Going rate for Editing (English)

[oxente!]

I work freelance doing translations but lately I have started to get requests for editing and I don´t have a very good idea about how much to charge.

I am editing literary works that are translated from Spanish to English by Argentine writers so there are a lot of things that are translated in an odd manner plus generally editing. I am also doing some articles that are about legal issues, these are scholarly articles that are to be submitted to American academic journals.

Does anyone know what is being charged....? I think a per hour rate is perhaps the way to go....

Advice?
Thanks in advance!!

 

[JoeBlow]

I work freelance doing translations but lately I have started to get requests for editing and I don´t have a very good idea about how much to charge.

I am editing literary works that are translated from Spanish to English by Argentine writers so there are a lot of things that are translated in an odd manner plus generally editing. I am also doing some articles that are about legal issues, these are scholarly articles that are to be submitted to American academic journals.

Does anyone know what is being charged....? I think a per hour rate is perhaps the way to go....

Advice?
Thanks in advance!!

You could become a member of NDET.ORG and look for threads on the subject. Also proz.com must have (had) simiar threads for Argentina.

 

[MClare]

You could become a member of NDET.ORG and look for threads on the subject. Also proz.com must have (had) simiar threads for Argentina.

Proz.com looks great - have you used it? Are the courses trustable? I have never translated professionally, but would like to get into it. Any suggestions on how to get started?

 

[sketchyblueeyes]

I have heard that translating, ghostwriting, and editing are best done freelance and not with a group, because whomever gets your jobs for you will take a big chunk. I was the editor in chief of my grad school's journal, and for two years just worked with a well recommended freelancer b.c he was much cheaper, yet he made more money that people working with groups. My advice? Build yourself a simple but easy to navigate website and start advertising on craigslist, university bulletin boards, etc.

luck to you.

 

[acupunturabuenosaires]

I have worked for many, many years in the translation world. The professional golden rule of thumb is always that translations should be done by a native speaker of the the target language, i.e., in this case, Argentines (or other native Spanish speakers) should NOT be translating from Spanish to English.

Rates of course vary and I am not up on what people are currently paid, so can´t help you there. I CAN tell you that rates have taken a nosedive in the past few years with internet competition/websites where jobs are posted and several translators bid on them (someone in Central America can naturally afford to underbid someone in, e.g, the US or Spain), and Spanish rates have always been much lower than all other languages because of the oversupply of people working with SP-EN/EN-SP, in any case.

One thing is for sure, you should charge A LOT more than the going rate with these Argentine-translated texts, as you will be doing far more work than the usual editing you´d have to do if the translations had been done correctly in the first place, by native speakers.

 

[JoeBlow]

Proz.com looks great - have you used it? Are the courses trustable? I have never translated professionally, but would like to get into it. Any suggestions on how to get started?

Don't do it! Haha!

Translation, unless you specialize and always work with the same subject matter, is extremely time-consuming and nobody will pay you for your time to do the job properly. (Exception: a large publisher commisions you to do a transaltion of El Quijote and will pay you two years' salary while you work —which happened recently.)

If you want to professionally do it, then you would have to have a degree (to work for the courts in the US for example).

I myself wouldn't recommend studying translation unless you want to work for the courts or get an in-house job here in Arg. It's really all about common sense. You'd do better to invest those four years reading in the Spanish language and trying to learn as much vocabulary as you can. Also, make sure your English vocabulary is up to speed as well.

Hope this is the type of advice you were looking for!

 

[EllieArgentina]

Hi Oxente,

I moved here a month ago and am working freelance as an editor; I worked as an editor in the UK for several years before replying. Unfortunately it appears that my attention to detail isn't what it should be though as I can't find any way of sending you a private message! Could you send one to me? Would like to get in touch.

All the best,

Ellie

 

[fifs2]

deleted message as I sounded insufferable

 

[voyagingknoxvillian]

In regards to your question about what to charge for editing...I also edit academic papers for publication, written in English by Argentinians.

I charge 10-15 pesos per page, depending on the complexity of the article, how horrid the english is, and whether the person is my english student or not. I reformat the article to have 1 inch margins, 12 pt font and double spacing. Usually the articles are 30 pages or so. I check for grammatical errors and style. I do this from Cordoba, not BA.

I too am unsure if this is fair or is too low of a price. Does anyone else do this type of editing? What do you charge?