Firefly Press – Megan Farr

Rosalba Hojer talks to Megan Farr of Firefly Press

“Stories on the move – Making translation in children’s literature visible” is the objective of this year’s Action Lab Project by Outside in World and the Centre for Book Cultures and Publishing. As an intern searching for material to benefit the project, I have interviewed ten different translators and publishers whose answers will offer you a peek behind the scenes of translated children’s books.

Megan Farr gives you a first-hand experience of what publishing translated children’s books entails and delves right into the nitty gritty details of the process, like the importance of reviews, the marketing of the book or the acquisition of the translation in the first place.

Why is it so important to publish translated literature, especially translated children’s books?

Translating books from other languages and cultures opens up the world for children (and adults) and shows them different ways of seeing and thinking about the world other than their own. It helps build empathy, cultural awareness and understanding.

What challenges does it involve to publish translations and why is it worth going the extra mile to do so?

Publishing a translation adds extra steps, and costs, to the publishing process. It is more difficult for acquisition editors to identify books in translation they would like to publish unless they are familiar with the source language or have access to a good sample in the target language. There is more time and cost involved to translate the book and in addition, it is often more difficult to market the book if the author is not available to promote it. However, it is worth going the extra mile to publish a book in translation if you believe the book adds a different voice and perspective on the world for the reader.

Have there been any translated children's books which you thought were quite niche but performed surprisingly well once published?

I think that the middle-grade novel The Murderer’s Ape by Jakob Wegelius, translated by Peter Graves (Pushkin Children’s Books) sounds quite niche but was a huge success, along with the sequel Sally Jones and the False Rose.

Do you have a favourite translated children's book among those which were published at Firefly Press? And if yes, why?

To date, we have only published two books in translation – the middle-grade Latvian novel Dog Town by Luīze Pastore, translated by Žanete Vēvere Pasqualini and illustrated by Reinis Pētersons and the YA Welsh novel The Blue Book of Nebo by Manon Steffan Ros, translated by the author. Both books are so different and for different ages that it seems unfair to choose between them! We’re also publishing translations of two of Ros’s middle-grade novels in 2023.


                             

When publishing a translated children's book, do you find that there are often changes to covers/illustrations/book design/size of the translated version?

For both of the books, we published we changed the covers to better suit the UK market. The rest of the book was very similar to the original.

In what ways were the book covers changed? What makes a book more successful on the UK market in terms of its cover, are there any specific qualities to it?

For Dog Town – as you can see from the UK and Latvian editions below the UK cover uses the same illustration and a similar treatment but there are obvious differences. The UK cover has bright background colours and an enlarged title in a more engaging font. The UK cover also didn’t include the adult character as the image of a bare-chested older man might not be so appealing to a UK child or parent. The UK edition also has a strapline and cover quote whereas the Latvian cover doesn’t. UK covers are seen as the key marketing tool, utilising cover illustration, design, straplines and quotes to market and promote the book as best it can. Other countries often have quieter covers, perhaps as there is less competition as there are fewer books published. The UK publishes around 10,000 new children's titles each year according to the Writers' & Artists' Yearbook.


                      

It is also interesting to compare the Welsh and English language covers for Llyfr Glas Nebo/ The Blue Book of Nebo which are both published for the UK market but one in a minority language and market, and the other in a majority language and market, each have a very different approach. The title of the Welsh edition is handwritten (by the author’s son) to re-create the cover of the notebook the story has been written in itself (the story is written in the pages of a notebook like a diary) and the other is a more traditional cover which captures the atmosphere of the novel’s setting and the perhaps reminds the reader of other cross-over novels such as The Accidental Dog in the Night-Time.

It is also interesting to see the covers of the other translations, below.

selection of Nebo covers: left to right, Spanish, Catalan, French, US and Polish

What is the most unusual translated children's book that you have published at Firefly Press, culturally, in terms of the concept/content etc.?

As mentioned, we have only published two books to date (although we are starting to publish Welsh language translations of some of our books). Between the two novels, I would say that Dog Town is definitely more unusual in its storyline and themes. In the novel, Jacob Bird is fighting to save a run-down but characterful area of his hometown of Riga from developers, with the help of the district’s very own gang of talking dogs.

Do you believe that it is necessary/important to have the translator’s name on the book cover as well as the author’s and illustrator’s names?

Yes, I think it is very important to recognise the translator on the cover of the book. This is something that Firefly does.

In your opinion, why is it so important to put the translator's name on the cover as well?

The translator is as important as the writer in a translated book and deserves their name on the cover alongside the writer. Without the translator there would be no book and the reader should understand their importance in the publishing process. However, I do understand that promoting a book as being translated might be perceived as a barrier for some readers and that some publishers might choose not to put the translators name on the cover. You can see the different language editions of Llyfr Glas Nebo above for a snapshot of which publishers choose to promote the translator or not. The US and UK editions were adapted by the writer herself. Generally, I find that more literary novels have the translators name on the cover and more commercial novels don’t.

As Firefly Press is based in Wales, does that involve a special cultural heritage which translates to the kinds of books that are being published?

Firefly Press publishes good books by writers from everywhere, but we do have a special interest in finding and publishing voices from Wales.

Working in marketing, do you find that there are any differences in the process of promoting translated children's books versus books from UK authors?

With The Blue Book of Nebo we had a bilingual author who was very experienced and excellent at promoting her own books with our assistance. Our approach was to highlight the book and the author to the rest of the UK, Ros and the book in its original Welsh were already very well known in Wales, but not outside. We have been really delighted with the reaction from everyone to the book, both critically and commercially. With Dog Town, we had some great reviews (e.g. The Times Book of the Week) around publication, but because the author wasn’t available for events in the UK after the launch, we found interest didn’t last for long and quickly dropped off people’s radar. I also think that Dog Town was more of a niche read for the UK market.

Why do you think The Murderer's Ape and its sequel Sally Jones and the False Rose were quite niche in their content?

I think these novels are quite niche for the UK market as it is told and packaged as a book written in the early 1900s which is when it is set, from the narrative style to the illustrations and cover. The story is written from the perspective of the main character, a gorilla called Sally Jones.

Do you have any favourites among the Welsh children's books published at Firefly?

I loved The Blue Book of Nebo, a really special book that I’m sure will be in print for many many years to come.

October 2022

The interview was conducted via email by Rosalba Hojer, a German Erasmus+ scholar studying French in the UK and intern working for Dr Sophie Heywood from the University of Reading.

Megan Farr is the Marketing and Publishing Manager at Firefly Press which is an independent Welsh publishing house. She is also currently researching for her PhD about 'Strategic Action for Internationalisation of the Children's Publishing Sector in Wales’. Firefly Press publishes a wide range of fiction for children as well as young adults. The two books mentioned by Megan, Dog Town and The Blue Book of Nebo can be found on the OIW website and in the Outside In World Collection of Children's Books in Translation at the University of Portsmouth Library.