The first question that I receive from someone who finds out about my book is this: why did I write it in English and not my mother tongue, Greek? The first person I sent my book for revision/editing to was a woman from London, UK, who has lived in Greece for the last couple of decades, and she also had the same question. In this article, I'm going to explain why writers write in a language other than their mother tongue.
In this category of authors, the list goes on and on. Vladimir Nabokov, Joseph Conrad, Kahlil Gibran, Khaled Hosseini, and others were born in countries where English was not their native tongue. Respectively, there are also writers who spoke English as their mother tongue yet wrote their works in another language, like Samuel Beckett, who wrote in French, Oscar Wilde who wrote Salomé in French, and others. Vis-a-vis, I'm not the first one, and definitely, I'm not going to be the last one. Let me give you the reasons why I personally chose to write in English, even though my mother tongue is Greek.
1. The marketplace. When you write in Greek, you write a book that can be read in Greece, Cyprus, and possibly the Greek-speaking diaspora worldwide. When you write in English, you address the whole world. Everyone can read your work, share it, and discuss it, etc.
2. It's easier. The internet is the land of opportunity. All these years that I wrote in Greek, many publishers approached me to publish my work, fascinated by it. Everyone wanted money, ranging from 300 to 500 euros. This isn't fair. You can't ask the writer to pay for their work to be published and pay them from the royalties. This is no win-win situation. The publisher has a certain investment, whereas the writer (who is the person making it all happen in the first place) gets their money back at best. Yes, this is how it works for first-time authors in Greece.
On the other hand, I love that the mentality in the USA is completely different. I'm not only talking about Amazon KDP, which I finally chose to publish with. The self-publishing industry is there for you and could be free. The only prerequisite for you to submit is that your work should be written in English. Amazon pays 70% royalties, which is a number nobody can give in Greece. On top of that, self-publishing industries support you through promotion strategies and such. That's because if you don't sell, they don't make money. So, they somewhat care about your work. It's a win-win condition!
3. It might come as a surprise, but people in Greece don't like reading epic fantasy. Although fantasy has its roots in Ancient Greek Mythology (remember Homer?), the genre was completely evolved by Tolkien and other English-speaking writers. As a result, even if I paid for my book to be published in Greek, the odds are that it wouldn't reach anywhere near my goal. And believe me, my selling goal is not that high.
4. Why not write in English? Don't misunderstand me; I don't snob my mother tongue. I love the Greek language and its history. However, the articles I read are in English, the TV series/films I watch are in English, the books I read are in English, the songs I listen to are in English, and as a scientist, I have published several articles, courses, and a book in English. There are plenty of creative writing courses online in English, while there is not even one in Greek. One could say that this is a natural turn of events.
To sum up, the English language, being the international language, offers greater opportunities for writers. Honestly, I don't understand why migrants from another country can move and work somewhere else, and that's not a big deal, but when it comes to writing, it's a no-go. If you're a language chauvinist, that's your issue; deal with it. Arts are international, can be produced by anyone, and should be relished by everyone, no matter what.
