October 18th, 2008

Google Book Search is three years old now and, with the cancellation of Microsoft’s Live Search Book (with such an illiterate name it had to be doomed), it’s again the only free-online-full-text-searchable show in town.

Under its partner programme, whereby publishers upload their titles onto Google’s servers and stipulate how it can viewed online, Google now has over a million titles from 20,000 publishers in the programme.

Talking in Hall 8 with Chris Palma, Google’s strategic partner development manager, I learned that Google is now offering an additional tool of striking potential for both booksellers and publishers.

In a service not unlike Amazon’s ‘Search Inside the Book’, booksellers can now offer their online customers the ability to look inside books before they buy. As soon as a customer finds a particular book on a booksellers’ website, the full-text version of it is loaded from the Google Book Search database.

‘With a decent internet connection, it’s almost instantaneous,’ explained Palma.

The limits on how much of the book can be viewed are the same as those stipulated by the publisher for Google Book Search, starting from 20 per cent of the book.

Properly implemented, this new tool could give even the smallest online bookseller the opportunity to replicate the browsing that goes on in a bricks-and-mortar bookstore. As most consumers are lucky to get more than a jacket image and a blurb from the average online bookseller (with the exception of Amazon), this represents a major advance.

Palma also told me that, generally speaking, Google’s statistics how that the more browsable book content you offer to the online consumer, the more chance there is of a sale. Of course, it may be self-defeating if you offer almost the whole book free. My fellow blogger Ed Nawotka tells me he recently had the chance to read 90 per cent of a book and then realised he had no need to purchase it.

What Google needs to develop now is a grumpy avatar to pop up after the consumer has read about half the book and say ‘This isn’t a library, mate - either buy it or close your browser!’

Palma has recently been to India to start the process of getting the Indian publishing industry on board. There are many wonderful things about the Indian book industry, but orderliness is not one of them. There is no Indian Books in Print, ISBN and barcodes are not universally used, and there is no reliable information on what is published and by whom.

It may be Google’s lasting legacy if it can organise the Indian book industry!

Shahla Lahiji, chief director of Roshangaran Publishing in Tehran, Iran is one of the most highly honored publishers in her field. The first woman publisher in Iran, she is the publisher of Shirin Ebadi (Nobel Peace Prize 2003) and an outspoken human rights advocate.

Lahiji has been coming to Frankfurt on and off for decades. She came to the world’s attention in 2000, after she was arrested for after returning to Iran from Berlin, where she participated in an academic conference sponsored by the Heinrich Boll Institute that was critical of the then government. After spending two months in jail, she was released on parole.

Lahiji’ has won both the 2001 PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award and the first IPA Freedom Prize. I asked caught up with here on the show floor to get an update on what the publishing environment is like for her today.

“Things have gotten 1000 times worse under the current regime in the last year,” said Lahiji. ‘We had 40 of my books banned between 2007 and 2008, meaning I was only able to publish about 15 titles. There doesn’t seem to be any logic to it.”

Nevertheless, she remains undaunted in her mission to create a “dialogue through books.”

One project Lahiji has in the works was to publish an edition of John Locke’s Second Treatise on Civil

Government – one of the documents in which the philosopher outlined the framework for a liberal, democratic society. Lahiji intends to bind a copy of the United States Constitution into the back of the book as an example of Locke’s treatise at work.

“I won’t be doing it in this edition,” she said, “but maybe the next.”

Asked if she ever has any trouble traveling to the Frankfurt Book Fair for her work, Lahiji cracks a joke: “No. Sometimes I think they are hoping I don’t go back.”

Sandwiched between the children’s publishers and the comics area in Hall 3.0 is a hidden treasure - the Iranian Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children & Young Adults (3.0 H345) stand. Iran has a rich history of book illustration, and the artworks on display are intricate, sophisticated and of considerable variety. 

