The Bookseller.com

4th July 2009

Amazon launches translations store

11.11.08 Graeme Neill

Amazon.co.uk has launched a new Literature in Translation store, highlighting hundreds of titles from 27 countries across the world. The site went live last week and is linked via the books homepage and the crime, fiction and poetry category pages. It offers spotlights on authors such as Jose Saramago and Isabel Allende, and publishers such as Gallic Books, Dedalus and Bitter Lemon Press.

Kes Nielsen, head of book buying, said that sales of the genre had been growing in recent years. "By creating a dedicated Literature in Translation section on site, we are making it easy for our customers to discover a wide selection of great books by new authors from different countries that we hope they will enjoy," he said.

"Customers will always respond to well written books, regardless of whether they were originally written in English. However there is also the appeal of reading fiction set in cities or countries that are either familiar based on travel or that are simply different to the traditional setting of most books, specifically the US and UK. It can make them all the more exciting to read."

The site also includes a chart of its bestselling titles in translation. This morning [Tuesday], the bestselling book was Stieg Larsson's The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.

Amazon.co.uk's Literature in Translation store

Retail Amazon.co.uk Graeme Neill Home Kes Nielsen

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