With woodworking books, it can take years for publishers to decide if they want to translate a title into a foreign language. With technical information, publishers want to make sure that the information is worth translating and reprinting. Translations are shockingly expensive.
So it was gratifying that immediately after “Sharpen This” was released in September 2022, both French and German publishers approached us about translating the book. And now, one year later, both translated editions have been released.
“Einfach Scharf” (Simply Sharp) was translated to German and published by HolzWerken. The German publishers went to some extra trouble with their edition. They replaced the vintage English advertisements on the book’s endsheets with German advertisements. And they added a ribbon bookmark.
“Manuel d’affûtage” (Sharpening Manual) was translated to French and published by Editions Vieux Chene.
Both editions reproduced the “pocket size” of the original, are printed on offset presses and have sewn bindings. It’s nice when publishers don’t try to cheapen your work (like the foreign publishers did for my first book on workbenches, which looks like it was printed on a 1970s photocopier with a case of the runs).
I know that lots of people disagree with my sharpening methods, particularly the fact that I use a honing guide for chisels and plane irons. That’s OK. I’ve had far more people tell me that this book changed their woodworking for the better.
And the reach of the book might just get even longer. This week a Chinese publisher contacted us about translating “Sharpen This.”
— Christopher Schwarz
Congratulations! It took me a long time to learn to sharpen my tools, wish I had some instruction when I started.
I will join those changed by Sharpen This. What had been work at the project level is now no more complex than sweeping up. Note it needs doing, do it, get back to the bench and the wood.
The publishers must have been tempted to opt for “Fachein Scharf” rather than “Einfach Scharf.”
“Das messer ist fachein scharf” would be appropriate when displaying a newly-stropped blade, and it’s Englisch meaning is obvious.
Be careful of Chinese publishing. Copyrights and intellectual property is generally viewed very diffently in the far east than in the west. Copying is seen as a form of praise and valueing the work in the far east. It is a cultural difference at the outset. I had an uncle that has text books translated and sold in the far east and never saw a dime in royalities.
We don’t really receive much in royalties on any foreign edition. We do it mostly to help spread information to those who might need it.
You speak the truth, sir
Any chance you will offer these through the LAP store? Would really like a copy of each.
This book greatly improved my practice after 20 years of woodworking, even though my own grandfather wrote and self-published a book on sharpening in 1991. Learning to let go of ego-driven sharpening and love the honing guide was one of the best things that could have happened to me. Sharpening is no longer an act of performative masculinity.
I am always humored by the critics of the honing guide. I took a woodworking course a few years ago and the instructor insisted that sharpening without guides was the only true way to understand the relationship between a chisel/plane iron and the sharpening medium. (Not sure why this mattered so much.) By the time of the course, I had been sharpening with a honing guide for a long time based on some of your earlier writings on the topic. I had no intention of freehanding it. So to avoid getting hassled during class time for my resistance to their methods, I came in early each day and sharpened all my tools with my honing guide and was ready for the day’s work. If anything needed sharpening during the day, I took my stones and guide to the bathroom! The things we do to avoid the teacher’s unreasonable demands.
That’s great news about the German & French versions!
Any chance HolzWerken would make a PDF of the German advertisements available for download on LAP? I would love to see those German tool advertisements they selected for the book.
I have already added my own ribbon to this book and the Woodworker’s Pocket Book.
Fantastic news! And I’m another person whose woodworking got better because of SHARPEN THIS.
I was going to ask about the foreign royalties, which in the SFF publishing world are generally regarded as modest amounts of free money that show up at irregular intervals, but you covered that above.
Here’s hoping you get more international publishers willing to do right by the book come your way.
We maybe see $500 to $700 in royalties on translations. But like I said, that’s fine.
I must say, I love the idea of a bookmark ribbon for this kind of book. Those clever Germans…
We have done a ribbon before (Anarchist’s Design Book). Unfortunately both of our printing plants don’t have the capacity to add them while the book is being manufactured. So we have to print it, bind it, ship it to another plant to get the ribbons. Then back to the plant for wrapping and QC. So it adds a huge expense.
There will always be naysayers on anything and everything. But there’s no greater compliment that someone wanting to duplicate/reproduce your work. I have your book, and I love it. It’s short and to the point, as is true with your other books. Keep up the great work!
Yes, your “When to sharpen” decision flowchart has already been plagiarised and posted in the Sharpening forum at the Australian woodworking discussion website http://www.woodworkforums.com
Well I’m glad it’s been translated to Australian….
That’s great! Congratulations!
Congratulations on the translations. This is simply a great little book. I’ve purchased them for friends, our sons (also woodworkers…they’re friends, too) and myself. I like having the tech information about sharpening in one place. And I particularly like Chris’s philosophy of sharpening that being, lots of methods work, find one that works for you and get good at it.
I am amused that the German version is 18 euro for both pdf and hardcopy, a few more for hardcopy only in French, and each wrote their own reviews. Vieux Chene might be particularly interesting to our northern francophone friends, they sound like early Chris talking about getting useful information published in hardwearing form, and are committed to one book a year trying to choose the most useful. So far their list is 2 Wearing and the balance Chris. I hadn’t realised that Chris wrote a handplane book, but seems it was a revelation….
Why yes my degree 50 years ago was a French major and German minor, how can you tell?
Reminds me of the commercial with the German Coast Guard.
What are you sinking about?
Very nice; congratulations!
Congratulations!
Ignore 2% of the comments.
We would all be better off if when we were taught from earliest childhood sharp things can cut us, we had also taught to make and keep them sharp. Because almost every craft and skilled-trade activity requires sharp edge-tools, so that should also be the FIRST skill we learn. Learning to do it safely and efficiently are important, but learning to enjoy it might be almost as important.
“Teach your children well
Their father’s hell did slowly go by
And feed them on your dreams
The one they pick’s the one you’ll know by”
-Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young