Green Gogol Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Hello folks! I've bought the first two books of the Long Price Quartet on my ipad, 8,99$ each. In English. Yesterday, out of curiosity, I looked for the French version. The actual book, not an ebook. They sell each book of the series at crazy price. 41,95$ for the first, 37,95$ for the second, 42,95$ for the third and 29,95$ for the last. Seriously? 42$ for a 300 page novel? Isn't this completely ludicrous? They've also been doing annoying things for a while with fantasy. They are in the habit of splitting fantasy novels in 2 or 3 books. Wheel of Time in French has been split in two books for each novel. They have 22 books so far, and are not yet done. Farseer trilogy was split into 6 books, then later sold in two books. The liveship traders trilogy was split into 9 books and the Tawny Man trilogy was split into 7 books. ASOIAF have been so far split into 14 books. And remember that each of these books sells for a crazy price. Book 8 of the french edition of ASOIAF is The Red Wedding (ASOS has been split into 4 books), and there are 2 editions, one that sells for 16,95$ and the other for 44,95$. Other books in the series sells for 29,95. So in French, if I want the complete series, I will have to pay at least 400$. What do you think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clueless Northman Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 They are a complete joke. Splitting ASOIF hardcover in 15 volumes should be enough to bar you from the publishing industry for life. The irony is that there are some paperback editions of AGOT and ACOK in 1 volume, but these are republishings years after the first release. And that's without mentioning these fucking morons translated direwolves as werewolves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solmyr Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Local publishers were quite good, back when I used to buy books from them. But my Bulgarian ASoS copy has a page misprinted diagonally across another page (both unreadable), followed by several missing pages. It was years later, when I re-read the English versions, that I found out I've missed the entire scene between Mance and Jon on the Fist of the First Men. It made me even angrier (for it was a good scene)! As for prices, I can't complain, but ever since I was proficient enough in English to enjoy books in their original I've always preferred it over any translation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoë Sumra Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 French books are subject to price controls, which on the plus side means that great local bookshops don't die in preference to stack-em-high in supermarkets, but on the minus side, the OP situation. I'm still trying to justify a potential purchase of Les Lames du Cardinal to myself - to the Brit who can buy it for a few quid, it feels strange. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunhallym Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Yeah, books are expensive, and SF/F books are even worse, probably because the audience is lower.There was a discussion with the publishers of ASOIAF some time ago on the French forum where he explained why they "had" to cut the books, and sell it for those prices. Apparently they pay a lot to the original publishers in English, then there is the cost of translation, and the audience in France or French speaking countries is not that great (though that may have changed for ASOIAF since the TV series).That's one of the reasons why I read a lot in English when it's the original language these days... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green Gogol Posted January 28, 2014 Author Share Posted January 28, 2014 Yes, I've always preferred to read in English when it'S the original language anyway because translations are usually not that good. I remember trying to read the first WoT in French and the prose was awful. I had to re-read sentences 3-4 times to understand what it meant. And it's my native language. I also bought the first book of ASOIAF in French a few years ago and gave up because it was so badly translated. Yes I can understand that the audience is quite low for SF/F in French. But selling a novel for 42$ won't help you gain a greater audience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buckwheat Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Yep, books are expensive. A translated A Feast for Crows hardback is 37,96 euros here, so as far as I can tell, comparable as in France? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andriy Czarchenko Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Yep, books are expensive. A translated A Feast for Crows hardback is 37,96 euros here, so as far as I can tell, comparable as in France? 38€ is over 50$ with current rates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Errant Bard Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Je n'aurais jamais imaginé que vous puissiez être français, Green gogol et Clueless Northman. ça n'excuse aps de ne pas aimer les chapitres de Brienne, mais bon... :P Moving on, while I do not condone the editors' moronic stances in France (especially when it regards ebooks), A Shadow in Summer sells in paperback for 20-some euros, no 40, and high prices is not really such a generalized problem, as you can find, for example, The Lies Of Locke Lamora in paperback, translated, for roughly 8,5€, same for Red Sails under Red Skies. The habit to cut each big "entertainment" book into multiple translated books is harder to swallow, but I suppose they have to pay their translators one way or another... Of course the translations quality is yet another can of worms, hell, I switched to reading books in English primarily because the translations sucked so badly in fucking David Eddings books. David Eddings, for god's sake, the guy must use like one percent of the english lexical range at most, and they still bungle it. There are protections against wild price dumping, and for price equalizing, which are mostly, when you look at it, hidden state subvention given to the big national editors, but all in all I'm only really dissatisfied with the quality of translations, not the price and not the availability: we're doing good, and probably doing better than if it was purely the market dictating which books got to be translated. The system is abused, but it's not too much for me to overlook the vitality of publishing in our country (I could also bring up comics into the mix. We like books, I feel, and it works out somehow.) I'm still trying to justify a potential purchase of Les Lames du Cardinal to myself - to the Brit who can buy it for a few quid, it feels strange.Why? Les Lames du Cardinal were published as a standalone book in France, for a regular price too, back then. I think I got the big format for like 15€, mass market paperback will sell for like 7€ : ~5£. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green Gogol Posted January 28, 2014 Author Share Posted January 28, 2014 Eh oui, je parle français. D'ailleurs on a exactement un mois de différence d'âge ;) Maybe the price is different in Québec than France then. I was clearly suprised to see A shadow in summer sell for 42$ at the local store. But there are books that are reasonably priced. I think most Pratchett will sell for around 14$. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Errant Bard Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Eh oui, je parle français. D'ailleurs on a exactement un mois de différence d'âge ;)C'était la meilleure année pour naitre. :cheers: For A Shadow In Summer, yes, it's weird how overpriced it is, all things considered, especially in Quebec. On the other hand, maybe they are surfing on the fact that it has been out of print in English and really sought after before the omnibus came out, and aligned the prices on that. Or maybe they are smoking really good shit. Anyway, do you think French publishers have deep ties to Quebec publishers? I never considered the question, but it stands to reasons that laws would be different and markets would be too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green Gogol Posted January 28, 2014 Author Share Posted January 28, 2014 Mmm, I really don't know much about publisher to be honest, so can't answer your question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buckwheat Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Wow. What this thread has taught me is that I still understand at least a bit of French, despite thinking I have forgotten it all! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spring Bass Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Couldn't a non-France-based publisher do a French-language edition, and then sell it from outside the country? I thought it only applied to French publishers and book stores. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon AS Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Wow, those are some crazy prices. Just checked some French books on Amazon Germany and they explicitly tell you that the price was set by the publisher. Heh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Errant Bard Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 Couldn't a non-France-based publisher do a French-language edition, and then sell it from outside the country? I thought it only applied to French publishers and book stores.If you are talking of the Fixed Price law, yes, the publisher is the one who fixes the price of books, not bookshops, so they theoretically could do that, and they probably already do. I don't see where their interest is in jacking the prices down though: they would actually have more costs than locally based companies, and the fixed price law isn't about publishers but about bookshops: it's been put in place to protect the small bookstores that cannot diminish their margins to almost nothing on all books. The government*'s latest problem is Amazon, I forgot the details, but it had with the local publishers arguing about unfair competition... which is not going to go better when Amazon effectively becomes a publisher. *actually, the previous, right wing government. Haven't heard about it lately. Yep, books are expensive. A translated A Feast for Crows hardback is 37,96 euros here, so as far as I can tell, comparable as in France?Well, the book is split in three, as a lot of Fantasy books are, maybe because you always add like 30% more words when going from English to French, anyway no hardback here, but in big format, each would be 21,19€ (here, here and here), 63€ in total, so yeah... (note that in smaller format/MMPB they would sell around 8€ each.) You can probably guess why ebooks are such a thorn in their side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunhallym Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 If you are talking of the Fixed Price law, yes, the publisher is the one who fixes the price of books, not bookshops, so they theoretically could do that, and they probably already do.I don't see where their interest is in jacking the prices down though: they would actually have more costs than locally based companies, and the fixed price law isn't about publishers but about bookshops: it's been put in place to protect the small bookstores that cannot diminish their margins to almost nothing on all books. The government*'s latest problem is Amazon, I forgot the details, but it had with the local publishers arguing about unfair competition... which is not going to go better when Amazon effectively becomes a publisher.*actually, the previous, right wing government. Haven't heard about it lately. The problem with amazon is the free shipping of books. This way it's easier and not more expensive to order on amazon than going to a book shop and smaller book shops that try to sell online can't match it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calibandar Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 Dutch publishers are guilty of many of the same things as the French, going by the original post. They split a book that is 1 book in English in 2 volumes. The costs of the book are quite high. The paperback editions are often unwieldy and unpleasant to hold in your hand and do not compare well with for instance a US trade paperback. They are the same size as a US trade, but the binding is far inferior, as is the feel of the paper. They have also taken a lot of flack for quitting a series midway through, forcing readers to pick up the English original anyway. There are reasons for many of the things mentioned. But I don't care about the reasons, I just don't like what they do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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