One of the coolest things in my life was seeing my book out in the wild, but a close second? Seeing The Eleventh Trade in different languages — and the covers international publishers choose for the story. And now, a little under a year since the English language version launched, I can finally share all of the translations with you! If you want to see a cover in more detail, just click the picture.
Van Niets Naar Iets (Dutch) & L’Ultimo Scambio (Italian)
The Dutch and Italian version of The Eleventh Trade took the cover from the US design. I still find it interesting how little details change — like the font typeface (for the title and for my name), and the shade of dark blue on the border.
The Eleventh Trade (United Kingdom/Commonwealth)
This is actually the first cover I ever shared, but I love it so much I’m sharing again. You can see more of the process in this blog entry.
Einmal Pech und elfmal Glück (German)
The German cover is definitely up among my favorites. It’s such an entirely different feel from the American one! My inner hipster adores the watercolor illustrations.
Mes Copains, Mon Grand-Père et Moi (French)
I really like that the rebab makes an appearance in this cover. And the colors — so soft and hopeful, like Sami and Baba are watching a sunrise. Just lovely all around.
11番目の取引 (Japanese)
I try not to play favorites… but I LOVE THE JAPANESE COVER. Honestly, the illustration style, the color… it is just gorgeous. My work with this translator (Sumiko Moriuchi) was also such a delight. For most of these translations, I have next to no interaction with the translators. But Sumiko Moriuchi sent me many thoughtful, engaging questions about the text — some of which made me examine my own writing with new eyes! I really treasured our conversations, and I know that this translation will be particular special for the love she put into her work. I cannot wait to hold this in my hands.
Want to know about how covers are made, and how much say traditional authors do (or don’t) have over the design? Well, here’s a video for you!
(Also — I have a Youtube channel now! Which is being updated subject to deadlines. Which means I’m very behind on things right now. But… yay for new experiments?)
