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Pricing book-length translation
Автор темы: Vanessa Kamp
Vanessa Kamp
Vanessa Kamp
Испания
испанский => английский
+ ...
Oct 4, 2022

Hello all,
I have a bit of translation experience (mainly Spanish to English) mostly on topics relating to the arts and architecture. Can anyone point me toward information on pricing book-length translations?
Specifically, is it standard or not to adjust per-word price for longer work?
 
Hayley Wakenshaw
Hayley Wakenshaw  Identity Verified
Великобритания
Local time: 00:11
Член ProZ.com c 2018
голландский => английский
It depends on the language pair, the genre, and the client! Oct 4, 2022

Whatever the rate, it's likely to be less than your standard per-word rate.

I've translated four books from Dutch to English for a major international publishing house. These were for their thriller and romance imprints. That sort of book pays less than literary translations, and I'll bet it pays less than non-fiction book translation. I eventually negotiated them up to around 6 eurocents per word (and a translator credit in the last book, which they'd not wanted to do before then.)... See more
Whatever the rate, it's likely to be less than your standard per-word rate.

I've translated four books from Dutch to English for a major international publishing house. These were for their thriller and romance imprints. That sort of book pays less than literary translations, and I'll bet it pays less than non-fiction book translation. I eventually negotiated them up to around 6 eurocents per word (and a translator credit in the last book, which they'd not wanted to do before then.)

That's a 40% discount on my standard rate, which sounds and feels low. But it's useful to bear in mind that you'll be getting paid for nearly every hour you work. That's because , the bigger the project, the less time you'll spend dealing with emails, marketing, pitching for work, drawing up invoices, chasing payments, and so on. You might find that, on an hourly basis, you're earning the same or even more than you would by doing short projects for several clients.

[Edited at 2022-10-04 20:14 GMT]

[Edited at 2022-10-05 05:07 GMT] ▲ Collapse


Francisco Vare
Emanuele Vacca
Axel Bradley Dittmer
Kuochoe Nikoi-Kotei
 
Vanessa Kamp
Vanessa Kamp
Испания
испанский => английский
+ ...
Автор темы
Thank you for sharing your insight Oct 4, 2022

Thanks so much Hayley for sharing your insight, very helpful!
 
philgoddard
philgoddard
США
немецкий => английский
+ ...
No discount Oct 5, 2022

I've done a couple of dozen books, mostly nonfiction, and never given a quantity discount. If the customer presses me for one, I just say that large jobs can be a liability rather than an asset, because I have to turn down work for other people.

Dan Lucas
mughwI
Philippe Etienne
Stephanie Mitchel
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Tina Vonhof (X)
 
Vanessa Kamp
Vanessa Kamp
Испания
испанский => английский
+ ...
Автор темы
Good to know Oct 5, 2022

Thank you Phil for sharing your experience and perspective, quite empowering.
 


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