ABSTRACT
Translation rights may not always be granted, particularly if the agency has a specialist department for handling such rights. Translations of English-language books tend to dominate the market; it is estimated that approximately 40 per cent of all new translated titles produced were based on English-language originals. While the aim of placing translation rights is certainly to generate welcome additional revenue, there is also the motivation of bringing the book to a wider readership. Copy for copy, the revenue will always be greater from the sale of the English-language edition than from the royalty derived from a translation. Children’s books often provide a good market for translation rights, both for unillustrated fiction and for picture books. The British Council administered two short-term schemes for the translation of a limited number of educational and academic books and some literary fiction in both Russia and China; mass-market publications were not eligible.
