Training for Translators

Classes for translators and interpreters

Links


Corinne McKay

Link: So you want to be a literary translator

Masked Translator has a very insightful and much-needed post for people who want to become literary translators. We’ve all heard the discouraging advice (literary translation doesn’t pay, Americans don’t read literature much less literature in translation, publishers don’t want to use newbies, etc.), but MT gives some very helpful and concrete tips on how to break into the literary translation world.

A few tips that I would add:
–Think about publishing your literary translation yourself. One great tip that MT offers is to consider translating a work that’s in the public domain and thus not subject to copyright restrictions. For example in France, most works of which the author has been dead for more than 70 years are in the public domain, so most of the French classics are up for grabs. Once you’ve done your translation, publish and market it yourself, using a print on demand service like Lulu. This is the service I used for my book on how to become a translator and I’ve been extremely happy with it, and the book has sold almost 2,000 copies with just my (mediocre!) marketing efforts, so your literary translation could probably sell quite a few copies too!

–Don’t count yourself out just because you’re a first-timer. Sandra Smith (who will be speaking at the upcoming ATA conference) has won numerous awards for her outstanding translation of Irene Nemirovsky’s novel Suite Francaise and it was the first book she ever translated. Hopefully Sandra will let us in on some of her secrets at the conference, but there’s definitely hope even if you’re a first-time literary translator.

MT’s post really says it all, so if you’re interested in literary translations, click on over and give it a read!


Corinne McKay

If you want to feel good about your job

…click on over to Ryan Ginstrom’s post entitled “Seven things I love about being a freelance translator.” Bravo to Ryan for this excellent post. Like any job, being a freelance translator has its annoyances, and it’s often fun to vent and commiserate about them. At the same time, I think that it’s important to maintain some perspective on the benefits of freelancing. In my case, freelancing allowed me to stay home with my daughter until she started school, and like Ryan, I would have a hard time replacing my current income with an in-house job that offered a similar level of hours and flexibility. International Translation Day is coming up, so it’s a good time to talk about everything we enjoy about our jobs!


Corinne McKay

New in the translation blogosphere

There are some new blogs and good posts on the translation scene this week, here are a few that I noticed:

Identical twin translators (no, really!) Judy and Dagy Jenner, whose business (Twin Translations) I profiled a while ago have started a blog. It’s called Translation Times and is a great new addition to the translator’s feed reader!

Over at Musings from an Overworked Translator, Jill Sommer has a great post on The top 10 rules for working from home, which is a really helpful list of ways to stay productive in the home office. Make sure to read the comments, where other translators rate themselves on their compliance with the “top 10” rules.

This blog isn’t so new, but I’ve also been enjoying reading Abigail Dahlberg’s Dispatches from an environmental translator’s desk. Abigail has a true niche specialization (focusing on recycling and waste management) and also gives interesting insights into the life of a non-US citizen freelancer working in the US.

Happy reading!


Corinne McKay

Think like the clients you wish you had

Amybeth Hale, a Sourcing Strategist (one of those jobs your high school guidance counselor didn’t know existed!) who writes the blog Research Goddess, offers some excellent advice in her post Where do I go to find people?. We translators could replace “people” with “clients” and her advice is directly applicable to our businesses.

Amybeth comments that one of the most frequent questions she is asked by other recruiters and sourcing specialists is “Where do I go to find people in [insert industry]?” I think that the same is true of translators who would like to build up their base of direct clients; translators have a specific type of client in mind, but don’t know where to find that client. For translators, I think that Amybeth’s best piece of advice is to “Think like the person you’re looking for,” and avoid the large and often overused Internet marketplaces.

If you advertise your services on a large Internet portal for translators, you’re competing with many, many other translators, and a lot of those people probably charge less that you’re worth. A company that posts a translation job online is likely to be overwhelmed with responses. However, if you go to a trade show for companies that work in your target industry, you may be the only translator there. If you join and contribute to a discussion list for people who work in your target industry, ditto: you’re suddenly the expert, because no other translators are posting to that group.

So, think like the clients you want. If you worked for a (boutique hotel, law firm, advertising agency, pharmaceutical company, international aid project, financial services firm) and you needed a translator or information about translation, where would you go for information? Then go there! Be waiting to inform your potential clients about your services and the majority of your marketing work is done.