Royalties for translating an author's work Thread poster: Joseph Grill
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Joseph Grill
Canada
Local time: 11:21
English to French
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Hello everyone! I would like to know if a translator can earn royalties from translating a book or other pieces of literature. If yes, how does it work?
A prospective client asked me to translate his book. Along with his request, he said "The bonus is that the name of the person would also be included in the book as the translator." I know authors get paid royalties for their writing. Is there a way to get paid any royalties like the author would get? Or is the translator out of luc... See more Hello everyone! I would like to know if a translator can earn royalties from translating a book or other pieces of literature. If yes, how does it work?
A prospective client asked me to translate his book. Along with his request, he said "The bonus is that the name of the person would also be included in the book as the translator." I know authors get paid royalties for their writing. Is there a way to get paid any royalties like the author would get? Or is the translator out of luck with this?
Thanks for your help! ▲ Collapse
| | | | | | Joseph Grill
Canada
Local time: 11:21
English to French
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TOPIC STARTER | Thanks for the link | Jan 30, 2023 |
Thanks for sharing the link, Maria, I appreciate it. However, I must submit my quote by January 31, I am unable to wait until February 23. I was going to quote a per-word rate on the project anyway. I was curious about how the royalty part would work. Thanks again!
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I’ve read here many posts against book translations being paid by royalties. The only two books I translated were paid on a word basis by the publishers not by the authors.
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Joseph Grill
Canada
Local time: 11:21
English to French
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TOPIC STARTER | Thanks for your insight | Jan 30, 2023 |
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida wrote:
I’ve read here many posts against book translations being paid by royalties. The only two books I translated were paid on a word basis by the publishers not by the authors.
Thanks for your insight, Maria, I appreciate it.
| | | | Platary (X)
Local time: 19:21
German to French
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| Who is the client? | Jan 30, 2023 |
Hello Joseph,
I don't know if there are specific practices in Canada, but generally speaking a book translation is done with a publishing/translation contract with a publishing house. This contract must specify all payment terms. So why not royalties (percentage on sales) after the initial payment (to be agreed) of an initial transfer of rights.
For a translation requested directly by an author, this looks like autopublishing and is highly unlikely to lead to royalties ... See more Hello Joseph,
I don't know if there are specific practices in Canada, but generally speaking a book translation is done with a publishing/translation contract with a publishing house. This contract must specify all payment terms. So why not royalties (percentage on sales) after the initial payment (to be agreed) of an initial transfer of rights.
For a translation requested directly by an author, this looks like autopublishing and is highly unlikely to lead to royalties (usually very hypothetical sales, although very rare exceptions do of course exist). In this case, it is best to settle for a translation to be paid for once and for all, as for any document.
The question is therefore who is this prospective client?
If it is the author himself, it is quite likely that he will find your rate far too high and, even if you find an agreement, I don't know of any good experience in self-publishing/translating.
En espérant avoir répondu à votre interrogation : éviter de traduire autrement que pour une maiison d'édition. En France, le nom du traducteur est obligatoire dans la publication, ce n'est pas un "cadeau".
Bon courage et tenez-nous au courant. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Lingua 5B 
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 19:21
Member (2009)
English to Croatian
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| For it to work | Jan 30, 2023 |
You‘ll need a contract drafted for it to work. You can‘t be paid royalties based on someone‘s word. In a contract, you can define all details, which may be different based on your personal context.
Both base per word rate plus royalties would work. If the client wants purely royalty based work, I‘d say avoid them. They listed mentioning your name in the book as a benefit. How will this benefit you in the future, concretely, can you list 5 concrete examples?
Is t... See more You‘ll need a contract drafted for it to work. You can‘t be paid royalties based on someone‘s word. In a contract, you can define all details, which may be different based on your personal context.
Both base per word rate plus royalties would work. If the client wants purely royalty based work, I‘d say avoid them. They listed mentioning your name in the book as a benefit. How will this benefit you in the future, concretely, can you list 5 concrete examples?
Is this fiction or non-fiction? ▲ Collapse
| | | | Joseph Grill
Canada
Local time: 11:21
English to French
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TOPIC STARTER | I was curious | Jan 30, 2023 |
Lingua 5B wrote:
You‘ll need a contract drafted for it to work. You can‘t be paid royalties based on someone‘s word. In a contract, you can define all details, which may be different based on your personal context.
Both base per word rate plus royalties would work. If the client wants purely royalty based work, I‘d say avoid them. They listed mentioning your name in the book as a benefit. How will this benefit you in the future, concretely, can you list 5 concrete examples?
Is this fiction or non-fiction?