The stand also displays a wide range of different Iranian children’s books and is also selling postcards and prints of the work of Iranian illustrators.

If, like me, Iranian children’s publishing is something of a blank page for you, then you’re in for a very pleasant surprise.

Simpson’s artist Bill Morrison was a star attraction today at the Comics Centre of the FBF. (See a video of an interview with Morrison here) During a Q&A session, he answered the fans most vexing questions about the show and the comics, starting with the most important:

“Where is Springfield.”

His answer: A lot of people think Springfield is in Oregon where Matt Groening is from. But the real answer is Springfield everywhere, except probably Japan. A couple years ago there was a contest in the United States to find the “real” Springfield where the movie premier would be and Springfield, Vermont won.

Q: Why does the city of Springfield keep changing? Sometime there’s a building here, or something different there?

A: It may sound strange to say it, but Springfield is a lot like Batman’s utility belt. Whatever you need for an episode has to be there. We never sacrifice comedy for continuity, so people sometimes act like it’s a soap opera and get upset when it’s not what they expect.

Q: What is your favorite Simpson’s character?”

A: Homer, though he said that Comic Book Guy was becoming his favorite.

Q: When will Maggie say another word?

A: She’s already said two words. Her first was “Daddy,” then there was “sequel” at the end of the movie. There have been episodes in which you see the Simpson’s in the future and Maggie is there an always on the phone. Whenever she’s about to speak, she gets interrupted. I don’t think that’s a joke they want to ruin, so I would have to say probably never.

Q: Will the Simpson’s ever grow older?

A: Only in those episodes where you see them in the future.

Q: Will there be a sequel to the movie? Or perhaps a live action version, such as one that would have Brad Pitt starring as Bart Simpson.

A: Knowing the movie studio’s love of money, I would say yes, but only after they have a good script are they likely to announce it. I think a live action movie would be great. There was a version of the opening sequence filmed in the UK using real people. It was great. They used it once on the actual show.

Catalan Culture was last year’s Guest of Honor at the Fair, and put on a huge display of Catalan culture, and producing a number of slick publications and presentations to help make people aware of their rich literary tradition. (It’s sad, but I think a lot of Americans–and possibly others–think that Catalan is a Spanish dialect rather than recognizing that it’s a unique language. Again, Horace Engdahl, lack of literature in translation, America isolationism, etc., etc., etc.) Based on the sheer number of people visiting their booth and attending their fabulous parties, it seemed pretty successful, and based on my conversation with Carles Torner of the Ramon Llull Insitut, this positive effect has carried over quite well.

“Being the Guest of Honor at the Frankfurt Book Fair was very important to us,” Torner said. “By the end of this year there will have been as many translations of Catalan books into other languages as there was in 2007.” Which sounds sort of static, but is actually a huge gain considering that 53 titles (including a lot of multi-volume titles) were published in German in preparation for the Frankfurt Book Fair.

(I’m going to digress for a moment here: as I typed that it occured to me just how special it is to be the Guest of Honor. And just how civil, bookish, and outward looking the German publishing scene is. There’s a better chance of the Cubs winning the World Series than American publishers getting together and publishing a shitload of books in translation in preparation for BookExpo America. Dead horse, beating it, I know, I know, but for all doubters of Engdahl’s statments, here’s another instance pointing to just how right he is.) 

(Another digression: the press I run is publishing three Catalan works over the next eighteen-months thanks to last year’s FBF and an amazing visit to Barcelona.)

Carles’s feeling is that the publication of Catalan literature–classic, modern, and contemporary–by German publishers sent a message to the rest of the publishing world. Jaume Cabre is a perfect example. After being published by Surhkamp for the Fair, his latest novel Les veus del Pamano was picked up by Dutch, Italian, French, and even Romanian publishers. That’s how the network of publishers I’ve mentioned before functions: if a couple well-respected presses publish a book, it sends a message to everyone else that they should pay attention. (Well–again with the horse–except maybe in the case of Le Clezio. He’s published by Hanser in Germany and many other fantastic presses, but Simon & Schuster doesn’t seem to be rushing his books back into print . . .)

