Wednesday, September 2, 2020

How the World Sees Me! A look at covers by Rhys Bowen



RHYS BOWEN: Recently I have had an astonishing number of my books sold to foreign countries. 29 languages in all to date, I believe. Some of them have published my books for many years: Japan has published all of the Molly and Georgie books. Their take on how Irish girls should look has always slightly scared me. They look as if they have just escaped from the nearest asylum.
 Lady Georgie looks a little bit better:

Italy has always published all my books in their ‘yellow’ series of Montadori. Where all the crime books are published. They have the typical old fashioned crime novel covers.

France now publishes my Royal Spyness and is doing a marvelous job with both covers and advertising. When I visited their offices in Paris last year I was shown the videos, the display cases and of course the social media. This has resulted in a lot of French fans who put pictures of the book on Instagram.

Germany now does mainly E-books of all my series. They are also enthusiastic and I did a half hour interview in German (ja, ich spreche Deutsch) for their podcast. That was fun, especially as they live in my part of the world—Stuttgart where I used to work in a corner deli shop during my gap year. Near to Freiburg where I studied and loved every minute. Also near to Esslinging where my father ran a factory. So lots of ties.

But more recent additions to my mulit-country publishing experience have caused me mirth and sometimes confusion.

Georgie is now in Russian. The covers all look like a healthy Soviet girl on her tractor.
It’s interesting what their concept of an English stately home is.


This is the Polish Molly Murphy series. Rather nice covers that speak to what the stories are about.




 This was a media picture for In Farleigh Field, I believe. Somehow it doesn't remind me of German Planes flying over the English countryside!

 More strong and hefty Georgie, I suspect.



Even England publishes very different-looking covers from my US ones (all of which I utterly adore)





The same is true for Bulgaria, Slovakia and all those countries in that part of the world.

China has now joined the ranks with an interesting cover. Some concept of Tuscany there.

Sometimes they are polite enough ask me what I think of the covers—especially Russia. They are good at doing this. I always tactfully reply that they know their readership better than I do.

My most fun encounter recently has been with a dear Syrian man who is translating my books into Arabic and finding it a bit of a strain to understand English expressions. I get desperate little messages which always start “dear great author,” or dear esteemed author,” and then he says could you please explain the meaning of Binky calling someone ‘old bean’. Beans are plants, are they not?  And don’t even get me started on cricket matches. I’ve had to explain those to the French and German translators—or at least try to explain them.
 Is this one Hebrew? I can't find out.

So in a way they are fun, as is receiving messages from all over the world. I got a lovely fan letter from Hong Kong yesterday. I have a fan in Austria who reads all my books in English, likewise a fan in Norway. I get many nice things said about me in Russia. Lots of Instagram comments I can’t understand (since I dropped Russian rather rapidly, when I realized I was the only member of the class who had not had two years of Russian in high school first.)

But it gives one a warm, fuzzy feeling to know there are young women all over the world who identify with Lady Georgie or Molly Murphy and have to share their stories on social media. It reaffirms that inside we are not so different after all.

Have any of you had fun and interesting cover experiences with other countries?

34 comments:

  1. This is fascinating, Rhys, and it's such fun to look at all the covers. Congratulations . . . being published in so many countries is a wonderful tribute to your writing . . . .

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  2. I love that way across the world someone is reading the same book I am, in a different language, but with similar reactions and the same enjoyment. It must be thrilling, Rhys, to be published in so many countries and so many languages. Is there a country or countries you collect the books from? Your U.S. covers are always so wonderful and my favorite from what I see of the other countries, but it is so interesting to see their take on the characters and scenery. Congratulations on being world famous, Rhys.

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    1. They always send me a copy. Alas I can’t read most of them !

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  3. These are so great. I've been seeing them on FB and Instagram, Rhys. That last one - Korean, maybe?

    Alas, none of my books have been translated - yet. Still waiting for that!

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  4. These are fascinating Rhys--and some of them hysterical! I love the Chinese art best of all. So curious about why the Russians (and Chinese too) would allow translations of an American author?

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    1. Lucy, my daughter had a Russian friend and several Chinese exchange-student friends in high school. They are culturally fascinated with the West in general and American specifically. The government usually turns a blind eye. I guess it's one thing for the political leaders to shout in public, but keep the people happy in private.

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    2. You wonder what their readers make of my characters and their adventures.

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  5. Okay, I lost it at Georgie on her tractor! But how fun, to see all the different cultural interpretations of other cultures. Makes me wonder what kind of preconceptions I also have.

    The only experience with this I have is when my youngest daughter, who was a Potterite from the word go, brought back from her first international trip a volume of Harry Potter from London. Whereupon we all realized how the publisher had "Americanized" Rowling's work. Later, they stopped, thank goodness. When Holly went to Germany a year or so later as an exchange student she also bought a German version. The covers of both looked nothing like the ones we had. First time I realized they could be different.

