Announcements

Jun 19 2014
Corinne McKay

Links you might enjoy

I’ve been busy with back-to-back monster projects and am now in recovery mode, catching up on assignments for my online classes. So I’ll pass on a few links to other websites that you might enjoy:

For Carolyn Yohn’s recommended summer reading series, I wrote a guest post on Hilary Mantel’s books “Wolf Hall” and “Bring Up the Bodies”, and you can check out many more posts in Carolyn’s book review series as well.
Over at Speaking of Translation, you can listen to our newest recording, “Software localization: insights from the PM and translator perspectives.” Eve Bodeux (PM) and Tess Whitty (translator) share lots of great information on the localization process!
Eve is also featured on Tess’ newest podcast, Market research tips and marketing systems for translators, which is another great listen!
Over at The Freelancery (my favorite non-translation-specific blog about freelancing), Walt Kania has two excellent posts about making the leap from full-time job to full-time freelancer: Making the break and What to choose.
If you translate French<>English and you’re looking for a sweet professional development trip this summer, I cannot recommend Translate in the Laurentians highly enough (August 24-27 in Esterel, Quebec). This is the latest in the Translate in the Catskills master class series that Chris Durban launched a number of years ago, it’s organized by Anglocom (a truly class act!) and features the best trainers you’ll find for French<>English translation. I can’t attend this year due to a month-long family trip, but this conference is guaranteed to be excellent.

Jun 10 2014
Corinne McKay

Getting Started as a Freelance Translator-FULL

Update: this session of Getting Started as a Freelance Translator is full; the next session starts September 24

The next session of my online course Getting Started as a Freelance Translator starts tomorrow (Wednesday June 11), and I have one or two spots open, depending on how many people register today. This four-week class is for people who want to launch and run a successful freelance business, and we focus on four targeted assignments: your resume and cover letter, marketing plan, rates and billable hours sheet and online presence. Everyone in the class (maximum of 12 students) gets individual feedback from me on all of those assignments, and we round things out with a weekly question and answer conference call (recording provided if you can’t attend live). You can view the full description and register on my website.

This class is for people in the startup phase, and if you’re past that phase, you can also check out the August session of my more advanced class, Beyond the Basics of Freelancing. Registration for either class is $325, with a $50 discount for ATA members. Hope to see some of you there!

Jun 09 2014
Corinne McKay

Speaking of Translation's localization episode: available for download

Eve Bodeux and I recently recorded a new episode of Speaking of Translation, entitled “Software localization: insights from the translator and PM perspective.” Eve and Tess Whitty discussed their roles in the localization project process and I moderated. We just posted the recording on our website, and it’s available for streaming or download. As someone who does not do localization, I learned a lot from this episode and I hope that you (whether you’re a localizer or not!) will too.

May 28 2014
Corinne McKay

Localization insights from the PM and translator perspectives: free call tomorrow

Tomorrow, Thursday May 29 at 12 noon New York time, Eve Bodeux, Tess Whitty and I will be doing a Speaking of Translation conference call on “Software localization: insights from the project manager and translator perspectives.” The call-in information is here, it’s free, and hey, we won the ProZ Community Choice Award for best podcast about translation, so you should join us! We’ll also provide a recording afterward if you miss the live call.

Based on their hit presentation at the recent ATA conference, Tess and Eve will tell us how the localization PM and localization translator can work together to make the overall project a success. I don’t do localization, so I’ll just moderate and ask a few questions! Eve has 15+ years experience as a localization project manager, and Tess is an expert English to Swedish localization translator (and the host of the Marketing Tips for Translators podcast), so don’t miss their advice if you work in localization or would like to.

May 08 2014
Corinne McKay

Beyond the Basics of Freelancing: FULL

Update: the May 14 session of Beyond the Basics is now full. Registration is open for the August 20 session (same links as below)

The next session of my online course Beyond the Basics of Freelancing starts next Wednesday (May 14) and I have four spots left. The course lasts four weeks and is for established freelance translators who want to work with higher-quality agencies and with direct clients. Everyone gets individualized feedback from me on four homework assignments: the current state of your business; marketing to the clients you want rather than taking the work that falls in the inbox; money matters (rates and income) and creating a plan to move your business forward. In addition, everyone gets a one-hour individual consulting call with me, and we do four one-hour question and answer conference calls with the whole group. The last session went quite well, with this feedback from a student:

This course boosted my confidence immensely in terms of how to look for work and it gave me a sense of direction and of what I need to do in order to find long-term success as a freelance translator. Before, I felt as though I was reaching around in the dark and this course has really clarified the “how-to” business aspects for me.

Registration is $325, with a $50 discount for members of the American Translators Association. Read the full description or register on my website, and you can also read about/register for my beginner-level class, Getting Started as a Freelance Translator, which starts on June 18 (seven spots left in that session).