Coming to America from Italy - No, not another mafia story

Since its 2002 release, "I Kill," an Italian thriller about a serial killer on a murder spree in Monaco, has been translated into two dozen languages and sold five million copies worldwide. Until June, however, it was unavailable in English. And the English translation appeared only because the Italian publisher, unable to find a partner in New York or London, decided to put up the money itself and to come out with its own edition of the book, by Giorgio Faletti. "We tried to sell the rights to an American publisher but they were reluctant to risk launching an unknown foreign author, even one that had sold millions of copies," said Alessandro Dalai, publisher of Baldini Castoldi Dalai editore, which is based in Milan. Dalai's plight was typical of foreign publishers trying to sell their books into English-speaking markets,... [read full story]