u/ThePinkBooks

Just sharing.

It was almost banned in my home country but at the end it won a national award. Today I was informed that it got banned by the Saudi government.

It’s not political. No sex. It just has some (unusual?) imagination. I like unusual imagination.

Edit: I didn’t expect to get this much support! Thanks everyone! :)

مش صنطرة ولا افندي. سنترة.

I’ll explain this briefly (plus, English isn’t my first language)

About 3 years ago I published a novel with a traditional publisher (not a vanity press, they didn’t ask me for money).

The novel performed relatively well at book fairs, considering that I’m not a very well known author yet (for example, it sold 300+ copies at one book fair and 150+ at another)

This publisher is based outside my country and is supposed to pay me royalties at the end of each year.

My novel also won a national award in my country.

An award winning Spanish translator read my novel, liked it, and offered to translate it into Spanish. My publisher received financial support from their government to cover the translation costs. Their government provides funds for such projects.

I own 50% of the translation rights and the publisher owns the other 50%.

The translation has been completed for over 9 months but the publisher has made no effort to find a Spanish publishing house. He has provided no explanation for the delay, not a simple justification. Only empty promises and weird excuses.

Here’s what I’m considering:

I want to terminate my contract with the publisher for the original edition.

I believe that if the main contract is terminated, the publisher will lose the translation rights as well? the publisher has a separate contract with the translator, so I’m unsure whether that agreement would remain valid?

Regarding the government funding, I am considering contacting the relevant authority to resolve the situation, maybe by reimbursing the translation cost and acquiring full rights to the translation.

I know it’s messy, but I no longer trust the publisher. He hasn’t paid me royalties for 3 years, and I doubt he intends to. Some other authors have similar complaints and there have been lawsuits against him.

I’d appreciate your advice. I’m honestly tired of thinking about this, I want to focus on my new novels, but I also want to resolve this issue. The sooner the Spanish edition is published, the better for me!