7 Reasons Why Literary Translators Should Receive Royalties

7 Reasons Why Literary Translators Should Receive Royalties

Not so long ago, we analysed literary translators’ fees and what is behind them. Today, we would like to discuss a rather controversial topic: Why are authors expected to pay royalties to their literary translators after paying a fair fee for their services?

However, before we discuss royalties, there is one rather complex fact to keep in mind. When it comes to literary translations, it is important for authors to understand: who owns the copyrights to the translated titles, who is entitled to exploit said rights, and what international and national laws protect their rights as an author and their translator’s rights as the author of their translated title.

More often than not, authors are misled to believe that having a translator sign a contract quitting their rights to royalties or additional payments for derivative products from their translations (such as audiobooks, ebooks, etc.) is not only fair but also legal. The truth is that this is far from being an honest or legal practice. Rather than taking advice from these self-styled mentors or experts, authors would be wise to research international treaties, such as the Berne Convention, or dig into the national laws applying to the countries where they are considering selling their foreign editions.

It is also wise to understand that good, professional, trained and skilled literary translators (a.k.a., the professionals you want to be involved in the translation of your book) are often part of translator’s associations protecting their rights and fighting for better fees, more recognition, and visibility for literary translators. A sad fact of the profession is that few literary translators make a living solely from their craft. This is mainly due to the conditions the industry tries to impose on them. Another discouraging fact? At the end of the day, many talented literary translators who would love to make a living by translating books abandon this dream to pursue other types of translation or other professions altogether in order to make ends meet.

Therefore, literary translators receive royalties as a standard industry practice – a practice which has even become enacted in law in many countries. This is simply a form of fair compensation for their significant contribution to a book’s creation and success.

Having said that, we would like to dig deeper into some of the reasons why literary translators should receive royalties:

1. Creative contribution:

Literary translators do more than just convert text from one language to another; they interpret the author’s style, as well as the tone and nuances in a text, in order to create a faithful yet culturally appropriate version in the target language. A professional literary translator translates a culture, not just words or sentences on a page. This process requires a high degree of creativity and skill, making the translator’s work an original contribution, which is precisely why translations are protected by copyright laws. With extensive research, intuition, and collaboration, a skilled translator brings the essence of a story to life, allowing readers in a new market to experience its beauty, insight, and universal appeal.

2. Work and effort:

Translating a book is a labour-intensive process that involves deep comprehension of both the source and target languages, meticulous attention to detail, and, more often than not, extensive research. Thus, the effort and time invested by the translator deserve recognition and fair compensation. In addition to a fair fee, royalties recognise that translation work has long-term value, and it’s not just a one-time service. Translators’ contributions continue to generate revenue over time and can also result in a wide variety of derivative products (such as audiobooks, book bundles, movies, TV shows, etc), especially as books gain momentum in new markets, and translators should benefit from this sustained success.

3. Enhancing marketability:

A well-translated book significantly enhances its appeal and accessibility in a new market. This may lead to increased sales and greater success in the translated language, benefiting both the author and the publisher.

This is particularly true for self-published authors working with a single translator, who becomes their voice in the foreign market. You don’t believe me? Read all about this success story.

Additionally, when translators are financially connected to the book’s success, they will engage in its promotion and share it within their networks, leading to potentially higher sales and visibility. Translators who care about the book’s performance become valuable advocates, which is especially important in niche or language-specific markets.

4. Professional standard:

In the literary world, in addition to a fair fee, it is a common professional standard to compensate translators with royalties.

Paying royalties to literary translators has become a recognised professional standard because it reflects their significant contribution to a book’s success. A literary translator’s work goes beyond mere translation or direct conversion from one language to another; they interpret an author’s voice, narrative style, and cultural nuances, making the book accessible, relatable, and enjoyable to a new audience. This depth of creative involvement warrants recognition, especially since a successful translation can expand a book’s readership and revenue in global markets.

Moreover, royalties incentivise high-quality translations, as translators become invested in the book’s ongoing success. Paying royalties acknowledges that the translator’s contribution is an integral, lasting part of the book’s value, promoting fair compensation and fostering a mutually beneficial relationship between authors, publishers, and translators.

5. Ongoing income:

Like many authors, literary translators often work freelance and may not have a stable income. Royalties provide a form of ongoing income that can support translators in the long term, especially if the book becomes a bestseller or when their translation is used for derivative works (such as audiobooks), thus multiplying their source of income.

6. Legal and ethical considerations:

A literary translator’s work is intellectual property because the translation is not just a direct transfer of words but a creative re-expression of the original work. A skilled literary translator brings personal expertise, cultural insight, and stylistic choices to ensure that the tone, nuances, and voice of the original text resonate with readers in the new language. In many jurisdictions, this creative contribution is considered co-authorship, granting the translator intellectual property rights.

In many countries, copyright law and publishing contracts guarantee translators’ rights to royalties due to this co-authorship status. Ethically, acknowledging the translator’s role through royalties is a way of respecting their intellectual property and contribution.

7. Shared success:

When a book is successful, it is often a collaborative effort. Just as authors and publishers benefit from this success, so should translators, as their work is integral to reaching and resonating with a new audience.

When a book gains popularity or achieves bestseller status abroad, the translator’s role is key to that international success. This ongoing financial recognition through royalties highlights the shared achievement between the author and translator in expanding the book’s global reach.

Final Thoughts

Paying royalties to literary translators is both ethical and essential. Doing so shows recognition for the creative process of bringing a story (along with all its complexities, emotions, and nuances) to a new audience. This endeavour requires considerable skill, intuition, and dedication, effectively making the translator a co-creator of the book. Royalties honour this co-authorship by ensuring that translators are compensated fairly as the book continues to succeed, recognising their ongoing contribution to its appeal and readership.

In addition, royalties for translators incentivise high-quality work by valuing the skill and artistry they bring to the project, which ultimately enhances the book’s reach and success in new regions. Fair royalties help create a more inclusive, respectful industry that acknowledges every creative effort behind the scenes, fostering partnerships that contribute meaningfully to literary culture on a global scale.

Lastly, in order to avoid any legal issues that might result from following misleading advice or taking shortcuts, authors who want to protect their author brand and have found the right literary translator for their projects will strike a fair deal for the translator’s contribution.

At the end of the day, respecting translators’ education, experience, and knowledge, as well as acknowledging their profession, is not only ethical but also a solid investment for self-published authors aiming to conquer new markets.

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Carolina García Stroschein

English > Spanish Literary Translator

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Pros and Cons of Working with Beta Readers for Translated Books

Pros and Cons of Working with Beta Readers for Translated Books

Working with beta readers for translated books has the potential to help self-published authors assess the quality of a translation into a language they don’t speak. Previously, we have offered different solutions to ease authors’ minds, too, like these expert tips to find the right literary translator.

However, not all literary translators might have a huge portfolio or online presence. And this does not mean they are not a good fit for you or your projects. It is true, though, that when this happens, it becomes harder for indie authors to assess quality.

Luckily, though, this is where your beta readers come in! You can find them on the subreddit r/BetaReaders on Reddit or on Beta Reader Group on Goodreads, for example. If you are an established author with a good online presence and a good number of newsletter subscribers and are translating your title to a widely spoken language (which would make sense), chances are you already have a few native speakers among your audience.

This is great, right? Well, yes… but also, no. The truth of the matter is working with beta readers is actually not that straight-forward. Are beta readers really an author’s ace up the sleeve when it comes to reading and judging a translation, or are they a double-edged sword? Are they really to be blindly trusted, or should authors proceed with caution?

In this article, we set up to analyse all the pros and cons self-published authors have when it comes to working with native speakers and relying on their (un)biased opinion about a translated book. The truth of the matter is that working with beta readers to assess the quality of translated books offers both advantages and potential challenges for indie authors.

Pros

Cultural Feedback

Beta readers can provide valuable insights into whether the translation captures cultural nuances, idioms, and local expressions accurately, ensuring the story resonates with the target audience.

They can assess whether the way certain aspects of the setting, historical references, or local customs are presented makes sense in the context of the target culture. If any details are misunderstood or irrelevant in the new cultural context, beta readers will flag them for the translator to work further on.

Language Fluency Check

Beta readers who are native speakers can identify awkward phrases, unclear language, or grammatical mistakes that may have slipped through the translation process. Additionally, they can identify if certain idiomatic expressions, slang, or colloquialisms in the translation feel unnatural or out of place. For instance, they can point out if a phrase used in the translation might be inappropriate or confusing for native speakers of the target language, thus helping the translator make a more appropriate choice.

Beta readers also tend to examine if the characters’ behaviour, dialogue, and interactions feel culturally authentic to ensure the book and its plot remain consistent.

Reader Engagement

They help gauge how well the translated book connects with the intended audience. If something feels off or doesn’t engage, beta readers can point it out early on. By focusing on clarity, flow, emotional impact, character connection, engagement with the storyline, readability, and overall engagement, they provide vital feedback on the effect the translated book has on a foreign audience while helping authors understand how the translation resonates with the intended audience.

Cost-effective Feedback

Beta readers often provide feedback voluntarily or for a low fee, making it a budget-friendly way to test the quality of the translation before going to market.

Early Buzz

Having beta readers involved can generate early buzz for your translated book, as they typically share their excitement or insights on their social media (with other native speakers sharing their interests) and by spreading the word about your work. Additionally, they can review your work on release day, provide praise blurbs for authors to use on covers or for marketing purposes, and share teasers on social media.

Cons

Inconsistent Feedback

Beta readers don’t usually have a professional background in translation or editing, leading to subjective or inconsistent feedback that could be based on personal preference rather than technical accuracy. As translators and editors, we have often received feedback about some readers preferring a specific translation for certain words in a novel because “it was more natural”. Authors should always pay attention to the subjectivity of beta readers’ feedback and discuss that feedback with their translators.

Limited Expertise

Beta readers may miss deeper linguistic or cultural issues that a professional editor or translator would catch, especially in complex literary translations. Sometimes, they tend to expect word-by-word translators, believing this is as loyal as a translation can get to the source text, unaware of all the literary devices translators resort to both to keep the text fluent and to make its narration natural and engaging for the foreign audience.

Time-consuming

Coordinating with multiple beta readers and going through rounds of feedback can delay the publishing timeline, especially if feedback conflicts or requires extensive revisions. A good way to avoid delays in the project while assessing a translator’s quality is to assess only a few chapters or a novella/reader magnet, which tends to be a shorter project.

Potential Language Barriers

If the author doesn’t speak the language of the translated version, it may be difficult to fully understand and act upon beta reader feedback without further input from a translator or editor. It is always advised to discuss all feedback provided by beta readers with translators in order to assess their skills and knowledge.

Marketing Services

Though not always the case, some beta readers will take the opportunity to bring the translation down only to offer their own linguistic services. Funnily enough, this actually happened to Carolina once, with a beta reader providing feedback with tons of grammar mistakes in the source language and providing feedback lacking any grammatical or editorial grounds.

What Should You Do Then?

Even though working with foreign beta readers can prove tricky sometimes, it is our firm opinion it is an enriching experience for all parties involved; one as translators, we welcome it warmly!

What we suggest authors do when working with beta readers is to establish a series of guidelines or questions on what exactly they are looking for. The best to do would be to provide beta readers with a short survey to assess the quality of the translation based on:

Narration

Grammar

Typos

Engagement

Authors should ask beta readers the right questions in order to help beta readers help them. Some good question examples are:

Did the story captivate you?
Did you find any issues in the translation? Were there any specific parts that were difficult to understand or confusing?
Did the translator struggle with something?
Who was your favourite character, and why?
What was your favourite part and why?
Did anything pull you out of the story?
Did you find any typos?
Is there anything specific you’d recommend being improved?
What general rating would you give the translation?

