What does literary translation actually cost?

@j_the_scribbler OP

2mo ago

I keep seeing wildly different numbers and I can't tell what's real. I'm trying to budget for getting one literary novel, around 90,000 words, translated into a major European language and done properly. What should I actually expect to pay, and how do translators usually structure it?

11 comments

@kovac_ink2mo ago

For literary work into a major European language, plan on roughly $0.08 to $0.15 per source word, and the top end goes higher for highly literary or poetic prose. So your 90k novel realistically lands somewhere around $7,000 to $14,000-plus. If someone quotes you $0.03 a word for a novel, that price is telling you the quality you'll get.

@j_the_scribblerOP2mo ago

That's higher than I hoped but lower than I feared, which is oddly reassuring. Is per-word the standard, or do some charge per page?

@kovac_ink2mo ago

Per source word is most common in the English-language market because it's predictable for you to budget. Some European translators quote per standard page, often defined as 1,500 or 1,800 characters, and a few prefer a flat project fee. Always confirm whether the count is source words or target words, because some languages expand fifteen to twenty percent in translation and that shifts the total.

@emdash_emma2mo ago

Pay for a sample translation, and pay for it separately. A serious translator will do a representative two-to-four page test, and you should expect that to be billed, not free. It protects both sides: you see real quality on your own text, they aren't giving away labor. Treat anyone offering unlimited free samples with suspicion.

@the_understudy1mo ago

Don't forget the second pair of eyes. A proper literary translation usually needs a separate reviser or proofreader in the target language, and that's often another 20 to 40 percent on top of the translation fee. Budgeting only for the translator and skipping the revision is how typos and clunkers end up in print forever.

@indie_ivan1mo ago

Self-pub reality check, since the big numbers scare indies off. Look into translation grants: many countries fund translation of their own literature outward, and some target-market cultural bodies subsidize bringing books in. If your source country has a literature-export program, a chunk of that $10k might not come from your pocket at all.

@the_understudy1mo ago

To Ivan's point, royalty-share or hybrid deals exist too. Some translators will take a reduced flat fee plus a small royalty on the translated edition if they believe in the book. It's less common and you must put the exact split in writing, but it can make a project possible when the upfront cash isn't there.

@j_the_scribblerOP1mo ago

The grant angle alone may have just rescued this project. I had no idea export programs existed. Going to check whether my country runs one before I assume the whole bill is mine.

@foggy_chapters1mo ago

Rates also swing hard by language pair and availability. Into German, French, Spanish, Italian you'll find more translators and competitive pricing. Into a smaller-market language, or a rare pair, fewer qualified people means higher rates and longer waits. Scarcity, not just difficulty, sets a lot of the price.

@verse_and_vice1mo ago

One caution on chasing the lowest number: a cheap quote often hides that there's no revision step, no contract, and no track record. By the time you pay a second translator to fix the first one, you've paid more than the proper rate would have cost. Cheap translation is usually the most expensive way to get a book translated.

@brewed_prose1mo ago

Get the payment schedule in writing along with the rate. Typical literary jobs run something like a third up front, a third at the halfway delivery, and the balance on final acceptance. Spreading it that way protects you both and gives you natural checkpoints to confirm the work is on track before the whole fee is gone.