When I released the ebook version of this book, I never imagined that I would sell print translation rights. Germany is just one of three countries that has decided to translate and publish The Boyfriend Thief in print (the Czech Republic and China are the other two). Translation rights are a writer's best friend. You basically get money for no extra work if you sell the rights to a foreign publisher. If you want more control, you can hire someone to do the translation for you and publish it yourself, but you need to be sure to work out a contract with the translator about whether they'll be paid only a one-time flat rate or a portion of all future earnings for that translation.
I decided to sign the rights to publishers who would handle everything for me because, let's face it, being an indie writer is tough and takes up a lot of time between writing, formatting, marketing, keeping up with the industry, etc. Personally, I was happy to let someone else worry about the translations for me, but I can completely understand why another indie writer would want to keep control over their translations. It's a decision every writer has to make for herself (or himself!), but don't ignore the value of your translation rights. Germany, in particular, is a big book market, and if you have a book that is already selling in the English version on Amazon.de, why not research German publishers or translators to get that version out there too?
(Selling translation rights to a publisher is also a lot of fun because you don't know what the publisher plans to do with the cover when you first sell it. In this case, cbj decided to use the original cover I had designed, just updated with the German title and their logo. But the Czech version uses a completely different cover, so it was really exciting to see that. I haven't seen the Chinese cover yet.)
So happy release week to Der Schluss-mach-Pakt! I'm very excited that the German edition is out, and I'm hoping to reach readers that I haven't before now.
If you're already a fan of The Boyfriend Thief, I released a short story for Christmas about Avery and Zac, which I'm offering free on Smashwords until December 31, 2012. Go here to learn more about it!
Also, I'm taking part in the Winter Escapes promo with several other YA fantasy authors. You can get my ebook Surfacing for just $0.99 until December 14. Many other books in the group are also $0.99 or even FREE. Go check us out and also enter to win a $100 gift card or one of many other prizes!
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