Many internationally published writers supply their translators with additional comments on the work to be translated. The aim of this paper is to study the kind of information that authors choose to convey to their translators, and to reflect on the degree in which, besides conveying factual and lexical information, they are also supplying guidelines for the ‘right’ interpretation and translation of the text. Following Gerard Genette’s notion of paratext (1997 [1987]), the author’s comments and suggestions are defined as important ‘thresholds’ in the work’s way to the reader, ‘thresholds’ that might be seen too as the author’s attempt to counterbalance the threat of losing authorship inherent in the translation process.