by Franka J HaddleyHow to Save Money on Translation for Your Book?
We are living in times when everything has a price, but this price is not always reasonable.
Who would not want to save some money if there is a chance to? Especially when we talk about book translation.
Don’t get me wrong. There are no witless toilers ready to translate your book for a hundred bucks. Book translation takes time and money, and time is one of the main things that can help you to save some money! Another thing that might be useful regarding saving is Reason. About this we will talk in a moment, but before, let’s have a look at how the price for book translation is formed.
1. Book Length
In my previous posts on book translation, I’ve mentioned a standard method of price formation for book translation, which is a minimum of 12 cents per word. In the math of pricing book translation, this will be your main number. So, the number of words determines the main number for your final price. The more words, the bigger the price.
2. Type (genre) of Book
Yes, some genres can be a little (sometimes a lot) more expensive to work with. For example, philosophy, technical, medicine, law books can cost two to three times more than translations for fiction. Though, talking about style, some fiction books can be at slightly bigger price as well.
3. Time
That’s where we can save for a rainy day, so to speak. Since time is priceless and decides how many hours a day the translator will have to work in order to finish the translation by the deadline, the price for this very translation can vary significantly. So, if you plan to have your book translated within a month, be ready to pay!
4. Selling
You might be surprised to know that some translators work on commission, taking from 5% to 15% of your income from the sales of your book on the international market. It is rare but happens. In this case you don’t pay your translator before you get your translation and start selling your book. Sometimes, translators do their job for half of the actual price on the condition that they get 2% to 5% of the future income. It's kind of a combo deal, which obviously has some pros and cons.
These are the main criteria that shape the final price for book translation. Now, let's talk about ways how you can save some money on translation for your book.
Time. The most precious of all treasures!
The average time for a book (60-80k words) translation is 2-3 months. So, if you are mentally and physically ready to wait for, let’s say, 4 months for your book to be translated, then you can seriously count on a lower price. But I would not recommend going all insane and offering your translator to keep your book in the process of translation for like 6 or more months, because a. it is insane, and b. it will affect the quality of the translation, because in this case, the translator will more likely work on one or two other projects, and it is not always humanly possible to stay in tune with more than two projects at a time.
So even though time is your golden thread to save some money on translation for your book, please, be reasonable.
Reason.
This is something I personally use in my work when forming the final price for book translation, and I call it ‘Reason.’ I am sure plenty of freelance book translators use the same logic when needed, which is considering the reason(s) as to why the author cannot pay this or that amount of money. It is some form of negotiation when two people come to an agreement where everyone stays happy.
As a freelance translator I respect my time, and I definitely want to make the best out of each and every one of my projects. And as a writer, I know for sure that sometimes, authors are limited in their budget. If I like the book and the author is open and sincere about his/her finances, I would make sure that we both get the best deal at the end. If it means that I will have to find some ways to cut the price for this particular project, I will do so!
Communicate in a respectful manner – don’t just tell what you want, but explain why.
- Jeffrey Morales.
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