As a Spanish to English translator, I am highly specialized. That level of specialization allows me to provide clients with a high-quality product by focusing on what I do best. However, if I’m not careful, specialization can turn into over-reliance on one source of income. How can a translator balance the need for specialization with [...]
Last night, I was wrapping up a productive day of translating when I was called away from my desk. I was told to check the mail, which included a large envelope from the ATA. If I remember anything from applying to college and graduate school, it is that the big envelopes have good news—and this [...]
When I worked as the communications manager of a small nonprofit organization, one of my responsibilities was to create and/or manage all of our marketing and collateral materials. It was a challenge to finesse the marketing copy, select just the right photo, and finalize the layout. However, nothing was more challenging than creating a concert [...]
How do you decide whether to use a translation agency or a freelance translator? And how do you choose among the many agencies and translators out there? Here is a nice guide to help you get started making that choice: Translation: Buying a Non-Commodity (PDF). I can also offer a handful of quick tips based [...]
How often do we hear about clients requesting discounts on large projects? And how often do we hear translators complaining about it? Why is this still such an issue for translator-client relationships? I think the issue comes down to what the terms “volume” or “bulk” really mean when referring to translation. Although I usually quote [...]
