Suggestions for Next Year

Overall, I think the inaugural Translation Marketplace at the Miami Book Fair International was a huge success. Similar to what happens at fairs like BEA and Frankfurt, I came away re-energized, feeling like what we’re doing is important, vital, and exciting.

Aside from Martin Riker’s joke about not wanting his boss to find out about the New Directions t-shirt he wears sometimes, there was an overwhelming sense of camaraderie, which tends to happen when various segments of the book industry come together, and is very encouraging.

I tend to take my unique position for granted and forget that not everyone comes in contact with all other aspects of the business. Having been a bookseller for years before getting into publishing, and having worked at small presses where I did editorial, fundraising, sales and publicity, I’ve had the opportunity to get to know agents, editors, publishers, reviewers, cultural organizations, and booksellers. Which is pretty unusual for someone involved in this business.

Usually it’s only the publicists who develop close relationships with reviewers. Booksellers meet with sales reps, not editors. Agents and booksellers rarely interact before a book comes out. (And rarely afterward as well.) Yet we’re all part of the same field, and by bringing together all of these different components of the industry for a sort of “think tank,” the Miami Book Fair created the perfect setting for new interactions and ideas to develop.

In terms of suggestions for the future, I think that there should definitely be a marketing panel, since marketing was what kept being referenced as one of the big problems in publishing translations, and we could all benefit by interacting with people like Jeff Seroy and Cary Goldstein. This isn’t necessarily the place to be handing out galleys and drumming up reviews for upcoming books (though Alan Cheuse was able to find out about Cortazar’s Autonauts of the Cosmoroute through a chance encounter at dinner), but the marketing department is incredibly important to the book industry and has to be included in these conversations.

Translators should be invited as well, since they’re obviously part of this “ecosystem.” (Too bad ALTA was going on at the same time this year . . .) And more international publishers should be invited to go along with the agents who attended.

Finally, I think it would be interesting to build on this year by having panels/events that are more theme focused rather than position focused. So instead of a panel with all editors, have a panel made up of an editor, publicist, reviewer, and bookseller to talk about why a particular book was successful. These cross-interactions could be useful, not to mention the fact that a panel like that would be fascinating to watch.

Overall, I think the Translation Marketplace has a bright future and is positioned to become one of the most exciting days of the year celebrating international literature. And everyone who made this possible—like Mitchell Kaplan and James Connolly—should be applauded.