Tag Archives: translations

Translators Are Authors Too

20 Wednesday Jul 2016

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In a previous post, I discussed the unfair and disastrous practice of revenue sharing (aka the “Translate for Royalties” model, or TfR). If you didn’t read the previous article, or just don’t want to re-read it, let me refresh your memory: offering your translator a share of the royalties instead of real money is a Bad Thing. You’re asking a professional to work professionally for a promise of payment that may or may not come true. Very bad.

With this article, I want to focus on one aspect in particular of the TfR model, one that perhaps clarifies more than any other the fact that such a model is totally unfair to translators: author control.

But wait! you may say. Author control is a great thing. Author control is everything! And you are right… when said control is about your creations. However (and this is something every author who whishes to be translated should have clear), translations are the translator’s creations. Yes, that’s right: what, if not an act of creativity, would you call taking a book and rewriting it in another language? But in a deal that follows the TfR model, the translator has little or no control over the product of their work.

Let’s begin with something really basic: pricing. In a TfR deal, the translator gets a share of the royalties, right? Well, what if the author decides to price the book at 0.99 dollars, euro or whatever? The translator would be getting a handful of pennies per copy sold. Which is kind of abysmal, especially if the book we’re talking about is quite long. Sure, this strategy may help the other books in a series and/or other books by the same author sell better… but what if those books are going to translated by another person (some authors employ multiple translators in order to have all their backlist and new releases translated quickly)? And anyway, why should the translator be undercut by a decision in which they had no say?

The same is potentially true about everything else that affects the price or the availability of the books – promos, giveaways and the like. Author decides to make the book free for a week? Translator isn’t getting any money for the copies sold during that week. Author decides to give a free copy of the book to anyone who will write a honest review? Translator isn’t getting any money for copies given away. Sure, all these decisions may be right and eventually pay off – but why should I, a competent adult, trust another person to “make the right decision” about something that affects my income? I did my job, and hopefully I did it well. Why does the money I’m going to get for it depend on someone else’s choices?

Back in the days when I was still translating for royalties, I worked on a book by Author X. I was supposed to do a second one, but then I decided to quit the TfR world for good, so I told Author X that they should look for someone else (all in due time and following the appropriate channels). The other book, a sequel to the first one, was translated by another person and released. Well, you know what? Not long after the release of the second book, I looked at the first book’s sales and found out a huge spike… in free downloads. I made a few checks and realized that Author X had made a free promo of the book, without consulting me or telling me anything. The hundreds of free copies downloaded by readers during the one-week promo obviously didn’t bring me any gain, but I’m reasonably sure they boosted up the sales of the second book… you know, the one I didn’t translate and on which I’m not earning a share of the royalties. Cool, uh?

There’s worse. I’m not a fan of websites that promote the TfR model, but the one I used to work on at least required the translator’s authorization before making a book permanently free. Other contracts, especially those agreed upon directly by author and translator, do not necessarily grant this luxury. I’m sure that there are many translators around the world currently at the mercy of unscrupulous authors who could make the books they worked on permanently free at any moment, increasing the sales of their other books while denying compensation to the translators. Again, those who did the work have no control over decisions that could deprive them of the whole income coming from said work. How is that even remotely fair?

The total lack of author control for translators means that TfR deals can never be fair. They may work occasionally… but I think they are much more likely not to work. Which makes them a bad practice that you shouldn’t encourage.

The Reason Why Royalty-Sharing Is a Bad Practice

14 Saturday May 2016

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I just finished to read the Indie Author Survival Guide by Susan Kaye Quinn. Full disclosure: I love this book. I think every indie writer should read it. It’s a treasure chest full of advice, encouragement and plain useful stuff that nobody should miss. If you don’t own it already, don’t waste time and get yourself a copy.

Since I admire Quinn’s enlightening work so much, it caused me great pain to read stuff like this:

I recently signed an innovative, revenue-share contract to translate Open Minds into German. There were no publishers involved, just an agreement between myself and the translator. Because it’s revenue-share, the translator (who is based in Germany) is incentivized to help tap the German market, making contact with bloggers and reviewers.