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  6. First of all Rhys, wow, just WOW! It is such an honor to have your wonderful stories available to readers in so many parts of the world. The covers are great and I wonder if all the artists are supposed to read the books or even know what the stories are about before they begin. Your correspondence with the translator in Syria is a great story in itself. How respectful he is that he be able to convey not just the words but the moods and feelings of British expressions. Don't you love it?!

    My one memorable experience with different covers was unexpected. I was touring Israel about 10 years ago with an organization on a diplomatic mission. At our stops, our bus driver was keeping occupied reading a Hebrew translation of a book that I had just read by a Spanish author. The covers were different so it took me a while. When I finally realized what he was reading, we had a very nice conversation (in Hebrew) about that book.

    Lastly, yeah, the mystery cover, that's not Hebrew.

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  7. I'm always thrilled when the books of an author I love are translated and sold in other countries. You bring me joy and I'm glad that joy is shared through the world. Books can unite people.
    Minotaur books presented the different covers of Louise Penny's books in the last months preceding the publishing of her new book. It was very interesting too.
    Having read books both in English and French for many years, I always find interesting the differences in covers, titles and even the story in itself. That's why I prefer reading a story in the language it was written.

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    1. Have you read my Royal Spyness books in French? I know they are available in Canada because a did a podcast with a Montreal newspaper

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    2. No, I'm sorry to say I never saw one in French. But I don't live in Montreal and there is no big library around where
      I live. I'll look for one and if I can put my hands on one, I'll come back to you.

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  8. Wow Rhys, it's wonderful that your books have been translated into so many languages! What fun to try to relate the covers to the stories. Some were rather wide of the mark, but your response is excellent.

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  9. What a lovely trip around the world this morning with your international book covers, Rhys. Wow! Talk about reaching an audience. Congratulations on this recognition of your work.

    My family read both the TinTin and the Asterix & Obelix books in English, French and German. The characters look the same, but how the animals speak (dogs, for example) is different in those three languages. I don't recall if the covers were different, but the translations of the text were very good and reflected the culture of the language being read not the language it had been written in. Translation is an art!

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  10. Fascinating! I like the Russian tractor girl best.

    Why do publishers sometimes use different titles for the same book in England and the States?

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    1. It’s always been a mystery to me too! Apparently some words don’t resonate in one country

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  11. How fun to see how your stories/characters are translated to different cultures!

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  12. That last cover says "Detective Lady Georgie" in Korean.

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  13. Detective Lady Georgie! I like that.

    That tractor cover, with Land Girl Georgie? I thought it was The Victory Garden.

    So, you get all of these books landing in your mailbox, Rhys, and then have to play Cover Art Roulette to figure out what some of them are. Intriguing.

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  14. I always find looking at covers in other countries interesting. Thanks for sharing.

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  15. Rhys, what fun! Don't you love the foreign covers? My Japanese books all look very hard-boiled. The German books always have dark, brooding landscapes with isolated houses, very Gothic! But my favorite are the Czech editions, all with fabulous bright graphics that look like pulp crime novels.

    Sturdy Georgie on the tractor totally cracked me up!! But my favorite is the Chinese cover of The Tuscan Child. I'd hang that up as an art print!

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  16. I'll echo Mark and say I also love seeing covers from different countries. Since covers are all about drawing a reader in and making them pick up the book and buy it, they're a real window into what has commercial appeal for readers abroad.

    I do wonder of the Soviet tractor Georgie is the Russian way to indicate the historical time period?

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  17. Oh, I should add SF author John Scalzi periodically posts blog articles showing collections of his work in translation. He has some real doozies.

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  18. Rhys, I love book covers in the U.K. I remember buying books in England because of the cover even though I already had the book at home. I have the U.K. cover for one of the Harry Potter books with a different title.

    Diana

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  19. This is so fun, Rhys! I had no idea you spoke German. Fabulous. I just got a message on Instagram yesterday from a reader in India, who loved Paris is Always a Good Idea. She was delightful. And then, today, I opened my email and found the cover art for the German translation of the same book. They've retitled it: Irgendwo Ist Immer Irgendwer Verliebt or SOMEBODY IS ALWAYS IN LOVE SOMEWHERE which I like rather a lot. My favorite cover so far has been for the Cupcake Bakery mysteries in Japanese. Delightful! Yes, it is very fun to think of your work out there in the world.

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  20. So great seeing all your books going out into the wider world, Rhys, and being enjoyed by so many people! And the covers are great--the title translations, the art--little glimpses into other cultures, even if we can't read them all. My only experience is that I recently came across the Harry Potter books in Spanish and decided to read the first one. Four years in high school plus a semester or two in college many many years ago--but I know the stories so well that it's helping me translate and is proving to be a hoot to read! My nephew, now, found a Russian version of the first Harry Potter and is anxiously awaiting its arrival.

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  21. It’s always fun to see the foreign covers. Poor Georgie didn’t fare too well with some of them.

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  22. I'm stopped in my tracks at how widely your series are published. None of mine were ever even considered for foreign editions, which might be because they were rather short lived. but Molly and Georgie live everywhere!

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  23. This was a fascinating worldwide tour of covers. Fun!

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