If you are starting out as a freelance translator or would like a career as such and got no idea where to begin or would like advice on certain areas - this is the book to get. It is the best one I've found on the market for this purpose and I can't praise it enough.
Title
|
A Practical Guide for Translators
|
Author
| Geoffrey Samuelsson-Brown |
Publisher
| Multilingual Matters |
Publication Date
|
2010 (5th Edition)
|
Pages
| 201 |
Genre
| languages, business |
The book is all about the business side of setting up and being a freelance translator.The author covers the following:
- How to become a translator
- Bilingualism - the myths and the truth
- The client's viewpoint
- Running a translation business
- Your working environment and the tools of the trade
- Machine translation and computer-aided translation
- Sources of reference, date retrieval and file management
- Quality control and accountability
- Presentation and delivery of translations
- What to do if things go wrong
- Professional organisations for translators
- Planning your exit strategy
An appendix further gives Translators organisations, and links. The advice can obviously applied to any language combination. Samuelsson-Brown's writing is very clear, with plenty of relevant examples from real life settings whilst never being unnecessarily academic.
This book has given me the confidence to be able to tackle the business side of being a Freelance Translator right from the first step (where do I even start with this…) and to make sure that you don't forget anything with such a big undertaking (i.e. do I need insurance and what type, what equipment do I really need and what will be a luxury). I have referred it again and again and would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone wanting to break into Freelance Translations. All advice is UK-relevant.