[…]If you’re a well-selling indie, you can finance all of the costs of translation on your own, but I actually think there’s an advantage to doing the revenue-share: my translator is making a business out of translating and then promoting his translated works. He’s a fellow indie author, just an ocean away.

Very cool.

My reaction in a nutshell:

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Translators are not “fellow indie authors”. They are service providers who, well, provide services. One-time services that should receive prompt payment, cash. Treating them as anything else shows a lack of knowledge at best, a lack of respect at worst.

The “Translate for Royalties” model (“TfR model” from now on) has been gaining ground for a while. More and more authors have been experimenting with it, and a few websites began advertising it as a “free” way of reaching new markets. I believe it’s an unsustainable model that shouldn’t be encouraged, else it will result in the death of book translations (no kidding). There are two main reasons for that.

The first reason is simple: when you come to me, a translator, with a TfR proposal, you do not come bearing gifts. You come bearing risks. In fact, the TfR model is a way for an author to take a business venture (the translation) and put all the risk on their so-called “partner”. Think about it for a minute. You are telling someone to work for weeks or months, not for money, but for the promise of an unknown amount in royalties. How much will the translator earn in six months? In a year? Will that be even remotely close to their normal rates (and even in that case, will it be worth it to wait six months or a year to collect the money)? Or will the whole job turn out to be a waste of time?

Fact is, 50% of not enough is still not enough. If, at the end of the year, the translated edition of your book ends up earning us $10 in royalties (this happened; see below), for you, the author, it’s $5 in your pocket that you didn’t have before. For me, the translator, it means receiving $5 as compensation for weeks or months of work.

Would you work for weeks or months in exchange for $5? Unless we’re talking about volunteer work, I don’t think so.

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“But I cannot know in advance if the translation will sell or not!” Sorry, but it’s not your translator’s problem. They provide a one-time service and should be paid for their time and their expertise, just like your editor and your cover designer. Come think of it, I’ve never heard of an “edit my book for royalties” model or a “do my cover for royalties” model. I wonder why.

The second reason has to do with marketing. Translators are not marketers, they didn’t study marketing and cannot be expected to improvise it. It’s completely unfair to have someone market your book for free after they already translated it for free. What are you doing to help your collective success? Nothing. While the other person is doing everything.

If that’s a relationship, I’m gonna call it an abusive one.

(no, “I wrote the book!” is not a valid excuse. The book was already published and earning you money before you decided to have it translated. You didn’t write the book specifically for your translator, so you didn’t contribute to this “partnership” at all)

The success of the TfR model would spell the death of professional translation. I’m sure of that. In a world where the income of a translator were completely uncertain (it already is quite unstable, given that it’s a freelance job), very few people could afford to translate full-time. Soon, the only translators available on the market would be young people living with their parents, and the partners and spouses of affluent people who could afford to support them. The average quality would drop, and the scarcity of freelancers available would cut the quantity considerably. It wouldn’t take long before everybody figured out that being a translator just isn’t worth it and abandoned their glorified hobby for a real, lucrative job.

The end.

howaboutnogif

How do I now all this stuff? Because I’ve experienced it. I used to offer a hybrid, cash advance + royalty sharing model (notice that I was still asking for cash up front) and I actually worked for six months on a website that promotes the TfR model (no, I’m not linking it, and I just removed their name from this post. I don’t want to give them traffic). I lost count of the words I translated during those months, but I’m sure I was well past the 500,000 line. Eleven months after I begun, do you know how much I earned in royalties for translating all those words?

$243.18. Most of which from the only two books that actually sold.

That’s an average of $0.00048 per word (and I’m being conservative with the word estimate). Less than a twentieth of a cent. But, hey, I helped authors reach new readers, right? Right?

My point is: if you want to be translated, but can’t afford to, seek out translators willing to do volunteer work. Because that’s what you’d be asking them to do if you offered them a TfR contract. At least be honest about it.

Otherwhise, if you’re seriously interested in reaching foreign markets, invest money. Find a good translator and pay their fees. They will still be interested in doing a good job (to get more work from you and to build up their reputation) and you will have paid honest money for honest work.

