UK vs. US Question

J

Justin2209

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I was curious if anyone out there can tell me if books written by UK authors are "translated" when they are published in the US. Just for the British words that we Americans don't use. I have never looked at an import. I'm just finding a lot of the authors I'm interested in are from the UK and I'm getting impatient and was considering importing some books. Just thought I would check here since I know some of you import and some of you are UK authors yourselves.

For example, I'm patiently waited for The Last Argument of Kings and its set for release here in the US the end of September but with it being the "best ending to a fantasy series" in a long time (or ever) its getting difficult. I'm tired of dodging all the discussions to avoid spoilers!

I tried a search for this question but I don't think I had the right search terms because I didn't find my answer. I did find loads of places to buy them though. Thanks in advance for the help. :)
 
No, as far as I know, almost never. Sometimes English spellings are 'Americanized' (or, as I like to call it, 'made wrong' ;) ) for the American edition but that's it.

The only example I can think of is that the Philosopher's Stone in the first Harry Potter book was renamed the Sorcerer's Stone. And that's about it.
 
Werthead said:
No, as far as I know, almost never. Sometimes English spellings are 'Americanized' (or, as I like to call it, 'made wrong' ;) ) for the American edition but that's it.

The only example I can think of is that the Philosopher's Stone in the first Harry Potter book was renamed the Sorcerer's Stone. And that's about it.
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Excellent news! Yes I'm American and I totally speak American. lol

Thanks Werthead. And you get bonus points for the < 10 minute response time!
 
Actually, they do make changes of certain words sometimes. It depends on the publisher. It's kind of silly -- it's not like we don't know British terms and slang words over here, at least the basics. But if there are a lot of "British" terms, or things that they think are too obscure for us Yanks, they have been known to change them.

The U.S. is also seen as a more risk-averse market. For instance, Richard Morgan's SF novel Black Man was changed to the title Thirteen for the U.S. I think this was a huge mistake. I think Morgan would have gotten way more media attention for the book in the U.S., above the kudos he got, if they had kept the original title, and that it would have helped Morgan and the SF market.
 
I have heard that Europe is a little less squeamish about things than we are stateside so I was really curious how far they took it.

I thought the Harry Potter name change was silly. I always equated the Philosopher's Stone with Alchemy (thank you Full Metal Alchemist). Nicolas Flamel himself is a know historical "alchemist" reputed to have worked on the Philosopher's Stone. Anyway...

Thanks for the responses.
 
In my experience, very rarely.

Almost never from the US to the UK, rarely from the UK to the US. I think there are issues with YA, especially if the books are to be used in schools. Obviously US readers couldn't cope with Philosopher, for example, ;) (though part of the reason for the change, I seem to remember from somewhere, was that 'Philosopher' was seen to possibly cause concern and 'Sorcerer' didn't/wouldn't.)

I'm fairly sure BlackMan/13 was slightly rewritten: I remember reading about it when Richard was on with it; having said that, I haven't been bothered to actually compare my US copy with my UK copy, so if anyone has...

Mark / Hobbit
 
In some cases, the US editors are more stringent than the UK editors. From what I've gathered in that the editorial process is more rigid here in the States. For one title published in the UK a couple of years ago an republished in the US this year, the manuscript was pushed through another round of edits prior to the US release.
 
Justin2209 said:
I have heard that Europe is a little less squeamish about things than we are stateside so I was really curious how far they took it.
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The US is squeamish about nudity and sex, preferring to replace it with violence. For example, Janet Jack nipple was headline news in the US but the rest of the world just yawned.
 
Sometimes when they don't translate it can end up a bit dodgy.
Like when Americans write about a fanny, meaning someone's rear end.
In England it means something rather different..so it can seem very rude and weird.
 
I know that most of the Malazan books maintain the British (or is it the Canadian? -- seeing as Erikson's from there) spelling of many words that have alternate US forms. I'm not aware of any actual content changes (I doubt the US audience is particularly squeamish regarding sex, nudity, and violence in a novel, unless it's intended for a YA audience).
 
