Translation News

Chad Post has an interesting article at Publishing Perspectives about the approximate 10% decline in original translations being published in 2009. An excerpt:

The easy answer is the economy. It’s true that translations cost more to publish than books written in English, and in a time of belt tightening (and absolutely wretched book sales for any title not featuring a vampire or a zombie), it’s easy to peg the cost of a translator as something to purge from the budget. Beyond that, publishers tend to perceive translations as being “more risky” than other books.

Let's hope the trend reverses in 2010.