097 - Expand Your Audience By Translating Your Book Into Another Language (Here’s How One Author Did It)

Publishing your book in another language isn’t just a technical process it’s a chance to expand your reach and impact entirely new audiences. In this episode, we explored what it really takes, from finding the right translator to reworking visuals and launching like it’s a brand new book.

I was excited to have Tiina Jarvet, headhunter and career coach, join me to share her experience translating her book into Spanish. And the surprising effort that went into making it accessible and visually engaging.

Topic included

🔹Translating your book is like launching it all over again. It requires editing, proofreading, and marketing as a brand-new book.

🔹Choosing a language with a large global audience, like Spanish, can open significant new doors for visibility and impact.

🔹Visual elements, like sketch notes, must also be translated, which adds time and complexity to the process.

🔹Trusted collaborators (translators, proofreaders) are essential, especially if you don't speak the target language.

🔹A translated book can act as a powerful business card, opening up speaking opportunities and new markets.

🔷 Thank you for listening. If you found this episode relevant don't forget to hit that Follow Button to keep learning and growing with us.

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Transcript

Well, good morning, good afternoon, good evening. Wherever you are joining us from. I'm Annette Richmond, and this is content marketing school and I'm so excited to have my friend Tina back here with me today. We've known each other since back in the clubhouse days when we met and just from people all over the world, that was like one of the few bright spots of the pandemic for me, the fact that I got to meet people like you. So for anyone who doesn't know you, please tell us a little about who you are and what you do. 

So I work as a headhunter in Belgium in in Europe. I look for talent for multinational companies for top level positions and I've worked the two decades in the executive search industry and I also work as a career coach and we have collaborated with you several times and, and your background in, in recruitment and in, in resume writing. We, we really have a lot to talk about in, in that area. 

Yes, yes, absolutely, absolutely. You know, I, I did do resumes for many years and before that I worked as a recruiter for a couple years as well. So, you know, you are a multi book author, you have more than one book and you know, you also you speak several languages, I forget how many. So I was not surprised when you decided to publish your first book also in Spanish, I think, right, you published it in Spanish. And so I'm, I'm curious if you can just share, because I'm sure a lot of people are curious about this, the idea of expanding our reach. We're always trying to expand our reach, everything that we do. So what was, what kind of made you do that to publish in a second language and and why did you choose Spanish? Those are great questions. I like you said, I speak several languages. 

I speak 9 languages and that's because I come from a really small country, Estonia, and I had to learn all the other languages. And to me it just feels so natural that that the book would be translated into another language because we think everyone speaks English. 

That's not the case. I know so many people who don't speak English and who want to have access to to this knowledge. So, so that's why I, I wanted to make a translation or, or several, but so far I only have done one translation. And you ask why Spanish? It's not one of the languages I speak. I speak Brazilian Portuguese, which is quite similar to Spanish, but still a totally different language. 

But it's really one of the largest language groups and, and the population. So I thought I go with, with the biggest 1. So that's why I chose Spanish. 

Yeah. No, no, I I understand the idea of people thinking that everyone speaks English. But I've travelled outside the country, not a lot, but enough to know that everybody does not speak English. Even everybody in the US does not speak English. You know, I am a second generation on my dad's side. My grandfather was from Romania, the old country, as he used to say, and he spoke English only to us grandkids. 

That was it. He had his friends from the local church and they would come over and he and even of course, to his children, they grew up speaking it. So it was only to us grandchildren. And I wish that I had learned or been taught because my understanding is it's easier to learn to speak a second language when you're younger. I have a tenure. I took French and high school, Spanish and college and I speak nothing, nothing but you know, Merci, I mean, that's about it for me. So you know, so I, I do want to mention if anyone is, is looking, they're listening to this podcast and or watching this, this live that your book is for job seekers. So can you just tell us like the name of the book in case people want to want to grab it? Is it? It is for sale on Amazon in English and Spanish, Yes. So the original 1 is called How to be found by Recruiters on LinkedIn and it explains how to make yourself visible on LinkedIn so that recruiters come to you instead of you having to look for a new job. 

