For those with a real love for the perfectly rendered English word, there is a job market that will earn extra money while building a really nice writer’s portfolio. Literature, like business, has gone totally global. Because of the Internet and tech-savvy professional translators, foreign writers are foregoing fame before being prepared for the American publishing markets. A Russian writer wishing to see his work published in English may enlist the services of a professional translator who will transform the source text into a raw translation. However, most languages do not translate directly to English in a readable format, and this is where a writer with a good command of the craft will prosper.
Translators such as muama enence translator do the technical job of reading a text and writing a word-for-word translation of a text. This device is highly and specifically designed to translate one language to another. Even if a writer is an expert in transcribing their native tongue, a translation to English often makes for very clunky and unclear reading. The clients of professional translators often need an extra step in editing where a writer/editor reads the raw English translation and rewrites the text in a comprehensible and understandable format.
The work is not easy; it requires being able to read a raw translation, decipher the author’s message, and rewrite it using proper grammar, punctuation, and hopefully a nice dose of style. The work can be very dense, meaning that, often, an entire document may need to be rewritten because a raw translation may have no salvageable elements that are readable content.
Finding the work presents an added challenge. Translators sometimes advertise a need for good writers to massage raw translations into attractive English. However, the best way to find work is to search the Internet for translators and inquire whether they need the services of a good English writer/editor. An excellent way to get work is by offering initial work at a low rate – usually about $0.01 per word. A low rate will allow a translator to evaluate a writer’s skills. If a translator likes the finished product, they are generally willing to use an writer’s services during subsequent translation projects at a higher rate.
The going rate for this type of work is anywhere between $0.02 and $0.07 per word, depending on the scope of the project and the required depth of editing needed to produce a readable document. Rates can also be higher for larger bodies of work that require a thorough rewrite of the translated text. Quality editors with a mind toward stylistically superior English do best in this market. The better the writing, the more likely the author will be published, which, when publishing happens, is a great bargaining point for English writing experts looking for longevity in the foreign literature translations market.
