Found in translation?

 

Mamma Carlotta, the wonderful central figure in the six Sylt mysteries by Gisela Pauly, delights German readers of genre fiction.

Although she is a very well drawn character with a personality of her very own, she can also be seen as an archetype… and herein lies an advantage which may not yet have been recognized.

There is a globally familiar ethnic stereotype in play here, the Italian mother figure devoted to endless caretaking and boundless self-sacrifice.

If this is a cliché, and one in terms of which Mamma Carlotta in spite of her individuality can be recognized, then it is also one which would make her very easily accessible for readers of English translations of the Sylt series.

It can be argued that even if the central protagonist poses no problem for the English reader, the island of Sylt will be for almost all a very unfamiliar setting. However it can be seen, on one hand, as the home of people as taciturn as the Scots on the other side of the North Sea and, on the other, established effectively as the location of the German equivalent of mondaine Saint-Tropez! The setting of the stories (and the weather!) could become as addictive for English-language readers as Mamma herself and the family of Kommissar Wolf.

Traditionally, English versions of Gisa Pauly’s Sylt novels would depend on the willingness of a foreign publisher to acquire the translation rights from the German Piper Verlag.

But the traditional way of doing business in publishing is at this time under threat, with the full implications of the digital revolution far from assimilated. In June Amazon announced that Oliver Pötzsch’s Hangman’s Daughter series had become the first Amazon Publishing author to sell one million copies in combined print, audio, and Kindle English language editions worldwide. And the setting was the grim Bavaria of the Middle Ages, not the glittery Sylt resort of Kampen!

Great storytelling, excellent translation and the seriality of consecutive narratives which amounts to a ‘franchise’ are certainly factors involved in this achievement.

These are attributes which can be seen as applicable to the Mamma Carlotta books. Translated they could reach an English-language readership as Kindle e-books offered by the original German publisher and earn royalties superior to the revenues from traditional foreign licensing. 

Why would I bid to be the translator? For one thing, I know Sylt well, not just as a holidaymaker but also having worked for several seasons in Kampen and being thus part of the real island community for a precious while. Another reason is that I am well versed in the thriller and mystery genre. Finally, because I am very much in favour of seriality or ‘long form’ storytelling, having produced as I have mentioned before with some pride over eight hundred episodes of television soap opera for German television networks.

As a Scot, like my countrymen I am well aware of value for money. The added cost of translation is often cited as an inhibition for English and American publishing houses. But increasingly a model involving a modest basic fee and subsequent royalty entitlement is beginning to gather momentum.

The approach I would propose would be to undertake the translation of all published volumes as a single project so that within a reasonable time-frame a new e-book could make its appearance each quarter-year, supported by strong marketing use of social networking.

I would be very happy to walk from my Schwabing flat to Georgenstrasse to discuss this with someone from Piper Verlag!