Chelsea
asked
Alison Anderson:
Hello! I'm studying translation in Geneva, and I was wondering how you got started in translation? I'm most interested in literary translation, but I've heard it's very hard to break into. Any advice you have would be greatly appreciated!
Alison Anderson
Hello, Chelsea - I studied in Geneva too, a long time ago. And long after graduating from there I found a book I was really interested in translating (not a bestseller or well-known author), did a sample chapter, and then contacted a publisher to see if they would be interested in publishing it. Luckily, they were! So in the beginning it's a matter of contacting publishers with really savvy pitch letters, a good sample and synopsis, and a good resume. It took me a long time, over ten years, until I found a publisher who then began contacting me with regular commissions, rather than the other way around, so it's really a matter of patience and perseverance and not packing in the day job. It's not so much that it's hard to break into, but more a question of really perfecting your skills and then finding the right publisher, so it requires time... Read a lot in the source language too, to look for great projects. Also, nowadays there are great seminars and conferences to attend, where you can meet publishers and learn about the market (London Book Fair, British Centre for Literary Translation). Hope this helps and best of luck!
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Jun 18, 2016 05:32AM · flag