Mesaĝoj: 21
Lingvo: English
Alkanadi (Montri la profilon) 2015-decembro-09 14:29:51
sudanglo:There is a general problem with the quality of Esperanto translations...Very true. I spent 100 dollars to edit my comic book before publishing it. I still haven't made that money back. So, if I write a book, how can I justify the cost of having it professionally edited?
If Esperanto books generated more money, there would be better quality control.
Anyway, in the meantime, is there some type of free review board or something like that where authors can get free editing (aside from the lernu forum)?
Vestitor (Montri la profilon) 2015-decembro-09 20:23:41
erinja (Montri la profilon) 2015-decembro-09 22:30:53
It's hard if you're not an experienced speaker. If you need corrections to basic grammar, few people are willing to do that for free. Most people are not writing a book until they're pretty fluent, in which case the editing would not be a detailed grammar correction, but more of a check for inadvertent mistakes, oversights, and literary content.
Vestitor (Montri la profilon) 2015-decembro-09 22:50:23
Quality is really what matters. What is quality? Well, that could be disputed, but after perusing quite a lot of the book selections offered by official Esperanto organisations and some other small publishers, it can't be denied that a great deal of the offerings are dire.
One problem (and I do think it is a problem) is that too many of the books look inwardly with the 'What is Esperanto?' type titles, constantly harping on the language's viability or defending its existence. All that academic tail-chasing can be tedious for general readers.
What Esperanto needs is a potential 'classic', in fact several 'classics'. Bloody good novels and novellas that are so good, someone wants to translate it into English, rather than vice-versa. A book where you hope someone will make the film.
erinja (Montri la profilon) 2015-decembro-09 23:25:46
Try LingvoIlo. I think there is one more Esperanto grammar checker around but I will need to look a little harder to find it.
Alkanadi (Montri la profilon) 2015-decembro-10 06:48:18
Vestitor:Alkanadi, did you draw all the pictures for the comic?No. The pictures are in the public domain.
Alkanadi (Montri la profilon) 2015-decembro-10 06:58:35
Vestitor:I'm certain someone could write a dedicated piece of software to correct basic grammar, spelling,...There are two online grammar checkers but it is easy to fool them. For example, you can add or remove the accusative when a sentence is separated into different clauses and the checker won't know.
Quality is really what matters.I agree. There are 2 ways to succeed in life: be the best or be different in way that still adds a lot of value to be people's life.
One problem... is that too many of the books look inwardly with the 'What is Esperanto?' type titlesI hate songs about singing songs. I hate it when people sell things to explain how to get rich. I hate movies about making movies. I don't like Esperanto content about how great Esperanto is (although there has to be a certain degree of it).
Bloody good novels and novellas that are so good, someone wants to translate it into English, rather than vice-versa.I would be happy to do that but I lack the skill and I am worried that I won't have a large audience.
Kirilo81 (Montri la profilon) 2015-decembro-10 13:42:55
And of course esperantists (including me) often expect things to be for free, it's simply hard to make money with Esperanto now. There are, however, worse things in the world, IMHO.
erinja:I think it is rare to pay for editing of Esperanto books. I would not be surprised if Esperanto authors tended to give their books to their friends to edit (the literary types tend to be well connected with other literature-inclined friends)Yes, this is how it usually works. Last year I looked through 150 pages for an acquaintance, now I've got from him 850 pages to correct until February. You have a hard life if you can't say 'no'.
Vestitor (Montri la profilon) 2015-decembro-10 17:19:40
Money, as in the machine of mainstream publishing, is only a final possible step. Unless it is the product of some Milvainian hack wanting to cash in on the latest trend, novels in any language are a labour of art...with a hope that it might be published; not a guarantee of fame of fortune.
The best Esperantists who happen to be writers would do well to 'offer' a piece of valuable art to the canon.
erinja (Montri la profilon) 2015-decembro-10 20:03:41
I can only count a handful of people who make a living off Esperanto, and it's almost never a real career that lasts a lifetime. They either work full-time in the Central Office of the UEA (there are only a couple and I don't know how much they make but it can't be a lot), or else they do full-time Esperanto for a few years as a youth and then go get a job with a normal paycheck once their life gets more expensive (marriage, kids, buy a place to live), or else they are a free-lancer who has enough name recognition that Esperantists will pay them, and they are able to cobble together enough non-Esperanto stuff that they can afford to accept low Esperanto rates for their work.
I am not aware of anyone, period, who makes a living off Esperanto writing. It's a sideline at best, in addition to whatever else you do that pays the bills. No one has gotten rich from Esperanto yet!