It is also a good idea to let them express their general feelings and emotions about the translated material.

You should always forward all the feedback provided by beta readers to your translator. They will certainly find numerous insightful comments and provide proper explanations for the issues wrongly pointed out, or humbly accept and correct any mistakes or typos they might have missed.

Final Thoughts

Beta readers can be a useful resource not only in assessing the quality of a translated book and a translator’s skills, but also in fine-tuning the final edition and helping you spread the word about your work among their contacts. Offering fresh perspectives and audience-driven feedback, they can contribute greatly to an author’s success in a foreign market — after all, it all begins with the right linguistic team. However, it’s important to balance beta readers’ input and trust your professional team of translator and editor in order to ensure the highest quality for international readers.

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Carolina García Stroschein

English > Spanish Literary Translator

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AI for Book Translations & What Nobody is Really Talking about

Leave a Comment / Translation Tips for Self-published Authors, Translation World / SBT / 14/10/2024

AI for Book Translations & What Nobody is Really Talking about

Undoubtedly, 2024 has seen an unprecedented rise in the use of AI for multiple purposes: writing, designing, translation, video creation… you name it.

Like everything, when used correctly, AI can help improve our lives and save tons of time on tasks that used to take us longer, such as the automatization of repetitive tasks. It also has increased notoriety for its lack of creativity and understanding of complex human emotions and nuances of language – strawberries, anyone?

So, is AI the best choice for authors when it comes to book translations? Or does its use risk an author’s brand and reputation in multiple markets?

A few days ago, we came across a post in one of our favourite Facebook Group for Writers: a romance author asked how legitimate it was to use AI to translate her books into German and hire someone to “vet” the translation for accuracy. The post gained 85 comments from other writers and generated a heated debate, leading the author community to express their thoughts on the matter. Some were in favour, and some stood strongly against this practice:

Today we won’t address thoroughly the argument that translation is, in fact, an act of creation, and hence no creative should endorse this practice. However, we would like to focus on some misinformation that is out there about AI:

Perks of AI Book Translations:

No copyrights for the translator
It is a well-known fact that under international laws, especially in Europe, the rightful owners of a translated book are, in fact, the translators. For some reason, indie authors tend to be wary of this, missing the point that a translator wishes the translation to succeed as much as the author paying for their services.

Translating into multiple languages
Translation is just the first step into a market. However, in order to succeed, authors need to ensure reviews, ads, engagement with all foreign audiences, etc are appropriately set up for the market. This is a huge time investment that, if done incorrectly, will only result in your translations failing to achieve their full potential.

Fast release
Authors can release books as fast as they can produce the translation and the book cover, and maybe hire someone to make sure the AI translation “reads smoothly”. However, readers can become wary of books that are released too quickly, especially if they have poor quality writing or plot issues, and end up favouring authors who invest more time and money in creating quality titles.

No investment
There are no upfront costs, except, of course, for the poor linguist (sometimes called editor and sometimes called proofreader) whose job is to ensure the translation is relatively okay for the market. In many instances, authors simply resort to “a native speaker”, which further compounds the issues introduced by the AI, as these amateur linguists lack the skills and experience of a professional.

What Authors Fail to See:

♦ Professional linguists will not accept editing an AI translation for the simple fact that it would practically take as much time to edit as it would translate it. It is well-known that AI tends to translate text literally, focusing on individual words or phrases rather than the overall meaning or emotion behind a sentence, resulting in technically correct translations that are often awkward, clunky, or lacking in fluidity from a literary perspective.

♦ Heavily edited translations are subject to copyright claims by the editor/translator. If a professional linguist does, in fact, take the edition or proofreading project, they would then become creators of the translation, and therefore have a claim to its copyright. This claim is based on the degree of rewriting needed for the AI-generated translation for the sake of accuracy, fluidity and emotional impact (a.k.a., for the success of the book in the foreign market). Moreover, there are very real issues with transparency regarding the most popular large language models and the data they are trained on – the AI-generated material may actually infringe on another author’s copyright, due to the way in which the model generates responses.

♦ Foreign audiences might notice authors releasing poor-quality books and feel scammed or tricked into buying a lower-quality product. This could seriously backfire against authors’ brands and reputations – nobody likes to feel like an afterthought. Your new audience deserves the same respect you show to your existing fans.

♦ While Amazon allows AI-generated content, it’s recommended to disclose the use of AI, especially if it created the majority of the book or significant parts of it. Readers may want transparency about how the content was created, and this disclosure can help manage expectations. Bear in mind that some readers may take an ethical stance on the use of AI in the content they consume.

♦ The use of AI is brand new, and the rules and laws around it are still unclear. If some country rules in favour of copyrighted AI content, then authors might be seriously affected and end up facing multiple legal headaches that could have easily been avoided by teaming up with a professional literary translator and respecting their rights.

Understandably…

Self-published authors tend to be protective of their work and business (which they built on their own from scratch). It might shock some to learn that, under international laws, translators own the copyrights to the translations and grant exploitation rights to authors.

Consequently any literary translator wants the translation to sell and succeed as much as authors do. In this partnership, a translator’s success is an author’s success and vice versa!

The aim for both parties should be the author’s brand, the translator’s brand, and audience growth.

Consequently, any literary translator wants the translation to sell and succeed as much as authors do. In this partnership, a translator’s success is an author’s success and vice versa!

The aim for both parties should be the author’s brand, the translator’s brand, and audience growth.

Please remember that hiring the right professional literary translator can be a game changer!

Hiring a professional literary translator offers numerous benefits, especially for authors looking to expand their reach into foreign markets while maintaining the quality and integrity of their work (the kind of authors we love to work with!). Here are some key advantages:

Accuracy and Faithfulness to the Original Text

Professional literary translators are skilled in ensuring the translation is accurate and stays true to the source text. They preserve the author’s voice, tone, style, and nuances, crucial in literary works where subtle meaning and wordplay are often present.

Cultural Sensitivity and Localisation

A professional literary translator understands the target culture and adapts the text accordingly, ensuring that idioms, references, and expressions relate to the new audience. This cultural sensitivity helps the book resonate with readers from different linguistic backgrounds.

Literary Quality

Literary translators know how to preserve the literary style, rhythm, and flow of the original work. Whether it’s a poetic passage, dialogue, or descriptive scene, they ensure the translation reads smoothly and maintains the artistic qualities of the original text.

Consistency across Translations

For series or complex works, consistency is key. A professional translator ensures that terminology, character voices, and narrative style remain consistent across multiple books, editions, or chapters, creating a seamless reading experience for the audience.

Professional Editing and Quality Control

Professional translators often collaborate with editors and proofreaders to refine their work. This additional layer of review ensures that the final translation is polished and error-free, enhancing the overall quality of the published text.

Broadening Audience Reach

With a professionally translated book, authors can access international markets and reach a broader audience. A quality translation helps build credibility with foreign readers, increasing the chances of gaining new fans and expanding an author’s readership globally.

Boosting Credibility and Sales

Books with high-quality translations are more likely to receive positive reviews, word-of-mouth recommendations, and boost sales. Poor translations, on the other hand, can lead to negative feedback and harm an author’s reputation.

Knowledge of the Publishing Process

Professional literary translators are often familiar with the self-publishing or traditional publishing process, which can be beneficial for authors. They may offer advice on navigating international markets, provide marketing tips that work on the foreign market, suggest the right keywords that resonate with the audience, or help handle legal aspects like copyright and contracts.

Language Expertise

Literary translators are experts in both the source and target languages, with a deep understanding of grammar, syntax, and idiomatic expressions. This expertise allows them to craft translations that sound natural and engaging to readers in the target language.

Collaborative Creative Partner

Professional translators often work closely with authors to ensure the translation aligns with their vision. This collaboration ensures that the final product is as close as possible to the author’s intent, even when adapting the text to a different language.

Final Thoughts

AI is still under development and constantly changing. It might even sound like an attractive option for authors to resort to in order to enter new markets and diversify their sources of income — regardless of the quality AI can achieve when it comes to literary texts.

Authors should be aware that this might result in foreign markets getting crowded with translations that lack the emotional depth needed to connect with audiences. This influx of potentially unsaleable titles might spam vendors, who might choose to take extra measures to ensure the quality of the products sold on their platforms. At the end of the day, a platform like Amazon will not risk losing clients over an invasion of poor-quality books. And, while Amazon does currently allow the publication of AI-generated works, authors should be mindful of quality, originality, and potential legal concerns (including plagiarism, as AI technologies “feed on” existing texts and books).

Furthermore, if the rules should change, if, all of a sudden, AI-generated material were under copyright of the model owner, or if audiences reacted badly to the translated books created with the use of AI, an author’s brand could end up suffering serious consequences — including but not limited to online shaming by entire international communities.

Teaming up with a translator and an editor, on the other hand, still continues to be the safest course of action. At the end of the day, once the clauses are clear and all the parties involved agree on terms, fees, royalties, delivery dates, etc., all there is to do is work towards creating a professional product audiences will love and want to buy.

Hiring a professional literary translator ensures that books maintain their quality and emotional impact while reaching a broader audience. It also enhances marketability, builds credibility, and preserves the artistic integrity of the original work across different languages. And it is this, and not a low-quality, fast-release approach, that will, ultimately, help authors conquer foreign audiences in the long term.

This post may contain affiliate links

Carolina García Stroschein

English > Spanish Literary Translator

Contact me

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7 Tips to Find the Right Literary Translator for Your Self-published Books

Leave a Comment / Translation Tips for Self-published Authors, Translation World / SBT / 23/09/2024

7 Tips to Find the Right Literary Translator for Your Self-published Books

Now that we have shared what a literary translator is, what background, training, and skills they possess and why they charge seemingly high fees, if you are still with us, it is time to take the next step in your journey to a new market: finding the right literary translator.

No matter what language you are considering translating your titles into, there are some things you simply need to get right from the beginning. Whether or not you hire the right professionals (at least one translator and one editor) to develop your products for a foreign market will end up playing a major role in your success. Finding the right literary translator will not only save you tons of headaches, but it is crucial for ensuring that the essence and quality of your books are preserved in the target language.

Luckily, to help you avoid disaster, here are some tips that will set you on the right path and help you determine if you’ve found the right linguists.

Tip#1: Review Their Qualifications and Experience

There are a few things to bear in mind when it comes to assessing a linguist’s qualifications and experience. Strange as it may sound, not all great literary translators have a translation degree and not all literary translators with a university degree make great professionals, and indie authors must dig deeper than simply examining the linguist’s credentials.

Fortunately, living in a globalised world where almost everyone has easy access to the Internet makes matters easier for authors. A good starting point is checking if the translator has formal education or training in translation, literature, or languages. Next comes the experience.

Yes, easier said than done. But don’t panic! We are here to walk you through the process and even provide examples.

Thanks to platforms like LinkedIn, Amazon Author Central, Goodreads, Translators Professional Associations, such as CEATL or The American Literary Translator’s Association (to name a few), and Translator’s Communities such as Proz.com or Translator’s café, translation experience can be easily verified. Try to check your translator’s profile on some of the most relevant platforms, paying especially close attention to reviews of their work from paying customers, volunteer projects they were involved in and readers.

On professional platforms like LinkedIn, customers can write recommendations for the freelancers they hire. To access these recommendations, click on the translator’s profile, scroll down and find out what other authors’ experience was working with this linguist. Here is an example of my profile (Psst! Feel free to connect with me):

Unfortunately, when it comes to literary translators and self-published authors, not many authors are on LinkedIn, so in reality these sorts of recommendations, though not impossible to find, are not that common either. Nevertheless, it is worth checking.