In terms of numbers, over 80 translations of Catalan books came out last year around the world (or at least were subsidized by the Ramon Llull Institut) and that number will likely be broken this year.

Carles also mentioned that another great effect of being the Guest of Honor is the fact that they no longer have to spend time explaining what Catalonia is–something that used to be a huge problem. But now there are other problems. Similar to the situation with Dutch and China (see my earlier post), some Greek publishers became very interested in acquiring Catalan works last year, but at the time there were no Catalan to Greek literary translators . . . So the Ramon Llull Insitut organized a special seminar, helped get some translators up to speed, and now eight books are under contract with Greek publishers.

Since last year’s Fair, the Ramon Llull Institut has continued to expand its activities, hosting a number of events at this year’s PEN World Voices Festival (including one to celebrate the Review of Contemporary Fiction’s New Catalan Writing issue), planning a seminar in New York in November 2009 to bring together translators, critics, and publishers interested in Catalan culture, and opening an office in New York next year.

Literature in translation–and all that goes into producing, publishing, and promoting literature in translation–is a huge interest of mine. (See my U.S. blog Three Percent and/or Open Letter, the publishing company I run.) So I was extremely excited to come across “* Great translation by the way” by Martin de Haan and Rokus Hofstede, a brochure on display at the the Foundation for the Production and Translation of Dutch Literature stand.

This is a fascinating booklet that builds off of some of the ideas in the “To Be Translated or Not to Be” report that was issued from PEN America and the Ramon Llull Institut at last year’s Fair, focusing on the current situation of transltion in the Netherlands, and proposing a set of directives that the European Union should implement to help preserve and cultivate a “flourishing translation culture.”

The title and the purpose are explained in the opening:

” ‘Great translation by the way.’ It is with off-hand comments like these that book reviewers typically dismiss the work of a translator–assuming, that is, that they mention the translator at all. Such cursory treatment makes painfully clear where translators stand in the literary pecking order: right at the bottom.

“This document is a pleas to set matters right and to give a central place to literary translation as a profession. This is a matter of some urgency, as the quality of translations from and into Dutch is under threat and a huge shortage of translators is looming.”

The “huge shortage of translators” problem exists throughout the world, with “meagre pay, low professional status and a lack of educational facilities” being the primary deterrents. Recently, Chinese publishers bought the rights to 60 Dutch works, which is fantastic on one hand, except for the fact that at the time there was only one living Dutch to Chinese translator . . .

Which, in my opinion, is a huge problem. Translated literature is a fantastic way to encounter other cultures and a way to exchange ideas, two concepts that are at the heart of what makes the Frankfurt Book Fair so special. (And at the heart of why Horace Engdahl said that America was too insular to participate in world literature. We publish a miniscule number of translations a year–approx. 330 new translations of adult fiction and poetry. Seriously.) 

Maria Vlaar, the Deputy Director of the Foundation for the Production and Translation of Dutch Literature, talked to me about this booklet, explaining that they published this booklet to create a roadmap of sorts for how the E.U. could support translation culture and help it grow in a way that’s more effective and ambitious than simply providing a couple thousand euros in translation subsidies. (Which is what they do now.)

After setting the scene, the booklet details five general recommendations, some specific to the Netherlands, others that apply to all of Europe: 1) establish a degree program in translation to and from Dutch, 2) support lifelong learning and professional development for translators, 3) boost the position of the translator by helping protect their rights and increase their pay and visibility, 4) provide funds to publishers doing “difficult” works that would otherwise flounder in the marketplace, and 5) encourage intercultural dialogue about translation.