So there are so many myths that people who don't use LinkedIn Recruiter, which is a different version of LinkedIn, it's a big version that only recruiters and headhunters have access to. It costs like a €10,000 per year to have access. So those are really, I tell you what to focus on what to do so that you are found in instead of the the stories that other people who don't know how it works are spreading on LinkedIn. And I was always talking about the same and repeating myself all the time. So I thought it's, it's good to have everything in one place in, in a book format. And also I made sketch notes. So for people who are visual learners, they will get a very good overview about what every, what's in every chapter, so they can quickly have a look and take action. 

No, I, I will say I have AI have a copy of your book. So it's a, it's a very, very valuable, lots of, lots of great information there. So can you talk a little bit about the process since it's not a language that you speak? It must have been, I guess it would be similar than for someone like me, if I decide to publish my book in Spanish and you know, because I don't obviously I don't speak Spanish. 

Well, I think there is a little difference. I was also approached by a translator who said, do you want to translate it into Korean? I was like, like, I can read Spanish and, and if if I pronounce it, I like, it's very, very similar to Portuguese. So I I can understand what's written, but I I can't do the proofreading. So there is a big difference between Japanese and and Spanish. So I like, I could understand a little bit, but I had to use other people for proofreading and for for translation. Yeah, that's true. So, so if someone like me, for example, and I, I know a lot of, a lot of our friends and colleagues are also authors, people listening to this podcast, one of the topics that we cover a lot here is book publishing, book writing. And So what should someone like me if, or someone who just speaks English, or maybe they, you know, just speak any language and they decide to publish it, They want to publish it in a language that is not their own, that they really, they, they're not like you, they can't read it or write it or anything. 

Do you have any suggestions for someone like that? Yeah, you, you collaborate with with the company where they do translations, where they do proofreading and and it's in their best interest that it's well done. So, so you would be sharing my translator translation is done by Javier Prieto. So I'm always talking about him, how happy I was with the process, how he kept the the deadlines, how we kept me informed. And I think you really have to find a person whom you trust. And the easiest way is probably going by recommendations by, by the previous clients. 

That's what what I would do like like when you look for a restaurant. Yep, Yep. And that's, and that brings us back to sort of a on the edge of another. One of my favorite top topics is networking and the idea that people think, oh, it's so transactional. Oh, it's this, Oh, it's that. But the truth is we do it all the time, as you just said. Now, if I decided that I wanted to write a book, have my book translated into Spanish, I would go to you and say, who do you recommend? And so that is all the whole idea of networking. So what I mean, did you have expectations of what was what, what it was called, what the process was going to be like and what the sort of sales were going to be like? And did your expectations get met? Well, first that there was a a little bit. So it's not only a, a book that's translated. So it's not only text. All all the chapters have sketch notes, so all the sketch notes are also translated into Spanish and that took much more work than I had ever expected because I wanted it to be also translated and and since it's all hand drawn I had to redo the sketches so. 

And, and Spanish words are longer than the English words. So getting everything that part done, it took longer time than than I had expected, but I felt it wouldn't be authentic if the rest of the book was in Spanish and and the pictures in in English, right. So was it, what was it? And I, of course, it's always when you add another visual element, you know, another element to a book, It always, always makes a difference, even if you have graphs or, or any kind of images. I have none in, in any in well, in my most recent book. 

I have some in other books. What about the, the reception? Was it, you know, are you glad you did it? I guess it's kind of what I want to say. I know that your main purpose because you're such a warm, generous person. You share your knowledge, you help so many people. And I'm not surprised that your reason for doing it in the first place would be because you want to help more people because that's who you are. And I know that, but was it, was it received? I mean, did you, you know, have a lot of people really grabbing for it or, or, you know, buying it online? Yes, I, I can see it from Amazon statistics because it's, it's on sale on Amazon. So I can see when it specifies all the different countries when Mexico has bought the book. And I'm like, wow, it's, it's, it's such a great feeling that some somebody is yeah, getting the information from from this book. 

If, if I wouldn't have done the process, they, they wouldn't have had the book. So, so I'm very glad I, I did it. Yeah, no, I, I, I think that Amazon too. 

