Every year on September 30, the worldwide translation community celebrates International Translation Day, which coincides with the feast of Saint Jerome–often thought of as the patron saint of translators. This year’s ITD theme (submitted by ATA President David Rumsey and selected by FIT, the international federation of translators) is Connecting Worlds. FIT’s press release notes […]
Continue ReadingArchives for September 2016
Marketing to Direct Clients starts Monday-FULL
This session is now full; I’ll announce the 2017 sessions soon. If you’re hoping to make 2016 your year to break into the direct client market, the next session of my online course Marketing to Direct Clients can help you get there, and it starts on Monday. The session runs for four weeks, and […]
Continue ReadingSix figures as a translator: how to get there?
Earning six figures (meaning over $100,000 US dollars per year) is a significant goal for lots of freelancers. It’s an ambitious but achievable goal for most translators and interpreters who are good at their work, are ambitious, have good business skills, and are willing to work hard. One confusing thing in our industry is that […]
Continue ReadingAnalog words in the digital age
Here’s a random linguistic observation… Earlier this week, I was translating away on some public health materials, and came to the expression “composer notre numéro sans frais.” Knee-jerk translation: call our toll-free number (to get information about this public health initiative). And then it occurred to me, is it still correct to call something a […]
Continue ReadingNon-billable work: learn to live with it!
Thanks to reader Lisa Rodriguez for suggesting this post! Lisa (correctly) points out that “even with well-oiled procedures, it is *normal* to spend hours” on tasks like record-keeping, cleaning up bills and outstanding invoices, etc. As Lisa comments, “It’s part of the job…no point in getting bent out of shape about it.” Yes. Amen. I […]
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