Other platforms such as Goodreads and Amazon allow authors to have their own profile, bio, website, blog, etc. Make sure to check your translator’s portfolio (if available on a website), their translated titles, and, above all, reader’s reviews (remember these are your potential customers, so you want to make sure they trust your translator).

As a translator, I rely a lot on Amazon.com for reviews of my own work. Like many authors out there, when a book I translated is launching, I anxiously keep track of reviews for the first couple of weeks (sometimes even months) to make sure readers are connecting with the story and are having the same feelings the readers got reading the original manuscript (or the source text), and that there are no big issues, such as typos or inconsistencies in the story. I do this even though I have an amazing translation editor who works alongside me on every project and has a keen eye for details (and you can connect with her, too).

Ultimately, my Amazon translator profile allows readers who love the books and genres I translate to follow me and get notifications whenever a new book launches. For example, as of September 13^th, 2024, I have 427 followers.

For an author, this is especially important if you have translated books for several markets; readers from one market may be put off by notifications about releases they cannot read. This may mean they are not following you, but if they follow your translator, they will be notified of the book launches they are most likely to buy.

While you check up on a translator’s experience, you should also consider their specialisation. Make sure to hire a linguist who specialises in your book’s genre, subgenre, and even your niche if possible. As a writer, you know that each genre comes with an audience of fans. Each audience has specific expectations of the books they love, and even in the same genre, books can be widely different, which is why niches are so important.

An experienced translator in your genre, subgenre and niche knows your target foreign audience as well as you know your home audience. As such, they know what words, expressions, tone, and literary devices to use in order to deliver the product your audience wants.

Tip#2: Examining Their Portfolio

Did you find someone promising? Do their credentials check out? It is time to look into their portfolio!

What previous works have they done? If you request a sample of their work and the translator cannot provide it, bear in mind that they might be complying with NDAs and other contracts they might have signed with other authors (which speaks well of their professionalism, but we will get there later on).

Most professional literary translators have a website or a professional platform (like LinkedIn) where they list some (if not all) of the projects they worked with and relevant links to online vendors or review platforms. You can check out our Portfolio page for an example.

Published translations can be a good indicator of a literary translator’s credibility and skill. Check their work with different vendors, research reviews in the target language and find out what the target audience thinks of the translated titles they have released so far.

Tip to assess translation quality: If readers are talking about the plot, the characters, the settings, the unexpected turns, the swoon-worthy hero, the tension-packed scenes, etc., chances are you found a great translator!

Readers will only mention translations if:

They are bad, poorly edited, full of typos, hard to follow, too literal or foreign-feeling to them.
They are translated to a language variant they don’t prefer (think American English vs British English; Latin-American Spanish vs Castilian Spanish). This doesn’t necessarily mean there is something wrong with the linguist or the translation, but rather that the reader prefers a different language variant. If reviews are generally good, I would keep this linguist in mind.

Tip#3: Asking for References

Some literary translators will have a Recommendation section on their LinkedIn profile or maybe a Testimonial on their website, such as this one in our Home page:

Ask your linguist for references and contact previous clients to get an idea of their working style and reliability, availability to meet deadlines, and professionalism.

Tip#4: Assessing Their Language Skills

Even though it sounds hard for an author to assess the source and target language proficiency of a translator without speaking a foreign language, you should at least make sure that:

Your translator is a native speaker of the target language.
Your translator has a high proficiency in the source language (this should be evident in the way you communicate with each other via email, chat or videocall). If your translator is not good at communicating in your mother tongue (source language), do not waste your time.
Your translator should have a deep cultural understanding of both cultures to translate idioms, humour and cultural references effectively. Additionally, your translator should understand what to translate and what not to translate.
A good example of this is my decision not to translate the word “Highlander” in the series by international best-seller author Mariah Stone “Al tiempo del highlander”. Several aspects led me to this decision (keywords and marketing reasons, for instance), but the biggest factor was my knowledge of the target audience and the fact that I didn’t want to underestimate the Spanish readers who pick up a historical romance book set in the Scottish Highlands and understand perfectly well the kind of romantic hero they are getting/craving.
After all, a Highlander is a native of the Scottish Highlands, though, in this particular context, they are a very special kind of hero or heroine—they are steadfast warriors devoted to their family. They are fair, loyal, and honourable, and they fight for a cause they believe in deeply, for their country, for independence, for love, and for their family. They are brave and stubborn.
Translating this instead as “montañés” or “montañesa” (“mountain man” or “mountain woman”) or “guerrero/a” (“warrior”), which are some typical translations for this word in Spanish, would have deprived the text, and the whole plot actually, of key meaning. It would have let down audiences – and worse, it would have talked down to them. On the other hand, translating it descriptively, “habitante de las Tierras Altas de Escocia” (inhabitant of the Scottish Highlands, or “Highlander”) would have sounded foreign, overly long and strange, and it would have kept interrupting readers’ engagement with the story, especially because of its length.

Tip#5: Testing Their Work

Let’s be honest. Starting any new relationship can be hard, and trusting a complete stranger can be difficult, too. And a professional relationship is no exception to this.

Luckily, if all the previous steps led you here, there is something else you can do before signing any contracts and spending any money on having your books translated into a foreign market.

Request a sample translation of a chapter (if short) or a few pages of your book. If you know someone bilingual, ask them to compare it to the original to see how well they capture the language nuances. If you know someone who is a native speaker of that foreign language, ask them to read the sample text and ask them relevant questions about the story so far and how they are responding to it.

Tip: A free sample translation should be 300–500 words at most. A blurb translation should suffice to assess a translator’s skill.

Tip: If you don’t consider the blurb a long enough sample, you can always consider paying for a sample translation of a longer portion of the text to assess your linguist’s skills. Do not expect a professional linguist to translate a few chapters for free (and be cautious if they agree to do it).

Tip#6: Communicating and Collaborating

Good literary translators communicate effectively and respond quickly to your questions and concerns. Additionally, experienced literary translators can provide authors with information, tips, or other services they might not have considered yet (defining SEO-keywords in the target market, assisting with marketing campaigns, or setting up a special Newsletter for the foreign audience, for instance).

Professional literary translators should be willing to collaborate and consult with you to understand your vision and expectations, and to clarify ambiguities related to the text. For instance, if you write in a series and there are some unresolved issues, cliffhangers, or plot twists that need further clarification in order for your translator to make the best translation decision for the next instalments in the series to make sense. After all, when it comes down to it, translating is a decision-making process.

Tip#7: Showing Professionalism

A literary translator’s professionalism can be measured in a variety of ways. Without any doubt, first impressions and the way they communicate with you as an author are the best way to assess their professional behaviour, but it doesn’t end there:

Deadlines: When you ask for references, you can ask other authors the linguist worked for how good they were at meeting deadlines
Contracts: As established by Article 2 of the Berne Convention, your literary translator is the copyright holder of your translation as they are the author behind the translation. As such, both parties have the responsibility to draw up a fair contract and provide clear terms regarding:

Payment.
Timelines.
Rights, exploitation rights, and any limitations on their use.
Royalty share: In addition to a flat fee, literary translators are entitled to a royalty share to be agreed upon between both parties.

Final Thoughts:

If you are still here, you might have learnt that finding a professional translator who possesses both the necessary qualifications and skills to translate your books for a foreign market is no easy task. In fact, the more research authors do when hiring a literary translator, the better chances they have to find the one they should be working with.

Literary translation is not only a matter of skill and experience, but similarly to the writing business, it is a matter of niche and specialisation. It is a matter of developing storytelling techniques to conquer foreign audiences, meet their genre-specific expectations and deliver the book your foreign readers want to read.

The process might be long and excruciating. It will definitely require a lot of patience and devotion from your side, but once you find the right literary translator for your catalogue, you will want to hold on to them: this can, in fact, be the start of a very fruitful professional relationship.

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Carolina García Stroschein

English > Spanish Literary Translator

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7 Tips to Find the Right Literary Translator for Your Self-published Books Read More »

How to Promote a Translated Title and Conquer a Foreign Market

Leave a Comment / Marketing Tips for Translated Books, Translation World / SBT / 09/09/2024

How to Promote a Translated Title and Conquer a Foreign Market

A comprehensive guide covering everything —
from pre-launch to launch week and post-launch strategies to promote your translated title!

Promoting a translated title in a foreign market involves a multifaceted approach to reach the target audience effectively. As overwhelming as this might sound, you should not lose focus on one important detail: if you succeeded in your home market and are ready to move on to foreign ones, you have all the skills required to succeed again!

Today, we are going to analyse a lot of different ways to help you successfully promote your translated books. You don’t have to do them all at once. In fact, planning ahead is key. You want to get the word out about your translations as soon as you decide to take the first steps and build buzz all the way to launch week, where you will focus on other ways of promotion. And after that? There is always something you can do to keep promoting your books. So, let’s start, shall we?

NB: Even though this article is mainly focused on Spanish audiences, you will find most of the advice here relevant for other markets, so whereas you have translated titles to German, Italian, French or any other language, you’re going to find it useful!

Pre-Launch Phase:

This is the phase that starts right after you find the perfect translator that aligns with your genre and requirements. You have crossed the Ts and dotted the Is, the contract has been signed, and the manuscript has been sent for translation.

Now is the time to sit back and relax for a few weeks or months until your translation is ready to be released, right? Well, actually, no. This is the time to focus on one thing: generate buzz about your coming book among foreign readers and start building your audience.

“But how can I do this when I don’t even speak that language?” you might be wondering… Well, it is actually not that hard. In fact, all you need is a little help from an expert. And guess what? You just hired a translator! So, who better to do this for you? (Remember to stipulate marketing materials in your translation contract or to ask your translator to keep count of all additional material and add it to your invoice.)

Here is a list of things you can do in the following weeks to start building momentum:

Get your website translated from the get-go (this is where your foreign audience will find official information about you and your future releases). You do not have to spend a fortune here, and you definitely don’t need to translate every single blog article you might have posted for your home audience. Please, keep it simple, but let your new audience know who you are and what you are up to. Make sure to mention any other translations you may have on the works (are you planning an entire series? Let your readers know right away!)
Set up a Newsletter for your foreign audience. This will be key to gathering all those precious email addresses from potential buyers.
Announce your new venture into the foreign market. Send out a Newsletter to your current audience in search of those loyal fans who are also speakers of the language you are translating into. Get them on board ASAP; they will be your sidekicks! Ask them to join your foreign Newsletter so you only send your news to those who want to receive it, and don’t risk overwhelming your existing audience.
Remember the Newsletter announcing your exciting news? Ask all your readers to help you by leaving a comment on your best-performing social media platform to generate engagement and reach more people! (They are your fans and will be thrilled to contribute to your success, even if they won’t buy your foreign books.)
When you have your professionally designed book cover for the translated title… Share a cover reveal on social media and in the Newsletter! What’s more, ask your readers their opinions. Or get them to vote between two different cover options! Or even ask them to sign up as your first reviewers!
Now that your audience is visually hooked, it is time to captivate their hearts with your words (or, in this case, your translator’s). Share your blurb and let them know what to expect from your first release!
When the translation is well underway, ask your translator to send you a few chapters carefully edited (if possible, by the book editor as well) and share a first chapter in your Newsletter!
Share some catchy taglines and calls to action on social media. Work with your translator and designer. This is not the time to scare your readers away with poorly edited content.
Invite your fans to join your launch team.
Set up your translated novel on pre-sale(*) and make sure your fans add it to their “Want to Read” lists on Goodreads and StoryGraph. (Remember, these are readers who have friends who share reading interests and probably enjoy books in your genre, so this is as close to “word of mouth” as you can get before even releasing your title.)
(*) Make sure you choose a release date that far exceeds your translator’s deadline (especially if this is your first international release). Life happens, deadlines are missed, you are still getting to know one another professionally, and you do not want to put out readers and Amazon by not having your title available on the promised date.
Have a reader magnet ready. This can be a prequel, a novella, a few sample chapters of your next release or a lot of other creative ideas. Check out this website for more lead magnet ideas.
Get your ARCs ready for your launch team.
Start planning your promotions for launch week. Plan ahead. If using promo sites (**), book your dates. Choose where you will advertise and design your ad campaigns with plenty of time (again, ask your translator and designer to help you with this).
Contact bloggers regarding blog tours and review opportunities (you might need your translator’s assistance to get the message right).

