My mother is Chinese and a Chinese novel addict, I recently told her about the online translations I read and about how they get donations to translate additional chapters. My mother was really intrigued and said she wanted to try it out, although half her intrigue is due to her love for Chinese novels and an hobbyist soul to translate. Another half of her interest stems from money, since she's recently retired she has a lot of time, but at the same time shes a workaholic, so shes actively looking for part times jobs at the same time. Honestly don't ask me where she gets her motivation from, she's so dedicated to her philosophy that a human being needs to work to be considered human that it scares me. Anyways, she asked me a lot of questions, but to be honest I know very little about translators. I had told her that most translators online don't do it for money but rather as a hobby, Which she told me she sits well with since she want to make it half her hobby if it interests her, only that if people like her work then she would like to make some small money out of. Another reason she wanted to try it out was because she recently watched "Three Lives Three Worlds, Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms" and absolutely loved it, so she wanted to try translating something similar. I also told her that if she wants to translate online then she needs to give out free chapters, and the money usually comes from donations from generous or desperate readers that want additional chapters. Tbh I don't know if she knows whats she getting herself into, since she doesn't really read online but rather physical books, although she does love stories like peach blossom. I don't even know if she's going to get ANY money out of it in the first place! But there are various problems left and right, especially since I know that peach blossom is already translated, she wants ME to find her a book to translate. I CAN'T EVEN READ CHINESE FOR GOD SAKE HOW AM I SUPPOSE TO FIND HER A SUITABLE BOOK?! Anyways back to topic, there are things I want to ask our lovely translators here about translating, since I know my mother is very dedicated and will finish the things she starts without fail (she's serious like that), I don't want her to charge in and realise she doesn't like it at all but forces herself to finish things anyways. Questions: 1. How much do you usually donate to request for an additional chapter? 2. How long does it take to translate one chapter in general? 3. Will Qindan international get in the way? 4. Anything I need to know additionally? 5. Any good stories like Three Lives Three Worlds, Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms for my mother to translate? Oh by the way, when she asked me if I wanted her to translate anything, I blurted out Heaven awakening path without thinking, lol. I'm way to desperate for that novel.
You should try getting her to do something like an internship with a bigger translator group first or something. Or at least hitting them up for answers. Try volare maybe, or alyschu or radiant. Idk much honestly I don't think Qidian will get in the way unless it's from their site but I bet you could apply to be a translator with them (although then rather than hobby it'll be an actual job). On another note, if we leeches (especially the ones who don't know Chinese) can get more stories then we will welcome your awesome mom with no complaints T7T
try pm'ing etvolare with all the things you've posted here, copy-paste and email, and better yet, include your mum in the email loop... just a friendly suggestion
1. I've mostly seen around 45-60$ 2. Depends on chapter length and speed, probably 4-5 hours at the most, more like 2-3 on average. 3. Not unless they are planning to translate it, she could even host her translation on their site. 4. My cat is the best cat 5. Show her the popular works online and see what she likes, it would probably be easier to find something from that.
@etvolare is it your case? 3. If it's not from qidian there's no problem 5. Look at the pick up requests with only chinese tag and see for yourself
1. Varies. I've seen $20-80 per chapter depending on the translator. Do note that people are more inclined to pay for bonus chapters (on top of regular chapters) rather than straight up pay for chapters 2. Varies. I believe Ren on WuxiaWorld had some posts regarding these. I've seen some people quote a few hours and some people quoting more than a few hours. Ultimately depends on dedication and skill 3. Most of the time no unless you translate something they're already doing or planning on doing. The authors may be less inclined to permit it though but at the same time, they don't usually respond to messages as proven by Ren and other chinese translators couldn't get a hold of the authors for the longest time in the beginning 4. A lot of translators has mini blogs or posts talking about how they translate or their experience. You can poke around looking for those (WuxiaWorld has at least a few from Ren (RWX) and Deathblade) 5. Go check the novel pickup requests
It will be easier for her to start with an ongoing project and a proper group to understand how they work, given time she might want to go solo. I personally suggest release that witch, that novel is great and I'm sure your mother will like it.
If she join a translator group that already have big name, if she is good at converting chinese term to readable english, i think she will do good and can get some money, but if she start from a scrath it will be really hard because as a reader i only willing donate to the book i think really really good like absolute choice Bw
If it means 1 more novel lover, then I'm all for it. Also a suggestion for her to translate is Knights and Magic. Sorry for my greediness but I'm starving for those releases. Also the Volume 5 for Knights and Magic was recently translated into Chinese, so I'm wondering if she could translate it for us starving fans of the series. Btw I'm Chinese and like u, CharLock, I can't read Chinese for Jack sh*t. I can speak it semi-fluently but cant read or write it
My thoughts exactly. Once again it makes me upset that someone said it before me but yeah, if she really gets into it put her on Heaven Awakening Path.
if she's partially doing it for money, translating other stuff as well is an excellent idea got a friend who translates swedish-english manuals and she earns 50k with <1 year of experience and a fairly soft schedule (20-40 hours/week)
Tell her to go for it there are a shit ton of untranslated novels out there and this gives her something to pass the time and it might become her hobby
Do it, even below average translation quality like subudai translation can get money out of it, why not your mom ? This ofc, is affected by novels type that are currently popular. So if she wanna earn some money from translation, its better to look for popular chinese novel genre that will attract visitors(translating this kind of novel is not fun sometimes...), or if she just wanna do it for her hobby, she can pick a novel she like but will likely earn less money from it or nothing at all. You can overcome the latter with sheer work, you might not earn money at first. but if theres regular update then you can lure readers to donate lol.
Ask her to translate something short. (Around 20-30 chapters) and if she feels like she can do it, then she can try something larger
I am not an expert, but overall it seems that translating novels should be a hobby, and the money received isn't more than paying the web service and some extra spending cash. At best, you could consider this as a training ground to move into a real translation job. Put it on your resume, and apply for a government office to make real money.