Given that I'm a translator, you're probably expecting me to say YES! But the reality is that book translation is not for everyone. Here's what to consider:

Pros

• You'll multiply your potential readership by around 2,000% (yes, that's three zeros). If the translation is good, your book sales may also increase significantly.

• You'll be able to share your ideas, writing style, and creativity with a global audience.

• You'll strengthen and expand your reputation as an author. But like the first point, only if the translation is good.

Cons

• A high-quality translation that reflects the quality of your book is a significant financial investment.

• If you're not willing to do any type of marketing, your book may very well remain undiscovered, buried in the depths of Amazon.

Check out the full article for more details: Should I Get My Italian Book Translated into English?

Ready to get more info about translating your book? Contact me!

We live in a tough economy, so I can certainly understand wanting to save time and money whenever possible. And let's face it: it can be quite challenging to make money as an author.

But if you don't want to damage your reputation as an author, or potentially spend even more money in the long run, you need to view translation as an investment. With translation, as with almost everything in life, you get out what you put in. Here are some tips to help you choose the right translator for this important investment.

1. Make sure the translator uses machine translation and artificial intelligence only minimally, if at all. Automatic translation has come a long way and can be great for quickly understanding web pages, social media posts, emails, or other types of casual content.

However, it CANNOT effectively handle literary content. Even in the rare cases where automatic translation manages to be mostly "accurate," it will sound mechanical, awkward, and perhaps even confusing to native English speakers. It will not reflect the passion and care you put into your book. 

Skeptical? Check out my ongoing series of posts containing concrete examples of where automatic translation fails.

2. You need a native English speaker. Most of us professional translators only translate into our native language, not vice versa. This is a professional standard to ensure the highest quality translations.

If you ever see a translator claiming to translate from one language to another AND vice versa, be very skeptical. It is possible in a few cases, such as a translator who grew up in a completely bilingual environment, but these cases are rare.

3. Be wary of using an agency. Agencies are great if you're a business with a large volume of documents and content to translate. But as an author, you're likely to lose consistency and cohesion in your book. Many agencies will assign more than one translator to work on your book. 

Many are also notorious for using their best translators to provide you with a sample translation, then switching to less qualified, lower-cost translators for the rest of the book. A classic bait and switch. If you're interested in this topic, I recommend this blog post by a fellow translator, Rose Newell: Bait and Switch: How Translation Agencies Scam Everyone.

When you hire an individual translator, you know who you're dealing with!

4. You might want to publish the English version of your book as soon as possible, but good translation cannot be done quickly. 

As the professional standard for translation is 2,000-2,500 words a day, a translator who claims to be able to do it much faster than that will have to rely on shortcuts such as automatic translation. There is simply no way around it. In some cases, if the content is familiar or relatively simple, a good translator may be able to do 3,000 or 4,000 words a day, but be very wary of anyone claiming to be able to do it much faster. The quality will inevitably suffer.

5. This is probably everyone's least favorite point, but good translation doesn't come cheap. The 2,500-word-a-day quality standard for translators doesn't mean translating 2,500 words of a book in the morning and then translating other documents in the afternoon. It means 2,500 words a day, period.

If your book is 90,000 words, 2,500 words a day is 36 days of work. If your translator takes weekends off (and hopefully they do!), this amounts to just over seven weeks. Even at a faster rate of 4,000 words a day, you're still looking at more than four weeks of work. And that's just translation. I personally add another week for thorough editing, just to make sure everything is perfect!

How much money a person needs to live on for a five- to eight-week period will vary, of course, but if a translator offers to work for an amount that doesn't seem livable to you, they're almost certainly cutting corners on your book to fit more projects into their schedule.

6. Translating a book is much different from translating other types of material: legal documents, websites, medical information, technical reports, etc. While all translators should be good writers to some extent, book translators must be exceptionally good writers in English. After all, they're not just conveying factual information, but sharing a vibrant and complex story or message, as well as accurately conveying important cultural or linguistic nuances.

