of impact in the finished book and was constantly asking me to increase the emotional effect on the reader. She felt that the writing was too subtle and in a number of places I think she was right. The finished book is definitely better thanks to her input.
The Netherlands has a different view:
This is quite serious. Lots of numbers on the front, no romance or comedy at all. In fact, a serious newspaper interviewed me about Addition being “an ode to life, to attentiveness”.
Finally, here is the Serbian one:
As might be expected, they’ve focused on the Serbian inventor Nikola Tesla, who features prominently in Addition. I love the ruler along the side, and the girl in the skivvy, of course. (Not enough skivvies on book jackets these days, in my view.) As to the bird? Your guess is as good as mine.
So, with all these different views of the one book, what’s right? What kind of book is Addition, really? Honestly, each and every one of these labels astonished me at the time. I just didn’t label Addition at all when I was writing it. I just knew I had a certain story to tell and that I had a certain writing style. I hope that happens with my next book too. My plan is to just concentrate on each word on each page and let the marketing people tell me what it is when it’s finished.
December 8, 2008 at 1:01 pm
It sounds a bit parochial Lisa but I love the toothbrushes. Although, of the international publishers, only the Brazilians agreed–they bought the cover art as well, so the Brazilian jacket looks the same.
December 8, 2008 at 10:18 am
I love the Aussie cover. I think it’s cheeky and clever. The English one is a bit typical, the Netherlands one is cute and the Serbian one is delightfully crazy! Toni do you have a favourite?
December 8, 2008 at 10:14 am
Simon this is a great question–I’m amazed at how smoothly the whole international editing bizzo worked. What happened is this: Text was handling the international sale, so they timed it so that the manuscript went on the market at the ‘uncorrected proof’ stage. So, before the final draft. So I actually knew it had been sold in the US and the UK before polishing the last draft, which gave the US editor time to give me her input. The UK editor didn’t have any suggestions. So structurally all the English-language editions are the same. The only different between the Australian edition and the US edition are about 40 individual words, e.g. they couldn’t handle ‘Tim Tam’ because they didn’t know what it was. They suggested ‘Oreo’. I would rather gnaw my arm off than make Grace eat an Oreo. So we settled on ‘kit kat’ because I felt that achieved the same purpose and would work in both countries. And yes, the wonderful Chong was responsible for my toothbrushes.
Christi I didn’t realise how much I was also influenced by the jacket until I saw all the editions of Addition. And I’m sure analysing them while working is part of your job, as you have to understand what makes punters pick up particular books…
December 7, 2008 at 10:31 pm
There is an article in Vol 67 No 3 of Meanjin about designing book covers, written by W.H. Chong, who designs many of Text’s book covers.
December 7, 2008 at 7:35 pm
I find the world of book covers and marketing fascinating. Working in a library I see a lot of covers, some of books I have already read, and some of those I haven’t. And I do judge a book by its cover. I don’t know if I would pick up the British version of Addition, I tend to avoid books that seem too intentionally funny, maybe I think the author has focused on laughs but no substance. I don’t know, I’ve already confessed to being a book snob. But then in this case I would have missed a great read. I do like the Aussie cover though. Maybe these marketing folk have it down so it’s culture specific. I feel somewhat manipulated now, where are the days of the classic red font on white paper?
I do like to play a game with myself where I guess what the book’s about based on the cover and then read the blurb - the covers are amazingly good at conveying style and content at times. I also like to guess what the author will look like before I check out the photo…Of course, I would never, ever dream of playing this game while I’m supposed to be working, no, of course not!!
December 7, 2008 at 7:22 pm
Hello Toni,
I’m curious about the editing process when a novel is published internationally. I assume you worked closely with an editor from Text first, before Addition was published in Australia.
Do the UK and US publishers also insist on editing the novel again (part of the contract?) before its publication in those countries?
Does that mean the different editions are all, at least slightly, different?
How do you deal with editorial advices (not so much copyediting, but structural changes) from different countries? What if they contradict each other? And do you think those advices reflect the taste of the local readers?
Regards,
Simon