Nobody should be forced to work for free just to satisfy your vanity.

P.S. The saddest thing about Quinn promoting the TfR model is that, in other parts of her book, she insists that indie authors need to “invest time and money in editing/copyediting/cover art for [their] book”. Looks like we translators are children of a lesser god. The Survival Guide is still a great book, though, so buy it. Seriously.

Happy New Year!

31 Thursday Dec 2015

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2015 is coming to an end, but work never stops at Indie Book Translations! This year has been a prolific one, with 15 novels translated (you can see the twelve that have already been published, along with all my previous translations, here). All of them received good reviews, which is always pleasant for a translator 🙂 I also got the opportunity to meet some new authors, including the amazing Ripley Patton and Suzan Tisdale, who have joined Amber Kell in the list of people who tolerate my humor. Yes, this has been a good year.

But, as I said, work never stops. There will be plenty more books coming in 2016, with possibly some new names on the covers. In the meantime, I updated the Translation Services page with some more accurate cost estimations and gave it a bit of much needed polish. You may want to give it a read 🙂

Happy New Year, folks! I’ll see you in 2016.

The Importance of an Advance

01 Monday Jun 2015

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A few days ago, a potential client contacted me with a job proposal. We met on Skype and talked for a while. We agreed on the rates, the method of payment… everything seemed perfect. Until I told them that, like many translators, I normally ask for an advance before starting on a new project. Their reply was that, although they understood my position, the company’s policy wouldn’t allow that. I would had to wait up to 30 days after the completion of the project before being paid.

Despite everything else being alright, I was forced to turn the client down.

There are several reasons for which I, and most other translators, ask for an advance. The first one is merely financial: a translation takes time, usually a lot of it. In the case of the job offer I’m talking about, the documents I was supposed to work on totaled about 80,000 words in length; that would translate into 20 days of work spent exclusively on the client’s project, during which I would be unable to accept other jobs. Then I was supposed to wait 30 more days before I saw any money. You can see why this isn’t much feasible.

An advance is also the guarantee, or at least a promise, that the client will pay for the job in full. The translator is most often the weakest part in the deal, especially when they are working for people from the other side of the planet. Paying an advance shows commitment on the client’s side, and if they end up trying to cheat the translator, finding excuses to not pay or to pay late… well, at least the freelancer got something for their work.

I talked a lot about advances from the client’s point of view, but I thought it would be useful to explain what an advance means for us translators. We do not ask for advances because we are greedy or desperate for money: they are a way to protect ourselves from non-payers and to make sure we have a little money in our pockets in case we have an emergency. The client, in turn, can spread the payment over two or more installments, alleviating the burden on their finances. As usual, this is a kind of deal that, when done right, benefits both parties.

Do you have any questions about the work of independent translators? Perhaps are you looking for one to translate your book into Italian? 🙂 Contact me and tell me everything.

We Have an Exclusive!

25 Wednesday Mar 2015

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I’m interrupting the flow of public-service posts with a great news: I recently signed an exclusive translation contract with award-winning romance author Amber Kell. This means she trusts me enough to make me the sole translator of both her Dragon Shifters and Moon Pack series. You won’t see other names in the translator credits of those books. Just miiiiine. *evil laughter*

Going back to serious, it’s a great honor to become an author’s “official” translator (I’m using the word loosely here, as Amber still holds the translation rights for all her other books, as far as I know). I don’t think I have ever been so excited before. From what I know of her, Amber is an amazing person as well as an acclaimed romance writer. I can only hope to do her work justice.

All this doesn’t mean I won’t take requests for other translations. On the contrary: as I explained in my previous post,  translations need to “rest” many times before they’re ready for a new revision. While a book is “resting”, I can definetly work on something else, both to refresh my mind and to increase my productivity. Therefore, I’m still accepting commissions. Make use of the Contacts page, folks; I will be reading your messages 😉

Now, if you excuse me, I’ll go back to jumping around the room.

