Do I add translated books to the main series?

[baldricko]

This is confusing. I am steadily translating my books into several languages. How do I organize them for readers? Do I add them to the English language series? Or do I start a new series in each language? For example, a German series for German readers?

That would be tidier rather than have my English language series cluttered with repeated covers in different languages. I am leaning to creating a series for each language market? But is this the best way to go about it?

[baldricko]

Bumping this one.

[TimothyEllis]

I don't have an answer.

I've seen author pages where they have multiple languages all on the same slider.

But I've no idea if they had separate series pages.

In theory, if the different language versions of the same book are not linked in the dashboard, then you can add them to a specific language version series page.

But if the books are all linked together, then you probably can't, because the english version is already in a series.

I guess the test is, see if you can add a new series to the alternate language version, and if you can, you may as well do it.

The danger for adding them to the existing series page is you make new readers think there are more books then there actually are. And that could have multiple effects.

E2A: I'm assuming the language also corresponds to the primary store? That should put an alternate series page on that store. But you might have to test that to find out.

[Bill Hiatt]

Yeah, if it can be done, it seems to best to keep the different translations in separate series. It's highly unlikely that someone who buys a series in one language is going to also buy it in a different one, so basically some of the books are just taking up space on the screen and causing confusion if they are all grouped together.

[baldricko]

I'm think similarly (to you both). Rather than include the books in the original English language series, I'm thinking to start a new one for each language.

But, I'll hold off a while until I've figured out the language markets buying enough enough to warrant translating the rest of the series. If its an unimpressive sales result, a scattering here and there, I'll include them in a general 'International Languages' series covering Spanish, German, etc.

I think Amazon will allow me to do that but we'll see.

[Lynn]

Truly, if you translate the title and series name into the target language, it will be natural to put it in as a new series. I don't know if it's industry standard or not, but that's what I would do.

[Crystal]

No, the translated series should have its own unique series page. The Great Series has one. And Le Series Fantasique has one (not real French, obviously).

Why would an English language reader have any interest in the French translation of a book they've already read?

[baldricko]

No, the translated series should have its own unique series page. The Great Series has one. And Le Series Fantasique has one (not real French, obviously).

Why would an English language reader have any interest in the French translation of a book they've already read?

I am thinking this is the way to go, BUT...

I definitely don't want readers mistakingly buying a book not written in the language familiar to them, I am concerned about fragmenting my ratings / reviews across series. Perhaps the answer is a single series for all the translations - so long as Amazon can optimally organize them all.

[Bill Hiatt]

That would be nice, but as far as I can tell, Amazon only allows one number sequence per series. In other words, it has no way to accommodate an English Book 1 and a Book 1 in another language. Even if it did, I fear it would sort like 1,1,2,2 etc, rather than creating two numerical sequences.

There is a thread on the KDP forum that allows people to make suggestions. You can always throw one into the hat and see what comes of it. I certainly agree that it would be nice if Amazon did something like that.

[Crystal]

I definitely don't want readers mistakingly buying a book not written in the language familiar to them, I am concerned about fragmenting my ratings / reviews across series. Perhaps the answer is a single series for all the translations - so long as Amazon can optimally organize them all.

Why would they? The blurb, title, and cover will all be in the foreign language. Even with a German book, where many are English Title: German Title. It is true that many browsers automatically translate foreign languages (quite annoying when you want to copy your blurb off the Amazon page) but it is also true Amazon knows how to sell books to the correct customers. You mark your language and country of sale on KDP. If someone doesn't notice Le Book Fantastique (French Edition) or the automatically translated The Great Book (French Edition) that is on them.

They are 100x more likely to get confused and buy it if you add it to the series... that would be way more confusing.

Tens of thousands of authors have translated books on their Amazon pages. If this was a big problem, we would hear about it.

[baldricko]

That would be nice, but as far as I can tell, Amazon only allows one number sequence per series. In other words, it has no way to accommodate an English Book 1 and a Book 1 in another language. Even if it did, I fear it would sort like 1,1,2,2 etc, rather than creating two numerical sequences.

There is a thread on the KDP forum that allows people to make suggestions. You can always throw one into the hat and see what comes of it. I certainly agree that it would be nice if Amazon did something like that.

Oh, well that's a bit of a pain then isn't it. Really getting a little confused about the best way to go here. I could just stick them in the main series as a bandaid fix to my problem. Maybe it is just a problem for a few, like me. 

[baldricko]

I definitely don't want readers mistakingly buying a book not written in the language familiar to them, I am concerned about fragmenting my ratings / reviews across series. Perhaps the answer is a single series for all the translations - so long as Amazon can optimally organize them all.

