I worked with author Chen Qiling to translate two of her short stories into English. They’re now available on Amazon via the Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) platform. The publishing process was easy. It took less than two days to go from manuscript to live. The KDP publishing platform even provided a book cover designer. If the book sells any copies, KDP charges a fee depending on the price of your book.
I’ve worked on a few books on Webnovel now, always with other translators, as the monthly quota is pretty rigorous. Some books get dropped if there’s not enough subscribers (paying readers). This book is still going strong. My translation partner and I have finished 500 chapters so far. I think the book has over 5000 chapters, so who knows if it’ll ever get finished.
Google Translate has improved in recent years. It can be used in combination with manual translation for some types of content. Google Translate is actually not bad in translating technical paragraphs, and a little weaker in colloquial, fiction-type content. Some funny examples:
Example 1:
Chinese: 省的夜长梦多
English on Google Translate: The province will have many nights and dreams.
Better translation: To prevent further mishap/future troubles.
Example 2:
Chinese: 毕竟名不正言不顺的
English on Google Translate: After all, the name is not right.
Better translation: After all, it’s not a righteous thing to do.
Example 3:
Chinese: 哼！没一个好东西！
English on Google Translate: Humph! Not a good thing!
Better translation: Humph! None of them are good!
Example 4:
Chinese: 眼神中充满了视死如归
English on Google Translate: His eyes were filled with death.
Better translation: He faced death unflinchingly.
In February of this year, the fiction sites I got a lot of work from dropped me since they didn’t want to pay the rate they gave me, which is already low compared to Chinese-English translation rates in the States. They found some cheaper translators whose work is very uneven, and the quality of the books suffered. I had to scramble and try to find work with past agencies/sites, which sort of filled the void. Then in late August, the Chinese news site I’ve worked on for years also stopped sending me work, the reason for which was never explained. I have a feeling it’s due to forces larger than me, and while it’s a little sad, it’s probably inevitable given the climate. So now it’s down to one client/agency who has sent me a somewhat steady stream of work: scripts of an nuclear company’s documentaries, a private school’s newsletters and press releases, a hospital’s internal news and PR pieces, parts of four non-fiction books… I really want to work on a single fiction book, instead of the 30 or 40 books I was working on for the fiction site, which felt overwhelming and inefficient, since each book had its own universe/characters/tone/style, and working on all of them at the same time was too much. Meanwhile, I just have to keep looking for new work in all kinds of places. Got offers of work from a few online fiction places and a subtitling agency, but the rate is so low it’s not worth my time. Here’s hoping the last quarter of 2019 will generate more work that’s satisfying and decent-paying!
I’ve been working for a fiction website. Started by a small company in China, the goal is to offer a lot of on-going fantasy, sci-fi, wuxia, urban paranormal, and other genre novels in English. The work is interesting and pays standard for CN to English translation in China. Check out the free reads if you like reading this kind of stuff.
A writer/editor friend self-published a short story I translated for her. It’s a sci-fi/fantasy story set in the future, with some interesting ideas on artificial intelligence (AI) vs. humans.
AlphaD’s Assasination
(The Alphas Don’t Know (AI Assasination) Book 1)
I remember bidding on these projects last year, while I didn’t win any of them, it was good practice and a way to get thicker skin. Freelance translators are almost like actors with the constant rejection they get, lol. These books are all coming out in August and September of 2016. I love how AmazonCrossing always chooses readable books for its list rather than more literary works, maybe these genre books will get people interested in reading translation and realize that not all translation is dry and obscure.
by Tang Qi (唐七公子), Poppy Toland
________
________
An interesting program for anyone who loves Chinese culture and wants to visit China this Summer/Fall.
The program has run for two years now, and it will run in Beijing, Shanghai, and Xi’an this July or September (sounds like one could pick the location), and all expenses are paid by the Ministry of Culture.
The VPYS (Visiting Program for Young Sinologists) program aims at facilitating research with China-based academic, cultural, educational institutions, groups, enterprises and scholars, as well as helping scholars achieve academic excellence and international influence. The Ministry of Culture of the People’s Republic of China (MOC) and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) jointly host the Visiting Program. High level institutions such as Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Chinese National Academy of Arts, Palace Museum, National Museum, National Library, National Art Museum of China, Peking University, Tsinghua University and many renowned Chinese authors and scholars will also participate in the program.
Translators, writers and other experts on Chinese culture aged 30-45 can apply for this program and come to China for a 20-day-long visit. After reading the attached information, feel free to email your applications and address any questions to Ms.Chen at chenfang@cctss.org.
“When you’re not growing, you’re dying.” This saying has always seemed too dramatic to me, but maybe it’s true with many jobs, especially freelancing. With dwindling work from my usual agency, I was forced to think of new ways to find agencies and clients. So far, there’s not been paying work from any of these efforts but I have made contact with lots of authors and editors, and who knows, someone might prove to be a key connection for a future project. In any case, it’s nice to feel less isolated when you work at home and don’t have the traditional office and coworkers.
Social Media:
Reaching out via Twitter, Weibo
I have contacted many writers and editors on Weibo (China’s micro-blogging platform, similar to Twitter). Some people have their email addresses posted, some can only be messaged through the site, which means your message could get lost in the shuffle. Most people are receptive to my message; some have added me on WeChat, or have later emailed me for English-publishing advice. A few were very wary, probably assuming I was running a scam of some sort. “Does this cost money?” was a common reply, I guess it’s not surprising given the medium.
Email:
Asking publishers if they want to collaborate on projects, offering yourself as a resource for scoping out books in your chosen language combination.
Professional networking sites:
LinkedIn
When you try to contact someone who isn’t already a connection on LinkedIn, the site asks you how you knew them before letting you email. Since my current job title is freelance, I usually use this as a way to get to the contact form and send a brief note about what I do and offer my services. I actually heard back from a few editors who were either open to being pitched or gave me someone else’s contact information. This could be a way to reconnect with someone you met at a conference or a networking event; those occasions could be hectic, and if you couldn’t match someone’s card with his/her face, checking in online could work too.
The 2015 BEA (Book Expo America) is going to be held in New York at the end of May, with China as the sponsor. I have never been to one yet, but I have heard it’s a big trade event for anyone in the publishing industry. I wonder who’ll be in the Chinese delegation and whether it means opportunities for Chinese-English translators. If Chinese books are to be read by anyone who speaks English, they’ll need to be translated first! Hopefully by a well-paid and happy group of translators. Let’s hope it does!
Journal of a Chinese-English Translator 