'In English Please' by Gitta Edelmann,

Have you ever been to a bookshop in Germany, Austria or Switzerland? Did you notice the English section?

You might take it for granted – and so do we German-speaking people – that you can buy novels and non-fiction books in English abroad. In fact, a lot of us like to read in English, too, either to have the pleasure of the original writing or to keep up our language skills. Switching to another language also helps me to still enjoy relaxed reading while I am line-editing a German manuscript and see potential of improvement in almost every
sentence.

Moreover, in German, Austrian and Swiss bookshops you come upon loads and loads of books that have been translated – mainly from the English language.

It’s different the other way round. What about your local bookshop? How many translations from the German language can you find there, let alone books in German? How many novels have you read lately that were translated from another language?

Yes, I thought so. The book market in English-speaking countries is different from others.

Let’s have a look at some numbers: In 2023 almost 9,000 titles were translated into German, i.e. 14.5% of first editions. English was the most important language (59.1%). At the same time, around 6,500 licences for translation were sold by German publishers – mostly to China, the Czech Republic and Russia. The percentage of translations into English was vanishingly low, I could not even find a reliable number.

Some of my books have been translated – into Russian, Korean, Hungarian and Ukrainian. Still, the most desirable language for writers is English. The market is huge – who would not like to reach out to so many potential readers?

Being not only published but also translated into other languages is a big thing for authors, a dream that doesn’t come true easily. Publishers in English-speaking countries, most notably, do not seem too interested in literature from other languages.

Good translations that do not only convey the content but also the writer’s style are rather expensive. I know of writers that are testing a different way now. They have AI translate their books so that they can self-publish in

English. But to put it bluntly – AI translations are crap. When I translated some short stories from Scottish English to German, I compared an AI version to mine just for fun. It was not even halfway acceptable. Some sentences meant just the opposite and some were a garbled mess. So, I definitely can’t recommend AI for literary purposes.

But what can a writer do? Wait? Pray? Give up hope?

No, you should never give up hope, you might be lucky in a different way than you thought.

To cut a long story short: I was lucky. My German publisher decided to have my Scottish mystery series MacTavish & Scott – The Lady Detectives of Edinburgh translated into English!

Be Thrilled is the digital label of the German publisher Bastei Lübbe and they mainly publish ebook and audiobook series. They have also released a few mystery series in English (original) and German (translation) like Cherringham and Mydworth by Neil Richards and Matt Costello and Bunberry by Helena Marchmont (she’s actually Olga Wojtas).

I met Neil Richards and Matt Costello at the ten-year anniversary party of Cherringham. When we talked, Neil suggested to try it the other way round: pick my German series and translate it into English. I loved the idea, of course, and discussed it with my editor and the programme manager. Fortunately, my publisher is very open-minded and willing to try out new ideas. And my books sell quite well in German. So, in line with their other series set in Britain, MacTavish & Scott was finally chosen as a pilot project to hopefully fit in and conquer the English-speaking market.

What is the series about?

Young Scot Finola MacTavish has moved from the picturesque Isle of Skye to Edinburgh to work as a private detective in Anne Scott's agency. Along with computer whiz Lachie, the two lady detectives solve a series of baffling cases. Finola soon realises that she has a knack for investigation and shadowing people – preferably in disguise. What's more, she always has her granny's herbal medicine to hand, and the drops in question are much more than just a
headache remedy ...

Meanwhile six of my sixteen books in the cosy crime series have been translated and I have proof-read them to correct some misunderstandings and translation mistakes. From 1^st July on, they will be published one by one as e-books and later also as audiobooks. By now, an English narrator has been found, and I look forward to listening to her voice reading my stories.

As you can imagine, I am very happy. I see my writing in the British mystery tradition, not only by choosing Scotland as the setting (I was lucky enough to live a few years in Edinburgh and spend many holidays in the places I now use as background for my series) but also in the way I develop my characters (in my head they speak English, anyway) and their cases. By the way, you will not always find a murder to solve in these books, I like to commit other crimes, too, like extortion, theft, fraud, stalking … But every now and then, there is a dead body – you just never know when or how.

You are curious how it all worked out? Then you might like a look at The Missing Gardener and read about the first cases for the wee detective agency in Albert Terrace in Edinburgh Morningside. And yes, I do know this street well – that’s where I lived with my family.

I would love to hear from you what you think about translations in general and MacTavish & Scott in particular, so feel free to contact me: gitta-edelmann (at) email.de

And always have fun reading!

 Gitta Edelmann is an author of mysteries for adults and children. She also writes romance, historical fiction and fantasy and occasionally works as a translator or editor. She is a member of PEN, the Murderous Sisters and other writers’ associations in Germany and of the Mystery People Group.

(Portrait Gitta Edelmann by Christa Henke)

www.gitta-edelmann.de