Translations

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Multiple Minor Items

August 8, 2007 in Covers, Reviews, Translations by Brian | No comments

Item the First. Although I’ve not had official confirmation, I think this is the cover to the Russian edition of Winterbirth. Now Russian sf/f book covers are famously … what’s the word … different, and this one is no exception (I have no clue who those figures are), but I consider it a badge of honour and a pleasure to get one of these to my name. I get a little, always vaguely disbelieving, thrill from each of the translation deals done for the book, and there’s something faintly exotic and surreal about the idea of it being on sale in places like Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Item the Second. Here’s two Winterbirth reviews for the price of one (well, maybe one and a half for the price of one): the proprietor of Gav’s Studio did a review and then went back a couple of days later to add to it. Interesting to see someone reflecting on a review and revisiting it – not something you see very often in the blogosphere.

Item the Third. Edinburgh has now entered the month or so of collective weirdness that is Festival season. I’ll write about this more here soon, since it’d probably be some kind of dereliction of duty for an Edinburgh inhabitant with a blog not to at least note that their city has gone thoroughly mad around them, but for now just thought I’d note that Transreal Fiction, Edinburgh’s sf/f bookshop, is hosting a Bestiary of Authors: an exhibition of informal photos of genre authors. For those who can’t go along and see the real thing, a selection of the images can be viewed online here.

Item the Fourth. Decades of commercial, industrialised whaling failed to achieve it, but we got there in the end: the probable extinction of a cetacean. That’s one less species of dolphin to worry about, which I’m sure is a great relief to all of us.

Covers

July 4, 2007 in Covers, Translations, Winterbirth by Brian | No comments

More bookskins. The German edition of Winterbirth is due out some time around November. I’m guessing, since there looks to be a line of figures winding its way between the pointy mountains, that this is an image of the Vale of Stones, through which first refugees and then armies march in the book. The trilogy’s got the overall title of ‘Die Welt aus Blut und Eis’ (The World of Blood and Ice) in German, which sounds suitably dramatic. Wagnerian, even?

And the final version of the cover that’s going to be used in the US and on the UK paperback (released in September and August respectively) has emerged, slightly different from – and I think ever so slightly improved on – the one I posted a while back.

I’ve liked, in one way or another, all the covers I’ve seen applied to Winterbirth so far. No doubt some of them will work better than others in drawing attention to the book (and selling it, which is my favourite part of the process obviously), but I don’t really feel able to judge that (yet – I wonder if publishers dread the moment when authors start to develop and voice strong opinions about things like cover art?). What I can say is I’m a big fan of the UK paperback cover, which is the only one I’ve seen a hard copy of. It’s got a nice cold, gritty vibe going on. Plus, although you can’t tell it from this image, the word ‘Winterbirth’ is embossed and has a bit of a metallic sheen to it. To be embossed is good; to be embossed and shiny is doubly good. You see how easy authors (well, this author at least) are to please?

Newsbites

May 31, 2007 in Bloodheir, Translations by Brian | No comments

Two little snippets of book-related news.

Snippet the First. After much umming and ahhing and scratching of head, Book Two in the Godless World trilogy has finally got a definite title: Bloodheir. Took longer to settle on a name than it did to write the damn thing … Amazon is still calling it Winterbirth v.2 (EDIT: actually, today they’re calling it Bloodheir: v.2, which is nearly right), but trust me, it’s Bloodheir. Looks like it should be in UK bookshops early April 2008. Before anyone asks, no I don’t know what its US or Australian publication dates will be – will try to find out at some point and report back.

Snippet the Second. Another translation deal has been done for Winterbirth – Greece, this time. News of these overseas deals comes out of the blue to me, since other people are doing the hard work of trying to make them happen, so each one is an unexpected little nugget of pleasure.

And finally, an update on DARPA’s project to create hybrid insects that I mentioned a post or two back. The Times has details on the plan: cyborg moths! You couldn’t make this stuff up. Well, you could, but only if you’re an sf writer.

Dutch, by Another Name

May 13, 2007 in Covers, Translations by Brian | No comments

Behold, the cover of the Dutch edition of Winterbirth, which I’m liking. The bilingual amongst you (which in the UK would be precious few, in Holland – as far as I can tell – pretty much everybody), will notice that it’s not actually called Winterbirth. A name change was recommended for the Dutch market, which was fine by me. As a result, it turns out that I’ve written a book called (in that one corner of the world) Swords of Honour. Last I heard, it’s published next month.

Odds & Ends

December 11, 2006 in Magazines, Reviews, Translations, Winterbirth by Brian | No comments

There’s a very friendly review of Winterbirth over at Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist. If all goes according to plan, I should be doing an interview for that site soon, too.

A PS to my last post about Interzone: I discover (via the excellent UK SF Book News) that there’s an ambitious newcomer on the UK sf/f/h short fiction scene: Hub Magazine. While idly poking about their website, I further discover that they have a competition in their first issue, in which they seem to be giving away copies of Winterbirth. Now if that doesn’t tempt the masses into subscribing nothing will. Maybe. Or not. Anyway, quite aside from their excellent taste in competition prizes, any new fish in the small pond of UK genre magazines is to be welcomed.

Plus: Looks like another European sale of the Godless World trilogy is sorted out, this time for the Czech Republic. Hooray.

And finally: I’m looking forward to this. Rumour has it, it’s pretty good once it gets going.

Winterbirth Going International

October 31, 2006 in Signing, Translations, Winterbirth by Brian | No comments

Just in case any non-Brits are visiting (and very welcome you are, if so), it might be worth mentioning that there are to be translations of Winterbirth. Dutch, German, Russian, Polish and Romanian editions are in the works so far – exciting stuff for your average first-time author who thought just trying to get a UK publishing deal was being optimistic!

The first to see the light of day is likely to be the Dutch edition from M, scheduled for around April 2007. Current plans are for the German edition, from Piper, to hit the shelves in Autumn 2007. I am in awe, by the way, of those who have the skills to translate a novel. Being functionally illiterate in any language but English myself, their abilities seem almost magical to me.

And for anyone toying with the idea of buying the good old-fashioned English language version of Winterbirth, a reminder that if you contact Transreal Fiction they can sell you a signed (and optionally personalised!) copy, as reported in this post. It may be an enormously valuable heirloom one day. Or a handy signed doorstop. Never know when you might need one of those.

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