Breakout star in France, Italy and Germany, Brenna Aubrey gives listeners tips on translations. She advises on how to decide if translations are right for you, how much money an author should budget for translations, picking which market to target and selecting which backlist titles to translate. Brenna also discusses how she fell into her niche (writing “geek romance”) and why ultimately, she decided on self-publishing rather than traditional.

• Brenna talks about how she landed in the niche of writing “geek romance” and why turning down a six-figure publishing contract was the right choice for herpublishing career.
  • Brenna talks about the key factors that made her go independent such as the non-compete clause, being able to control her publishing schedule, and the publisher pricing of eBooks for debut authors.
• Being globally conscious Brenna discusses how she approached breaking into the foreign language market and how translations have contributed to 30-40% of her total income.
• Brenna discusses how an author can decide on whether selling their rights or creating translations themselves is the right choice for them.
• Brenna advises authors considering translations to:
  • Look at their backlist and find a series that is selling well because it is most likely to have a similar reaction in other markets.
  • Look at comparable titles to see if they have been translated and how well they are doing.
  • Make sure you are earning enough from your books to not only pay yourself but to invest back into your business. (So, you can pay a good translator!)
  • The more translated titles you have at once for a release the better
  • Expect to budget/pay $2000.00 to $5000.00 dollars for a translation.
• Brenna gives some tips on finding the best translator:
  • Make sure they are a native speaker of the language you are translating your title to and that they are also good writer as well.
  • Check foreign language bookstore sites and comparable authors in your genre to see the translators credited.
  • Don’t be afraid to ask for a sample translation of one of your titles and ask your foreign language readers to review.
  • https://www.upwork.com/
• Don’t forget about your covers! Ask your translator or readers to look at your foreign covers to see if they will have a worldwide appeal to the market you are targeting. 
• Brenna discusses the best practices for marketing in foreign markets and provides her tips:
  • Social media advertising: create bullets phrases in the language you are targeting to reuse for on different platforms.  
  • You need to have a web presence in the target market (https://brennaaubrey.net/)
    • Have a separate mailing list for each language.  
• Brenna discuss great conferences for resources on writing.
  • https://ninc.com/
  • https://www.rwa.org/
• And more!

Brenna’s first book At Any Price is free on Kobo! https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/at-any-price-4

Brenna’s Latest release: https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/high-risk-16

Interested in learning more about translations? Check out our episode with our European Manager Camille Mofidi!

Kobo’s Emerging Writer Prize

Brenna Aubrey is a USA TODAY Bestselling Author of contemporary romance stories that centre on geek culture. Her books are on over a million e-readers worldwide and have been translated into German, French and Italian.

She has always sought comfort in good books and the long, involved stories she weaves in her head. Brenna is a city girl with a nature-lover’s heart. She therefore finds herself out in green open spaces any chance she can get. She currently resides on the west coast of the US with her husband and children (both human and furry).

Website: https://brennaaubrey.net/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BrennaAubrey

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brennaaubreyauthor/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BrennaAubrey