3.3.15 Selecting the stories for translation

This question was designed to find out whether and to what extent a particular fanfiction classification or label is a factor when choosing or looking for stories to translate. Driscoll (2004) suggests that the most important marker when it comes to fanfiction classification is pairing and age rating as an expression of the story’s romantic (or pornographic) function. With 29 respondents, the “romantic” classification accentuating the specific pairing certainly seems important for some translators, but not in a dominant way. The more external “meta” factors (following a specific author, following other readers’ recommendation and the factors listed in “other”) versus the more “story-specific” factors (looking for stories based on a specific fandom, character, pairing or a genre) ratio seems to be slightly in favour of the story-specific factors, but this division line is probably very fluid and not exactly clear-cut. The most prevalent method, which is by its nature not a method at all, is simply just reading (and by extension, enjoying), which possibly ties to the leisure aspect of engagement with fanfiction translation in general.

15. How do/did you look for stories to translate? (multiple choice)
Number of responses: 76
	respondents	percentage
I follow/ed my favourite authors and their writing	29	38,2%
Without any particular agenda, sometimes a story I read just piques/piqued my interest	49	64,5%
I actively look/looked for stories from my favourite fandom	20	26,3%
I actively look/looked for stories about my favourite character	18	23,7%
I actively look/looked for stories based on my favourite pairing	29	38,2%
I actively look/looked for stories of a particular type or genre	11	14,5%
I follow/ed other readers' recommendations	17	22,4%
Other:	5	6,6%
I finished an uncompleted translation
A friend of mine, who had a web, asked me to
I participate in the online translations at hpkizi.sk
Translators choose stories, I beta-read =)
Based on the number of readers/comments - the most important factor

Table 13.

3.3.16 Beta reader

This was a simple freeform question, as it was expected that the unique relationship between the translator and a beta reader might inspire the respondents to provide more insights, but it wasn’t necessarily so, and the question should have probably been more specific.

The answers could be rather easily coded into Yes and No. For a few respondents, having a beta reader seems to be a must, or simply an obvious fact. A few others expressed their regret at not having any.

16. Do/did you use a beta reader for your fanfiction translations? (freeform, open-ended question, 500 character limit)
Number of responses: 76
	respondents	percentage
Yes	26	34,2
No	50	65,75

Table 14.

Selection of answers:

“Of course, without the beta reader, it wouldn't work.”

“Unfortunately not…”

“No (and you could tell, obviously)”

“She beta-read my translations as part of our first collaboration. Later, she would also beta-read my own original Harry Potter fanfictions.”

“Every time. I don't think it's wise to think you can do everything by yourself. I had a few awesome beta readers, without them, it just wouldn’t quite work!”

“I've only had one beta reader during this whole time. Although she doesn't speak English, she is a Czech teacher. I contacted her after I'd seen her criticism of a certain story's stylistic flaws.”

“I tried to secure one beta reader for stories that were important for me.”