Going Deeper: 4 Good Reasons Not to Pay Up Front

10 Tuesday Feb 2015

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In some of my older posts, I recommend that no author should pay a freelancer all the money up front. That’s true for all kinds of editorial services: translations, cover illustrations, cover designs, editing, Voodoo magics, and everything else. Honest professionals ask for part of their payments up front and the rest when they deliver; you should stick to that model and avoid those who ask for something different. Here are five good reasons why paying the entire sum up front might hurt you.

 

Reason #1: You Might Get Scammed

It could go like this: you find a freelancer who looks good, or they contact you first. They offer you a “special discount” if you pay all the money in one solution, up front. You trust them, but after you pay, they disappear. They do not reply to your emails. If they gave you a Skype ID or other means of contact, you find out that they blocked you or are simply ignoring your messages. Their online profile turns out to be fake, with made-up personal info and a picture taken from the Internet. The job is, of course, not getting done, and you have little hope of getting your money back.

Dozens of scams happen every minute in every parts of the world. You don’t need to be particularly gullible to fall for one, especially if the scammer is good. Even if you’re not dealing with a dishonest person, though, other bad things may happen when you pay all the money up front. For example…

 

Reason #2: Delivery Might Get Delayed

For a freelancer, the payment is the reward for finishing a job. But if you pay your freelancer the entire sum up front, before they even begin working, you put them in an awkward psychological position: they already got their reward, so all that’s left is the long, tiresome “work” part. They might be tempted to procrastinate and give you excuses for longer delivery times. Or, if they’re dealing with other people at the same time, and those people required a multiple payments model instead of a single, up-front payment, the freelancer might be tempted to put those people’s manuscripts before yours, because, well, you already paid them. The other authors have still money to give them.

From this warning, another one follows…

 

Reason #3: Quality Might Decline

For the same reason stated above, a freelancer is less encouraged to do a good job if they have already been paid. It’s less about ethics and more about psychology: they had their reward already, so why is there still work to be done? Better do it quickly and then look for other gratifications. It might sound silly, but working on a project after you’ve been paid for it feels like you’re working for nothing, because you’re not going to get any reward at the end (you already got it). Perhaps it doesn’t make sense, but it’s how the human mind work.

All the points so far have been about the freelancer; the last one, however, is about you. I put it last, but it’s arguably one of the most important ones. You should never pay all the money for a project up front because…

 

Reason 4: It’s Harder on Your finances

Most people who give advice overlook this issue. Translations easily cost thousands of dollars; cover illustrations by good artists do get well into the hundreds. Paying, say, one-third up front and the rest when the work is done allows you to breathe a little deeper, financially speaking, since you don’t have thousands of dollars going out all at once. As the freelancer is working, you might get some earnings from royalties, previous projects or other sources, which would lighten the burden. Conversely, paying a lot of money all at once might force you to make sacrifices or to postpone other projects you might want to begin sooner.

 

Do you want to know more about dealing safely with freelancers? Subscribe to my blog to be kept up to date with my posts! 🙂 Or perhaps you are looking for a translator? Check out my Services page and contact me for more information on what I can do for you.

Who Should Check Test Translations?

30 Thursday Oct 2014

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In a previous post I stressed the importance of test translations – short texts you give a translator so they can prove their skill to you. But who should verify the quality of these translations? Certainly not you – if you were that competent in the target language, you probably wouldn’t need a translator. So, who?

My first recommendation is: don’t ask an agency or another translator to review test translations. First, because it’s disrespectful: you’re throwing into their face that you’re employing someone else. Second, because – since they are your translator’s competitors – it’s in their best interest to say the test translation is bad. This way, they can offer their services as an alternative and make money out of you. “The piece you sent us is decent, but we believe we could do much better” is a pretty common answer, and why shouldn’t it be? If the second translator or the agency can convince you to work with them, they earn a new client; if they can’t, they’re still getting paid for reviewing the test. It’s a win-win situation for them, but not for you.

Guaranteed, many people out there are honest and would call a good translation good, but you should never rely on someone to act against their interest in order to do you a favor. So, I would recommend avoiding asking translation agencies and freelance translators to review test translations.

