By Camille Mofidi

Kobo Writing Life is excited to introduce Translation to the array of services we offer our authors! We’ve partnered with Language+ Literary Translations, a team of experienced translators who specialize in literary genres. Language+ Literary Translations will offer a special discount to Kobo Writing Life authors as part of our partnership.

Creating foreign editions of your titles can help you reach new readers around the world, as many foreign markets continue to grow and global readers adapt to digital reading.

To present this new service, let’s hear from Athina Papa, the founder of Language+ Literary Translations.

Dear Authors,

We know how much care you take when writing of your books. You know how much time you spend on the structure and the language, the pacing and the rhythm. Dialogue is carefully constructed to ensure that it is exactly what this character, with this background, would say—of course you write it so that it is as exciting and lively as possible.

Once your book has been written and rewritten, it has been carefully edited and proofed, so that it is as perfect as you can make it.

That is exactly the kind and degree of care we at Language + Literary Translations take with your book. Our translations are meticulously crafted works—just as your book is— and we get it right. The translator, who has been chosen because she or he has experience in your genre, loves it and reads widely in it in her/his mother tongue, works hard to render your book faithfully into English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and Dutch, our working languages. The translator pitches the register of his/her language to yours, makes sure that the language is lively and vivid and reflects the original. Often, our translators are writers themselves. But whether the translator is a writer, too, all our translators are highly experienced, the top of the field, and love what they do. Just as yours is a labor of love, Dear Authors, so is theirs.

Your book is carefully vetted, and so is your translation. Your book, once translated, is proofread by the translator and then line-edited and proofread by another professional translator.

Authors often consult with other authors and beta readers. So do our translators—they consult with their peers in the language group if they are unsure of a translation, and possible solutions are aired and discussed. Nothing is ‘lost in translation’!

Our translators are experienced professionals; each translator has at least 10 years of experience in the field and together, they account for over 450 years of combined experience!

As an indie author, you are responsible for the keywords and writing the blurb. Our translators, as well, are capable of translating your bio, finding the right keywords in the language of translation and write a compelling blurb and can help in texts for marketing or promotion.

In short, you cannot find a better partner in opening your stories to the world than a Language + Literary Translations professional!

You can apply the code KWL18-TR to take advantage of a 10% discount for KWL authors.

Ready to break into new markets with your books? Click here now!

Camille Mofidi runs the Kobo Writing Life team in Europe. Whether it’s answering author questions about the dashboard, or helping authors promote their books, Camille and Sandra are there to help authors make their publishing journey a success.

She has an MA in publishing from ESCP in Paris and her favourite book is Romain Gary’s La Promesse de l’Aube.

She loves the variety of working with Kobo: from communication to editorial activities, data analysis to project management and meeting with authors and speaking at conferences—it’s everything a book nerd could dream of!