Translations of Game into New Language
drkrash:
One of my game's fans has become an informal associate of mine; he did editing and development work for a supplement, but was paid only in his listing in the credits, my sincere thanks, and a tiny stipend that I gave him after publication that was not part of any prior arrangement.
He has now expressed interest in translating the manuscript of the core rules into Spanish for publication. I am very much in favor of the idea and we have discussed splitting profits of the completed work. He is willing to do marketing on Spanish internet forums and maintain a Spanish Google group.
As I said, I very much want to do this, but thought I'd gather some data first. Any problems or complications I should be aware of before beginning?
Thanks in advance.
ODDin:
Well, I've translated Don't Rest Your Head to Hebrew. But there weren't any special complications there.
drkrash:
Quote from: ODDin on June 28, 2011, 11:31:24 AM
Well, I've translated Don't Rest Your Head to Hebrew. But there weren't any special complications there.
Why not? Was it published in Hebrew? The possible complications and/or legalities associated with that is what I'm most concerned with.
ODDin:
It wasn't published on paper. It's sold via DriveThru RPG and I also sell CDs with the PDF on them. The legalities were mostly me asking Fred Hicks for a permission.
That said, it's mostly based on trust. Had I really wanted to steal Fred Hicks' money, I could have.
Ron Edwards:
Hi,
I've found two basic ways to work with translations and international publishing. The first is kind of like a marriage: you and the "other guy" effectively join forces in some way, and your own company's scope is now twice as big as it was. You have more-or-less a bi-national, hybrid company, and yours (the original) collects royalties from the new one.
The other way is more like outsourcing: the translating company acts as its own publisher, paying you a lump sum for the use of your material, for a limited number of copies. If it works out, you renew it for another round of copies at some realistic copy count. This is what I do with Narrativa, for instance.
Either way works, but they represent different kinds of investment and attention and economic outcomes.
Best, Ron
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