The Guardian points to this very cool publishing venture in Britain called And Other Stories that publishes books in translation, taking the decision-making power over what is translated out of the hands of sales reps and putting it in the hands of reading groups, editors and translators.
The venture will support itself through a subscriber base (kind of like our book club), but what makes it different is that it will vastly increase the number of literary books translated in English by taking advantage of the strength of appreciation from the niche market that loves translated literary fiction.
Says Stuart Evers at The Guardian, “Music has worked like this for decades; bands writing songs that appeal to a small niche and that niche supports the close circle of bands and musicians who play that particular style of music. No one gets rich, but everyone gets to hear the music they love.”
I have to say I’m starting to feel more hopeful about things these days.
