Healing the divide – with children's books

A translator can translate as many books as she likes, but not many people are going to get to read it unless you get it published.  And no, publishing it on your website or blog is NOT an option.  Publishing a translation independently, or even offering it free as an ebook, is against the law.  It may seem odd because you’ve created the entire translation yourself, but if it is based on an original work, and you haven’t received permission from the author and publisher of the original work, this is the equivalent of stealing.  So don’t do it!

This is all because works are protected by something called COPYRIGHT.  Actually, it’s such an important issue that it deserves an underline of its own.

!!!  COPYRIGHT  !!!

There is a lot of legalese to explain copyright, but I hate legalese so let’s simplify it.
Copyright is the right of a creator (writer, artist, musician, dancer, choreographer) to say,

“This is mine. I made it, and I get to say how it’s used.”

For details, you should check out the US copyright office.  It has FAQs that should answer many of your questions about copyright and how it works.

The only exception is if the author has been deceased for the specified number of years (usually 70 years in the US, 50 in Japan), or if for some reason, has given up his/her copyright. In cases like this, the works of the author become public domain. The books that you can download from the Gutenberg Project are all public domain works.  In Japan, we have something similar called Aozora Bunko.  There are other online sites where you can find books in the public domain, but these two probably have the most selections. Many of these can be downloaded as ebooks for whatever e-reader you use, whether it’s the iPad or the Kindle or an app on your phone.

Cory Doctrow, a Canadian science fiction writer who writes for YA,  is still alive and writing, quite good stuff in fact, but he is an activist that believes copyright laws need to be liberalized. You cannot use his work to make a profit and he retains the right to be identified as the author of his books, but he allows readers to download them for free.  People can publish translations on their websites provided they do not charge for them.

Translating is actually only a small part of what most translators do.
Really.

Research
That’s just a cool way of referring to the time we waste.  No, I’m serious.  A lot of research can be called wasting time, but it is necessary.  Book translators have much better ways of wasting time than those who translate stuff like business documents and patents and computer manuals.  But of course those guys get to make a pretty good living and support their families, while book translators have to find second and third jobs or at least someone to parasite off of.  Unless you hit the jackpot and translate a book that becomes a bestseller.  Then, life becomes a little easier for you and your family.  Hit the jackpot multiple times, and life gets even better.

So what constitutes research for a book translator?  Obviously, reading books.  Lots of them.  And usually the expensive hardcover ones hot off the press that cost 15 to 20 dollars a pop–no waiting for a cheap mass-market paperback edition to hit the shelves.  Sometimes, you can find a publisher who will pay you read books.  Now that’s called a lucky break.  Publishers have lots of books to evaluate, and they need people to read them.  Although you have to write a book report (yuck!) and they may not pay you very much, you’ll still have read some of the most promising books out there. You have to return those books, so you don’t have to worry about your floor giving out from all the heavy books you’ve accumulated.  This is one of the jobs I do.

The reason we read so much, is to find good books to translate.  And to learn what sort of books kids enjoy reading.  Sometimes, that can go a bit too far.  Then store shelves become packed with fantasy novels right and left like when the Harry Potter books came out. Or now, when all you can find are vampire and paranormal stories everywhere. But publishers are businesses, so they have to publish what sells.  If you want them to publish more variety, you, the consumer, are going to have to buy books in different genres.

I used to hate history while I was in school, but once I started reading historical fiction, especially the stories out of the UK, I was hooked.  History is boring when you have to memorize names and dates to take a test, but when you get to live it through a character in a book, it’s a whole new life that you never would have experienced otherwise.  Also, reading those books will actually make your history lessons more enjoyable because you’ve already been there. I’d recommend any books written by Rosemary Sutton and Karen Cushman.  Robert Westall and Michael Morpurgo have also written phenomenal stories.

Don’t forget poetry.  Yeah, like that’s so lame…NOT!  Poetry is a great way to express yourself and some of the best writers are poets.  If you’re still suspicious of poetry, try a easy one like Love that Dog or Hate that Cat by Sharon Creech.  Anything written by Jacqueline Woodson.  If you’re willing to try verse novels and you’re a teen, you absolutely have to read True Believer by Virginia Euwer Woolf.  Helen Frost uses all different forms of poetry in her book, Keesha’s House, a story about teens at risk.  My friend Holly Thompson just published a new verse novel called Orchards, which is set in Japan.

Another part of research comes up when you’re actually translating something.  An author will mention something that you don’t know very much about.  If you try to translate something that you don’t understand, it’ll show.  The kids that read your book won’t be able to understand either.  Writers come in all different sizes and shapes and a lot of them are very smart people that know lots about some complex and fascinating things.  So sometimes, the research can lead to hours or even days of just reading up on a subject.  All that studying, just to translate one single sentence.  Waste of time?  Hey, you tell me.

After more than a half day spent trying to get this thing up and running, it seems like it’s finally up where it’s supposed to be.  Hallelujah!

Now for the nitty-gritty of getting it to look like something decent instead of just a test post.  Thanks to Avery pushing me out of a way too comfortable state of somnolence, I have finally got a blog set up on my domain.

Will I be able to maintain the page?  That still remains to be seen.  Knowing my penchant for 三日坊主, mikkabozu meaning, being incapable of sustaining any meaningful activity for more than three days at a stretch, my prospects are not bright.