One of the specific programs Ms. Vlaar is really big on is the creation and funding of “Translator Houses” throughout Europe. These Houses serve as a place where translators can go and live for a month to work on the translation their doing in the book’s country of origin. (For instance, someone translating a Spanish book in to Dutch could spend a month in Spain to research, increase their knowledge of the area, etc.) One of these houses exists in Amsterdam, and almost 50 translators a year are flown in and put up in one of five apartments where they can work. And a number are even given a 1,000 euro stipend to help with daily expenses. Her vision is that these Houses would exist throughout Europe, thus increasing cultural exchanges and growing the European network of translators.

What’s most interesting to me about her recommendations and ideas about how the E.U. could support this culture is the similarity to current marketing ideas and the shift away from only funding a specific product to funding a group of people who would directly impact the translation scene for years and years to come. Don’t get me wrong, all us publishers would still get our translation subsidies (sigh of relief), but at the same time the E.U. would also be supporting the education and opportunities for a wide number of people who are constantly in contact with publishers and authors, and often serve as “cultural ambassadors,” helping increase the number of translations published.

Thanks to this booklet and last year’s “To Be Translated or Not to Be” report, there is a growing awareness of the need to support literature in translation, and it’s great to see some specific, doable (post-bank bailout, of course–there will always be an economic pecking order) ideas being presented.

Copies of “* Great translation by the way” are available in English and Dutch at stand 6.0 B969.

Contrary to some reports I’ve read that the there was less “buzz” at this year’s FBF, I’ve come away with aquite different impression: Nearly everyone I’ve spoken to has been very busy. A large contingent of execs have even remained in Frankfurt an extra day or two to continue taking meetings, well beyond their traditional Saturday exodus (hoping to avoid the public, one presumes).

Among those still working hard this Saturday morning was Colin Finlay, director of strategic development for UK photo agency Photoshot (Hall 8).

He was more than enthusiastic about FBF 08: “This is the best show we’ve ever had,” he said. “The first morning alone we had three high level new customers – something that hasn’t happened before.”

Photoshot, which provides stock photography for books, magazines and the Web, has been doing steady Fair trade with publishers from all the major European countries. “We’re also particularly happy with our contacts with customers from publishers in the New Europe and Russia,” he said.

And despite the general gloomy outlook for the economy, he perceives no slowdown. “Publishers have budgets and are buying.”

He also provided an impressive dollar amount of revenue generated here at the FBF, but asked I don’t disclose it.

Finlay’s only complaint about this year’s show: The continuing security checks going into Hall 8.

“It made sense after 9/11, but it’s not really necessary now,” he said, “It’s not even all that secure – just someone going through your bag. They should do it probably with airport style X-ray machines or not at all.”

If I recall correctly, Bernhard Schlink’s The Reader was the hit of the 1994 Frankfurt Book Fair. It went on to be translated into 39 languages and become the first novel by a German to hit the top of the New York Times bestseller list. A film of the book starring Kate Winslet and Ralph Fiennes is currently in production, and is due for release next year. 

There is a new book by Schlink being offered at this year’s fair. It’s a powerful work of nonfiction called Guilt about the Past. In the book, which consists of six essays based on the Weidenfeld Lectures he gave at Oxford University earlier this year, Schlink explores the phenomenon of guilt and how it attaches to a whole society, not just to individual perpetrators. He considers how to use the lesson of history to motivate individual moral behaviour, how to reconcile a guilt-laden past, the role of law in this process and how the theme of guilt influences his own fiction. 

The book is coming from an unlikely source: Australia’s University of Queensland Press (UQP). In something of a coup, the press has been granted world English language rights by the author.

Interest in the book, which will be published in Australia in January 2009, has so far been ‘white hot … and people are getting out their calculators!’ UQP’s ebullient general manager Greg Bain told me yesterday. The interest will undoubtedly shed more light on this excellent press, which for 60 years has been publishing a wide range of quality adult and youth literature, as well as academic and adult nonfiction works, from its headquarters in Brisbane, Australia.