Find a translator who specializes in book translation and has a proven track record. Take care not to be scammed by those claiming to be translators simply because they know another language.

7. Most importantly, you need to find someone you trust. Unfortunately, if you're a native Italian speaker, no matter how good your English is, you cannot fully evaluate the quality of an English translation. If your English is excellent, you can probably spot outright bad translations, and maybe a few degrees of good vs. better. But you will not be able to distinguish between technically "acceptable" and truly outstanding, for a variety of reasons that I cover throughout my website, including concrete examples here.

As with so many things in life, the best you can do is research as much as you can and be as diligent as possible. Here are some quick recommendations, which I expand on in the full article linked right below:

• Read reviews from the translator's previous clients.

• Read reviews of the books the author has translated. Note that bad reviews do NOT mean a bad translation. Instead, you're only looking for any mention of bad translation or awkward wording.

• Get sample translations from various translators and have them evaluated by a native English speaker. Be sure to choose one of your most complex or nuanced passages so as to better evaluate their ability. I can help with this! See my "Is It To Good Be True" Challenge.

• Find someone with a serious and extensive online presence as a translator: someone who would have a lot to lose if they were to deliver a poor translation. Unfortunately, you'll find many people on the internet who claim to be translators, but the reality is that they just happen to speak 2 languages and/or plan to use automated translation. They're simply trying to make some extra money and aren't professionals.

8. Last, but certainly not least, trust your gut. You'll be working with your translator for several weeks and trusting them with your precious creation. Get a feel for their personality and professionalism through their website and when they communicate with you. Is it someone who you feel understands you and respects your work, someone who will take the time and make the effort to get everything just right for you?

Some authors have told me that their intuition pointed to me and they were very happy that it did. Sometimes you just know!

Check out the full article for more details on each of the above recommendations: How Do I Find the Right Translator?

Ready to translate your book? Contact me!

If you've done a Google search, you'll see that rates can vary widely, anywhere from €0.06 to €0.30 a word. If you've looked on a low-budget platform like Fiverr, you'll see that some even offer to translate for €0.01 per word or less.

So what's a fair price then? 

First, take into account how much time a translator would need to produce an accurate and beautiful translation. The professional standard for translation is 2,000-2,500 words per day. In some cases, if the content is relatively simple and/or familiar, a good translator may even reach up to 4,000 words per day. Anyone who claims to be able to do more than that is likely taking major shortcuts, such as using AI, and not paying much attention to quality.

Let's say you have a 90,000-word book. At the standard rate of 2,500 words a day, you're looking at around 36 full work days or 7.5 full work weeks. Even at the fastest possible rate of 4,000 words a day, a good translator would need to devote about 22.5 work days, or 4.5 work weeks.

The amount of income a person needs to earn to sustain their livelihood for 4.5-7.5 weeks will vary, of course. But if a translator is offering a rate that doesn't seem livable, they're almost certainly taking major shortcuts. There's no other way around this fact.

Simply put, you cannot get a good translation for a cheap price. If you don't currently have the budget for a good translation, I recommend that you wait until you do. It's not worth the risk of damaging your reputation and spending even more money in the long run. (For a real-life example, see this cautionary tale from one of my author clients.)

Second, consider that you're also paying for level of experience and expertise. As with almost any profession, you would expect better results, and therefore a higher price tag, from someone who has been doing the job for 20 years than from someone who just graduated from college.

My rate is between €0.03 and €0.05 per word. My price is lower than many other professional translators because I'm still building out my portfolio of openly available books. Due to confidentiality reasons, I'm unable to include my 17 years of work for the U.S. Government in my portfolio, so I have a lower rate as I continue to build out my Amazon profile. Because of this, you're getting my 19 years of experience at a lower price than you would typically get from someone with my level of expertise and experience! Contact me for a custom quote!

