Books for children: what to charge? Thread poster: Albina Griniute
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Albina Griniute 
Lithuania
Local time: 14:34
Member (2020)
English to Lithuanian
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Hi all. So I've been selected by an agency to translate children's books. It seems to be a long-term project with multiple illustrated books for young children (I'd say mostly pre-school and primary school, as far as I can tell). There was a test translation consisting of three different texts (two verses of a rhymed poem, one verse of a poem without rhyme, and a piece of prose). The multiple-step selection process seemed to be quite serious and well thought-through.
Now that I've b... See more Hi all. So I've been selected by an agency to translate children's books. It seems to be a long-term project with multiple illustrated books for young children (I'd say mostly pre-school and primary school, as far as I can tell). There was a test translation consisting of three different texts (two verses of a rhymed poem, one verse of a poem without rhyme, and a piece of prose). The multiple-step selection process seemed to be quite serious and well thought-through.
Now that I've been selected, I was asked what my rates are. I provided my rate for transcreation per hour, but they say the client is paying them per word. That doesn't sound right.
If the test is anything to go by, these are going to be tasks requiring not just excellent transcreation skills, but also literary talent and some knowledge of children's literature. I did multiple revisions and corrections of the test, research, etc., and it took me a whole day to complete. It could've easily taken longer, but they asked for the test asap.
Since children's books are usually short, they can have very few words, like a couple of hundred. But the work can take a whole day, or several days. Charging per word doesn't make sense.
Does anyone have experience with this, or suggestions regarding the rates? I know rates vary greatly depending on the language pair, but I'd be interested to hear what other translators charge for this type of work.
[Edited at 2021-09-15 16:27 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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I have translated some children books. The first one I charged per word but following that and precisely because of the situation you described I have been charging per project.
P.S. When you say an agency, do you mean a translation agency or an UN agency? I have translated for both and of course the rates charged are quite different…
| | | | Albina Griniute
Lithuania
Local time: 14:34
Member (2020)
English to Lithuanian
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TOPIC STARTER
Thank you for your quick reply, Teresa.
It's a translation agency with an impeccable rating on the Blue Board, glowing reviews and a very professional-looking website.
It looks like they have a client who publishes illustrated children's books for tablets and is looking to expand into other languages.
This is why I'm so puzzled - it does look like a very professional agency, and the process of testing / selection further confirmed this. I don't understand h... See more Thank you for your quick reply, Teresa.
It's a translation agency with an impeccable rating on the Blue Board, glowing reviews and a very professional-looking website.
It looks like they have a client who publishes illustrated children's books for tablets and is looking to expand into other languages.
This is why I'm so puzzled - it does look like a very professional agency, and the process of testing / selection further confirmed this. I don't understand how a professional and highly skilled translator who charges per word for this type of work fits into this picture.
Maybe I'm missing something? ▲ Collapse
| | | | Adieu
Ukrainian to English
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| Charge A LOT | Sep 15, 2021 |
Most of these children's things are horribly opportunistic people of dubious moral character making staggering sums of money on merch (or aspiring to) anyway
If you're not desperate for work, I'd quote something to the tune of $25 USD per page, double for poems, regardless of word count (for children's books huge font stuff... if they want to send you a wall of text, charge far more)
As to the agency, that's just a middleman looking to keep more of the client's money.
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Will your name be mentioned on the front cover of the book? If so factor this in your price as it will be some kind of a “marketing tool”...
| | | | Albina Griniute
Lithuania
Local time: 14:34
Member (2020)
English to Lithuanian
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
I don't think my name will be mentioned on the cover.
I answered them yesterday saying that I'm not sure how to calculate the rate per word for such a job because I always charge per hour for transcreation projects, which is true.
I asked them to suggest a price they are willing to pay, so I can see if it works for me, based on the time it took me to complete the test translation.
No reply today. Hmm... Let's see what happens tomorrow.
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Albina Griniute wrote:
I don't think my name will be mentioned on the cover.
I answered them yesterday saying that I'm not sure how to calculate the rate per word for such a job because I always charge per hour for transcreation projects, which is true.
I asked them to suggest a price they are willing to pay, so I can see if it works for me, based on the time it took me to complete the test translation.
No reply today. Hmm... Let's see what happens tomorrow.
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This seems like a waste of time...
I would refuse to make a test before settling financial matters.
Reviewing a sample text wouldn't have been enough to give an idea of the task at hand?
Agencies seem to thrive on information asymmetry.
Good luck, Albina!
[Edited at 2021-09-17 05:11 GMT]
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The customer just wants a fixed price for the job. They don't care how you calculate it.
| | | | Albina Griniute
Lithuania
Local time: 14:34
Member (2020)
English to Lithuanian
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | @philgoddard | Sep 19, 2021 |
philgoddard wrote:
The customer just wants a fixed price for the job. They don't care how you calculate it.
But I'm not in contact with the customer, I'm in contact with the agency. Shouldn't a translation agency know that transcreation is difficult to charge per word? They say they already work with other languages on the same project, so I can't be the first linguist with this problem. That's why I started this thread.
| | | | Adieu
Ukrainian to English
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| Some jobs are oriented at bottom-feeders | Sep 19, 2021 |
Like ex-Soviet schoolteachers and substance-addled college students
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| Units don't matter | Sep 20, 2021 |
Albina wrote:
Shouldn't a translation agency know that transcreation is difficult to charge per word?
The agency only wants to know beforehand how much you charge one or more given pieces, so that they can quote their client accordingly with their own mark-up.
Granted, charging per hour is a good way to show the customer that you sell your time, but some agencies link your hourly rate to an implied "productivity rate": they anticipate that you will translate so many words in one hour on average.
Therefore, if you deliver a 200-word book translation candidly stating that it will cost them 5 or 10 hours, they may well object to it, arguing that they expected a "standard" throughput of X words/hour, which was stated for your language combination in font 2, footer note 18, Appendix 12, page 142 of "Vendor agreement", Table 4.5.12. Bottom line: hourly rates are not bullet-proof either against unscrupulous clients.
If you do 40 words an hour and you feel your time is worth X/hour, then charge X/40 per word. If it translates into €1.5/word, then it's the amount of effort you put into one word.
Albina wrote:
it does look like a very professional agency, and the process of testing / selection further confirmed this
From my experience, the more convoluted the agency's "selection" process, the less likely anything turns up from them.
Philippe
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