ばか！バカ！　馬鹿ー月！

As some of you may know, the S&W novels have been officially licensed for release in the U.S., so now we face a new problem: if and how to continue the translation project.

I for my part have decided to continue translating at least until the official English releases catch up with my progress (currently at Vol. 4), but the people working on the first two volumes (namely barbsicle and seaghyn) are in a more difficult situation, since there is a good chance that these volumes will be released before they finish translating...

@barbs and sea: I don't know, perhaps you two wanna consider putting aside the first two volumes for now and helping me out with the translations for volumes 4 and onward? This is merely a suggestion, but if you decide to do so, we can work out the details later.

p.s. btw, this has been bugging me for a while, but can someone please tell me how to change my custom title (the one below my username)? Right now, it reads "Reader," which doesn't doesn't really accurately describe me...^^; I looked in the UCP but couldn't find the place to change it...

The rules have been, and has always been, Locking the project when the volume is made available.

This means, when volume 1 of S&W is officially out in English, it shall be locked and no edits on that volume will be permitted.

So as long as volume 2 and 3 are not officially published in English, B-T allows translators to continue translating the volumes =X

Check the thread out for more details.
http://www.baka-tsuki.net/forums/viewto ... f=4&t=2172

And even though they are licensed, they would require a relatively long time to do their own translations and printing, so there should still be quite some time for our own translations.

Another method would be, if you guys are willing, to translate volume 2 all together, so as to buy time for volume 3 and 4, since they are likely to be released in order, and at least one month in between each(thats for chinese translations. Time for english translations are unknown)

P.S. Regarding that custom title, it is set by post counts or which usergroup you are in. Since you are a translator, apply in the usergroup area to get into the translator group, your title should change then

Thanks for the info, Shadow.

In Taiwan, a new volume is released every four months or so, and I don't expect the releases to be much faster in the U.S. Working alone, I can translate one volume every five or six months, so it'll probably take quite a while for the official releases to catch up. Personally, I'm more in favor of just staying way ahead of the official releases, and if I have people working with me (barbs and sea, again this is for you to decide), it's actually quite possible.

For English translations, you're looking at about 6 months in between each release, so you have plenty of time. I suggest the same thing as Shadow, work on the earlier volumes before the licensed ones catch up. The clock has started.

Also one should not look too closely on the upcoming release dates...

ZnT novels are the best example of it. At the very beginning the first volume was planned to be released in 2008 spring, then in summer, then in winter and now it is unclear when the release will come but most likely in 2009 spring if at all...

Also it is better to have the volumes translated by fans since like examples of Shakugan No Shana releases teaches us the official translators tend to censor suggestive parts out to broaden the circle and it also affects the novels and not in a best way...

Also, how about the other lesson SnS taught us? the one that got nemo so angry at me? >"<

If you give up on vol 2, and they only translate until vol 2... then there may be people who cannot read vol 2? Since it is incomplete on B-T, and that company may not export to some places?

It would really suk if stuff like that happens again... sighz...

Well this is what i propose:

Work will resume as usual. Judgment you can continue on your Volume 4. I've already promised to churn out as much as I can once I am free from my exams. It won't be slipshod work that is battling against time. It will be the usual. I am pretty confident I can come out with Volume 1 before the end of this year (fyi exams end on Nov 13). Meanwhile duncan can start on Volume 2 and once I've caught up to him, we should be able to come out with a decent output.

We'll get seaghyn to proofread through (I will through my whole volume too with whatever time I have before New Year's), and when we're satisfied we'll release in the other formats (pdf and flash) and then leave it as it is to the mercy of the great lock. Should there be any touchups or corrections later we'll just have to hope they can come in in time. But all in all, there really is no rush or worry. Quality over quantity is what I'm aiming for. And of course, distribution stops when lock comes on, right?

So yeah, we'll just continue on like we've always done so. What do you think?

Barbs

If you guys really need help, just holler =X
I can do Chinese->English translation after all, and my projects can put on hold for a bit, since none are urgent, as no1 really wanna publish them (SnS on permanent hold? and KnS having no news to begin with)

That's fine by me, barbs.

And thanks for the offer, Shadow. We'll be sure to let you know if the need arises.

Just a heads-up on the release dates (quotes from Yen Press):

SPICE AND WOLF Volume 1 | Coming December 2009
SPICE AND WOLF Volume 2 | Coming June 2010
SPICE AND WOLF Volume 3 | Coming December 2010
SPICE AND WOLF Volume 4 | Coming June 2011
SPICE AND WOLF Volume 5 | Coming December 2011
SPICE AND WOLF Volume 6 | Coming June 2012

Essentially as mentioned before, it's about 6 months in between each novel. At least it's reassuring to know that we can stick to our normal jobs and not fly all over the place.

Like nemo mentioned too, it's essential we don't look too closely at the dates. I'm confident we'll have time to clean up and have the edits stream in for a high-grade release before the big and mighty lock comes in. So let's keep working at it (and yes i apologise for not working which is rather ironic in contrast to what i have said).

Barbs.

Yes, from the looks of this, we have PLENTY of time. I mean, its over a year even for the first volume to be released!

But be too relaxed on the issue, and you will realise time flies without much notice ^^
Lets just work things out at our own pace for now =X

Sigh...half of me wants all 6 volumes published in english tomorrow I would buy every one

Hmm...it takes five to six months for me to finish translating a volume as well, so I guess we really don't have anything to worry about. xD

4~5months for me! yay! i am faster!!
Or just that KnS is shorter in length when compared to S&W?

LOLz!

well, if I'm not mistaken the whole volume 1 (I mean ALL volume 1, not only the text) is ~330 pages
so, ~300 pages of pure text I guess..