Book translation into English

Hello.

My name is Vladimir Volya. I am from Russia, Moscow.

In 2014 I published my first book which is called “Tahrir”.

Tahrir is a fiction book about the revolution, which took place in 2011.

It is a story about foreigners and Egyptians who fought with the system and struggled for freedom in the country. In order to write a book I had to travel to Egypt many times and lived there. During my visits I interviewed revolutionaries, political activists and ordinary people. Their stories were used in the book but at the same time changed to the fiction format.

In my book I write that any kind of the authoritarian regime is an evil and people should fight with the system for their rights. The dictators are like vampires, they feed themselves with blood of the own people. I advocate protests and people’ will to change the political system. Any nation has a right to be an owner of the own country. Neither the president nor elite has a right to manage solely resources of the country. Each country belongs to its own people, and everybody has a share in the big corporation which we can call a state.

Dictators just exploit ordinary people and use them for own interest. They only think about their ambitions. They imprison, torture and murder innocent people in order to be stronger and more powerful. They are liars and they manipulate people.

Concept of freedom is one of the essential in the book. Every character understands freedom differently, in their own way and for each of them freedom has a different meaning. For Egyptians, Sherif and Wessam it can be achieved through revolution, for British, Robert and Kate - through protests and struggle which also help them to solve their personal problems, freedom of Alexey from Russia is in solving conflicts, in romantic and in saving relationship with his girl-friend. Ordinary Egyptians seek for freedom from discrimination of their rights, poverty and injustice.

I was finishing in Tahrir in December 2013. I was sitting in one of cafes in the city centre and writing the last lines when new protests swept the city, and people covered in blood were running around. It was clashes with the government and I could hear gunshots. The city centre was full of smoke coming from the tear gas bombs. Tanks took Talat Harb Square, which became a new meeting point for the opposition fighting with a third regime, led by General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. Then I knew that revolution would never fail in Egypt and people would not calm down until they reached their final goal – freedom.

By the end of 2013, I started sending my book and its synopsis to the publishing houses in Russia. We don’t have many.Mainly fiction books of the detective and fantasy genres are selected for publishing. I got several positive responses from the publishing agencies and was waiting for their decision, but finally they turned me down saying that book was worth publishing and definitely had its market segment, but because of censorship in Russia they were afraid to publish it.

Also, the Russian mass media are strongly against any kind of upheaval and protests, and show a negative image of revolutions. The Arab Spring is portrayed to have been a plot by the US and EU to devastate countries and destabilize the situation in the Middle East. As my book supports revolution and democratic values, it had little chance of being published in Russia.

That’s why I decided to self-publish it and to distribute it on my own. In June 2014, Tahrir was finally published with 1000 copies, and I started its distribution through bookstores.

After my book was published, Nezavisimay Gazeta (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nezavisimaya_Gazeta ) wrote a review about the book, praising it and giving it some prospects (link to the article in Russian http://www.ng.ru/lit/2014-09-18/6_zayaz.html ). So far, almost all copies have been sold and I think it is a good result considering the fact that I didn’t promote it on purpose and I didn’t have any budget for marketing.

Now I am dreaming to publish it in English. That people in English speaking countries would know more about the revolution in Egypt and understand more how people lived in dictatorship.

Currently my friends translated only 3 chapters which is around 10% of the book. I found a publisher who is located in London and who liked those chapters. They asked me for the all book in English but in order to translate it I need to hire a professional translator. Also I want to edit translated book and after that publish e-book. I need 3000 British Pounds or around 4650 US dollars for that. I am really hoping that I can fundraise money on that web site.

You can see more information about the book and read some chapters on the web site http://www.tahrirbook.wordpress.com/

“When he saw the white desert, something changed inside, as if a burden had fallen from his shoulders, and he realized that he was blessed.Everything took on a different plan, everything ceased to exist, and only the whiteness of the rocks, protruding from the sand and blinding, carried to a different place, light and unearthly, as if in some kind of ideal world where there is no hunger, no wars, no revolutions, no suffering, no betrayal and needs.In this world, everything was subjected to perfect order based neither on laws nor the power of rulers, because love was everywhere.Inexhaustible and all-encompassing, not clouded by greed and jealousy, love, which offered happiness and glistened in pure white, it understood and forgave, it soothed and carried the faith, it maintained wisdom and defined the essence of all things.

They went further inland, past the bizarre shapes, which looked like they had been carved by humans.The sun was setting, covering the white stone at a shade of pink, complimenting the yellowness of sand.Soon the stars lit, there were so many, they filled up the sky.He did not try to count them, he knew that he should just watch them enjoying the grandeur of beauty.”