(**)Some paid promotion sites for Spanish titles include:

Ebrolis: According to some, this website is “the Spanish Bookbub”, and their website is translated into English.

Qué libro leo: Even though they don’t offer much information upfront, this popular website among Spanish-speaking readers offers promotional opportunities for authors.

Lecturalia: On their website (only available in Spanish), they mention that you can email them regarding promotion opportunities (get your translator to help!)

Many Books: You’ve probably heard of this one, or maybe even used it to promote titles in your home market. But did you know they also promote Spanish titles?

Launch Week:

This is probably the most anxious time you’ll have when it comes to this venture of entering a whole new market. Hard as it might be, try to avoid just refreshing your sales board and focus on other more important and productive endeavours:

Now that your book is live, reach out to your ARC readers and ask them to post their reviews on online retailers, social media and Goodreads or StoryGraph.
Participate in interviews and features with bloggers, vloggers and influencers.
Take the time to thank bloggers, vloggers and influencers in a comment on their posts or social media related to your launch. Share their stories and their content!
Set up a giveaway! Who doesn’t love a giveaway? Extra Tip: If you are translating into Spanish and wish to reach a broader audience, make sure to contact lecturalia.com/contacto regarding giveaways and promotional opportunities!
Create targeted social media campaigns on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and TikTok.
Create Amazon ads/ads for your foreign title.
Send out a Newsletter to your foreign audience announcing your new release!
Consider Promotions and Discounts: Run promotions, discounts, and limited-time offers to attract new readers.

Post-Launch Marketing Strategies:

Now that your book is out there, we can focus on other strategies that will help you get the word out and get new subscribers into your mailing list:

Encourage readers to leave reviews on local review sites and platforms like Amazon, Goodreads, and local equivalents.
Translate more books: If you have been at the writing game for a while now, you know that a writer’s long-term career is built on sell-through, or in other words, on readers loving your books and coming back for more (either your backlist or your next series). Releasing constant new books on a foreign market will keep your audiences hooked and help you develop your author brand overseas.
Promote in your books: Once your audience has finished reading your book, there are some key pages you don’t want to leave out:

Call to action: Direct your new readers to your NL or website.
Call to review: Ask them to leave an honest review of your book.
Reader magnet page: Collect other materials you've written and share them, or maybe add some teasers for your upcoming releases!
Thank you: Let them know how much you appreciate them for choosing your book
Teaser: Do you have more translations in the process? Make sure to let your new audience know! Include the cover and blurb of your next release, as well as a link to a pre-order. If available, add a few sample chapters of your next book.

Research local success stories: Look at local authors and how they have successfully marketed their books, and learn from their approaches.
Promote on Goodreads and on StoryGraph. Read this interesting article on all the resources Goodreads offers in the most subtle ways.
Promote on Babelio.

Final Thoughts:

By now, we have covered quite a lot of marketing ideas to get you started on the right foot in a foreign market. By employing these strategies, you can effectively promote your translated book in a foreign market, ensuring it reaches and resonates with your target audience.

However, you should always remember no venture is without risk, and there is no amount of marketing or the right formula that can 100% guarantee the success or failure of a book.

What is for sure, though? Without marketing, your translated book is set up to get lost in the sea of releases that hit the shelves every day, every hour, every minute, and you have little to no chance of a successful launch.

Bonus: Where to Find Foreign Book Buyers?

Did you know that Spanish book readers do not always rely on the vendors that are popular in your home market, such as Amazon and Apple Books?

For Spanish readers looking to purchase books, several retailers offer extensive selections of books in Spanish, ranging from physical stores to online platforms. Here are some of the best book retailers catering to Spanish readers; make sure your books are available to purchase on:

Online Retailers

Amazon:
Amazon.com (for USA Hispanic readers), Amazon.mx (for Latin-American readers) and Amazon.es (for European Spanish readers)
- - Offers a vast selection of Spanish books, including bestsellers, classics, and new releases. Amazon’s Kindle store also has numerous Spanish e-books.
Casa del Libro:
- - One of the largest online bookshops in Spain, offering a wide range of books in Spanish across various genres. They ship internationally.
Librería Gandhi:
- - A popular bookshop in Mexico with an extensive online catalogue of books in Spanish. They provide shipping options to many countries.

Fnac:
- - A well-known European retailer with a strong presence in Spain and France. They offer a wide selection of books in Spanish, both online and in physical stores.
Barnes & Noble:
- - While primarily an English-language retailer, Barnes & Noble has a good selection of Spanish books, especially for learners and bilingual editions.
Librería Porrúa:
- - A historic Mexican bookshop chain that offers a wide selection of Spanish books online.
La Casa Azul Bookstore:
- An independent bookshop based in New York that specialises in books by and about Latinos, offering a good selection of Spanish books.

Digital Platforms

Google Play Books:
- - Offers a wide range of e-books in Spanish, including bestsellers and classics.
Kobo:
- - Another excellent source for Spanish e-books, with an extensive catalogue available for various e-readers.
Storytel:
- An audiobook and e-book subscription service with a significant collection of Spanish titles.

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Carolina García Stroschein

English > Spanish Literary Translator

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How to Promote a Translated Title and Conquer a Foreign Market Read More »

Know Thy Author: A Translator’s Guide to Working with Self-published Authors

Leave a Comment / Tips for Translators / SBT / 02/09/2024

Know Thy Author: A Translator's Guide to Working with Self-published Authors

It seems quite obvious that taking the time to know your translator or to know your author is a must. Over the years, I have been working as a freelance literary translator and have figured out what kind of professional I want to be. And, like lots of things in life, I have learnt most of it by making mistakes I never ever want to repeat.

Thankfully, those mistakes gave me the chance to try different approaches in my career and to question contracts, emails, and even sentences that, either spoken or written, could lead to a future misunderstanding.

In the beginning, I was eager to translate books for as many customers as I could to build a name for myself. But now, I am eager to translate books while working with the right authors for me.

When it comes to work, for this literary translator, there are few things as rewarding as bringing quality books to readers and building a professional relationship that will significantly grow an author’s presence in the Spanish market and expand the literary horizons of many readers.

Being a literary translator who works almost exclusively with self-published authors, I find it essential to get to know my authors properly before getting started. Hence, throughout my career, what started out as a short exchange of emails discussing fees and contract terms with new customers has evolved into a kind of video call interview.

Among other things, discussing the projects over a video call allows me to understand: who the author is, how their career has been progressing so far, how much effort and marketing they are willing to put towards exploring a new market, how much risk they are willing to take, how many books they are planning on translating for the foreign market, what research they have done and what their expectations regarding the translated book are.

Truth be told, this approach might not be what most translators do, but the way I see it, this first introduction might be a great way for both parties to know whether we will be a good match or not.

If things go right, this could be the beginning of a long-lasting professional relationship between an author and their translator, so skipping this is a big no-no for me.

If the interview doesn’t go the way I expected? Well, that’s just the way the cookie crumbles! You might think this sounds a bit intense, but understanding my authors’ unique needs and perspectives is vital in creating the best collaboration possible.

So, since today’s article is about my personal experience, I would like to address what usually happens after an author contacts me requesting my fees, accepts them and shows interest in starting to work together.

Know Thy Author

Here are (some of) the questions I tend to ask authors before signing any contracts:

1. Have you ever had any other books translated into any language?

This is something I can research beforehand (and I always do), either on the author’s website, on Amazon or on Goodreads. However, since sometimes authors write under different pen names, it is always a good rule of thumb not to assume anything.

And if the answer to the first question is yes…

2. How was the experience? Did you hire a translator, or did you sell your foreign rights?

This allows me to understand the author’s past experience and their possible causes for concern. Do they already have an audience in my target language, or are we starting from scratch? A few scenarios are plausible, and they are all worth exploring further:

If the rights were sold and handled entirely by a third party, even if the author already has a brand in the target market, they will have to start from zero, building relationships with their audience, creating a newsletter to announce new launches, building social media presence, etc.
If the author worked independently with a bad translator or had a bad experience, we can discuss what could have gone wrong and what we can do together in order to achieve better results.
If the author has already conquered another foreign market and is now looking into exploring the Spanish market, we can discuss deadlines, marketing techniques, reader magnets, etc.

3. If the book you want to translate is part of a series, are you considering translating the other titles in the series?

Book marketing experts agree that there is nothing more effective than writing another book after releasing the first one, in order to promote yourself, build a read-through and market your titles.

So why shouldn’t it be the same when it comes to a foreign audience? Do foreign readers want to start a series only to find out the author is waiting to see how sales are before commissioning more translations? Wouldn’t authors lose all momentum if they released book 1 in a series only to release book 2 a few years later? We’ve all been left at that cliffhanger ending, only to languish, waiting for the sequel that never comes.

Book marketing experts also agree that stand-alone books are far harder to market. However, when it comes to a foreign market, they might be a safer choice if you want to play it by ear – at least you won’t burn your audience if you choose to wait.

4. What’s your ideal deadline for releasing titles in the Spanish market?

Since releasing a translated title in a foreign market takes as much prep and marketing as releasing a new book in your home market, the answer to this question should be clear from the beginning. Is the deadline set in stone? Can I, as a translator, commit to said deadline without compromising quality? Do we need to negotiate the dates?

5. If you’ve worked with other translators in the same series, is there a glossary available?
Also, is it possible to read their translations and contact them if I have questions?

Even though I am not a big fan of picking up from where someone else left off, if I commit to something, I want to get it right. And sometimes that means doing extra work and research. In order to keep a series consistent and an audience hooked, if you change translators at any point in a series, you will want the translator to keep up with what already happened (in some genres, like paranormal and fantasy, this might be more pressing than in others, like romance).

6. Is there any software or format you require?

In my experience, most authors ask me how I prefer to work, and they hire a professional formatter, but it’s better not to assume anything and get even the smallest details straight from the beginning.

Final Thoughts

This approach isn’t for everyone. Expanding into a new market is an investment, and it takes time, resources, and the right team to have any chance of success. Sadly, many authors don’t realise this, and sabotage their own success by cutting corners with amateur linguists, jilting readers with inconsistent narratives, and missing their shot to capitalise on peak reader interest. It’s not really their fault – writing novels is hard, and not everyone has the time to spare, or maybe they simply don’t know the dangers!

That’s why I share my experiences in this blog, to give you the knowledge you need to choose what’s right for you, and maybe, sometimes, that choice is waiting until you can give your all to exploring new markets. I may not be churning through clients with this approach, but the stories I do bring to life for Spanish readers are all the better for it.

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Carolina García Stroschein

English > Spanish Literary Translator

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Know Thy Author: A Translator’s Guide to Working with Self-published Authors Read More »

What’s Behind a Professional Translator’s Fee?

Leave a Comment / Translator's Life / SBT / 14/08/2024

What's Behind a Professional Translator's Fee?

Even though a lot has been said regarding how much a translator should charge per word on a project, the reality is that this is a far more complex matter than it appears on the surface.

So, today’s goal is to dig deeper into this controversial subject in the hopes of shedding some light on the matter.

