Do you not only have literary flair and artistic taste, but also a good command of foreign languages? It makes sense to get into the business of translating literary texts. How do you do it and where do you start?
Of course, Vasily Zhukovsky argued that the translator in the prose is a slave, and yet the translation activity will allow you to earn a literary ability and get into the modern literary process. Whatever you say, it’s a fitting job for a writer.
Today, publishing houses that produce foreign literature have full-time and freelance translators. But let’s face it, getting into their ranks is incredibly difficult. These are people with a lot of experience, they have numerous translations of fiction under their belt. And specialized education is not always a pass to this professional sphere.
However, this does not mean that it is impossible to break into this market. It is possible. If you have a good command of the language, if you have a clear literary ability, the way to the publishing houses of foreign literature is open to you. How do you get in? Translator positions are rarely found in the open press, but that does not mean that publishing houses do not need such specialists.
The fact is that the workload of publishing houses is fluctuating: there are busy months (especially in summer), and then freelance translators are involved. Publishers have an interest: in addition to patching up holes in the staffing table, it saves a lot of money on translation wages.
Financial tricks
Translators salary – piece rate, is calculated from the volume of text, its complexity and qualification of the specialist. The text volume is measured in author’s sheets. One author’s page equals 40,000 characters with spaces.
For example, if the text you need to translate is 400,000 characters, you will be paid for 10 pages of text.
As mentioned above, the rate per author’s page depends on the complexity of the text. However, different translators can get paid differently for the same text. Publishers do not save on young freelance translators. Small publishers often offer to translate the meaning without literary processing, that is, the essence of what is happening, so that after a literary editor proofread and combed text.
Where to look
You can find publishers on your own. Find an excerpt of a fictional text on the web in English, German, French, Italian, etc. (depending on which language you plan to translate it from), translate it yourself. It is advisable to choose several texts of different genres: detectives, historical novels, love stories, adventures, etc. This will allow you to demonstrate the full range of your abilities, and the publisher’s editor to understand which book is best to give you for translation.
Bring these samples to the publisher you are interested in, along with a cover letter. Pay special attention to small publishers, they are eager to work with aspiring translators.
Don’t be afraid to take the initiative and don’t be intimidated by rejection – if your translations are of high quality, they will be interested in you. There may not be any books available right when you apply, but they will take note of you and put you in the translator database.
