FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

2024

Will you translate and publish Zamansiz in English?

We are proud to announce we are the only publisher who is able to publish Zamansiz in English!

2023

We have had a lot of questions come up over the past couple of weeks with the advent of two versions of Sessizlik in English.

Who are you?

We are Engin’s UK publishers. We traveled to Istanbul October 2022 to meet with his Turkish publisher.  You will get to know all about us over the upcoming months via our Newsletter and social media.

Why didn’t you buy the US rights?

The rights to the US had been purchased a couple of years prior.

Which book am I buying on Amazon?

The US version is currently on Amazon. 

We have been promoting the book for the past few months so we know that you think it’s ours. It is not. On 2/27 it was announced that the US version was available by parties involved.

Will your book be available on Amazon?

Yes and other online bookstores as well as brick and mortar exept in stores in the US and Canada

Are the versions the same?

No.  Absolutely not.   We are proud to have Engin Akyürek’s book Sessizlik translated into English by Kenneth Dakan. We think you will find it an excellent translation of a very clever writer whose idioms and nuances makes it difficult for word to word translation. The translator has to be a storyteller themselves and with Ken we got just that, a masterful storyteller whose native tongue is English but has lived in Istanbul nearly 30 years. Plus he has translated for major publishers like Simon and Schuster. See our introduction to the translator for more information. AND KISMET has included the illustrations from the original book.

Why aren’t all your proceeds going to charity?

We cannot say all sales or proceeds will go to charity because that would be simply untrue and a legal liability.

That would mean we sell a book for $18. and send $18. to charity. What about credit card fees? That has to come out the $18. What about the authors share? The editing costs? Printing the book costs? Etc etc  Those are just basic expenses how will we pay our team? We have to pay our team of social media marketers, lawyers, graphic designer, editors, proofreaders, project managers, etc. A lot goes into publishing a book and marketing it. Time and money. By the time we pay taxes, fees and costs associated with printing and marketing plus the author himself an $18. book dwindles down to $2-$4. Profit. In order to bring you a professional quality product this is a business with business expenses. 

In the past when we were raising funds for community projects we were just Ramona and Adam. If we raised 5,000 every penny went to the people we were raising it for. We partnered with churches and other community organizations and they helped account for every penny. 

we will have fundraisers for this business, and it will be for scholarships to support and promote children readers and writers. We will partner in the future with other organizations.  

It is a well-known fact Engin Akyürek donates whatever his share is to the Darüşşafaka society a school for children. Did we ask him? No it is none our business what he does with his share. But we chose to support him as an author because he is a clever writer and philanthropist and supports the causes we believe in, equality for women and children. 

Can you ship to the US or not?

That is a tricky question. Legally we can. Since the US has a version, we will indulge in good sportsmanship. However, we feel that people who want our version will find a way to get it. We will continue to monitor the situation and are open to whatever the fans and the author wants.

Update- currently we are shipping to North America as the US version is being shipped worldwide

Do you have a Fan Club or part of a Fan Club?

We do not have a Fan/Friend Club. We joined fan clubs for Engin Akyürek because we were doing market research on him as a potential author. As a publisher we wanted to determine whether people were interested in him as an author. 

We founded the Global Literary Society, but it will not be a fan club. It will focus on Engin’s writing and suggested reading and support children's literacy and early authors initiatives. We cannot count on the extent of the authors involvement. But I am certain if we build something to be proud of, we are certain he will come. 

If you have additional questions, write to us at publisher@kismetpublishers.co.uk

We welcome any and all feedback!

Adam and Ramona