Think you've found someone who will do a good translation of your book for €0.02 per word or less? I'll help you evaluate their test translation! See my "Is It Too Good to Be True?" Challenge.

Paying a couple of cents per word may sound pretty nice, but you're actually just wasting your money because the translation will not be done well. If you don't care about translation quality, you might as well do it yourself with DeepL or Google Translate for free!

Check out the full article for more details: How Much Will It Cost to Translate My Book? 

Ready to get more info about translating your book? Contact me!

As an author, you probably know better than most just how long it can take to find the perfect word, to create just the right nuance, to structure a sentence or paragraph in such a way that it moves your readers to tears, makes them burst out laughing, or leads them to a moment of deep reflection.

While translation certainly doesn't take as long as writing the book itself, it does take a great deal of time to choose that same perfect word or phrase in English, to ensure that the subtle nuance you created in Italian is also present in English, to structure sentences and paragraphs so as to evoke those same experiences and emotions in your English-speaking readers.

The professional standard for translation is 2,000-2,500 words a day. Some translators may get up to 4,000 words a day (for simple and/or familiar content), but if a translator claims to be able to do much more than that, they are sacrificing quality by using AI and/or paying minimal attention to detail. (Wondering if using too much AI is really that bad for translation? See this real-life story and these examples.)

I only translate between 8,000-10,000 words a week. I treat your book as though it were my own. I want to make sure that I get every word, every sentence, every paragraph just perfect. I'm the kind of person who can spend up to an hour just considering options for a single word or phrase! I love the written word, and I'm meticulous about getting it just right. I'll ask you questions, I'll share comments and insights. Together, we will make sure that the English version of your book is exactly as you intended!

After I finish each translation, I also spend an additional week or two doing a full edit of the book at no extra charge. It's simply part of my commitment to making sure your book sounds just as wonderful in English as it does in Italian.

Check out the full article: How Long Will It Take to Translate My Book? 

Ready to get more info about translating your book? Contact me!

Your book has become a part of you and you need a translator who will treat it as if it were their own. A good translation captures much more than just the accurate meaning of your words—it captures its soul. This includes your voice, the delicate nuances, and the emotional impact of your story. These elements can be subtle, but they're often what turn a good book into a memorable one.

As a translator, I rely on:

• My extensive and fluent knowledge of Italian to achieve accuracy

• The intuition I've cultivated since learning Italian in 2000, spending years in Italy, and translating Italian professionally since 2005, to capture nuances, emotions, and other subtleties

• Frequent communication with you as the author to ensure I'm doing justice to your words

Here's what my process looks like:

1. I ask you to send me a detailed message about your book. In addition to the plot or message, I'd especially like to understand your feelings about it. What do you want your readers to think and feel as they read it? What do you believe is your unique style and voice that sets you apart from other writers?

2. I begin to analyze your writing. I look at things like your tone, your sentence structure, recurring themes, and the use of irony, cultural references, or other subtleties.

3. We decide on an appropriate frequency of communication. It can be once a week, once every other week, after every chapter, after every other chapter, etc. For these communications, I use a simple template that looks like this:

• Words translated since the last update: This allows you to keep track of how far along we are in the process.

• Questions: I may have questions about certain words or phrases that can potentially have multiple translations in English. I want to make sure to choose the option that fits best!

• Comments: Here I often explain punctuation, formatting, or grammar choices that are specific to English that might initially seem a little odd to you as an Italian. My clients often love the comments as they help them learn new aspects of English!

4. I also send my draft translation along with this template. This gives you plenty of time to review my translation and/or have someone else review it for you. You'll have frequent opportunities to ask any questions, suggest changes, or provide any additional clarifications about your text.

5. After I've completed the entire translation, I reread everything from beginning to end and make any necessary changes at no additional cost. This is simply because I take pride in my work and want everything to be perfect for you.

