Publishers Weekly has an article about the Shanghai Children’s Book Fair, one of the largest book sales events in China. Publishers from inside China as well as foreign presses have displays, all seeking shelf space and eyes-on-books, or looking for promising books to acquire rights and translations for. The article focuses on sales numbers, which seem to be down a little, per official reports. Some of that might be sell-down of inventory that built up during 2020, titles that are still in demand but do not need print runs. Prices have also gone up, as deep-discounting to move back stock is winding down.

China, like the rest of the world, sees less change in children’s book sales compared to adult titles when the economy feels uncertain. People are willing to buy books for kids and grand kids (or pay for school books) even though they trim their own personal budget. Also like other places, more books are being sold through social media and electronic outlets in China than in the past.

Several Western publishers mentioned buying Chinese IP to translate and sell, as well as selling Western titles in China (translated). The success of things like The Three Body Problem, fan translations of light novels and other works, Japanese cozy urban fantasies, and so on are encouraging publishers to look for works outside the usual pipeline.

What about us Western writers? Is it worth looking into translating your work for non-English readers, and distributing through places besides Amazon, B&N, and other English-centric outlets?

1. What do you know about IP rights of translations? For example, depending on the language and place of sale, the translator might be considered the owner of the IP, not you the author. This could lead to unhappy surprises, to put it mildly. Using a computerized translation program, checking through it for major obvious errors (like trying to translate personal names and place names), then hiring a translator to clean up awkward spots is one way to get around the legal difficulty, IF where you want to sell has that in their IP law. The point being, you need to know the IP law in your country of sale, and how it might affect you and your rights to your books.
2. Can your bank handle direct deposits from foreign companies if you work outside of Amazon, Rakuten, and other services of that kind*? Right now, I am having some problems, even through Amazon, because of changes in two countries’ banking laws. Which may lead to my having to decide if I sell enough in those countries to warrant getting a bank account at a different bank just for those two sales outlets. If you use a small, or a “small regional” bank, this could be something you have to seriously weigh in terms of setting up accounts with a different institution.
3. Do other countries’ laws mean that your book could contain illegal content? I have a book that I cannot sell in the UK, because some of the content could, possibly, be taken as violating the laws against defamation of religion. If you sell Christian fiction, having your work translated into Chinese might not be help your sales there if you are trying to sell directly through Chinese distributors. A children’s book about a pig is not going to do well in Arabic or one of the major Indonesian languages. Political surprises might also appear, although with decent research, you should be able to sort out what sort of things are not going to get past censors or national subject-matter limits.
4. Do you get stuff right if you set your stories in that country? Historical fiction … could become comedy if someone doesn’t do enough research.
5. How are marketing and covers different in those countries? A standard “literary fiction” cover in the US and Canada can be very different from what is used in India or Germany or France. The last time I book shopped in Germany, historical fiction had a solid background color, with part of a historical engraving or painting superimposed on the solid color. Chick-lit (or what I’d call chick lit, including light romances, mostly sweet) had brightly colored covers with script fonts and cartoon-like sketched people, cars, or pets on the front in some combination. At that time, US covers had more background detail and drawings of the protagonists, or used models and were quasi-photographic style covers (like Regencies tend to be). Likewise genres and tags need to be considered and studied in your new target market.

Depending on your genre, you may be very successful selling to the non-English-language market. Or you might decide that the cost and time are not worth the probably return on investment. Either way, do your homework just as you do for any other sale, and seriously consider contacting an IP specialist who works in that part of the world and language.

*And that’s not even getting into tariffs, VAT, tax-licenses, and all those other fun things that you will have to keep in mind, depending on what and how you distribute, if you do it yourself. And your home country’s tax agency also wants a piece of the action.