While researching for this article, I came across a lot of misleading information in different articles and ebooks. And more often than not, those writing about this matter don’t take into account key elements that make up a professional translator’s fee. Instead, they seem eager to reproduce ideas like “how to get the cheapest translation service”, without knowing or addressing the problems and headaches this sort of mindset can end up costing authors.

While some authors choose to follow this path, others, who are more prudent, will continue to read this article and, hopefully, research even further afterwards.

To begin with, pricing a freelance service is a rather intricate matter. When a literary translator gives an author a quote for a project, they are not simply charging for the time it will take them to replicate a certain number of words into their native language.

In fact, there are many factors a freelancer must consider when setting up their fees.

A professional translator’s fee consists of:

Education

In my opinion, one of the most horrifying myths is the belief that any bilingual speaker is qualified to make a living as a translator.

The truth is that a professional translator usually has a degree in Translation or Translation Studies, meaning a person who spent at least three to four years of their life training, learning and studying the complexities of their language pairs (the language they translate from and into.) A professional translator can also have a degree or equivalent knowledge and experience in Languages or Literature – particularly the grammar of both languages!

Additionally, literary translators develop their narration skills in order to tell your story to your foreign audience in an engaging and captivating way. This sometimes means resorting to different literary devices, changing structures and altering word order so that the reading flows in the most natural way and your foreign audience experiences the same feelings your original readers did when reading your book. Regardless of how many changes they make, professional literary translators will be loyal to the author, the tone, the plot, the settings, and the characters.

Specialisation

After getting a degree in Translation Studies, many professionals continue to specialise in a specific area of translation: Medicine, Law, Literature, IT, Finance, Tourism, among others. Just like authors write in niches, translators who specialise become experts in their “niche” specialisation, gaining tools that allow them to perform better jobs and deliver higher-quality translations readers will undoubtedly love.

Experience

As literary translators gain experience in a specific genre or niche, they become masters of their craft. They know which words speak to specific audiences.

In the globalised world we currently live in, there’s no reason why translators should be invisible figures, often left out of the credits or almost ignored. Most self-published authors can find a great ally in their translator by understanding they have followers on social media or on their Amazon Translator or Goodreads translator profiles. These followers, who are readers that love the genres these translators specialise in, tend to trust the quality of their work.

Let me share my literary translator experience using my Amazon Author Central Profile (thanks to being credited as a translator in most of the books I translated). This useful tool not only allows me to add all of my translated books to my portfolio (or Amazon page), but it also allows readers to discover other authors I have worked with by accessing my profile and maybe clue them in to their next big read!

Additionally, Amazon Author Central allows me to keep track of my followers (yay!). These readers, in turn, get a notification every time one of my translations is released to the Spanish market, making it a great sales tool for new and old authors working with me.

To this day, I have 385 followers on Amazon and counting!

Office (Home-office)

People tend to believe freelancers save tons of money by not commuting or eating out because they work from home.

However, working from home has its pros and cons, as well as its own costs. In order for a freelancer to be able to work from home, they’ll need to pay rent or a mortgage, then set up an office, buy the proper equipment, and pay the bills (Internet, heating, electricity, water). Freelancers can’t take advantage of the economy of scale like larger agencies, and these expenses can quickly add up.

Equipment + software

Depending on their specialisation, a translator will need different things. A literary translator requires, at the very least, a laptop, a proper desk, a good internet connection, an ergonomic chair, and some word-processing software. Some might even use extra software for quality checks. Others go on to take new courses to continue to develop and update their skills. All of these things cost time and money.

Taxes

As any freelancer, a literary translator needs to keep a tidy economy. This means paying taxes, social security, holidays, retirement, sick days, etc. This entails a lot of time spent on careful administration – no one wants a surprise visit from the tax department! So, naturally, any person making an income from this profession will need to take these things into account when it comes to quoting a project.

Final Thoughts

No professional translator can do without these key elements that make them a competent professional, who is constantly developing their skills and improving the quality of their work. Each project, course, device, or software acquired adds value to the final quality of their translations.

So, next time you get a suspiciously low quote for a translation project, it might be worth asking yourself if the person who offered you said quote is a fully qualified and equipped linguist trained to deliver a quality translation that speaks to your audience. The alternative is wasting money on a translation readers won’t want to read and risking your chance to make a good first impression with an entirely new foreign audience.

As a matter of fact, professional translators tend to avoid customers looking for cheap quotes: no matter how good a quality product they deliver, they know without a doubt that sooner or later, they will be dumped for a linguist offering lower prices. And no self-respecting literary translator will want their name associated with a low-quality book.

Now you know where your investment is going when you choose to work with a professional translator. Hopefully, you feel confident in choosing the right professional to bring your story to fresh readers and can protect yourself from the pitfalls of working with bargain-basement amateurs.

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Carolina García Stroschein

English > Spanish Literary Translator

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10 Things I Love about My Translations Editor

Leave a Comment / Translation World / SBT / 08/09/2023

10 Things I Love about My Translations Editor

For those of you who have been following our work and this blog for a while now, this article will surely come as no surprise. After all, you’ve already read me preaching about the importance of translation editors on several occasions. Like when I discussed whether you should hire several translators for your series or my life as a literary translator. My favourite, though, is the last article, a success story that would likely not have happened without my amazing editor’s skills.

You might be here because you’re curious about the translation world, or you’re an indie author wondering whether it’s time to navigate a new market. Alternatively, you could be a translator (or a translation student) who’d love to make a living translating books. Regardless of the situation, read on to learn more!

In this article, I’d like to speak from my personal experience working with my peer and colleague Ayelen Lapettina, whom I met at university more than a decade ago and who has been editing my translated books for the last two years.

No doubt, the experience of working together on the translations and editing of a best-selling time-travel author who’s killing it in the Spanish market has been enriching for both of us. But far from talking about that experience, today, I’d like to focus only on her: my quality-seeking translations editor. Her work might go unnoticed to the average reader, but without her fantastic feedback and careful notes my translated books wouldn’t be half as good.

Without further ado, let’s go over the ten things I love most about my translations’ editor, Ayelen:

1. Her communication skills

As with most things, the way Ayelen and I work has changed and evolved naturally over the course of the last two years. The one thing that remained constant? The fact that we’ve always had great communication from the very beginning. Upon receiving a project, she would read the whole translated manuscript and come back with notes and questions for me to answer. Once she gets these answers – they help avoid assumptions and mistranslating – she goes over the translation twice more and continues with her editing process.

2. Her ever-so-curious mind

If you ask me, this is a skill any translation editor should have: the need to question and research even the things you think you know.

3. Her comments always full of information and explanations

Every time I get a manuscript back from my editor, it’s a delight to find out just how detail-oriented and precise she’s been. She doesn’t just point out corrections, but she also makes suggestions on ways to improve the quality of the translated book, and whenever necessary, she adds relevant links in her comments to sources of valuable information.

4. Her way of challenging me to research further, learn more or refresh old lessons

Following point 3, it’s through this meticulous feedback that I find myself learning new things or revisiting old lessons from university. And it’s largely due to this I feel my work as a literary translator has improved significantly.

5. Her language knowledge and available resources

My editor not only possesses great knowledge, which she’s been cultivating since a young age, but she also has a well-equipped library with lots of academic textbooks, and she knows where to go to research different topics.

6. Her sharp eye

In addition to all that, Ayelen is amazing at spotting repetitions (which pose a big problem for Spanish readers), borrowed words or phrases from the original text (something even most trained translators can sometimes struggle with), making the right adjustments to give the translated text a natural flow and (my personal favourite) she’s excellent at spotting inconsistencies either in a book or in a series. Did I mention the importance of working with a translators team in a previous article? Read all about it here!

7. The fact I can fully trust her knowledge and criteria

Since I met my translations editor in college and we spent five years studying together, taking the same classes, sitting for the same exams, and exchanging notes and knowledge, I’ve known for quite some time what kind of person she is. So, qualities such as her curiosity, her thirst for knowledge, and her detail-oriented eye never came as a surprise to me. But it wasn’t until we started working together that I realised just how reliable she is and how lucky I am to be working with such a devoted professional.

8. She’s down-to-earth

Sometimes, it’s very easy for a translator to get lost in the text and to lose sight of certain things. This is when a down-to-earth translations editor comes in handy. Being more detached from the source text allows editors to provide accurate and objective feedback, which Ayelen simply excels at.

9. She loves her profession and is always up to date with the latest debates and happenings in the academic world

Living in different countries, Ayelen and I do regular video calls to catch up, discuss our projects and obstacles we might be dealing with, share things we’d like to achieve in the short and long term, the books we’re currently working on, and life in general. Being well-read, an avid researcher and always on top of the latest news, she rarely fails to mention what’s happening in the academic world, which topics are being discussed, and what her opinion is on the matter. As I usually get caught up in whatever book I’m translating and life itself, I truly love this about her.

10. She’s a huge nerd and loves to learn about whatever topic we’re translating

My translations editor doesn’t just focus on the correct grammar of the translated text and its natural flow for the native Spanish readers, but also on the veracity and consistency of its contents, something even the authors I’m translating for appreciate.

To sum up:

To be honest, and in case you haven’t noticed by now, I could probably go on and on about how amazing my translations editor is. However, I’d like to know what you, as an author or as a translator, love the most about your editors. Is there anything particularly outstanding about the professionals you’re working with? Don’t be shy and praise them in the comments!

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Carolina García Stroschein

English > Spanish Literary Translator

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6 Effective Ways for Professional Literary Translators to Find New Projects and Customers

Leave a Comment / Tips for Translators / SBT / 02/08/2023

6 Effective Ways for Professional Literary Translators to Find New Projects and Customers

Regardless of their situation — whether they have just graduated and are taking their first steps in the professional market or just finished a project and have some time without work, and whether they translate for publishing houses or work with self-published authors — almost all freelance literary translators face the reality of being on the constant lookout for new projects.

In our upcoming ebook, we have a chapter where we focus on where authors can find professional and trained literary translators for their books. But today we’d like to bring some light on the subject from the translator’s perspective. This article will hopefully help authors understand how translators network (in case they’re ever approached by one). It will also provide insight on how to differentiate professional translators from scams, as well as help literary translators or translation students wanting to specialise in literature find new customers.

These are, in my opinion, a few things all translators should do:

1. Update your CV, portfolio, website, blog, and professional profiles: LinkedIn, Proz, Instagram, Twitter, etc. Be visible and professional on the Internet.

In the world we currently live in, I honestly cannot stress enough the importance of becoming visible on the Internet and staying in touch with the translators’ community and with current events.

Naturally, you don’t have to master all social media. After all, how much time will you have left for projects, if you’re spending all your time sharing content on your social profiles? Choose the ones you’re most comfortable with and stick to those.

2. Learn, learn, learn.

Whereas having no projects on the horizon is definitely worrisome for most freelance translators, few of them take advantage of these times to continue to develop their skills.

This is the perfect time to catch up with your reading, stay up to date with the latest book launches in your field and be in the loop with professional discussions.

This is also a great time to learn new skills. Are there any CAT tools other professionals are using that you haven’t had the chance to learn yet? Is there any software you could be using to improve the quality of your work, such as quality check tools? Have you given any thought to learning more about digital marketing? After all, social media presence is a must-have skill in the world we live in. Are there any specialization workshops starting soon? Could they help you improve your CV in any way?

3. Network.

Attend translation events, network with other professionals, attend book fairs, and introduce yourself to publishing houses representatives and authors. It is the testimony of far too many translators out there that they got a lot of projects thanks to mouth-to-mouth recommendations and people they met attending relevant events.

Build relationships with your colleagues, meet professionals based in different countries, share your points of view on different topics, and engage in conversations and exchanges of ideas. In other words, start networking.

