I was wondering if we needed to find another publisher if we wanted to have a novel that's already published in English speaking countries translated, and published in a different region. What are the procedures to have it done?
1 Answer
This answer assumes you have the rights or permission needed to do the translation. If you don't have that, getting that settled is of a higher priority than figuring out who will publish it.
That really sounds like a question for the publisher of the existing work.
- If they have operations in the target area for the translated work and are interested in publishing it in that language, you're probably set. But there will probably be a new publishing agreement associated with the new work, and it's just as important to read it carefully as the first one was.
- If they aren't interested in publishing it in the new language/region, you'll need another publisher.
- If they don't have the infrastructure in the target area to properly promote the translated work, a different publisher might serve you better.
- If the agreement to publish the original work gives them exclusive rights to publish (whether that's restricted to areas where they have business or not, having that language in the existing agreement will make using a different publisher a bit more sensitive. Contracts can always be renegotiated if you can convince them to renegotiate, so even if the existing agreement said they had exclusive publishing rights, it doesn't mean it would be impossible to have another publisher. But it would be more difficult.)
Disclaimer: This answer came from a vaguely remembered hypothetical I heard from someone more than a decade ago who was at the time going to law school. The class was International Law, but they were neither intending to practice International Law nor IP law. I am not a lawyer. This is not meant to serve as legal advice.
