Marketing Dutch Translations of Anglophone Young Adult Literature

Abstract

This thesis explores the marketing strategies that are used by Dutch publishers of Young Adult Literature (YAL) originating in English-language countries. It does so through qualitative research, with information extracted from interviews with six Dutch publishing houses and analysed thematically with the aid of key theoretical concepts. These are derived from scholarship on central and peripheral reading cultures and marketing as paratext, zooming in on the use of branding and shared reading experiences. The most important marketing strategies used to combat the encroaching threat of English-language counterparts to the sales of Dutch books are the creation of limited editions and community building, both on social media (which in 2022 is mostly Instagram and TikTok) and at literary events. The thesis contributes to filling a niche in scholarly research on marketing strategies used to sell translated YAL in the Dutch context, and offers insights into the world of publishers, editors and marketers, partly in their own words.