How do I get work as a translator or proofreader?

by Jimmy Hollis i Dickson
2nd February 2015

If you're bothered by chatty questions, skip to the last paragraph.

As a reader, I'm often bothered by the shoddiness of the translation (or proofreading) in a book. Especially in the use of idioms. (The Catalan translator of “The Catcher In The Rye” translated “all he did in his spare time was beat women off with a club” as “[...] beat women with a club”. The German translation of Marge Piercy’s “Woman On The Edge Of Time” – my favourite adult novel – is ATROCIOUS!!!)

Having lived for many years in various countries, I could translate works from and into the following languages: Catalan, Spanish (Castellano), German, and English. But I'd like to concentrate my translating energies on books for children, as this wouldn't take TOO much of my time from my "real" job... WRITING books for children.

I've entered "translator" into the search machine of the listings on this site, but come up with a list of organisations (and prizes) for established translators.

So: how do I break into the field? Do I look for an agent who represents translators? Are there such people? Do I contact publishers directly? As with writing, who's going to pay attention to a 60-year-old with no published work in his CV?

Replies

Seriously, build your own website. Doesn't have to be too flash/expensive, but I'm sure you'd get a lot of responses pretty soon. And yes, contact the small publishers, letting them know what you can offer, directing them to the website, where you'll put up small examples of your work, or better still, some testimonials.

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Jeff Richards
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