Translation

If you have been listening (or reading) what I’m saying, then you will know that I have been searching for a translator to get my book ORP Orzel, into the Polish Market.

Time for my BIG announcement:

I now have a translator! In fact, I have 2 translators, so I can pick and choose. Please let me explain, because this was a real fun journey for me, and there is still a long way to go.

The history of ORP Orzeł is a complex war story, not so much blood and guts, but primarily about loss of nation, the morale of the crew, and as always with submarines, the art of deception.

In Polish culture, the Orzeł is effectively the equivalent to the American Alamo. Small but determined, fighting against huge and awful. Orzeł is more than David and Goliath, because it is David with all sorts of hangups.

Despite the stature of this story, there is little to honor it in formal literature. There is one book published in 1941 in London by Eryk Sopocko. He was a later crew member of the Orzeł but did not witness the main voyages.

You may think that finding a translator was easy, all I had to do was find one. Finding one is very easy, finding the right one is a lot more difficult.

There are many books that rose to the top after translation, The Alchemist, The Little Prince, The Vegetarian, and Tomb of Sand to name only a few. On some occasions, the translation was better than the original text. I suppose that depends on the skill of the translator.

OK, I’m obviously a touch ambitious here, but like I said, there needs to be more said to continue this story.

There is only one other book about the Orzeł, published in 1941 in London by Eryk Sopocko. He was a later crew member of the Orzeł but did not witness the main voyages.

I intend to use my novel to promote and reinforce the story of the Orzeł.

With the aim to translate my novel into Polish, I used 2 chapters from the book as samples, that I could use to gauge the caliber of the translator.

The first chapter was about the emotions and moral of the crew.

The second chapter was technical, about chasing a target vessel with the intent to sink it. If these 2 chapters could be translated appropriately and fit with the story, I could then assess the translator.

Bear in mind, I do not speak Polish, let alone read the language. I can order a beer and a sandwich, bid people good morning or goodnight. I have to rely upon native speakers who have read my English version. Only they can relate the quality of any translations back to me.

This is where the plot twists.

Translators are not cheap, they will cost in excess of $1,000, good ones, even more. I am under strict instructions not to break our bank, so I needed a plan B.

Yes, my wife is Polish, as well as many personal friends, but none of them are capable of translating a novel in any real sense.

This leads me onto plan C.

Like I said earlier, I have 2 translators. One is called Claude, the other is called Google.

Beta readers of my sample translations say that this is suitable for publishing. Hardly surprising since my English manuscript was professionally edited.

BUT! This is where the plot twist gets really interesting!

Language is an art. All creatures have language, even if it is only body language. Every word or phrase (or pose) can be interpreted in subtle ways.

I will not debate here which is better or worse, Claude.ai or Google translate. Both are excellent. What is happening, one provides an artistic narrative, while the other gives something more down to earth.

This is a real tough question. Which literary style is more suitable to the reading culture of Poland. And even worse, which style is more suitable to a given type of chapter.

Wait. This journey is not over.

Assume I have a novel translated into Polish.

That is just the start.

Do I have an online presence in Poland?

Can I print on demand or distribute in other ways there?

What about book signings?

Banks, ok, not a problem. But tax?

My head just exploded! You may have heard the splitty BANG!

This is like starting over from something new.

Maybe that will be hard. Maybe that will be easy with the experience I already have

Either way, I’m on my way!

Don’t forget that Orzel is available as a paperback or an eBook available on Barns and Noble and Amazon Kindle, to name a couple. I am ready to launch book 2 of Girl Electric. No date has been set yet, as I still need a book cover. I’m working on that, so I should have a cover and release date ready for my next newsletter. Did I say September will be an interesting month?