US spellings

[desperance]

My remarkably good friend moshui finds himself quandarised caught on the horns of a quandary, and you know how uncomfortable that can be.

His copy-editor has recast his new fantasy novel in American spelling; which is not unreasonable on the face of it, its having an American publisher and hence inevitably a largely American audience. But Dan is a Brit to his boots, and his English is exceedingly British, and he's just not comfortable with this strange accent it's been pressed into.

But of course, being brighter than me, his first concern is sales. If he asked for the spellings to revert to English English, will potential readers be put off? He asks, and I don't know the answer; so I thought I'd ask you on his behalf. Go on over here and give him the benefit of your wisdom, for I have none.

(NB - it's a fantasy novel in a secondary world, sorta Chinese but not; no variety of English would be anybody's mother tongue, if that makes a difference...)

Comments

[valydiarosada.livejournal.com]

I have come across a number of Americans who only bought British editions of the Harry Potter books, because they hated the changes made in the US editions so much. But of course, in the case of the HP books, much more than just the spelling was altered.

[esmeraldus-neo.livejournal.com]

I haven't read the British HP books, but the same reasoning probably applies. I'm sure I'd like the British versions better.

But then, now that I think about it, I'm a BritLit specialist, so I may be even more biased than the average Discworld fan.

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Actually, I think the average Discworld fan is still a Brit, and so inherently biased the right way. American Discworld fans, I cannot speak for (but have they Americanised it to the point of calling it Diskworld?)

[esmeraldus-neo.livejournal.com]

Ah, that is true.

I have occasionally seen it misspelled "Diskworld", but not often.

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Really? I know nothing of this (I have sort of determinedly not followed all the HP squabbling). What more did they change, apart from spellings and the odd title?

[valydiarosada.livejournal.com]

I am, of course, pontificating based on what others have told me rather than as a result of detailed of the various editions. :)

However I have been told that words have been changed where UK usage does not tie in with US, e.g. "fringe" has been altered to "bangs".

Also I understand that British expressions (can't give an example offhand, sorry!) have been replaced by American expressions, which, I have been told, may change the meaning, or at least the emphasis.

[stevegreen.livejournal.com]

As I recall, "spellotape" was one of the casualties.