Books and other long translations

I have had some experience recently working on a translation for a large German publishing house and would like to share some tips on what to look out for when signing a contract for translating a book or any other long document.

This list is not inclusive (if you have any other tips please feel free to email me) and does not include all the usual things which need to be considered when taking on a translation.

Word count

What will you be translating?

Working with the author

Formatting

Software you may need

The contract

1. Even if you are working with a large publishing house or a company with a lot of experience with translation, it is still necessary to ask the following questions.

2. Word count

• If you are sent a figure for the number of lines / words etc in the document(s), how was this figure calculated? (With very large figures, a "small" difference may mean days of work.)
• Does the figure include any text which is in images or equations, or written using a programme other than a text processing programme?
• Ask for the source text to check for yourself the number of lines and make sure you come up with the same figure.

3. Exactly what will you be translating?

• Look through the entire book, both in print format (if it already exists) and the digital copy you will be working with. There may be differences.
• Images:
  • Are there any illustrations with words in them which you will be expected to translate?
  • Will you be expected to edit the image files themselves or will it be enough to provide the translation as a text file?
  • If you have to edit the images, will they be provided as separate image files or will you be expected to extract the images from the text file?
  • Will you need a special programme to edit the images or can they be provided in a format you can edit with your existing software?
  • Remember to allow enough time for image editing and ensure that you are not paid only per line for these parts of the text.
• The source text:
  • Will you be sent the text as a Word document or PDF, or another format? (Ask this even when working with a large publishing house which has done hundreds of translations in the past.)
  • Is the source text the latest, current version of the document you will be translating, or may changes be made later which you will also be expected to translate?

4. Working with the author

• Will you be able to ask the author questions if the source text contains ambiguous wording, words lacking context, sentences which are unclear (e.g. badly written), or which contain mistakes (e.g. "notor" when it could be either "rotor" or "motor")?
• If the author agrees to help you in any way, ask in advance if he or she will be charging a fee for this.

5. Formatting

• Will you have to format the document in the same way as the source text or does the publishing house require different formatting?
• Will you be sent a sample of how this new formatting should look?
• Will you need to use a special Word template for the formatting? (I was sent one three days before the translation was due in, with a 33-page instruction booklet.)
• Does the template include an index-creating and page numbering function?
• How long should the formatting take, if you need to use a special template? Ensure that you will be paid for this extra time.
• Ensure that a current template is sent with the documents to be translated. Test it out to make sure that it is really compatible with the style of the book you are translating.
• Are there any house style rules you will need to comply with?

6. Software required for the translation

• Was the source text produced using any programmes other than standard Word? For example, if there are equations in the text, were they produced using Word or MathType ($100)?
• If there is anything other than pure text in the document, try clicking on it to make sure you are able to open and edit it.
• If you need to edit images, will you need a special programme to do so?
• Will you need to save the translated document as a Word file only or will you also need to save it as a PDF file or in another format?
• If a PDF file is required, will you need a special version of Adobe Acrobat or will your existing software suffice?
• Will you be sent a special add-in for Distiller to print the documents in a certain way?

7. The contract

• If you are sent a contract in a different language to that of the country where the publishing house is based, ask for a copy in the local language too. You may discover that the wording is ambiguous or the meaning unexpected. For example, "ready for reproduction" may actually mean "ready to be printed".
• If anything in the contract is not absolutely clear, ask them to explain exactly how they want the translation to be delivered: should you deliver it ready for press or will the publishing house be carrying out image editing, formatting or any other final work themselves?
• Take out insurance before signing a contract for a large translation.