Why (some) Translators Are Underpaid: Lessons from the Editing World Food for thought from Richard Adin at An American Editor

I follow Richard Adin’s blog An American Editor, a great resource not only for editors and proofreaders but also revisors and, occasionally, translators. I found this two-part post so relevant to translation that I decided to post a short summary of Adin’s eight reasons here.

Few editors [translators] know their required effective hourly rate [or per-word or per-sheet rate]. Most translators have the flexibility to ask whatever price they want (sworn translators excepted here in Brazil). Several sources are available for calculating a fair fee for translation, ranging from the simple to the complex. Adin maintains that professionals who set prices too low “reinforce the idea that editorial [translation] services are of little value,” which ruins the market for them and for all of us. Our profession has failed to convince clients of editing’s [translation’s] value. “As a profession, we have failed to convince our clients that they are devalued by poorly edited books. We have failed to demonstrate that consumers notice and care. We have failed to equate high-quality editing with reasonable compensation. By not making a concerted effort to convince clients of the value of editing, we have shored up the notion that cheaper is better for the bottom line.” Sound familiar? The market views us as low-level professionals who provide an unnecessary service. “They assume that no one will notice if the editing is poor … and unfortunately, too often they are correct. The publishers make the gamble and usually win. If an author cannot get an editor cheaply enough, the author will self-edit or have friends do the editing, because the author does not view editors as high-level professionals…” Again, too familiar. It is too easy to open an editorial business. A lack of regulations, requirements, codes of conduct, etc. make it hard to present ourselves as professionals (which is why joining a professional organization, despite being no guarantee of quality in itself, is a move in the right direction). For too many editors [translators], the income is a second income. Accordingly, with no pressure to charge survival rates, people who work “on the side” often offer absurdly low rates and clients come to think this is standard. We refer clients to “rate charts” to justify our fee. This may be specific to editing but I know in my market there is a famed rate table that many people cite, despite the fact that rates are unrealistic for some services, and despite the fact that it is prepared by a union to which almost nobody belongs. On the other hand, this may be a helpful resource for justifying a higher-than-expected rate to the client, but since every job is different, it is better to calculate what this job costs for you, in terms of how much time it will take you. We fail to give a client a cogent explanation of why we can’t accept a job (for a certain price). “How many of us take the time to explain our editing workday and workweek? Clients assume that because we are freelancers working from home (usually), we are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Few editors I know ever say otherwise. When I respond to a client’s project offer, I carefully delineate the editing workday and workweek, explain what services are included and excluded, and I offer various options at different prices. I let the client choose the editing package and price. In my early years I didn’t do this; today I almost always offer choices. This reinforces to the client that I am a professional and that the client can have certain expectations at certain price points.” I have recently been exploring this option, offering varying rates according to deadline (originally in an attempt to handle a very busy period). Sometimes clients go for the discount, but the next time a client has a fast turnaround job, she understands that faster costs more, no explanations needed, and it works very well. The lack of standard definitions for editorial services. Mostly editing-specific, but it reminds me of the variation we see in translation in terms of whether we touch tables/images, check links, check equations, convert scanned documents, rearrange layouts for certificates, etc. Recently I was approached to translate an academic article and as we were negotiating price and services the author sent me her login and password for the journal’s online platform, “so you can submit the article and talk to the editor during the review process”. I responded that this was far beyond the scope of a translation, and something I could not do for her. Her answer was “the last translator did it without a problem.” [in the end she took it elsewhere, and probably found someone else to do it. Too bad, for all of us.]

So where does this leave us? I know in the last year or so I have become much more open about explaining my services to my clients, and justifying why some things cost more. Most of my clients are corporate, and they understand time=money, and that quality costs, which helps. Chris Durban’s Translation – Getting it Right (available here in a variety of languages) has also been helpful.

Check out An American Editor and the original post here.

Image credit: Fabian Blank at Unsplash.