They all my books are on Amazon. And I I think that the statistics that they give. All of the authors are are fabulous. You can see, and I see that too. Oh, somebody in Europe bought my book and it's like it's very it's very exciting to be in all the different marketplaces. So what would you say were sort of the biggest challenges that people should think about or is say, if they don't particularly have the hand drawn images or something in their book, what are what are things that people should expect? Because I it even writing a book is, is something you can do in chunks, you know, as long as you think about it, doing a little bit of it at a time, maybe writing a chapter a month or some 10 pages a day or even one page a day, little by little by little. But when you're, it sounds like translating a book into a different language is more of a kind of not something you're chipping away at, but it's a big undertaking that you're doing kind of in a shorter period of time. 

Yes. I didn't realize it was like launching a new book because it is launching a new book. I I just thought it was a translation. But still, if all the process on Amazon, it's the same as as launching a new book, a Kindle version, the paperback, you have to prove it. So yeah. So you really have to know it takes more time than than you expect. 

And you also, I'll just pop this in there. You also did a collaboration. So are you, But that's in English only. 

Yes. OK right now. Yes. So so there is another book that I wrote together with Gillian Whitney, Your voice matters present from the heart. 

And it's it's the same it's with with the sketch notes in front of every chapter. So it was. Really great thing to do when when you want to share like launching a book for me feels like having another baby. So when when you're allowing a book together with with your bestie, then then it feels like you're Co parenting, you're doing the marketing together. You you think about the yeah, how the book will come in front of other people's yeah, eyeballs. So that's, that's something great, especially when when you work as an entrepreneur, when you work alone and it's good to do collaborations. 

I think it it gives you energy and you both benefit from it. Yeah. You know what? I'd like that idea. I had Michelle Griffin on my show a few months ago and she was just launching a, a solo book, but she had collaborated with Michelle Raymond on on the previous book. And one of the things that she shared with me is the idea that when you are working with with another person collaborating on a book. I know you and Jillian are very close friends and Michelle and Michelle are very good friends as well, but they're there are different styles of of work. 

People do tend to work differently. She she shared a few things about, you know, one person like to do one way the other person, one I think worked in docs and the other worked in Word or something like that. So can you talk a little bit about, you know, the challenges? And I know I'm sure it was great because, hey, we both love Jillian, but what, what are the challenges of working, you know, collaborating on a book, you know, working on it together? I think the way we collaborated, we I, I love how Oprah Winfrey writes books. So it's a conversational style like you and me are talking. So our book is the same. It's it's Tina says, Gillian says, so you can see clearly who is speaking. And we, we recorded our book in Zoom calls. Oh, OK. So it's it's really. 

And, and then the writing style, I focused more on the images, on the pictures and I had full freedom there and chilling focused more on on the writing part. So of course we had to go in and, and change a little bit because you, you can't really just transcribe and say this is a ready book. 

But absolutely we, we had different responsibility areas. So it worked out really well. Well, see that that sounds perfect because they were totally different areas, you know, and I, I think that that makes it easier to sort of divide and conquer, divide the duties. And then, you know, it's, it's an easier way because then you can also be working on different areas at the same time. And I'm sure in that sense, it went faster than working on your own. 

Yeah. And it's, it's always good to have accountability partner. I, I love to have deadlines and that that's how you get shit done, in my opinion. Absolutely, absolutely. It definitely, definitely. 

I belong to a couple of accountability groups. Some of us are, are it it, it really helps for someone like me who can always find something else to do if I'm on a deadline. Well, you know what? It's, it's time for me to vacuum my house because, you know, it's got to be done right now because, Oh no, you know, I, I don't want to be sitting here writing, but having an accountability partner does make all the difference. So what? It can be a virtual accountability partner as well. Like I'm, I'm in a WhatsApp group and it's all about steps. So it's about walking and every, every week we count the data how, how, how many steps everyone gathered. We don't go together to the forest and walk, but we do it virtually and it motivates us. So it it really works even if Michelle is like in in Australia and other Michelle is in the US and me in Europe, Jillian in in the US. 