You never know where your next customer might come from… Will it be an editor who’s been following you on social media and agreed with your opinions on a certain topic? Or perhaps a self-published author who enjoyed an insightful article you wrote? Maybe a colleague who likes your previous work and is swamped with projects at the moment? One thing’s for sure: nothing ever happens unless you make it happen.

4. Approach self-published authors either via email or (if possible) in person.

Don’t just sit at home sending out a million impersonal emails a day. Take the time to do some proper research. Contact those authors whose books you’ve genuinely read and enjoyed and explain why their stories would be a perfect match for the foreign market (what similar books or authors have succeeded in that market?). Have they had other books translated into your language? Have they had any books or series translated into other languages? How are those titles performing in foreign markets? How could foreign readers benefit from having their books translated into your language?

DO provide professional links to your website, Amazon Translator Profile, LinkedIn, social media, and the portfolio of books you’ve translated. Provide translation samples of your previous works, too.

DO approach authors at events and introduce yourself in person. Give your business card if they might be interested in your services (or some other authors they know are).

DON’T stalk authors.

DON’T send an unrequested translation sample of the author’s work.

DON’T send a whole manuscript of another author’s book you’ve translated in the past.

5. Offer to do a translation sample (300 to 500 words).

In the translation world, most translation agencies don’t really care about a professional’s degree or training. Instead, when a translator approaches an agency in order to collaborate or develop a professional relationship, it is standard practice for the agency to ask the translator to do a sample or a test. Samples are usually based on the translator’s areas of expertise and do not exceed 500 words. This is enough for an agency to evaluate the translator’s skills and determine whether they are a good fit or not.

6. Research and approach publishing houses.

Working for a renowned publishing house is, perhaps, every literary translator’s dream (though, as I have already confessed here, not necessarily mine).

The reality is that working for a publishing house takes a lot of networking and research. First of all, before any sort of contact is made, a translator needs to become familiar with the kinds of works each publishing house is interested in (what genres, books, and authors do they publish?). Then, they need to find out who is the person in charge of translations (it is never a good idea to send a general email, as it could easily get lost and never reach the proper recipient). It’s also important to bear in mind that publishing houses receive tons of CVs a day, so translators need to stand out from the crowd. LinkedIn is a good social media to get in touch with editors, authors, and fellow translators.

Some translators have been successful when sending their CV stating their formal education, their language pair, their experience in the field, the seminars they’ve attended and further courses they’ve completed after getting their degrees. In addition, they included their catalogue (book title, author, publishing house, year, and ISBN), and they showed interest in the publishing house.

Others also like to propose the translation of a book and attach a thorough report with:

Book information: title, genre, wordcount, audience, ISBN, whether it is a standalone or part of a series, etc.
Literary aspects: blurb, plot, structure, tone, narration, themes, characters, etc.
Legal aspects: Is the suggested title up for translation in the language pair? (Sometimes it’s hard to find out this information for traditionally published authors, but self-published authors interested in having their books translated can be approached with these kinds of questions.)
Reviews and recommendations: number of reviews and readers’ ratings, social media presence of the author and other books
Commercial information: number of copies sold in the home market, followers on social media.

Any other relevant information on why the suggested title would be a good fit for the publishing house and the foreign market: Does the story take place in a country where your pair-language is spoken? Does the author have a special connection with a that country?

Final thoughts

As a Literary Translator that’s solely interested in translating books and has rejected many other projects, I have, of course, faced times when my workload was diminished.

In the beginning, I used to stress and worry a lot about this and I have done most of the things I suggest on this post. I have contacted indie authors whose books I truly enjoyed (and most of them to no avail, but you never know…). I have updated all of my social media profiles to make it as easy as possible for authors to find me, trust my work, and connect with me. Likewise, I have also read many books, articles, and blogs to stay up to date with current events in the field.

I don’t really know why I have never attempted to approach a publishing house, though I guess my path was linked to the indie world from the very beginning. I always felt curious about writers and wanted to work closely with them.

Thus, being so interested in the self-published world, I have naturally read every blog I came upon, participated in writer forums and Facebook groups, and grabbed practically every book for writers ever recommended. Knowing my potential customers and their most frequent struggles always seemed key for me to be able to develop as a literary translator for indie authors.

That is how this website came to be. And nowadays, whenever I’m facing moments when I might have no projects on the horizon, I always turn to blogging. Because writing meaningful content that might help and inspire authors not only adds value to my work, but also feels good. It is something I truly enjoy and not something I get to do when I’m swamped.

It is also my hope that through these articles, I’m bringing value to my profession, informing my audience, tearing down misconceptions about the translators’ role, and last but not least, helping all my fellow translators out there become inspired to follow their dreams. No matter how hard it might be to get started.

So be patient. Nothing happens overnight. But if you turn the stress of the slow times into little actions every day, you’ll be working towards building your brand. And in time, customers will start to contact you.

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Carolina García Stroschein

English > Spanish Literary Translator

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My Life as a Literary Translator: Pros and Cons of Translating for Self-published Authors (and not for Publishing Houses)

Leave a Comment / Translator's Life / SBT / 25/07/2023

My Life as a Literary Translator:

Pros and Cons of Translating for Self-published Authors (and not for Publishing Houses)

In previous posts, we’ve mainly focused on the theoretical aspects of literary translation. We’ve also analysed different scenarios in order to provide accurate information for authors to make smart decisions regarding the exploitation of their foreign rights.

Today I want to talk about my personal experience. My life as a literary translator. And why I chose to work with self-published authors instead of trying to submit my CV and cover letter to publishing houses. So I’m going to share my list of pros and cons of translating for self-published authors.

A Little Background

It may surprise you to find out that this wasn’t really a conscious decision. I started working with indie authors in order to stay in touch with my profession as I travelled. So, I offered my translation services through Babelcube (something I strongly advise translators and authors against, but we will discuss this in another post). I wasn’t looking to make money; and of course, I didn’t.

Fast-forward a few years, and my situation has completely changed. Nowadays, I work directly with self-published authors who pay me a fair fee for my work. And there are hardly words to describe the satisfaction I get from creating a professional product that reaches thousands of readers: readers who would not be able to read those stories “without me.”

First of all, I’d like to say that translating is a profession, not a hobby. Only trained professionals with perfect command of their language pairs (the source language and the language they translate into) should be considered for this kind of job. As such, they should be paid a fair fee for their skills, education, experience, and creativity. All of which are unique to each literary translator.

Luckily, I’m one of those professionals. So, today I want to share my list of pros and cons of translating for self-published authors (and not for publishing houses).

Full Disclosure:

Since I have never even applied to a publishing house, I base some of my ideas on the testimonies of fellow translators that are crowding the media these days. Bear in mind, this article revolves around the situation literary translators face when dealing with publishing houses based in Spain and Latin America. That is to say, those in charge of creating books for the Hispanic market.

The Pros and Cons of Translating for Self-published Authors:

The Pros

Direct contact with the author

This one is by far my favourite pros. Is there anything more inspiring for a Literary Translator than to be in direct contact with the author? (If there is, somebody please tell me!)

What is better than being able to ask them as many pertinent questions as necessary, brainstorm marketing techniques, and discuss possible titles? Or get further information if some elements in the plot are not yet clear? (Especially when the author writes in a series.) All of this will ultimately result in a better book for the foreign audience.

More often than not, this is not the case for translators who work for publishing houses. Think of A Song of Ice and Fire, for instance: something as small as a character’s name, Hodor, gained so much importance much later in the series. And yet none of the translators who worked on the series in multiple languages were in the loop…

Successful self-published authors in their home markets know the importance of being in touch with their readers. Among other things, their careers depend on knowing what their fans want and writing it. On releasing several titles a year. On creating content on social media. On promoting their books…

When an author is interested in translating their titles into Spanish, they will do whatever it takes to be successful in this new market.

And they will continue to put out new translations to keep their new readers happy.

Working with authors committed to their audience

Total trust on both parts

Undoubtedly, trust is something you gain as you work together on several projects (and this is true of any human relationship). But there’s no feeling like knowing an author trusts you with their creations. This trust is usually reinforced when good reviews start to roll in, and the author finally starts engaging with a whole new audience. Only then do they realise the real extent of their translator’s skills.

Almost all self-published authors start small. Successful ones manage to make a living out of their passion.

And helping writers achieve new goals and making new dreams come true is definitely one of the most stimulating aspects of my job.

The satisfaction of being part of somebody else’s success

No undignified working conditions

This is something I came to realise recently as I read multiple testimonies of fellow professionals working for publishing houses. These companies state all the terms of the translation contracts (in many cases, even illegal clauses.) They also refuse to negotiate fees, royalty shares, deadlines, or respect copyright laws.

Lastly, but not less shocking, they offer a “take it or leave it” sort of deal, putting translators in an impossible situation, and making millions of dollars with the translation but refusing to share with the translators. Think of bestselling series with multiple film or tv adaptations and massive merchandising deals, I doubt that the people who actually translated these titles, page by page, saw a fraction of the royalties accrued by the publishing house or the copyright holder.
Fortunately, when I deal directly with a customer, we negotiate all the contract terms so both parties can benefit and be satisfied. And if an author refuses to negotiate or accept my terms, then chances are we’re not a good match.

The author and the translator work together towards the same goal: creating a great product for the foreign market. The translator’s success is the author’s success and vice-versa. Naturally, a lot of communication is involved. And not just regarding the terms of the contract or the content of the book itself, but also regarding marketing strategies, research of keywords, and social media presence.

The author-translator-editor team

Constant workflow

Any freelancer knows one of the most challenging parts of being a freelancer is getting projects or customers. So, it’s a great relief to work with someone committed to bringing new titles to their foreign audience. If I’m working with an author that has already published several books or series in their home market, odds are they’ll be interested in having them all translated into Spanish (provided their first books released in the foreign market are successful, of course). And if they liked my translations so far, chances are they’ll hire me for future projects. Yay!

I left this one for the end, though it is equally important to the rest items listed here. In the past, I’ve worked for subtitling and translation companies offering impossible deadlines. This meant staying up late translating, missing social events, or working non-stop for several weeks to meet those deadlines. And the reality is, more often than not, this affects quality (something most professionals are unwilling to negotiate.)

Fortunately, since I started working for self-published authors, I am the one establishing the deadlines. After explaining my process of translation and edition before the manuscript is ready for another professional to edit it, authors are usually happy to accept them. They know the product they’ll get in return for waiting a bit longer than they sometimes expected is completely worth it.

Choosing the deadline

The Cons

Even though I don’t have a long list of cons, not everything that shines is gold. So, I thought it’d be worth mentioning a few not-so-positive things.

Hard to get customers

To be honest, this is true for any translator (and probably for any freelancer.) In fact, most literary translators struggle a lot before they land an opportunity with a publishing house. And it is especially hard when you’re just starting out, don’t have a lot of contacts, and don’t have much experience. But none of this should make you give up!

There are lots of things a freelance translator could (and should) be doing in order to get customers.

And we’ll dig into them in our next post, so stay tuned!

Due to all the misleading information out there, sadly, many authors are led to believe things that are not true regarding foreign rights. This mostly affects delivery times, fees, royalties, and copyright laws (all of which will be discussed in depth in our upcoming ebook.)

When authors are unfamiliar with a translator’s work, they might find fair rates too expensive or deadlines too long.

Especially if they know a friend of the neighbour’s daughter who took Spanish in secondary school and can do the job faster and cheaper. In all honesty, these kinds of authors are not my potential customers, as they are not interested in creating a professional product for the Spanish audience, and readers will notice.

I found that blogging about literary translation, self-publishing, book marketing, the translation process, and the freelancer’s life helps my ideal customers find me. Through this blog, authors can learn about the translator’s profession and respect my job.