As far as payment, we will establish a plan together before the work commences. We often split the book into four equal parts whereby you send a quarter of the payment after I deliver a quarter of the translation. In other words, you do not have to pay upfront, but only after receiving an agreed-upon portion of the translation.

I know it can be scary to trust someone you meet on the internet, so I hope this process reassures you that there is no risk. If you don't receive the translation, you don't pay. By the end of our collaboration, I'm confident that you'll be 100% satisfied with the outcome and excited to publish the English version of your book!

Check out the full article for more details: How Will You Preserve My Voice, Nuances, and Other Complex Elements?

Ready to get more info about translating your book? Contact me!

One of my suggestions above for finding the right translator is to first ask for a sample translation of 1,000-2,000 words. Your goal is to of course evaluate the quality of the translation, but perhaps equally important, to assess the translator's professionalism, attention to detail, and commitment to your book.

Skill Level

I know this will be hard to hear, but if English is not your native language, you cannot rely on your own English skills to do a full evaluation. Your English may be excellent, which will certainly help, but even then you'll probably only be able to tell if the translation is bad or acceptable. You most likely won't be able to tell if it's just acceptable or truly excellent.

So what can you do?

1. Pick one of your most complex or nuanced passages for the sample translation. To best assess the translator's skill and commitment, find a passage that you think is the least likely to be able to be translated literally.

2. Put your sample passage into ChatGPT, DeepL, and/or Google Translate, and compare it to what the translator sends you. If you provided the translator with a simple and straightforward passage, there will likely be many similarities between their translation and automated tools, but if you provided a more nuanced passage, the translations should be far from identical.

3. Have a native English speaker read it and tell you if it sounds natural. Ideally, this English speaker would know Italian as well so they can also tell you if the translation is true to the original. But if not, you can at least have them check for naturalness and fluency. I also offer this service as part of my "Is It Too Good to Be True?" Challenge.

Other Factors

Of course you want the best possible translation, but don't neglect to observe how your translator communicates with you. Do they ask questions? Do they share comments? A good translator will consult with you on important questions because they know that a good translation is a team effort! 

A translator's questions and comments may reveal their level of commitment to your book. You'll begin to understand how thoughtful and meticulous they are. You'll be working with your translator for several weeks or even months, so it's important to keep looking until you find the right match.

Be aware that many people claim to be "translators" simply because they speak 2 languages. How a translator communicates and interacts with you will also be an indication of their level of professionalism. And of course, be sure to combine your evaluation of the sample translation with my overall tips.

Check out the full article for more details: What Should I Look for in a Sample Translation?

Ready to get more info about translating your book? Contact me!

The translation of your book is such an important investment! Be sure to do lots of research and watch our for these red flags.

1. Translation done at a rate of more than 4,000 words a day.

A 90,000-word book translated in less than 23 days? Red flag. The professional standard for translation is 2,000-2,500 words per day. If your book is extremely simple and the translator is very familiar with the subject matter, up to 4,000 words per day may be doable, but 23 days would mean working 7 days a week with no weekends or extra editing, so frankly, anywhere from 5 to 10+ weeks is much more likely to produce a quality translation.

Anything faster and the translator will have to rely heavily on automatic translation. If you're not convinced that this is a problem, please check out this cautionary tale and my ongoing series of concrete examples.

2. Translation offered for €0.02 a word or less.

A quote of €1800 or less for a 90,000-word book is a red flag. Using the professional standard of 2,000-2,500 words per day, this would mean that your translator is working at a rate of €6.25 per hour, or €999 per month/€11,988 per year.

Do you know anyone who could live at that rate, or would they have to squeeze in more jobs and/or use AI—thus sacrificing quality—to survive?

An exception to this is if a translator is new to the industry. A new translator may decide to offer lower rates as they build their portfolio. Using someone untested may also be risky, of course, but you may get lucky!

