This corpus-based multifactorial study aims to explore potential predictors of repetition versus lexical variety in translation of repeated reporting verbs from English into Slovak in literary novels. First, we provide a theoretical overview of research on repetition and reporting verbs in Slovak and Czech translation studies. Next, using a sample of 14 literary novels extracted from InterCorp corpus (v.15), we fit multiple negative binomial regression models with mixed effects to assess the effect that several predictor variables (frequency, semantic category, verb length, number of senses, translators) have on the response variable, i.e. the number of Slovak target-text reporting verbs an English source-text (ST) reporting verb is translated into. The findings revealed that factors such as frequency of use of ST reporting verbs, the semantic category of neutral ST reporting verbs, as well as the translators as a random effect, influence Slovak translators’ decisions of using a wide variety of Slovak reporting verbs instead of preserving the originals’ patterns of repetition. More precisely, the model allowed us to explain 70% of the variation (per conditional r-squared) in the response variable. Against the backdrop of prevailing stylistic norms in Slovak, the findings shed light on the translator’s choices in rendering recurrent reporting verbs introducing direct speech, a stylistically salient feature of literary texts.