My best advice is to ask a native speaker of the target language to review the translation. You don’t need a specialist: the vast majority of your new readers will not be specialists either. You need someone who is representative of your target audience and will read the translation with the same eyes. The best choice would be one of your fans abroad: someone who read your work in the original language, but is also a native speaker of the target language. They will be able to tell if the translation is good, and merciless in critiquing it. Of course, it would be even better if they had translation experience themselves.

When possible, don’t give the reviewer the original text. Many people, especially those who are not translators, will often consider the slightest deviation from the original text as an unforgivable sin, even if said change improves readability and even if it’s actually required by the target language’s rules. Italian, for example, has longer words than English, and it doesn’t generally use the Oxford comma, so breaking up sentences is often required in order not to end up with unreadable paragraphs; but an overzealous reviewer, confronting the translation with the original text, might consider this a great wrongdoing. Of course, if a person you know to be competent asked you to see the original text, you should give it to them. Chances are they had good reasons for asking.

Test translations are a great way to scree out bad translators and find the one you need to reach an entirely new public. Use them without fear.

 

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How to Avoid Bad Translators and Scammers

12 Sunday Oct 2014

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There is a common denominator in the mails I get from self-published authors, a concept that might be summed up with: “I had issues with other translators in the past, so I am more cautious now.” Sadly, I understand all too well: scammers are common in all places on the Internet, while people who are just bad at their jobs are simply uncountable.

I hate scammers and bad translators. They hurt me and the other honest professionals by giving our entire category a bad name. I always did my best to denounce them and – when I worked as proofreader – make sure they weren’t paid for the butchery they called “work”, but they seem to pop up like mushrooms after the Autumn rain. Without being as tasty.

What makes a bad translator? Unfortunately, there is no perfect answer. A shady-looking person might be simply inexperienced at communicating with perspective clients, while the most cordial and seemingly competent freelancer could be a very good scammer. There are, however, some indicators that might tell you that you’re dealing with a dishonest or incompetent person.

 

Inability to Provide References

Bad translators usually cannot provide good references. When someone boasts a long translation experience, but refuses to give you the contact(s) of someone who could vouch for them, you should become very suspicious. “I worked with these guys, but they’re very busy people and don’t like to be pestered, so I’m not giving you their emails” is a silly excuse: if someone allowed you to list them among their references, then they are willing to spare some time to tell people how good you are.

Even when a translator does provide references, it wouldn’t hurt to check on those names and see if they are people who work in the field (editors, authors, other translators, etc.) or just average Janes and Joes who happen to be among the translator’s friends on Facebook. It’s better to be safe than sorry.

Boasts of Incredible Speed and/or Very Low Rates

The Internet is full of offers that are too good to be true. Someone who promises to translate your work in no time and for almost no money isn’t probably telling you the whole truth.

Between direct witnessing and firsthand reports, I know there are many ways for unethical translator to cut corners, from using low-end translation tools (or even Google Translate), to cutting out entire portions of the text, to simply not revising the translation before sending it out. I’ve even been told of one case in which a translator “subcontracted” a job: they had several people translate one chapter each, then melded everything together. I’ve never seen that particular translation, but I suspect it wasn’t very consistent.

In short, if someone tells you they can translate your 200,000 word novel in a week, I wouldn’t bet on the quality of the final product.

For the same reason, someone working for rates that cannot make a living wage is most likely either quite naive or producing low-quality translations. This isn’t always true: one of my best friends doesn’t charge much for their translations (which they do in their free time, having a 9 to 5 job as well), yet those are among the finest I have ever had the privilege to read. But generally speaking, you shouldn’t expect excellent work for a low price, just like you wouldn’t expect Michelin Star cuisine from a cafeteria. Quality has its price, and translators have bills to pay like everyone else. Everyone saying otherwise is selling something, and you probably shouldn’t buy it.

Refusal to Do a Test Translation

A “test translation” is a short text (usually between 500 and 1,000 words) that the freelancer translates as a proof of skill and goodwill. When in doubt, always ask for a test translation before working with a translator, especially if they have no references and/or previous experience. If they refuse, do not contact them anymore. If they accept, ask a native reader to check their work; do not give this “test reader” the original, just ask them if the writing looks good and fluent. Most people will do this quick favor for free, and it could save you money, headaches and drama.

