How Freelance Translators Create Their Book Translation Project

As a translator, you decide which authors to work with and which books to translate


There are a few steps:

Create an account at Babelcube, if you have not already done so. Provide as much detail as possible, as this will let authors get to know you, including your translation career and past successes. This will be your "business card" to introduce yourself to authors.

Check out the books that Authors want translated. Each book profile includes information about sales potential, such as sales figures, sales ranks, reviews, customer comments, and other useful information. Often authors include sample text for each book, which you can use to provide a sample translation.

You are welcome to work collaboratively with another translator on a project. For example, one could work as the lead translator and the other could provide editing and proofreading assistance. As a team, you determine how the translator royalty share is to be split between the two translators. You may prefer to work as a team.

Many authors will feel more confidence about the project when there are two translators. This is because the author will usually not know the destination language well enough to check the work, and hence, a second set of eyes is appreciated.

Make an offer to an author to translate one of their books. Be sure to include the destination language, an estimated time for the translation, and any plans to team up with another translator. If the author provided a sample text from the book, a sample translation will help the author gauge your translation skills.

Wait to see if your offer is selected. Authors will browse the offers they receive and the profiles of the translators. Once they find an offer that they like, they´ll confirm it and you will receive a message letting you know that you were chosen.

Review and accept the Translation and Distribution Agreement. The author will then upload the material that needs to be translated. This will include the book itself in electronic form and any other additional material, for example, promotional texts.

You will submit the first 10 pages translated to give the author an opportunity to review them and make suggestions. If the author is not satisfied, at this point, with the translation quality and you cannot improve it, the author can cancel the assignment penalty free.

The author will then have the opportunity to review the complete translation and ask for changes. Sometimes they will use a professional proofreader to assist them. If the author is not satisfied and can´t reach an agreement with you, they have the choice to cancel the assignment, but you may receive a cancelation fee.

Babelcube will distribute your book to all its channels that support the book’s language. Babelcube’s 300+ sales channel include the global online retailers, such as Amazon and Apple, and local retailers specializing in regions. Through Babelcube the author will convert the book into the different file formats for the various sales channels, publish it, and update things like pricing.

You will be named as the translator in the book. The author may also request your assistance with preparing the book for sale.

Let everyone know that you translated the book and that it is now available for purchase. Promote it through Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and forums. Help the author reach the local media and social networks in the book’s language.

You can also use innovative strategies; for example, team up with a rights holder with books in a series and agree to translate the series and offer the first book permanently free to get readers hooked so they will buy the rest of the series.

You can follow your sales at Babelcube. You will receive a royalty statements and payments. Authors will also receive their corresponding share. You can see how the royalties are split on this page.