Translators take many series at once

Discussion in 'Novel General' started by AbrarMalik, May 24, 2020.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. AbrarMalik

    AbrarMalik Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2019
    Messages:
    387
    Likes Received:
    288
    Reading List:
    Link
    I have noticed that many translators take many series together and they get an update once in a while and sometimes even drop them. I mean wouldn’t it be better if they concentrated on 2-5 series than take other projects
     
    Sabruness likes this.
  2. Viola

    Viola Studio Ghibli Fanboy Mother of Learning Fanboy

    Joined:
    Nov 25, 2015
    Messages:
    2,610
    Likes Received:
    2,575
    Reading List:
    Link
    Well I don't know of any translators that take up more than 2 projects other than Rainbow Turtle. So are you perhaps talking about translation groups?
     
  3. Sabruness

    Sabruness Cultured Yuri Connoisseur

    Joined:
    Apr 5, 2016
    Messages:
    3,984
    Likes Received:
    4,589
    Reading List:
    Link
    This has been a long discussed and pondered topic and, to be honest, no real clear answer has surfaced. having a couple of novels, so that TLs dont get bored doing just one, is long understandable but, yes, some TLs seem to take on way more than they can reasonably handle.
     
    Sea Dog, SilvaLau and AbrarMalik like this.
  4. AliceShiki

    AliceShiki 『Ms. Tree』『Magical Girl of Love and Justice』

    Joined:
    Apr 27, 2016
    Messages:
    24,647
    Likes Received:
    98,364
    Reading List:
    Link
    You don't like what other translators do? Learn Japanese today and translate yourself! Show them through your own experience what a real translator does! ^^)/
     
    Astaroth, Vanidor and AbrarMalik like this.
  5. AbrarMalik

    AbrarMalik Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2019
    Messages:
    387
    Likes Received:
    288
    Reading List:
    Link
    Real life doesn’t allow me to do that, plus taking more projects will cause them more problems
     
  6. AbrarMalik

    AbrarMalik Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2019
    Messages:
    387
    Likes Received:
    288
    Reading List:
    Link
    Yes
     
  7. AliceShiki

    AliceShiki 『Ms. Tree』『Magical Girl of Love and Justice』

    Joined:
    Apr 27, 2016
    Messages:
    24,647
    Likes Received:
    98,364
    Reading List:
    Link
    Btw, it's not that uncommon to take 3+ projects, many translators do it.

    It's a good breath of fresh air for when you're a bit tired of a given series and stuff~

    I know some that go through 10 series at once even.
    Not really, translating is something people do because they want to do. It's not a problem to do what you want~
     
    TaffyGirl13 likes this.
  8. AbrarMalik

    AbrarMalik Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2019
    Messages:
    387
    Likes Received:
    288
    Reading List:
    Link
     
  9. Sabruness

    Sabruness Cultured Yuri Connoisseur

    Joined:
    Apr 5, 2016
    Messages:
    3,984
    Likes Received:
    4,589
    Reading List:
    Link
    I know. That's similar to what i said and what OP said, that having a couple of projects is fine. It's ones like you mention in the last line above (10+) that is what OP is questioning, regarding overworking and stretching too far thus leading to slow releases for all the novels they 'hold'. I also think OP is talking about single translators (whether solo or ostensibly part of a group) that take on tons of novels by themselves
     
  10. littleredblossom

    littleredblossom Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 28, 2018
    Messages:
    46
    Likes Received:
    36
    Reading List:
    Link
    Would you mean lone translators or translating groups? Because the groups are a collective of translators and there may be a lot more projects that are taking place.
     
  11. AbrarMalik

    AbrarMalik Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2019
    Messages:
    387
    Likes Received:
    288
    Reading List:
    Link
    Applying to both
     
  12. AbrarMalik

    AbrarMalik Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2019
    Messages:
    387
    Likes Received:
    288
    Reading List:
    Link
    No need to get worked up on something so small
     
  13. littleredblossom

    littleredblossom Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 28, 2018
    Messages:
    46
    Likes Received:
    36
    Reading List:
    Link
    I would say that it does get boring working on one project until its completely finished, because translating is a time-consuming process, and on top of that there is editing that needs to be done, assuming someone is lucky enough to have an editor. If you have let's say a 1000 chapters, you don't want that to be the only thing you're staring at every day for the next 3 years or so, assuming there are daily updates, give or take a few chapters.
     
