Samovar doesn& #39;t get enough credit for what it& #39;s doing for non-anglophone authors. Only 5% of people worldwide speak English as a native language. 95% of writers start at a very disadvantaged position. http://samovar.strangehorizons.com/ ">https://samovar.strangehorizons.com/">...

You could argue that Spanish and Mandarin have the same advantage, but it& #39;s not that simple. Portuguese is the sixth most spoken language worldwide, and the sff market is null.

Most famous Portuguese sci-fi writer hasn& #39;t surpassed 4 digits in sales, his whole career.

Chinese authors get decent projection nowadays, but the market is still vastly, vastly dominated by Anglophone authors.

In Spain, for example, 1 in 5 books are translated (usually from English). For the US, it& #39;s 3%. 0.7% for literary fiction and poetry.

So you can& #39;t go the idealistic route of "Get published in your own country, then get yourself translated." Doesn& #39;t matter.

And the contracts are draconian, too. In most EU countries we deal directly with publishers. No agents. Publishers usually get world rights.

Of course, it& #39;s no one& #39;s fault. Anglophone readers aren& #39;t insidious in their preference for fiction written in English. Switch the context, I reckon most countries would do the same.

It& #39;s just cool to see someone making an effort to open up the borders.