Actually US written SFF is not at all squeamish about nudity and sex. Not much other kinds of fiction either. Read some Laurell K. Hamilton, have fun.

As far as I know, it's just titles and cultural idioms that get changed, not the content of the narratives, and from what I've heard from authors, only UK and Australian books to US, not the other way around. I suppose there are some cases of U.S. editors asking for some fine-tuning on a book, but that's very unusual.

I would suggest that you wait for Abercrombie's book to come out in the U.S., though, if you possibly can. It helps his U.S. sales, which makes it much more likely that he's published in the U.S. and increases the chances that the next series, books will come out simultaneously in the UK and US, instead of with a delay.
 
I was just reading the second Felix Castor book and there were a few things in there I wasn't sure about...busman's holiday? That a Britishism or just something I've never heard of? I don't even remember the others. I can tell what they are generally from context. I realize I can just goggle these things but I often read in bed and don't feel like getting up and going into the other room to look up things.
 
A 'busman's holiday' is one where you don't altogether escape the involvements of your career or day to day existence, i.e. the bus driver who spends his holiday driving around.

And I don't know if that's an Americanism but over here we google ;)

ND
 
KatG said:
I would suggest that you wait for Abercrombie's book to come out in the U.S., though, if you possibly can. It helps his U.S. sales, which makes it much more likely that he's published in the U.S. and increases the chances that the next series, books will come out simultaneously in the UK and US, instead of with a delay.
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Good advice. I hadn't thought of that fact. I'm a big fan of Raymond Feist too and his new book looks like its going to be very close to a simultaneous release (30ish days or so). A little patience doesn't seem too much to ask in return for a good story. :)

Speaking of Joe, Amazon UK has Best Served Cold at a June 18, 2009 release (in hardcover too). Can anyone confirm a US release date?

EDIT: I just did a google search of Joe's site and found an answer.

"With any luck the US edition should come out about the same time as the UK edition this time round as well. No longer need you cast your jealous eyes across the briny Atlantic. Americans Rejoice!"
 
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Depends on the publisher, of course, but Lou Anders at Pyr likes to use the exact same text (spellings and all) as was in the original version. So there is absolutely no difference between the US and UK versions as far as the text goes. The books themselves are a slightly different size, though, and set differently, so they won't match on the shelf.

Although it's got a September release date, I believe the US edition of Last Argument of Kings should be shipping some time later this month, so not that long to wait.

And yeah, Best Served Cold should be out both sides of the Atlantic around the same time. Hopefully June '09.
 
Joe Abercrombie said:
Depends on the publisher, of course, but Lou Anders at Pyr likes to use the exact same text (spellings and all) as was in the original version. So there is absolutely no difference between the US and UK versions as far as the text goes. The books themselves are a slightly different size, though, and set differently, so they won't match on the shelf.

Although it's got a September release date, I believe the US edition of Last Argument of Kings should be shipping some time later this month, so not that long to wait.

And yeah, Best Served Cold should be out both sides of the Atlantic around the same time. Hopefully June '09.
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Strait from the source. :)

Is it weird that I feel like a celebrity just spoke to me? lol
 
Is it weird that I feel like a celebrity just spoke to me?
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No, just be grateful. :)

Even allowing for the fact that Joe NEVER misses a chance.... :D

Thanks Joe.

Mark / Hobbit
 
Werthead said:
The only example I can think of is that the Philosopher's Stone in the first Harry Potter book was renamed the Sorcerer's Stone. And that's about it.
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I had a friend who read both the UK and USA editions of Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone and he said that some british terms were "Americanized" like instead of "Torch" they used "Flashlight". Pretty silly stuff.

On another note, I was a bit older than I'd like to admit when I realized "Draught" was pronounced "Draft".
 
Well there you go -- next book sim release -- Canada too, Joe?

Bear in mind, these big old transnational publishers are still working this stuff out. The market has changed radically in the past decade, with a lot more international publishing going on. I would imagine the "Americanizing" of some words and titles will die off after a few more years.
 
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