Anton Hur

What Is a Pitch?

Sometimes, when you want a publisher to consider publishing a book you want to translate, you have to present the book to several different publishers for their consideration, and this submissions process is often called “pitching.” In Anglophone publishing, this job is normally done by professional agents, but more often than not, translators have to step in as a kind of agent-of-last-resort.

What to Remember in a Pitch

1. You are your book’s best friend. We all have that one friend who not only loves to read but loves to tell us about the latest book they absolutely love. We listen to them enthuse about the book at length to the point where we feel like we’ve already read the book. That’s what you need to convey in your pitch: the impression that the editor has already read the book (without having actually read the book).
2. The editor you are pitching needs all the ammunition you can give them. It’s not enough for a pitch to impress your editor. Your editor more likely than not has to convince several different people in their publishing house: their editorial director, marketing and PR, governing board, etc. If you come from a language like Korean, your editor will not have the tools at hand that will help them in the process of convincing their peers, such as sales milestones, source-language reviews, and other information about your author. Who can get them that information? You. Try to give your editor as much ammunition as possible. If the book topped a chart or won an award, no matter how minor, mention it. Look for reviews that describe the book well. If you have or can get funding, mention it.

What Goes into a Pitch

Your pitch will usually consist of a query email and an attached file (your sample). The structure of your query email is as follows:

1. Dear (name of editor). Do the research and make sure you name your editor. Do not simply say “Dear Sir or Madame” or “To whom it may concern.” The whole point of pitching is to convince this book is perfect for that editor. You need to convey the sense that you are familiar with the editor and publishing house and that your book is perfect for it.
2. Your opening paragraph should say who you are and something that will pique the interest of the editor. It can be a detail about the book (whatever fits into one line) or the fact that you have met the editor at some point and you are following up. Examples: “My name is Anton Hur and I am submitting for your consideration a query for Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung, a collection of literary feminist horror stories that have already been excerpted in Samovar: Strange Horizons.” “It was lovely meeting you at the ALTA pitch session last year; I happen to have a different book this time and thought you might find it interesting.”
3. Comp titles. The end of the opening paragraph is where I usually drop comp titles, which are the titles of books that are similar in vibe with your book. For Cursed Bunny, I mentioned Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado and Mouthful of Birds by Samanta Schweblin, both edgy, literary horror written by women. Try to find comp titles from books that the editor is likely to have read or at least heard about. If you can find a comp title in the editor’s or publisher’s backlist, that’s even better. There are several recurring discussions about comp titles that people on Twitter make such a big deal about for some reason—don’t overthink it. The point is to provide context for your book and to help the editor get a good feel for it. That’s all there is to it.
4. One-line synopsis. Around here I create a subheading that says, “ONE-LINE SYNOPSIS” and provide a punchy one-line summary of the book. For Cursed Bunny it was something like, “A collection of fantastical, feminist stories ranging from literary horror to science fiction.”
5. Detailed synopsis. I make another subheading that says, “DETAILED SYNOPSIS” and provide a detailed (but under 500 words? Basically a page) synopsis of the book including every plot twist and ending and spoiler. If it’s a short story collection, summarize each short story by title. Remember: the goal is to make the editor feel like they’ve already read the book or at least have an extremely good idea of what it’s about.
6. Reviews and accolades. Translate a line or paragraph from a couple of reviews from newspapers or prominent blogs. You want to show what people in the source language are talking about regarding the book. Get any chart or sales information you can—”#1 bestseller in the science-fiction category at Kyobo Bookstore, the largest offline bookseller in Korea” etc. If it won any awards, mention them. It doesn’t matter if the editor has never heard of it or not, awards are still an indication that the book didn’t completely sink into oblivion upon publication. Mention if it’s been translated before and what those reviews say.
7. Can you get funding? Mention the hell out of it. I sometimes put this around the end of the intro paragraph, before comps.
8. Author and translator biographies. A short paragraph each. Mention prior publications of note, whether they’ve been translated before (whether or not it’s in English), and any awards either of you have won. Try to convey that you are both respected professionals in the industry.
9. Information on book. This includes dimensions of physical book, how many pages (or words), how long you project the translation would be (word count, but pages will do), and a picture of the source language edition cover.
10. Snippet. This is something I like to do, but at the very end of the email, after your signature, I add a paragraph-long snippet from your sample as a taster. I suspect most editors don’t bother clicking the sample attachment if they’re on the fence about the pitch, but giving them a taster might help tip the scales.
11. Sample. Normally, a translation sample from the book must include the beginning (editors want to know how the book begins) and onwards until the word count hits 5,000-ish words (although frankly, I think most books should be fine with 2,500-ish words). The accepted wisdom is that the longer your sample, the better, but I find that practice to be incredibly exploitative, and a “full sample” has not yielded better results for me personally.
    • Get your sample (and pitch) workshopped or at least looked over by another pair of eyes (maybe do a manuscript swap with another translator) before submitting your sample. You don’t have to show it to an “expert,” whatever that is in this situation. Even your best friend or partner is better, much better, exponentially better than nothing. Make your sample and pitch as perfect as possible before sending it out—show that you respect your editor’s time and effort.
    • Please do not translate an entire book before you’ve sold it to a publisher and especially do not translate an entire book before you’ve secured the rights from the source rights holder. Not only are you likely wasting your own time, you are making the landscape worse for all translators by screwing up expectations.