I was going to quote a per-word rate on the project solely anyway. I was curious about how the royalty part would work. From all the comments received, royalties appear to be much more trouble than what they are worth.
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Joseph Grill
Canada
Local time: 11:21
English to French
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TOPIC STARTER | Merci Adrien! | Jan 30, 2023 |
Adrien Esparron wrote:
Hello Joseph,
I don't know if there are specific practices in Canada, but generally speaking a book translation is done with a publishing/translation contract with a publishing house. This contract must specify all payment terms. So why not royalties (percentage on sales) after the initial payment (to be agreed) of an initial transfer of rights.
For a translation requested directly by an author, this looks like autopublishing and is highly unlikely to lead to royalties (usually very hypothetical sales, although very rare exceptions do of course exist). In this case, it is best to settle for a translation to be paid for once and for all, as for any document.
The question is therefore who is this prospective client?
If it is the author himself, it is quite likely that he will find your rate far too high and, even if you find an agreement, I don't know of any good experience in self-publishing/translating.
En espérant avoir répondu à votre interrogation : éviter de traduire autrement que pour une maiison d'édition. En France, le nom du traducteur est obligatoire dans la publication, ce n'est pas un "cadeau".
Bon courage et tenez-nous au courant.
Merci pour voter contribution, Adrien, je l'apprécie beaucoup!
| | | | CroPro
Croatia
Local time: 19:21
English to Croatian
| Never heard of it | Jan 30, 2023 |
Besides, the truth of the matter is that 99% of authors earn peanuts from their royalties in the first place. Let's call them first tier royalties in this case. I guess translator's would be second tier, and that would be... peanuts of the peanuts.
So unless you're translating Stephen King, I can see no profit in it whatsoever.
| | | | | I've translated 28 books... | Jan 31, 2023 |
...and never received royalties. Most don't sell in sufficiently large quantities.
| | | | Jo Macdonald
Spain
Local time: 19:21
Italian to English
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...unless the book is going to be a best seller.
I'd quote on a "price per word" basis.
One thing you can do is base the first estimate on the first few chapters you'll do the first month. At the end of the month the client can check the work done to make sure they're happy with it. Bill these chapters at the end of the month and when paid start the next batch.
This way the cost is less of a big lump for the client and you won't do the whole book then wait to get ... See more ...unless the book is going to be a best seller.
I'd quote on a "price per word" basis.
One thing you can do is base the first estimate on the first few chapters you'll do the first month. At the end of the month the client can check the work done to make sure they're happy with it. Bill these chapters at the end of the month and when paid start the next batch.
This way the cost is less of a big lump for the client and you won't do the whole book then wait to get paid.
[Edited at 2023-02-02 08:19 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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| Indie authors vs. traditional publishers | Feb 2, 2023 |
These days, there're loads of amateur authors who self-publish their books, especially through KDP on Amazon. I'd say that the bulk of literary translation work comes from them these days, not from traditional publishers. This is a huge market that shouldn't be ignored. Which also makes it tricky, for several reasons. Most of these books will only sell a handful of copies, so the author will never recover the translation costs. Naturally, they'd rather go with the royalty option, forgoing the up... See more These days, there're loads of amateur authors who self-publish their books, especially through KDP on Amazon. I'd say that the bulk of literary translation work comes from them these days, not from traditional publishers. This is a huge market that shouldn't be ignored. Which also makes it tricky, for several reasons. Most of these books will only sell a handful of copies, so the author will never recover the translation costs. Naturally, they'd rather go with the royalty option, forgoing the upfront payment entirely  . By the same token, charging them on the "price per word" basis would be unfair if the translator doesn't believe the book will sell.
Personally, I always go with the "price per word" option, no royalties, but I always retain the copyright. Then again, there're always surprises. I once felt extremely guilty while translating a book because I could see it was a hopeless case. Boring and rambling, I thought. It wouldn't sell a single copy, I thought. Well, what do you think - that book became a perennial Amazon bestseller in its genre. But even so, after all these years, the royalties I would have received from the author would have been peanuts. And most of the books I translated for indie authors have never broken even, and never will. So worrying about royalties really isn't worth the trouble. If the author is prepared to risk their own money, it's their call.
So it's a tough choice. Technically, literary translation can't be considered "work for hire". A licensing agreement has to be made and the translator is entitled to royalties. The copyright to a translated work of literature ALWAYS remains with the translator. In reality though, most of those who work with authors directly work on the "price per word" work-for-hire basis, and I can't blame them. Recovering those penny royalties - if any - is just not worth it.
[Edited at 2023-02-02 12:18 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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