Finding a publisher for a translated work

[joanclr]

A friend of mine (an experienced translator) wants to translate a very popular novel from Japanese and is wondering how to go about getting a publisher for this. Having no experience with non-original works, I wanted to throw this out to see if anyone else has any input for him.

Would he put together a proposal to send directly to publishers, or should he try to get an agent? He is in contact with the original author and editor and has their permission to proceed providing he can secure a publisher.

Any advice anyone has would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Joan

[Marcusthefish]

It's unorthodox for a translator to be involved with a foreign rights deal in this way. Normally, assuming they bought foreign rights, the original publisher would be trying to sell them. If the author retained these rights, then his or her agent would be responsible for shopping the book around. A translator would normally be hired by the acquiring publisher.

I suppose with the author's support, your friend could create a proposal (or translate the entire book on spec) and shop it to English language presses, but it's unusual, and he/she should be absolutely certain about the rights situation.

MTF (book marketer by trade)