It really works just to know that somebody is expecting something from you. It, it works magic. Oh, absolutely. I, I'm, I'm in an accountability group for, for speakers and we talked about, OK, this is our goal. How many places are we going to apply every week? And there is something about knowing, OK, tomorrow I have to tell whether I did what I said I was going to do or not. So if I haven't done anything, I need to at least do something. And so it's certainly does make all the difference. You know, it's one of the things that that I, I've never heard of before now I have done recordings, I do a lot of blogs and such or even a podcast where I record on the notes on my phone. So I can be, I was in my car the other day and I was, I was driving the car, I was recording a podcast on podcasts. And so then I came back and I transcribed it and that became the basis. But the idea of the two of you meeting on Zoom, how did you decide to do that to to get together on Zoom and then just use that as the transcript? I mean, I love it. 

Yeah. Because we, we both were presenting at the Uplift Live, the UK's LinkedIn Focus conference together. So we were preparing 6 months in advance our speeches. So it felt natural to meet on, on Zoom. And a week after the, the conference we said let's, let's sit down now. Then we remember everything fresh, what happened, how we prepared, what did we learn? What did we learn during the day of the presentation? Because if we write it six months later, we won't remember the details. So, so was the book the result of you had been meeting on Zoom, planning together and then you said, oh, let's turn it into a book? Or was it the the other way around? It was the other way around. So we didn't plan to write the book because I, I had just launched a book a week before. So I, I never thought I would write another book. 

But then a week later we we said, Oh yeah, let's, let's record this. Let's see what comes out of it. 

And. And that's, that's how we did I I love it. You know, yet another way to multi. No, it's true. You know, so many of us, we have, we're, we're all so many of the people that you and I know we are, we are consultants or we are entrepreneurs of some sort. And it's so difficult to find the time. Like how do you do everything? And the idea that you would meet like that and record is just absolutely brilliant. So, so we are time goes by so fast. We're getting close to the end of our time and I always like to invite my guests to share something that we didn't talk about that they feel would be, you know, important, beneficial for for people to know. 

I think when, when you decide to translate a book, it's think about the different aspects, not only the the financial value. So it's a book like there are, it's, it's really, I think like Gillian says, it's, it's like a business card on steroids. It's really to open a door to new markets, to new people. So see it as an investment. And yes, it takes quite a lot of work to do it, but maybe there is someone out there who who needs to hear it from you, from, from your perspective. And like I said, you work as a speaker as well. It, it can lead to speaking engagement. It, it can lead to other things. So why not have your business card translated into different languages? If if you like to travel and and see the world, this, this is maybe the opportunity and just take a chance and, and just do it. 

Well, I I love that because you have touched on something that is so. Such a challenge for so many people that they're afraid of, you know, of doing something. Oh, I'm going to do it. 

People won't like it. People are going to judge it. And and the, you know, the little voice in our head is never like, oh, you got this girlfriend, you know, always right. I mean, it's always, well, you know, who are you to be writing the book or writing the article or doing the video or whatever. So do you have a couple of tips? We have a couple of minutes to share with people who are who are like that. They think, you know what? Nobody cares what I have to say. 

I think listen to your audience. Like I I didn't start writing a book. It was really posting the sketch notes on LinkedIn every week. And people were encouraging me like, oh, we like them. There is so much value, you should write a book. And I was like, are they kidding? What do they do? Write a book like me and and just listen. 

Listen to your friends when they say you should do something. Maybe there there is something like believe the others who believe in you, like your cheerleaders, and always listen to the people who believe in you and surround yourself with those people who believe in you, because alone it's very, very difficult. 

Yes, yes, I I love that and I think that's a perfect way to kind of end our conversation. I thank you so much. I've learned a lot from you and I know people listening to this will as well because the idea of writing a book in the 1st place people are are are nervous and then the idea of translating into another language is like a whole other whole other thing. So I appreciate it Possible yeah. If if I have done it, anyone can do it. And I'm now looking for a translator to translate it into Brazilian Portuguese and I have planned to translate it into Swedish, which is my second mother tongue and Estonian as well because. 

Yeah, that's that's what I want to, but I don't want to do everything in one go because I also have my head hunting business to to do. But this is really it just feels right. And and also when I said listen to your people who believe in you, be the same for other people. Like I do it all the time with with the people closest to me. 

I I tell them what I see in them. I see the potential that they can't even imagine. And then magic starts happening. So in order to have people who believe in you start, you give to get, that's, that's where to start, I think. Well, I love that. I love that. 

Thank you so much. Thanks for to everyone who's listening and have a great rest of your day. Thank you for having me.