AND ANOTHER THING; or, HOPE TO THE RESCUE!

yesterday, i groundlessly speculated that "better known american authors don't [wouldn't?] seem to have the problems getting translated that writers outside this country do." today, the same german publication that ran the story on SUR, argentina's subsidy fund for foreign translations of argentine literature, published a piece on the "rock-n-roll" popularity of translated american fiction in germany. it's apparently not uncommon for american authors to outsell german ones -- especially if those american authors are jonathan franzen. so i was right. at least as far as the land of "poets and thinkers" goes.

when was the last time a new book in translation by a foreign author outsold a homegrown talent in the u.s.? and i remember that stieg larsson guy. oh yeah. dammit. well it happens all the time in germany...and probably all over the rest of the places too. still speculative. hrm. white guy's books sell! can that be my revelation?

regardless, the publishing industry is on hard times these days, and even if u.s. authors don't need a SUR to help them get translated (or don't need as much help as authors in places like, say, argentina), they can still use some help. lucky for us, the obama administration has come through with a cleverly oblique subsidy program of its own. the publishing stimulus, as discussed today in this essay in the new york times, has been slipped into the defense budget. just incorporate something secret about the united states into your work (or a client's work), and the department of defense will buy the entire first edition printing to have it destroyed. what publicity! booksellers benefit even more from top dollar sales of copies that were spared the bonfire.

an author quoted in the times article wondered if similar programs couldn't be devised to generate foreign aid as well. it might be as easy as dedicating your book to a local political prisoner. be creative! that's what everyone wants.

it's just good to know that books are finally getting a piece of the earmarks pie. farm subsidies? gross. they wear overalls! and man cannot live on genetically modified organisms alone. thank you, argentina, for blazing the trail. madonna, er, evita would be proud.