    AbrarMalik likes this.
  14. AliceShiki

    AliceShiki 『Ms. Tree』『Magical Girl of Love and Justice』

    Joined:
    Apr 27, 2016
    Messages:
    24,647
    Likes Received:
    98,364
    Reading List:
    Link
    That's fine, it's a hobby. If it doesn't give them pleasure anymore, no need to keep up with it.

    Hobbies are fleeting, priorities change.
    I don't see any issue, at least the series isn't in limbo, never getting any updates again~
     
    TaffyGirl13 likes this.
  15. kiritorem

    kiritorem Member

    Joined:
    Feb 16, 2020
    Messages:
    8
    Likes Received:
    9
    Reading List:
    Link
    There's a group that's translating atleast 20 projects with one translator doing all the work. Only one project is getting steady updates while the rest gets updated once 3 months have passed in order for them to keep the project and it's off-putting, because neither the readers get translations nor the translators themselves seem to have time for the novels in question.
     
    AbrarMalik likes this.
  16. Viola

    Viola Studio Ghibli Fanboy Mother of Learning Fanboy

    Joined:
    Nov 25, 2015
    Messages:
    2,610
    Likes Received:
    2,575
    Reading List:
    Link
    TLDR; 2 series is plenty enough for a sole translator. I'm happy to be proven wrong but that is what seems to work the best. There are a few examples of people successfully taking on more, power to them! There are more examples of people taking on too much and letting projects suffer for it. I just find 2 to be the number that works for the most people as a maximum.

    Okay well then it that case there are some things to consider.
    Now in general i think 2 projects ongoing at any time is more than enough. This is under the assumption that they are not limited by the release rate in the country of origin. Take Tales of Demons and Gods for example. The translation is caught up and the original updates at best once a month. If the translator were in charge of a project like that in addition to their other projects then i wouldn't even count it honestly to the 'count'.
    Next thing to consider is what their rate of release is. It can be anything. So if they release 1 chapter a day for 2 series that is quite a high release rate as far as chapters go. Sure they are split between 2 series but the amount of work for the translator is still on the higher end of release rates in the community. For me as long as the projects are given constant attention (2-3 chapters at 2000 words each per week) that is more than enough for me to consider a translator backing a project strongly. So if a translator pumped out that for multiple works i wouldn't have a problem. Sure i may have my favorite novel that in closed doors i wish was given more attention but the same can be said for others in favor of the other novels so i just let it go.
    Translators Choice in the end. As long as they don't drop a novel with no reason or no good reason then they aren't in my bad books at all.

    As far as translation groups go there is a lot more to consider. Not only do you have to take into account the Sole Translator but you also must take into account things such as licensing. This isn't so much an issue when you are a solo group or a small group but if you join some of the medium or larger sites then this can put very real limitations on what can get translated. It has happened on more than one occasion that translators move to the bigger sites with the projects only to have licensing talks for those projects fall through and be forced, quite sadly to drop them.

    I'm not saying you don't look into the exact specifics of why these series are dropped or abandoned but i know i myself have been fooled into thinking it was lazyness or just a poor decision from the translator that led to a novel being dropped when in fact there was very good reasons behind the scenes on why i was dropped. Not that this is kept secret but hey, can't catch all the threads on site.
     
    AbrarMalik likes this.
  17. XiaoWenTian

    XiaoWenTian Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    May 2, 2020
    Messages:
    799
    Likes Received:
    637
    Reading List:
    Link
    Tbf I'm not sure if many people are aware that some? translators are dividing a whole chapters into parts, and you got an illussion as if they are translating and updating quickly.

    tbf I enjoyed picking up series I found it interesting to read, its also very easy and light hearted, and I won't get bored translating as I recycled through various stories. Patreon based translated service where you could read upcoming chapters in advance... is a good push for some stories that were admittedly harder to tl, such as cultivation or thriller setting.
     
    AbrarMalik likes this.
  18. XiaoWenTian

    XiaoWenTian Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    May 2, 2020
    Messages:
    799
    Likes Received:
    637
    Reading List:
    Link
    also some of those dropped series could also because the author wanted them to stop translating~ :sushi_hide:
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.