Authors might have misleading expectations

Uncertainty about payments

Truth be told, I have never had a customer miss a payment deadline. However, we are all humans, and uncertainty is a universal feeling when we establish a new professional relationship. Whereas the author might feel uncertain about the quality of my job or about me meeting my deadlines, I can’t help but wonder what would happen if I put up three months’ work on a project that won’t get paid…

Building professional relationships
takes time.

That is why, as a rule of thumb, I never chase potential customers. Instead, I let them find me. I might on occasion reach out to an author whose books I particularly enjoy and tell them about my services in the hopes of working together. But I would never overwhelm authors by sending them a thousand emails or PMs on different social media, or cold calling them. If they’re not replying after I send them my fees, chances are they’re not ready financially or time-wise. And if that should change in the future, they’ll contact me when they are.

Well, that’s about it for today.

But before I go, I’d like to know if you have any pros or cons I have not included in this post.

Let me know in the comments!

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Carolina García Stroschein

English > Spanish Literary Translator

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Should I Hire Several Translators for My Book Series?

2 Comments / Translation Tips for Self-published Authors, Translation World / SBT / 17/07/2023

Should I Hire Several Translators for My Book Series?

Up to now, we have deeply analysed what Literary Translation is. Then we have looked at some red flags that will help you stay away from bad linguists. So, it might be a good time to start thinking about effective ways to enter new markets through translations.

Most indie authors who have been in the authorship business for a while must have heard, at the very least, about the rapid release strategy other indies use when launching titles in the same series or universe.

The strategy basically consists of holding off the launch of the titles that make up a series until it is complete (or almost complete) and then proceeding to release the books in short intervals. This technique offers authors tempting benefits, such as getting readers hooked and reading the author’s series non-stop. This can easily result in increased sales and potentially reaching #1 New Release on their Amazon categories, for example.

Nonetheless, not everything that shines is gold. In fact, this strategy also has its cons, which is why some experts think it only works for established writers with a solid fan base and a good author platform.

Now, When it Comes to Translating Books: Is this the Right Approach?

Authors often feel tempted to hire several translators to work on different titles in the same series in order to release faster. After all, the book is already written. So, why should they wait for the three to four months it’d take one professional translator to do the job when they can have a whole series translated in the same amount of time?

All in all, it certainly sounds like irrefutable logic, right?

However, first as an avid reader (one of those binge-readers even) and second as a literary translator, I strongly recommend you not to do this. Even though the pros of this decision might seem to surpass the cons, more often than not the reality proves to be different.

On the one hand, each literary translator possesses unique knowledge, creativity, and skill which are, of course, reflected in their translations. On the other hand, as they perform their work, they must make decisions or resort to different techniques, resources and literary devices to solve translation problems and overcome obstacles. Multiple ways of solving these issues might be equally valid, and the truth is there might be as many ways of solving them as translators available.

Maybe Not...

Once readers get used to their voice, which is the translator’s take on the voice of the author, changing narrators might not be the best call. As a matter of fact, it could even backfire on you due to the potentially jarring change in tone.

One of the greatest advantages of sticking to your translator for a whole series is that this one professional knows the whole story. Thus, the translator is familiar with all its subtleties, characters, settings, and every detail that makes the narrative and the author’s voice. Your readers might get deeply upset when encountering inconsistencies in a series. And this is more likely to happen the more different translators work on the same series, even if your translators work together and share a glossary of terms.

No doubt, you have made a huge investment in finding the right professionals (not just your translator, but also the translations’ editor, the cover artist, the book formatter, etc.). And that is why you should be aiming to make sales, not lose readers who will get irritated by the change of narrative on the second or third book in your series.

It is okay to feel eager to enter a new market, to connect with a new audience, and to want to please your readers with quicker releases. But as a rule of thumb, remember what Bruce Lee once said:

“Long-term consistency trumps short-term intensity.”

This does not mean you can’t aim for a quick release schedule and have to launch three or four translated titles a year (depending on your translator’s turnaround and availability).

What You Can Do Instead...

If you have decided to have your titles translated into Spanish (or any other language, for that matter) and are hell-bent on launching your books as quickly as possible, you could do what many writers do when choosing the rapid release strategy:

Choose your translator based not only on their experience and skill, but also on their availability and turnaround
Consider increasing your translators’ fees in exchange for exclusivity and faster turnaround. (But bear in mind, some professionals will decline these sorts of offers)
Hold off the release date until more books in the series are available (though if you do this and you haven’t worked with the translator before, it’d be a good idea to ask a few native speakers to beta read for you. This way, you can make sure the audience won’t find any issues with the translation when you release a couple of books in a row)
Start connecting with your Spanish speaking audience before launching your first book; generate momentum! (Psst! You probably have a lot more Spanish speaking readers on your social media or Newsletter list than you know!)
Start building book buzz for your upcoming translated titles (work with your translator and hire a professional graphic designer)
Do not delegate marketing translations to someone else to keep your translator focused on your books. Do not underestimate your audience. Remember readers will judge the quality of your work based on the translation of your marketing campaigns and if they find your social media content poor and unengaging in their language, they’ll certainly not be buying your books
Get your audience involved and have them become your first fans (ask them to review your ARCs of your Spanish translations and to join your Spanish Street Team)
If you absolutely must, hire a second translator to start working on a different series

Final Thoughts

As a literary translator, meeting authors who are successful in their markets and have done thorough research to effectively reach new audiences is always a thrill. Especially when they’re ready to dive in!

However, when it comes to the world of translations, there seems to be a lot of (un)reliable sources providing incomplete or incorrect information which might prove harmful both to authors and translators; for example, encouraging authors to make potentially bad decisions when it comes to exploiting their foreign rights.

As discussed in several instances in this blog and in our upcoming book, literary translation is a profession that requires much more than the ability to write a text in a foreign language.

I hope this article sheds some light on what literary translation really is and the importance of not taking your future new audience for granted. Instead, I strongly encourage you to respect it and have fun getting to know it.

Lastly, please don’t take literary translation advice from people who simply write advice on where to find the cheapest translators (a.k.a., not skilled or professionals), how to make “the most” of your investment the fastest way possible or how these professionals should be paid. After all, would you tell an accountant how much they should charge you for completing your yearly tax forms?

Understandably, this is a new subject for you, so you should be excited to explore it and find out all there is to know about this profession and how working with the right professionals will benefit you as an author.

And even though at SBT we might not always have availability to take on new customers, we’d be happy to answer any literary translation questions you might have in the comments or on a separate post, so don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and inquiries.

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Carolina García Stroschein

English > Spanish Literary Translator

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Should I Hire Several Translators for My Book Series? Read More »

5 Common Mistakes All Untrained Literary Translators Make and How to Avoid Working with a Bad Linguist

1 Comment / Translation Tips for Self-published Authors, Translation World / SBT / 09/07/2023

5 Common Mistakes All Untrained Literary Translators Make and How to Avoid Working with a Bad Linguist

Translating a book into any language requires much more than speaking a language. It’s a work of skill that calls for a proficient understanding of the source language, deep knowledge of the target language’s grammar, and experience.

In order to achieve this, most qualified literary translators usually get a bachelor’s degree in Translation Studies. During their academic years, not only do they study their language combination in depth as they develop their translation skills, but they also study Literature, Culture, and History, thus gaining a deep, comprehensive understanding of the culture of both languages that goes beyond the mere meaning of words.

When hiring a linguist lacking those carefully gained language skills, the result is a poor translation that will fail to engage readers and will cost authors lots of time and money in multiple good editors to fix.

That’s why hiring the right translator for your books is essential. And for this purpose, we wrote a full-length article with all the essential information you should have to get you started on the right track and avoid unnecessary headaches. You can read Literary Translation: An Overview here.

Today, however, we’ll focus on the most common mistakes most untrained translators make to help you stay away from unscrupulous bilingual speakers selling language services and save you lots of headaches.

Bear in mind, our knowledge is on the Spanish market and this article will therefore focus on Spanish grammar.

1. Poor Command of the Source Language - Big Red Flag!

When dealing with a potential translator, writers often notice the linguist struggles to communicate in English (either speaking or writing). However, some authors mistakenly believe a good translator has excellent skills in the target language (their mother tongue) and it’s okay not to be fluent in English because it’s not their mother tongue.

Psst! A trained, professional literary translator spent years at university studying English and Spanish (or any target language) grammar, so if you’re dealing with a linguist who lacks good command of the source language, don’t waste any time and just run away.

Plus, how could someone who struggles to communicate in English fully understand your book and rewrite it in Spanish?

2. Wrong Translation of Idioms

Each language has its own idioms. Some translate perfectly well, others have a more natural idiom in the target language, and others simply don’t translate and need a little skill from the translator to be reproduced.

Any unskilled translator typically struggles to spot literary devices in a text. Not being too familiar with the source language (English) means they’ll most likely translate these devices word by word (creating a literal translation). In turn, readers will have trouble understanding these ‘foreign’ idioms that make little to no sense to them and will also fail to engage with a story that lacks an engaging and fluid narrative.

3. Lack of Reasearch

Most untrained translators don’t know the importance of research, for they’re too focused on writing the English words (source text) in Spanish (target text). However, this is one of the first skills you learn to develop in Translation Studies—question everything, research all.

As a result, the translated text is full of mistakes and inconsistencies that confuse and upset readers.

Research is also key in your marketing campaigns. A literal translation of keywords might result in Spanish keywords no one ever uses, which will undoubtedly cause your books to sink in the ranks and make your ads and campaigns lose more money than the profit they might turn.

Lastly, research is vital when translating your book titles and series titles (a process in which both author and translator should be deeply involved). But this is a topic we will be discussing soon in another article.

Research is one of the first skills translators learn to develop.
It is key in your marketing campaigns and vital when it comes to translating book titles and series titles.

4. Literal Translation of Literary Devices, such as Personifications

As stated earlier, a trained literary translator spent years studying English and Spanish Literature and knows how to identify the literary devices each language uses and how to translate them so that the target text flows naturally.

Make no mistake—unfortunately, some things will get lost in translation. A good translator will go to great lengths to make sure the translation conveys all the meanings in your book.

Unable to detect these language subtleties, an untrained translator will closely focus on the words and end up creating a weird text in an attempt to reproduce every single word, metaphor, and idiom.

As a result, whereas English literature authors use a lot of personification, in Spanish, for instance, things don’t do things. Instead, people carry out actions. And when a personification is present in a text in Spanish, it’s to bring focus to a particular action or event. This means the translation process requires a trained linguist to restructure a sentence (or multiple sentences and paragraphs throughout the book) to create a text that flows naturally in the target language.

5. Simplification - or Stealing Meaning from your Text

The English language is rich in verbs we use to clearly describe ways of speaking, talking, looking, moving, behaving, etc.

Sometimes, translating these verbs into Spanish can prove challenging, as there might not always be one word to accurately convey the same meaning, and translators might need to adopt a more descriptive approach.

A widespread mistake unskilled translators tend to make is what can be described as “stealing meaning from your text”, for they struggle to find an exact term in the source language and they simplify it. So, regardless of whether your character is gazing, staring, peering, glancing or scrutinizing, in Spanish, they’ll simply be “looking” (or “mirando”).

If your translator does this with every word that poses a conflict, the result will be a plain, monotonous text that fails to communicate your characters’ feelings, emotions, and complexities and will succeed at making readers angry at the repetitive vocabulary used throughout the book.

Final thoughts

No doubt, finding the right translator when you don’t speak the target language is not easy, and hiring a linguist who charges lower fees might sound tempting.

However, these lower fees might come at a high cost—it might cost you tons of money in editors’ fees to fix the translation or even paying a new translation altogether to save you at least a dozen headaches.

