Announcements

Happy 2014! I’ve been composing a wrap-up and looking-ahead post for 2013 and 2014, but in the meantime, the next session of my online course Getting Started as a Freelance Translator starts on Monday, January 15 and I have four spots left. It’s a four-lesson online class in which we focus on very targeted assignments: your resumé and cover letter, marketing plan, rates and billable hours sheet and online presence. In addition, we liven things up with a one-hour question and answer conference call every week (recordings provided for those who can’t attend live). The class is open to translators in any language combination, and everyone receives individualized feedback from me on every assignment. Here’s a comment from a student in the most recent session:

The course is part overview of the industry, part specialized workshops focusing on a particular aspect of the job, and in very large part individualized coaching. Neither in my undergraduate classes in education nor in some of the more practical classes I took as part of my MA in English (including the course connected to my assistantship as a writing consultant) did I ever experience one course that delivered as much precise and helpful information as this course.

Registration is $305, with a $50 discount for members of the American Translators Association. You can read more or sign up for the class (currently four spots left) on my website.

On Monday, December 16 at 9 PM New York time (note: evening! unlike our usual time slot), Eve Bodeux and I will be hosting our next Speaking of Translation conference call. This month’s topic is “The freelance juggling act: balancing work, family and the rest of life,” and we’ve got an all-star panel of multitasking translators to address this multi-faceted topic. You can listen to the live call for free, and the podcast version will follow. Here are the details:

In this roundtable discussion, we’ll explore how to maintain your sanity while running a thriving business, raising a family, pursuing non-work interests and contributing to the profession. Our panelists for the discussion are Scandinavian to English translator Andy Bell, English to French translator Marianne Reiner and French to English translator Karen Tkaczyk, with Speaking of Translation hosts Eve Bodeux and Corinne McKay moderating. All of our panelists run full-time freelance businesses while raising families and remaining active in translation industry activities. All of them have significant non-work interests as well (sports, sideline businesses, church, community volunteering); we invited them because they strike us as people who do it all, but don’t seem stressed out or frazzled. Wondering how they do it? We’ll get their tips on how to find a work/life balance that keeps you happy, keeps money in the bank and lets you live the kind of life that you want.

To listen to the live call (free, other than any phone charges from your provider): At the call time, dial 209-647-1600 (+1 may be required outside the US). Then enter access code 178865 and press pound (#). If you live outside the US or pay by the minute for long distance, the least expensive option is probably to use Skype or Google Voice to dial in.

Hopefully you’re familiar with Translation Journal, the online translation magazine that industry veteran Gabe Bokor has been publishing for (get this…) 16 years. It’s a wonderful source of information about our industry, featuring the legendary Fire Ant and Worker Bee column, plus many interesting feature articles in every issue. Gabe is an incredibly smart and energetic person, but after 16 years at the helm of TJ, he is interested in retiring and passing the magazine on to a new curator. You can read the full announcement on the Translation Journal website, and with Gabe’s permission I’ve included the text here as well. I would hate to see Translation Journal fade away, so please, please, someone else who is smart and energetic, take it over! You can contact Gabe via his site if you’re interested in more information

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Time to Change the Guard
by Gabe Bokor

For more than 16 years, this e-zine has been published regularly without interruption, becoming, in the process, the best-known and most prestigious on-line publication in the international language industry. It has provided free useful and interesting information to translators and interpreters, novices and veterans, full-time professionals, and people simply interested in languages and translation. It has also provided translators and interpreters, regardless of their nationality, religion, or the politics of their country, with a forum, enabling them to showcase and share their unique expertise with colleagues all over the world.

The editor reached retirement age more than a decade ago, and now he is wondering for how much longer he’ll be able to put out a new, content-rich issue every three months. Also, while the TJ is the oldest and considered the best on-line publication for translators and interpreters, it could make better use of new technologies and new trends in the industry. A new management could give it a facelift to make it more attractive aesthetically and add new features to enhance its functionality.

In other words, we’re looking for a new home for the TJ, so it can continue to fulfill its mission, while possibly benefiting from the prestige of a solid institution. While this has not been the focus of its editor for the past 16 years, it could also generate substantial revenues by waging an aggressive campaign to sell advertising on its pages and possibly by adding features to make it even more useful to its readership. A professional editorial team could upgrade its contents and polish the style of its articles.

If you’re seriously interested in taking over the TJ, I’ll be glad to provide you with the information you’ll need to make a decision.

Monday morning is looking up: ProZ just announced the winners of this year’s Community Choice awards. Congratulations to everyone who earned this recognition from their colleagues! I’m excited to share the “best podcast” award with my friend and colleague Eve Bodeux for our podcast Speaking of Translation. Note to our husbands: OK, we do sometimes talk too much, but sometimes people do listen! I’m also flattered to have won in the “best blog post” category, for Why do some freelance translators fail?. It’s gratifying to be recognized for these contributions, and to know that these resources are useful to the industry!