I just got an email from River Lantern (Brooklyn) saying that starting with their Spring 2026 list, translators will be credited on the front cover. A small thing but it feels like the story’s doorway finally includes the person who carried the key; anyone else seeing policies like this ripple through other houses?
I’ve had better luck getting ‘front cover’ credit by sending a quick mockup with the translator line and asking the editor to tick the ONIX translator fields so retailers show it. Only caveat: once first cover comps go to sales it’s hard to change, so push for it before that — does River Lantern’s ‘Spring 2026’ rollout include the spine and product metadata?
Feels overdue, and that ‘story’s doorway’ image nails it. When a house signals this for Spring 2026, I’ve had luck locking it in by asking production to put the translator line in the seasonal catalog and on the ARC cover; once it’s there, the jacket brief usually mirrors it at no extra cost. Small caveat: some paperbacks claim ‘no space,’ so I ask for spine credit as a fallback.
At two mid-size houses I’ve gotten this to stick by adding a one-line spec to the cover brief — “translator credit on the jacket, same face as author, smaller size” — so design treats it as a required element from comp one. If the name stack gets tight, I’ve traded a point size down for fixed placement rather than letting it drift during routing. Anyone managed to carry the same spec through the catalog and Edelweiss so sales doesn’t strip it?
Great move; I’ve been asking contracts to add a simple clause: credit on cover, title page, and all marketing assets (incl. ebook/audio), so it sticks through reprints and doesn’t fall off at paperback like a loose label. If River Lantern is doing this, do you know if it’ll extend to backlist or just new titles, @daniel84? Either way, making it contractual has been the fastest way I’ve seen it stick.
On my last two titles, I asked the press to add the translator as a B06 contributor in ONIX and in the Edelweiss title card so retailers surface the name on product pages and thumbnails. It works, but some feeds still drop it on audio; @bengree have you found a workaround?
Seeing this at a couple of indies too; the tweak that’s stuck for me is asking design to add a “Translated by ___” line on the spine when the width allows, so it’s visible on shelves — skinny spines are the caveat. @lindsey_morris92, on your metadata point, have you had luck getting the EPUB trl contributor to surface reliably at retailers?