Comments on: Lost in translation

By: T.Jordan

T.Jordan — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 02:01:09 +0000

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.

By: lisa

lisa — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 23:18:48 +0000

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?

By: Toni Jordan

Toni Jordan — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 23:14:13 +0000

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…

By: Simon

Simon — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 11:31:44 +0000

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.

By: christi

christi — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 08:35:22 +0000

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!!

By: Simon

Simon — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 08:22:10 +0000

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