This question has been touched upon in other threads, but I think is worth a thread of its own. I posted in another thread discussing selecting self-published books:
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I do come across books which whilst readable and far from appalling could benefit substantially from the attentions of a good editor. This is frustrating. At the end of the book I am left with the feeling that it was good but could have been great. I console myself with the thought that under the tradpub model I would never have had the pleasure of reading the book at all, a far worse evil.
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A number of people have indicated they agree with me on this, but I know at least some do not. Not long after posting the above I came across what I regard as a good example. The book concerned is "Hell Calling" by Enrique Laso. It retails on Amazon US for the princely sum of $1.00. I borrowed the ebook from a library, but had I been purchasing the low price would have prompted me to dig a little deeper.
The book is published by
Babelcube, a publisher who introduces authors to tranlators and boasts:
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Babelcube will enable you to convert the book into the different file formats for the various sales channels, publish it, and update things like pricing. Babelcube will distribute your book to all its channels that support the book’s language. Babelcube’s 300+ sales channel include the global online retailers, such as Amazon and Apple, and local retailers specializing in regions. You can request assistance from the translator(s), as desired.
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Now of course the English book is the product of a collaboration between the author and a translator. To me the translation seems to be technically competent, but though it is impossible to be completely sure, I don't think the books problems stem mainly from the translation.
To me the English version reads more like fan fiction than a professionally published novel. The author's writing does show promise and he certainly seems to have some talent, and the basic idea behind the book is a good one. The author tells the story in very short scenes, a technique which initially seemed to be effective but soon grew tiresome. These passages sometimes took great leaps ahead in the plot, leaving part of the story untold. The book in some ways reads more like an outline than a completed novel. Character development was minimal and unrealistic. But this is not the place for a review of the book.
Much of my enjoyment of a promising plot was simply not realised. Yet the writing was not terrible. It just left me with a feeling of frustration that it could have been so much better. But when I posed myself the question as to whether I would rather not have read the book at all, I had to answer no, even with all of its flaws. I have little doubt that had the book been picked up by a traditional publisher it would have undergone extensive editing and possibly more than one re-write, with the author learning from the experience and improving his writing, though he would effectively have lost his rights to his work and made less money.
I read the next book in the series as well, which I thought had all of the same flaws. This is sad. Yet the first book is proclaimed "An International Best Seller" and was adapted for Spanish Cinema. And the authors biography proclaims that he has won numerous literary competitions throughout his extensive literary career and has sold around 1,500,000 copies worldwide and been translated into 14 different languages.
So perhaps the problems with the English version are due to translation after all?
Comments?