Don't forget: if you find someone who will translate your book for you for €0.02 or less, you're eligible to try my "Is It Too Good to Be True?" Challenge!

3. Lack of clarity about who and how many translators will be translating your book.

Translation agencies are good for translating large volumes of documents because they often have many translators available. They are not good, however, for translating books. Despite what they may tell you, an agency simply cannot guarantee that the same translator will translate your entire book, and the quality, consistency, and coherence of your book will inevitably suffer.

Similarly with gig platforms like Fiverr, many gigs posted by freelancers actually have multiple people behind them. You should always ask in advance how many people will be working on your book, but be aware that you may not get an honest answer. I recommend looking at the frequency with which their reviews and delivered orders come in. If you're seeing more reviews or deliveries than seem to meet the professional standard as outlined above, you can be pretty sure you're actually dealing with a group of people.

4. Translation offered from both Italian to English AND from English to Italian.

This may sound odd if you've never worked with translators. After all, if we know both languages well, shouldn't we be able to translate in either direction? 

The truth is that, yes, "technically" we can. But the reality is that no matter how good we are in our second language, even if we don't make a single mistake, our phrasing may often sound unnatural or confusing to native speakers. There are subtleties and nuances that we may not convey as well in our second language. 

5. Translation offered by a non-native English speaker.

Related to point #4, most true professional translators, as a matter of personal and professional ethics, will only translate into their native language to ensure the highest possible quality. There are occasionally a few exceptions, such as someone who has truly grown up in a bilingual environment, but these exceptions are rare.

6. Translator has a small internet or social media presence.

Although there are exceptions to this one as well, be aware that there are many people out there who claim to be translators simply because they know two languages. They may be testing the waters to see if they can earn a little money on the side and create a profile somewhere like Fiverr and/or Upwork.

Ideally, you want to find someone who has a proven track record and online presence as a translator: someone who would have a lot to lose by delivering a bad translation and couldn't just easily disappear on you.

Check out the full article for more details: What Red Flags Should I Watch Out for When Evaluating Translators? 

Ready to get more info about translating your book? Contact me!

Possibly! 

I'm the translator for you if:

• It's important to you that every last detail in your book be handled with care

• You want to participate in the translation process by answering questions and reviewing comments until everything is perfect

• You want someone who is an excellent writer in English with almost 20 years of experience in translation

• You want someone passionate about re-creating the same feelings and experiences your Italian readers have for an English-speaking audience

• You recognize that the level of detail, experience, and focus that professionals like myself provide are worth waiting 10,000 words per week for and paying at least €0.03 per word for

I'm not the translator for you if:

• You want your book translated faster than 10,000 words a week

• Your budget is less than €0.03 per word

• You believe the translator should simply deliver the translation to you without any interaction or questions

• You believe that AI is "good enough" to translate your book

• The Italian version of your book hasn't done well (either due to poor writing or lack of marketing) and you think that translating it into English will lead to instant success (without fixing the poor writing or lack of marketing that has prevented your Italian book from succeeding in the first place)

What you can expect if you choose to work with me:

• Clear communication upfront about how long your novel will take me and how much it will cost.

• Quick email responses to any questions or concerns you might have.

• Questions about any words or passages that I'm not 100% confident about. I'm not someone who is afraid to ask questions for fear of looking stupid! My only concern is getting everything just right.

• Meticulous attention to every word and detail of your text. (I've actually found at least one typo or other error in the Italian originals of every book I've ever translated. I mean no disrespect to the authors; this is a normal thing that happens. I just mention it to highlight how closely I'm paying attention to your words!)

• An English version of your book that is faithful to the Italian original in terms of meaning, nuance, and literary form.

• A book that flows so beautifully that your readers will not be able to tell that it has been translated.

• An on-time delivery, with no surprises about timeframe or cost.

• A translation that you can be proud of and that will do justice do your hard work and reputation as an author.

Ready to get more info about translating your book? Contact me!