By: Susan Pickford

Susan Pickford — Sat, 20 Jul 2024 18:38:37 +0000

Also, typically the publisher pays for the copy-editing, not the translator.

By: Susan Pickford

Susan Pickford — Sat, 20 Jul 2024 18:34:11 +0000

I have been translating books for nearly 25 years and translators most definitely do receive advances on sales.

By: Tom West

Tom West — Fri, 07 Jun 2024 19:46:33 +0000

This article is not very accurate.
First, it is not true that almost all literary translators are “academics who translate during office hours when no students have come to see them.” That sounds fairly insulting to academics, but it’s also not true. Ros Schwartz, Lydia Davis, the Volokhonskys, Lydia Razran Stone, Nora Favorov, etc. are not academics. H.T. Lowe-Porter and Constance Garnett were not academics.
Second, although the author insists on the need for an editor and a proofreader, it’s clear that this article was not reviewed by anyone. For example, “mitigating circumstances may avail” should be “mitigating circumstances may prevail.”
Third, the Uniform Commercial Code in the US governs only contracts for the sale of goods, not contracts to translate a book.
I’ll refrain from pointing out the other problems because to do so might sound like caviling. But readers should take this article with a grain of salt.

Comments on: Breaking Into Book Translation

By: Susan Pickford

By: Susan Pickford

By: Tom West