Comments on: War of All Against All: Writers vs Editors vs Publicists vs Reviewers vs Readers vs Evil Monkey

By: Johanna Vainikainen-Uusitalo

Johanna Vainikainen-Uusitalo — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 21:20:45 +0000

Translators vs reviewers: hey, we want to be acknowledged!

Once a reviewer noted that the author X had “finally perfected the dialogue” (polished it, made it diamond-sharp, something to that effect). It was the third book in a series, first one I translated. There were different dialects, different levels of formality, old-fashioned language in a diary etc… And Yours Truly had worked hard to get the nuances just right in Finnish. Still fuming…

By: Larry

Larry — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 17:19:12 +0000

Speaking strictly as a fan/amateur translator, I HATE words/phrases that are so dependent upon cultural differences as to make it impossible to render it into English.

By: jeff vandermeer

jeff vandermeer — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 09:08:05 +0000

yes–what do translators hate?

By: Johanna Vainikainen-Uusitalo

Johanna Vainikainen-Uusitalo — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 06:55:07 +0000

Are translators also in?

By: jeff vandermeer

jeff vandermeer — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 03:34:05 +0000

hey, joe. nice to see you here.

had gator once–jumped over one oncetoo–in nawlins and got sick.

By: Joe Sherry

Joe Sherry — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 02:29:32 +0000

The Minnesota State Fair put them on a stick and sold them off piece by piece a couple years back. The alligator was better. Less gamey.

By: Alex Carnegie

Alex Carnegie — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 02:17:56 +0000

Whatever you can think of to be deep fried, a Scottish chip-shop has done it already. I have heard tell that the owners are deep fried after death as a sort of mummification.

By: Joe Sherry

Joe Sherry — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 01:49:37 +0000

I wonder, would fried brussel sprouts taste good? I live in a place where the State Fair honors anything that can be put on a stick (hot dish on a stick? got it. bacon on a stick? also got it. one of these two was good), so I think some deep fried brussel sprouts on a stick might be tasty.

I like Matt’s mention of back list titles. I get why publicists can’t focus on them, but if a particular publicist has a decent idea of what a particular reviewer might like, I don’t see harm in tossing a back / mid list title into a package going out with the new best thing.

By: Dot

Dot — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 22:47:43 +0000

publicist vs. brussel sprouts

publicists work so many hours and with so much stress, that they can’t POSSIBLY be expected to eat healthily. brussel sprouts, vegetables? bleccch. give us some cupcakes. chocolate mousse. or funnel cake. or mac & cheese. ooh, peace out, i’m going to dinner.

publicist vs. reviewer:

when a certain SOMEONE made fun of my press release, aahahah. you just didn’t understand my metaphor.

By: Larry

Larry — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 20:31:49 +0000

After? I haven’t had it yet…waiting on the MRI results; should be tomorrow when I learn. But thanks for the welcome, as I have been mostly out of it the past couple of days! And as for my new nick, at least you aren’t calling me the Short Novel! :P

I can’t remember all the 60 Great Ideas books, but I’m guessing W.E.B. DuBois’s The Souls of Black Folk isn’t on there. A shame, as I’ve been reading this for the past hour during my planning period and I kept thinking what he had to say would fit in so well with that series. I’m going to blog about it later tonight, but not now, as school was just dismissed!