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Enchanted Trinkets Complete--a hardcover book containing over 500 magic items for your D&D games!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="JohnNephew" data-source="post: 138556" data-attributes="member: 2171">> Is there a cheap an easy way to get your products translated > to German or Russian, for instance? No.  Professional translators are paid considerably more than RPG writers are typically paid to write content in the first place.For the typical game company, foreign markets mean two things:1. Sales of English-language product.  If you're selling PDFs via web, you are probably doing this already, even if you don't know that some of your customers are overseas.2. Licensees.  Someone who really likes your stuff arranges a license to translate it and sell it in his or her native language.  You get paid a percentage of the revenue this activity generates.Unless you are completely fluent in a foreign language (as in, you grew up bilingual, or English is your second language), and are familiar with the markets and cultural differences of the target market, I would strongly advise against trying to do your own translations and marketing.  Frankly, it would be a waste of time and money.  How can you exert quality control if you don't have a native understanding of the text you're selling, for example?  How many foreign-language markets are big enough to have any chance of paying you back for your investment and headaches?  (The answer: Probably zero.)A licensing arrangement is better than hiring someone, because the responsibility AND the bulk of the potential reward are in the same hands, your licensee.  If they botch the translation, they suffer more than you (you lose potential revenue; they lose actual cash they invested in the product).  If it does well, the revenues you get from royalties are nice gravy on top of your English-language sales.  Just don't plan on getting paid on time -- write your business plan around English-language sales only.  (And prepare to be good-humored when pirate translations appear without your authorization.)FWIW, that's my view from the last 15ish years in the biz...-John NephewPresident, Atlas Games</blockquote>

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