Or, if it’s too late when you realise the kind of translator you’ve been working with, it might cost you an entire new audience that will never get anywhere near your books again.

Hopefully, this article will help you sharpen your criteria and easily spot red flags to avoid working with unqualified translators.

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Carolina García Stroschein

English > Spanish Literary Translator

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5 Common Mistakes All Untrained Literary Translators Make and How to Avoid Working with a Bad Linguist Read More »

Literary Translation: An Overview

5 Comments / Translation World / SBT / 25/06/2023

Literary Translation: An overview

There are so many myths and wrong ideas about what it means to translate literature. This article aims to show what it means and what it is like to work as a literary translator, which possibilities translators have to improve their skills, the labour’s importance, how the market changes, and what can be expected.

What Makes Literary Translation

It would be an appropriate place to start by sharing a description of translators written by James Wood, a literary critic, as it is not a typical example — many critics and reviewers tend to forget to mention or even notice translators’ work:

Literary translators tend to divide into what one could call originalists and activists. The former honor the original text’s quiddities, and strive to reproduce them as accurately as possible in the translated language; the latter are less concerned with the literary accuracy than with the transposed musical appeal of the new work. Any decent translator must be a bit of both… Translation is not a transfer of meaning from one language to another, Pevear writes, but a dialogue between two languages. (Grossmann, 2010)

Literary translator Márgara Averbach has a similar idea; she says that to understand better the position and function of translators, translation is to be thought within communication: the translator is the bridge between the writer and the readers that do not share the same code, meaning the same language. (Averbach, 2011)

Literary translation is the kind of translation in which it is as essential to keep the authors’ style and structure as it is to transmit the exact meaning of the original text.

For this reason, many consider that translating literary texts is an art form in itself and as important as the creation of the original piece. This comparison is not farfetched: working with a text in which the meaning is just one of the many things to consider is an arduous task and a gratifying challenge when the deed is done.

In the translated text, the author’s style, tone and voice have to be present and reflected; the reader of the translation has to get what the author wanted to say and experience all the feelings the original readers did. It goes without saying that it is impossible to produce an exact one-to-one translation, making precisely the same piece; as the author had chosen one word over another, the translator does the same. Nevertheless, the effect of the text has to be the same, no matter the language. That is simply what makes a good translation, or in the words of translator Edith Grossmann:

As a first step toward accomplishing so exemplary an end, translators need to develop a keen sense of style in both languages, honing and expanding our critical awareness of the emotional impact of words, the social aura that surrounds them, the setting and mood that informs them, the atmosphere they create. (Grossmann, 2010)

Thus, this is what the aim of a translation should be: getting as close as possible to the original.

How to Become a Literary Translator

As with other professions, the path will look different with different translators. Clearly, studying translation and literature is a solid foundation to start building up a career in literary translation. Fortunately, there are a number of options for translators wanting to specialise in this kind of field; there are several master’s and postgraduate degrees around the world in addition to the numerous options of bachelor’s degrees in Translation Studies. Besides formal education, translators could also benefit from different talks, congresses, conferences, and short courses organised by various translation associations and institutions with a focus on improving the skills of translators and students.

Some Spanish speaking literary specialisation options are:

The Market: A Changing Field

If translators were to insert themselves into the traditional editorial world, they are going to find some obstacles in the way. The translator has to make contact and needs to know whom to make contacts with, which publishing houses do translations and what their specialisation is. Moreover, within this research, the translator needs to note what makes each publishing house stand out; this is what they do “right” and what they do “wrong” or basically what could be improved. The traditional market is a tight network based on the trust and confidence between the editor and the translator. The translator needs to show interest every step of the way and illustrate what makes them different from the rest. It is a bit surprising that the majority of traditional publishing houses have no formal requirements, but it is indeed expected that they showcase enthusiasm, interest, professionalism (respect deadlines) and trustworthiness; in some cases, they want translators with literary knowledge, literary sensibility, good command of both languages and an even better command of the target language. In general, publishing houses and editors have a group of translators that they work with, and they do not tend to incorporate new translators, but when they do, they ask for references and a translation test; additionally, they consistently prioritise translators with experience and knowledge on the topic: the exact reason why it is difficult to enter this world.

As expected, publishing houses ask for fluent and “faithful” translations; what is surprising then is that in the big names of the industry, there is no one to correct/compare the translation with the original to make sure the translated text is of quality; from the translator, it goes to the proofreader that just checks spelling, and only in certain special cases there is a revision in charge of a specialist. Otherwise, translators are in a much more stressful position, as the responsibility falls only on them. Moreover, many editors expect translators to be able to see the potential a book might have, detect its market and place that book in its “perfect market”. This is basically expecting the translator to know the market as well as the editor; maybe this is due to the fact that many publishing houses do not publish what editors want or decide but what translators offer. It is worth mentioning that translators are not being paid for all the extra work and the new role they are occupying.

In the Spanish-speaking market, the major traditional publishing industry is in Spain, as it is the most important market and the one that creates more work. Averbach says that because of this power imbalance, Latin-American translators are asked and are used to use “neutral” Spanish, but translators in Spain do not show the same consideration if the work is to be published in Latin American too, and it is full of localisms that make more difficult the understanding to readers outside Spain (Averbach, 2011). It is important to mention that finding and deciding what is “neutral” will be different for each translator and editor. This particular situation creates an interesting outcome, hiring translators from Latin America is, generally speaking, more economical (at a later time, it could be discussed how problematic this aspect is), and the translations are overall more “readable” and palatable across the Spanish speaking countries and can be sold to both continents without any significant problems, easing the distribution of the book. In the last decade or so, multinational publishing houses import and print translations from different countries. Nevertheless, small and medium size publishing houses, especially independent publishing houses, have taken a more defining role in creating jobs for translators.

If taken into consideration, especially what is happening in the online world, things have changed considerably. Growing numbers of authors are publishing independently, managing their translations and selling their books in different markets; indie authors are everywhere. This change in the paradigm of publishing books has its pros and cons.

Authors understand that to share their work with more people, their work needs to be translated and promoted in different languages.

To do so, they look for translators or are contacted by translators and “translators” to get the job done. Sometimes the “translators” are neither professionals nor trained, and they tend to do a mediocre job at best, which costs more time and more money in the long run; a translation that needs to be corrected, proof-edited and then proofread is going to be more expensive than a translation that just needs to be proof-edited. Sometimes the translator chosen to be in charge of the task is a proper translator and gets the job done. Besides choosing a competent translator, authors need to decide which market they want to favour; what language(s) they want their work to be translated to, in this case, European or Latin American Spanish. The translator and the author need to communicate and work together continuously to ensure a quality product at the end of the line; the translator needs the author to solve any issues that might come up to provide a good translation, and the author needs the translator to create a version of their book in a different language to broaden their audience and share their work with more readers.

How to Start

In any given situation, each person will have a different approach and experience from the rest. With translation, there is no difference; every translator will have a different experience. Most literary translators find it hard to insert themselves into the literary world. Sometimes they have to study other careers, like literature or the like, to be able to get a job in a traditional publishing house, and they would only translate for those publishing houses. But that is not the only way.

Networking is any professional’s best tool; it can definitely make a difference between being out of work and having a steady inflow of projects. Being in contact with other like-minded professionals, like editors, proofeditors, proofreaders, writers, and other translators, will increase the chances of getting contacted by them or by one of their contacts. Keeping an eye on what the professional associations are up to and the latest topics of discussion in forums, like translators’ rights, helps translators stay updated and connected with the realities of the profession.

Teamwork or Lonely Endevour?

In the traditional sense, teamwork* is not as common; more accurately, the translation is assigned to only one person, then the text might go through other people, like a corrector, editor or proofreader, and “teamwork” might be a thing, but each individual has their own task, and they work together into delivering a final product. Having contact with the author and editor/corrector is key, which could be considered teamwork. Being able to talk to the author to solve comprehension/translation issues is highly rewarding, as it improves the general quality of the final book; the same goes if there is at least a round of corrections in which the translator can see the corrections or suggestions. Sometimes none of these interactions is possible, and the translator has to do their work alone, as there is no other option.

Reading about what is happening in the literary world is also advantageous as it might bring some enlightening or awareness of certain changes or tendencies within the market; this also includes reading publications made by different associations and institutions. As previously discussed, being in contact and continuously conversing with other translators is going to play a major role in feeling connected and not completely alone, even if the job does not exactly involve other people to discuss issues with.

*Some translators share the belief that if there is teamwork involved in the translation per se (the translation being done by several translators), the book has little to no literary value, as an editor would have to unify all the different sections done by various translators and a significant part of the work would be lost by the unification.

What Characterises Literary Translators?

There is a general consensus that translators have to read a fair amount, it seems pretty obvious, but there are many before mentioned “translators” that do not read or are not interested in developing their reading and writing skills; it is not surprising that it shows in the work they do. We have written an article to help authors stay away from these sorts of “linguists”. You can read “5 Common Mistakes ALL Untrained Literary Translators Make and How to Avoid Working with a Bad Linguist” here.

Translators need to be interested in literature and the two languages that they use; they need to be able to detect the identity of the text, the voice, and the style; that is the exact reason why they need to read and write continuously, improve their skills and be updated in any changes in the use of language.

Moreover, a general sense of curiosity should also be present: this will definitely help when researching and solving translation problems and communicating with the author.

Competitiveness

The market is more competitive than ever; current events, like the pandemic and the great resignation, globalisation and the broad reach of the internet have created a more competitive market than ever before. It is active and constantly changing, and people all over the world are competing for jobs that before were just available to one-time zone or country. Even more so, many people are taking these opportunities to change careers, and the hundreds of thousands of articles encouraging people to translate without any prior knowledge or preparation as their side hustle has put professional translators in a strange position. The rates have dropped, but it is not the only thing that has negative consequences; the quality of the translated material is relatively poor, and unfortunately, sets a precedent, as many “new translators” can get away with what they do, without knowing about the ethics of the profession or not even knowing the grammar rules of their language, and by doing so they are damaging not only a profession and thousands of qualified translators but also their very own language by not knowing its grammar or conventions.

Conclusion

Translators are in charge of making their way into the market; they need a solid and ever-expanding network that would help them make new contacts and be in contact with the right people. Publishing houses, independent publishers, and authors generally do not consider translators’ academic training, but they use their contacts and references to find translators. Translators are also expected to identify the market for the material they are translating, what it is worth translating, and tasks traditionally associated with the editor.

Literary translation is the kind of translation in which it is as essential to keep the authors’ style and structure as it is to transmit the exact meaning of the original text.

Any training and further education that the translator can get will be beneficial in getting and improving skills and will help to create better translations and increase the quality of their services.

Times are changing, but it is not the only thing; the rules have changed, and the profession is being challenged, but it is not necessarily a bad thing; it is the opportunity to show and educate people about its importance and the far-reaching and rippling effect it has in the world.

Bibliography

Adamo, G. (2012). La traducción literaria en América Latina. Buenos Aires: Paidós

Asociación Argentina de Traductores e Intérpretes (AATI) aati.org.ar

Averbach, M. (2011). Traducir literatura. Una escritura controlada. Córdoba: Comunic-arte

Colegio de Traductores Públicos de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires (CTPCBA) traductores.org.ar

Eco, U. (2012). Decir casi lo mismo. Experiencias de traducción. Trad. Helena Lozano Miralles. Barcelona: Debolsillo

Grossmann, E. (2010). Why Translation Matters. New Haven & London:Yale University Press

Wilson, P. (2004). La constelación del Sur. Traductores y traducciones en la literatura argentina del siglo XX. Buenos Aires: Siglo XXI

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Ayelen Lapettina Benito

English > Spanish Literary Translator

AATI and FIT member

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