Breaking into the American Book Market - Guest Post from Author by Henry Alfred Bugalho

Breaking into the American book market: 

a foreign author’s perspective

I’m a full-time writer. Somehow, for the past four years, I've managed to make the ends meet solely through my writing.

Not only this, but in Portuguese! Trying to reach readers in countries like Brazil, Portugal and Angola, in a gigantic effort to touch the minds and the hearts of people who are not that used to enjoying reading.

Selling books is really hard work, but selling them in Portuguese is much harder. The book prices are high, the wages are low, and there is no book culture at all. For many people, reading books is for intellectuals only. There is no possible fun in it.

I did the unthinkable, but that was not enough for me. I've always had my eyes pointed to the American book market, the only true gold mine for writers.

For a long while, I've been following the news, the huge changes in the publishing business caused by the self-publishing wave, the independent writers’ success stories, and thought to myself, “I should try it myself”.

However, I postponed and postponed and postponed, writing and publishing many books in Portuguese in between.

After some time, you get tired of hitting your head against a brick wall though. I've been writing, publishing and selling many thousands of books for too long, and not a single publishing contract came my way. Brazil is not the US. You might be successful, but if you are not willing to seriously lick some boots, you are going nowhere. And I’m pretty bad doing that!

Getting the translation done

So, last year, I started translating my own work to English. I’d already had two short-stories published in American magazines, so I was pretty confident in my ability to do so.

The first thing to do was to choose which book to translate. I have a dozen novels, novellas and short story books published, but which one of them should I send to the trenches?

After an extensive research on what was selling in the American market, I've decided to translate a mystery novel about the Italian mafia. That could sell well, I thought, Americans love gangsters stories. And that was exactly what I did.

By November, I had the first version of the translation of “The Innocent Thugs” ready. I've sent it to a proofreader, and by mid-December, the book was up. I've published my first novel in English!

Now all I had to do was to sit down and wait for the huge sales.

Well, not really…

Promoting your book when nobody knows you

I don’t have many English-speaking friends. Even after living for some years in New York City, I know only a handful of people that can read (and understand) a book written in any language besides Portuguese.

That greatly restricted the promotional options for “The Innocent Thugs”. The first obvious alternative was to contact every “free e-book blog” I could find, and there were plenty of them.

A month prior to the KDP free days, I've sent an email to some 50 blogs. However, many of these blogs required at least five 5-star reviews of the book on Amazon, while others had a guaranteed paid promotion, which I was not willing to try in this first release.

During the three days that my novel was free on Amazon, only six or seven of these sites included my book in their listings.

I also asked all my friends to download my book, “even if you don’t understand a word in it”, and most of them did that, helping me to spread the word.

However, the results were far below what I expected, and the number of downloads of my novel were unimpressive.

I’d be lying to you if I said it did not disappoint me. But as a long time writer, you get used to failure; actually, failing miserably is a close companion to any artist. In this area, you’ll miss the mark much more than you’ll hit it. That’s a thing you only learn by facing the harsh reality.

What now?

Will I quit?

Of course not!

I’m already translating another novel and will be releasing it anytime soon. I’m also writing other books in Portuguese.

The career of a writer is made by writing one book after the other. Someday, you might reach a broader audience, even get famous. It might never happen though, and that’s fine too, as long as you are doing what you love, writing about what you care.

Recently, I conceived an image of myself. Of a foreign dwarf strolling in the gardens of giants. I really like that image. I might pass by unnoticed, but someone might also perceive how exquisite my work is. In that day, everything will make sense.

“Why don’t you try writing a novel directly in English?” suggested some of my friends.

Perhaps I will…

Meet Henry Alfred Bugalho

Henry Alfred Bugalho is a Brazilian writer, editor and translator. B.A. in Philosophy and post-graduation studies in Literature and History.

Currently he is the editor of Revista SAMIZDAT, a literary magazine that publishes Brazilian and Portuguese authors, and is an accomplished independent travel writer in South America.

Three of his novels and two novellas were published in Brazil to date. His work has appeared in American and Brazilian journals and anthologies.

With a gypsy lifestyle, he's been moving from country to country in the past 8 years. He is currently living in Lisbon, Portugal.

Connect with  Henry Alfred Bugalho

Amazon Author Page

@henrybugalho on Twitter

HenryBugalho.com

Smashwords Profile

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