Way back in 2014, back when sewing blogs felt a little different from the current vibe, I was approached by a marketing person at Tuttle Publishing about reviewing a couple of Japanese sewing books that had been freshly translated into English. I said yes, of course. As I was corresponding back and forth with the marketing person, I offhandedly mentioned that if they ever needed another translator, I was happy to help out. A single sentence in a short email.
A few months later, an editor from Tuttle Publishing reached out and asked if I would be interested in translating this book. I said yes, of course. And then I kept saying yes and the other day when I received another translation assignment, I noticed that somewhere along the way I had stopped keeping track. I was shocked to count up the books — I am currently working on my 20th translation project!
There are 17 shown up there from 2014 to 2020 and three more will be published next year, which I can’t show yet. Translation projects are a different animal from working on the books I publish through Sasquatch Books and Little Bigfoot. I am paid a one time fee for the translations and don’t get any royalties. I love doing the translations because they require me to use a different set of problem-solving skills. It’s still writing, but with a twist since the original words aren’t mine and I’m tasked to convey the nuance of the Japanese text while keeping an English-reading audience in mind.
I’m learning all about natural dyeing right now via this latest translation project, and it’s so educational! Very much like a science project!
More than anything, I was marveling that all of this came from putting out a simple question. It makes one wonder, “What else can I ask?”
I hope you are all doing well, my friends! I’ve decided to make some website/blog changes over the next few weeks, so I may skip a blog post for October, but I will definitely be back for November. I apologize in advance if things get glitchy around here. In the meantime, I am sending you all shiawase* thoughts!
*Shiawase is a Japanese word that roughly means happiness or good fortune.
Wow! That’s quite an accomplishment. Fingers crossed for more regular updates in this long form
Your regular posts are appreciated.
Thanks so much, Tammy! I so enjoyed blogging regularly back in the day, and when I’ve sorted things out with the backend coding type stuff, I hope to return to more frequent posts! xo