Approaching Editors

Something no one really bothered telling me regarding translation submissions was that “agent-only submissions” doesn’t really apply to us. Most publishers understand that international writers aren’t always agented and will accept pitches from translators. One publisher I’ve worked with has a rule that while non-fiction pitches are accepted without necessarily having the whole manuscript written, fiction must have the whole manuscript ready at the point of submission; when I pointed out that most translation pitches are for manuscripts that have not been translated yet, the editor waved away my concern saying translated fiction is the exception.

So how do you pick an editor to submit to? Here are some options:

• Find an editor who published a similar book or a books that you like. You might be surprised at how many editors simply won’t publish a book from Korea or even Asia. I often scour title lists of publishing houses to determine if they even publish translations at all (not that there aren’t editors willing to work with translations for the first time). Sometimes, you can just tell from an editor’s Twitter feed what their vibe will be. Do the research and customize your pitch to them.
• Network. The American Literary Translators Association does online “speed-dating”-style pitch meetings with publishers. While I have never sold a book I was pitching through one of these meetings, they did lead to me selling a different book to an editor I met there—the editor remembered me, in other words. Other translators, not necessarily in your language combination, might give you ideas about where to submit at workshops or meet-ups. You never know where a connection will lead to.
• Don’t romanticize publishers. I feel the need to say this because I have seen it time and again, but don’t romanticize any publishing house. Just because a publisher happens to be nominated for a lot of awards or they have a cool name or cool covers or whatever, it doesn’t mean they have the right to treat you, your author, or your work disrespectfully.

Once you have created a spreadsheet of editors, create an order of submission and submit. Usually I give each editor a couple of weeks of lead time before moving onto the next editor. Which means I technically do simultaneous submissions but not really? And if an editor expresses interest, I let the other editors know, to give them a chance to bump up my submission on their queue and make an offer/reject. Once you have an offer in place and your author accepts, join Society of Authors or Author’s Guild if you haven’t and get your contract vetted—and start translating!

Final Note

Always have an elevator pitch ready. You never know when you need it. You could be walking through London Book Fair and see an editor you know on their way to their next meeting—walk with them, talk with them. I know a translator who sold their book to an editor when they bumped into them on a shuttle bus at a conference. I know this may sound awfully daunting to some, but honestly, it can be the most fun part of being a translator aside from the actual translating. Let yourself be this hilariously Sisyphean version of yourself who is trying to sell a book. You’re a translator! You’re used to pretending to be someone else! Have fun with it. And be nice. But most of all, be ready.