http://www.kk.org/thetechnium/archives/2008/03/1000_true_fans.php

Thank you Brian for your link to the 1,000 true fans. That is certainly a thought provoking piece and an interesting insight. My need for immediate knowledge, so that I can make a decision whether to buy foreign rights or not is, more along the lines of 7% royalty up to 4000 copies sold, 9% up to 8000 and 12,5 % thereafter on the retail price, less VAT. Advance: € 1300. Electronic rights: 25% royalty on the Publisher's net price (standard terms). How do I crunch numbers to see if this will not land me in the bankruptcy courts. I have no doubt about the project but in the absence of philanthropy I need some guidance.

The Old Gods have fallen. I can read an entire work by an established author right here on Red Lemonade for free. Some day this will be funny, indeed. The translation requirement makes this project seem cost prohibitive. But perhaps you could give us a sense of why the book would attract an audience of thousands? If there was more time, I would suggest starting as a publisher with smaller projects (i.e, 1000 fans) and building up capital with niche sales and ancillary schwag to fund the work.

Leonard Cohen once wrote a song called So Long Marianne. This Marianne was a real person, still is. Was Norwegian, still is. They lived together on Hydra. Was a Greek island. Still is. It is a story of their time together both there and elsewhere. My Norwegian is non-existent so I cannot assess how many people would shell out their drachmae to buy it.

Oh my, what a lovely, lovely song. There was a cheesy movie here in the U.S.A, called Pump Up The Volume. It was pretty silly, but the main character played Everybody Knows over his pirate radio and it was a joy to discover Cohen's albums and earlier songs. I take it all back! First you take Manhattan, then you take Berlin!

We could have a whole conversation just based on Cohen lyrics. LC played in a venue on the west coast of Ireland last tour. It is called Lissadell House, a demesne closely associated with William Butler Yeats. WB had a thing for the two sisters of the house Eva Gore-Booth and Constance Markievicz. At least he made good use of his longing The light of evening, Lissadell, Great windows open to the south, Two girls in silk kimonos, both Beautiful, one a gazelle. Leonard turned his longing into poetry too. We met when we were almost young deep in the green lilac park. You held on to me like I was a crucifix, as we went kneeling through the dark. So back to the pragmatics. Book definitely an addition to the cannon of a great lyricist/poet of our age but the costings prohibitive perhaps. Should I find 1,000 pre-sales before I start?

More data would certainly be valuable in regards to assessing the financial returns. Pre-orders would certainly allow you to judge the level of interest. I am, for the most part, risk averse. I would have difficulty moving forward with something completely new dealing with a large output of money. From the beginning you are asking critically important questions that even experts in the field are in a bit of a quandary over. Blood is thicker margarine than grease. Hopefully, others will be able to offer further insight. Certainly sounds interesting, albeit daunting.

It's a relatively reasonable set of terms but you can still lose money! You're looking at a fairly significant outlay commissioning the translation. That plus the printing will likely be bigger costs for you than the contract. What's the book?

It is called So Long Marianne and written by Norwegian radio journalist Kari Hesthamar. The book tells, for the first time, the story of Marianne Ihlen who, as a 23 year-old, arrived on the Greek island of Hydra. She and her partner, novelist Axel Jensen, buy a small house on the island. It is here that he wrote his novel Line. One day Marianne was in the village shop with her basket waiting to pick up groceries, a dark man is standing in the doorway with the sun behind him. He says: “Would you like to join us, we’re sitting outside?” It is Leonard Cohen. He calls her the most beautiful woman he has ever met. Cohen drives her home from Greece to Oslo. Later she receives a telegram from Montreal: “Have house. All I need is my woman and her son. Love Leonard . . .” The book is illustrated with never before seen photos, facsimiles and letters. PS Apparently the Norwegian agency NORLA would cover about half the translation costs but I agree it is still quite an outlay, as is the printing. I wondered whether it could just be produced digitally as the main audience would be in the US and Canada and I would be hard pressed to make an impression there except a virtual one.

As to the blood is thicker than margarine comment, my mother Fanny Howe (poet of some repute) is always backing Irish writers and would of course look at it and try and push it as she is in with the good and the great. Why I don't use Heaney &Co. is down to damn pride but I would be more than willing to help spread the love if you are interested.

It would cut into your profits but one way to tackle translation costs might be to see if you can find a translator willing to enter a profit share agreement with you.

There is an agency in Norway, called NORLA I believe, who defray the costs of work being translated into other languages. It would cost about 6500US$ so even if they offer half it is still a bit of a gamble. And like Brian a few comments back I am a bit risk averse too, as I cannot afford to be otherwise.

My mum is giving a talk in London the 19th July on Translation so I shall studiously take notes and find out from her the cheapest way to get it done. She just published two Polish books into English. Again just trying to help.

I gave a small talk in English to a group in Poland. My spoken translator, a medical doctor and poet, accused me of not letting him know that I was going to recite a poem. I had not meant to recite a poem, in fact, I was ill and barely able to stand or to say a thing. The talk was published in English in a newsletter in America. It was also translated, not by me, and published in Poland. A copy of the Polish publication was sent to me. The Polish born mother of my friend then translated the Polish into English. It was an odd experience like with a round robin where a phrase is passed around from ear to mouth whispered to ear in a circle at a campfire and starts out as red bird and ends up as rose bud.