Why would they? The blurb, title, and cover will all be in the foreign language. Even with a German book, where many are English Title: German Title. It is true that many browsers automatically translate foreign languages (quite annoying when you want to copy your blurb off the Amazon page) but it is also true Amazon knows how to sell books to the correct customers. You mark your language and country of sale on KDP. If someone doesn't notice Le Book Fantastique (French Edition) or the automatically translated The Great Book (French Edition) that is on them.

They are 100x more likely to get confused and buy it if you add it to the series... that would be way more confusing.

Tens of thousands of authors have translated books on their Amazon pages. If this was a big problem, we would hear about it.

I like to make the path to the 'buy' button as clear as the exit aisle in an airplane. 

I think the likelihood of someone returning to buy a book they saw earlier and clicking on the wrong language version because of the cover and not noticing the text is as about as likely as winning a prize (any prize) in a lottery, but that small chance is still present and no author wants unhappy customers. 

[Post-Crisis D]

Why are you trying to over-complicate it?

If you have a single, standalone book translated into a different language, that is a different edition.  A series is no different.  These are different editions.  The original series in English should be kept together as a series.  German translations of a series should be kept together as a series but separate from the English series.  A French series should be separate from the English and the German series.

Keep them separate and keep them simple.

Let's say you had a series that was definitely geared toward mature audiences.  What if you then did a young reader edition of a series where you removed any kind of adult subjects or topics and maybe lowered the reading level and such to make the series more suitable for young children?  Would you stick those in the same series as the adult versions?  What if a parent wants to buy the whole series for their kids and, well, gets the whole series including the adult versions?  I don't think your customer satisfaction is going to be very high on that one.

A translation is a separate work.  It is a different edition from the English language version.  It will require a separate copyright registration (in the U.S.).  It will require a different ISBN.  It's a different book.  Thus, a translated series of books is a separate series.  Do not mix them all together.

[Crystal]

This is on Amazon, no? Amazon knows how to sell books & how to do returns if people buy the wrong book. Don't try to outsmart the algo. You can't.

If this is on your website, that might be a different story. I would make a unique page for each language and only put books on the relevant pages.

[baldricko]

Why are you trying to over-complicate it?

If you have a single, standalone book translated into a different language, that is a different edition.  A series is no different.  These are different editions.  The original series in English should be kept together as a series.  German translations of a series should be kept together as a series but separate from the English series.  A French series should be separate from the English and the German series.

Keep them separate and keep them simple.

Let's say you had a series that was definitely geared toward mature audiences.  What if you then did a young reader edition of a series where you removed any kind of adult subjects or topics and maybe lowered the reading level and such to make the series more suitable for young children?  Would you stick those in the same series as the adult versions?  What if a parent wants to buy the whole series for their kids and, well, gets the whole series including the adult versions?  I don't think your customer satisfaction is going to be very high on that one.

A translation is a separate work.  It is a different edition from the English language version.  It will require a separate copyright registration (in the U.S.).  It will require a different ISBN.  It's a different book.  Thus, a translated series of books is a separate series.  Do not mix them all together.

Yes, you talk good sense.

How do you generally tag a translated series? Is it something like 'xxxxxxx - Italian Translation'?

[baldricko]

This is on Amazon, no? Amazon knows how to sell books & how to do returns if people buy the wrong book. Don't try to outsmart the algo. You can't.

If this is on your website, that might be a different story. I would make a unique page for each language and only put books on the relevant pages.

Bang on. You can't outsmart the algo.

I publish wide. Amazon seems to want to do all the sorting itself. So, I do go along with the idea of selecting the main series on the KDP Details page for the translated copies.

[Crystal]

Yes, you talk good sense.

How do you generally tag a translated series? Is it something like 'xxxxxxx - Italian Translation'?

You don't need to tag it. Amazon will automatically add (Whatever Edition) if you select the right language in KDP.

Here's a random French book on .com
https://www.amazon.com/Au-fil-leau-Famille-Sullivan-ebook/dp/B0BW6N7XT7

It is clearly not an English book, even if your browser automatically translates everything to English. Amazon will generally not show "incorrect" language books to people in a region because people in that region aren't buying similar books.

[LilyBLily]

Yes, you talk good sense.

How do you generally tag a translated series? Is it something like 'xxxxxxx - Italian Translation'?

You don't need to tag it. Amazon will automatically add (Whatever Edition) if you select the right language in KDP.

Here's a random French book on .com
https://www.amazon.com/Au-fil-leau-Famille-Sullivan-ebook/dp/B0BW6N7XT7

It is clearly not an English book, even if your browser automatically translates everything to English. Amazon will generally not show "incorrect" language books to people in a region because people in that region aren't buying similar books.

Aw...she's suffering from "un chagrin d’amour" and then meets "le superbe millionnaire."

I have actually obtained foreign language versions of some books just to keep up my facility in the language.