What is Translation?
Did you self-publish your novel in English and would like to access a completely new market? Perhaps Spanish is your native language but you don’t feel confident enough in your own ESL skills to translate your project yourself. Or maybe you have to submit a document as part of some official proceeding, but it will only be accepted if it’s certified by a professional translator. Well, you’re in luck! I am a native speaker of Spanish (Latin American) and fluent in English, working in English-language editing services for over seven years. I am certified by CTP to translate in the English-Spanish language pair. Here for all your translation needs!
How It Works
Translation is only done on finished texts; that is, documents or manuscripts that have already been fully written, edited, and proofread. Once you give me an estimated word count, I will get back to you with an estimated completion time that we must both agree to. Only then should you send me the full document/manuscript, so that I can start work. While I am translating, I may contact you in case certain word/phrase choices need to be made that I feel require authorial input. Please try to respond promptly, as sometimes these choices can be quite significant and delays on your part might affect the final completion time.
Translation is a work-intensive process that routinely requires more time than most other editorial services. The estimated completion time I give you will reflect that. If your document is short (a few pages), this might mean a few days, depending on the length. If you’re translating a full novel, we’re talking weeks or even months. Please keep this in mind and budget your time accordingly; I will not rush the translation even if you feel it’s taking too long for your schedule.
Pricing
As mentioned above, translation is a work-intensive process that requires a very specific (and relatively rare) skill set. That level of expertise is reflected in its cost, which might seem high compared to other editorial services. Translation is charged by the word in the source language; therefore, especially for longer projects such as novellas and novels, the total can run quite expensive. The sticker shock can be significant, so make sure you’ve thought it through and are certain you can afford it before setting on a translation journey.
A translation (English to Spanish or the reverse) will cost you $0.07 USD (7 cents) per word. If your document is short (1-10 pages) and has less than 150 words per page, you will be billed $25 per page. If you require the translated document to be stamped, an additional $25 fee will be included in your total. For documents or manuscripts over 1,000 words, a $70 USD non-refundable deposit will be charged upon receipt, then every two weeks until the work is completed, at which point you will be charged whatever is left from the agreed-upon total.
I will translate journalistic, academic, or workplace articles and reports, official documents, forms, pamphlets, marketing materials, schoolwork of any kind, or other similar non-narrative manuscripts on a per-case basis. I will not translate technical documents such as those in the fields of legal and healthcare work, or any STEM fields I have limited knowledge of. (Be sure to read through my About page to learn more about my academic background and experience.)
While I will try my best to deliver a translation that is as clean as possible, the document I send back to you should be considered a first draft for the target language. This means it is not ready for publication; especially on larger projects, there may be typos or similar transcription and formatting errors unrelated to the translation that should be caught and corrected before it is published. For this reason, it is highly recommended that you revise it and subject it to editing and proofreading by someone other than myself, just as you would have already done with the original in your native language.
Work Termination, Returns, and Refunds
Freaking Narnia does not sell or offer material goods; only editorial and consulting services are provided. As such, we do not conduct any business through physical mail. All exchange of data, including manuscripts and any documents generated as a product of science consulting, proofreading, and beta reading, is done electronically, in most cases via email. As such, Freaking Narnia does not offer returns of material goods of any kind, including items physically mailed to us.
Completion dates and deadlines for all projects will be agreed upon with the client before the start of work, also via email. For any email inquiries, we will try our hardest to get back to you within 24 hours, but please afford a maximum of 72 hours for a response. If you have not heard back from us in over 72 hours, feel free to reach out again.
Any payments received are non-refundable. A project may be terminated at any time, and payment will only be required for work already completed up to the date of termination. All work completed prior to termination of service must be paid at the agreed-upon rate. Any completed work shall be delivered upon payment. Deposits are non-refundable.