On a sidenote: some translators might ask you to pay for a test translation. I never would, provided that you’re not going to sell the translation or otherwise make money out of it. It is, as I said, a token of goodwill.

Asking for All the Money Up Front

Most translators, including myself, will ask you for an advance before starting a job. However, be very, very aware of anyone who wants you to pay the entire sum immediately. Few honest translators (indeed, few honest professionals) would ever do such a thing. If the freelancer you contacted insists on that, avoid them like the Plague.

This should be an obvious point, but I keep reading on the Internet of clients who cry out in outrage because the translator disappeared with the money. A little investigation turns out, most of the time, that those clients had paid everything up front. Never make this mistake. Always keep part of the money as an insurance that the job will get done.

Refusal to Sign a Contract

Another obvious (but oh, so overlooked!) fact. Informal agreements may look nicer, but are way less legally binding and can lead to all sorts of trouble. When someone says that you don’t need a contract, or straight out refuses to sign one, you might want to avoid them. A contract guarantees both parties, and anyone who gets outraged because someone on the other side of an ocean “doesn’t trust them” isn’t probably the kind of person you want to do business with.

 

Remember that no list is all-encompassing, and that scammers find new ways to rob people of their money almost every day. This post is just a way to give you some advice, but is by no means a complete guide. If you know other telltale signs, or you want to share your experience, leave a comment to this post or send me a mail.

 

The Translation Diaries, Episode 1: You Can’t Conceal Your Gender

07 Tuesday Oct 2014

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Your character comes home for the holidays. Pressed by parents and siblings to tell them about her time at college, she finally admits that yes, she has met someone – the special kind of “someone”. She gets pestered even more until she confesses that her significant other works as a cook in a pretty little restaurant close to her faculty. They are kind, funny, generous, proud – everything both your character and her family admire the most. Your character’s parents also like the fact that he works hard to support himself and pay for his studies; they are open-minded about their upper-class girl dating a working-class guy (he works in a fashionable business, at least). It helps that she described her lover as a good Catholic and a patriot.

Five chapters later, your character’s parents make her a surprise visit and tell her they are very eager to meet her boyfriend. She blushes and flushes, tells them that people in the food industry work very antisocial hours, but finally agrees to introduce her lover to them on the cook’s day off. When that day comes, your character’s parents meet a girl with beautiful green eyes and honey hair, who introduces herself as your character’s girlfriend.

Of course they don’t approve. Where would the conflict be if they did?

Now, if you’re writing in English, you can pull this off with relative ease. Keep using gender-neutral words such as “they” and “person”, never once let a gendered pronoun escape your main character’s mouth, and you will be on the right track. It’s not easy to deceive your readers this way without your writing sounding unnatural, but it’s doable.

When I translate your novel into Italian, however, things get a little bit trickier.

Italian is a gendered language, meaning that we have different words for a male cook and a female cook (those would be cuoco and cuoca, respectively). Pronouns, too, are gendered, so I can’t simply use “chef” instead – I would still have to specify if it’s uno chef (male) or una chef (female). This rule would require me to reveal the gender of your character’s lover the first time she’s mentioned, with foreseeable consequences.

Can I still translate your book without ruining your Big Reveal? Of course I can. I will have to toil, sweat and curse (we Italians are pretty good at that), but I will find a way. I might have to retool a couple lines of dialogue, perhaps even alter some paragraphs – the horror! the horror! – but I will present you with something fluent to read and faithful to your intent (i.e. your character doesn’t mention the cook’s gender, but neither does she lie openly).  Don’t bother about my chances to get into Heaven; a good translation of your work is everything that counts.

That’s the beauty of translation: it gives you creative challenges at every chapter, every page – sometimes every line. It’s by no means a mechanical or repetitive task. I love it because it keeps my mind awake and allows me to do a little bit of magic every day. It also lets me read amazing novels as part of my job, which is nice.

Do you have a novel with mysteriously gendered characters, romantic drama and/or a terrific plot? Check out my Services page to see how I can help you reach new readers, and contact me for information and business proposals.