I recently took a one month break from translating (which was a pretty good decision for me imo) and I was able to do a lot of things that I couldn't do when I was too caught up in translating. Now that I think back to when I started translating, I realized it's been 4 years since I started doing fan translations and while I do see a good novel worthy to pick up now and then, the excitement of starting that new novel doesn't really exceed the motivation of finishing the current ones. I personally think that those who are able to make a living out of translating are extremely lucky, but I don't think the same situation applies to me as I do want to achieve upward mobility and security in the long term so I'm always thinking about other endeavors I'd like to pursue since translating does take up a lot of time. With my piece being said, I'm curious about other translators, even if you do this as a hobby or full-time, how long do you foresee yourself being in this field? Is there anything else you gain, monetary rewards aside, that pushes you to do what you do?
I translate as a hobby. I started partially to learn more chinese and partially because I wanted to read a novel. I plan to take a break (maybe permanent) once I finish this novel. If I keep up my schedule, that'll be ~1 month. Translating has been fun, and I love reading the reader's comments. However, it just takes up so much time. Maybe I'll try proofreading or editing after this. I think that's less time intensive?
I've only been translating for less than 3 years, and I honestly wanna stop now... I just want to finish my current projects and then goodbye! I started translating as a hobby/sideline... but then I realized how much time it takes, so much so that it got in the way of my studies (I'm a college student). I feel like translating can only ever be a good enough passive income source if you put full-time effort into it. Otherwise, what you earn from ads, donations, and whatnot will only be enough for a little extra allowance. Not even as much as what you earn in doing paper work in the office. Although I still enjoy translating and managing my site... I unfortunately don't have the luxury to do it full-time. I'm a poor person, and I gotta think of ways to pay the bills.
I share the same sentiments. While I do have a lot of novels in my to translate pile, the thought that these novels would take at least a year to finish is what makes me think twice before starting them. It's like a never ending pit of digging. I've been doing patreon + ads + kofi with with 4 novels (2 chaps update each week) with full-time effort while waiting for my master's term to come and I find that what I earn can't really be compared to what my peers earn (and could be earning when they get promotions in later years) Moreover, I think the time that I spend on translating, including those on the weekend to catch up on stockpile, could really be better used on other things like finally learning Japanese and Korean or building another site or project. Overall, I don't really regret my years of translating. I learned a lot for sure and I earned some income but that doesn't really sustain me in the long term so I think it's time to put a close to this chapter and start a new one.
Thank you for asking that question and sharing what you feel. Honestly, I'm a long time fan of anime/manga/light novels. I've started doing translations recently and yes, I found out that it's a very tough work. As to retiring, sometime in the future when I already am satisfied. My goal is to left behind a legacy so pretty much it's a hobby and from what I've experienced so far, it's not a profitable source of income. It's fun and painful at the same time but overall, in my opinion, if you're looking for work or making this your primary source of income, I'll definitely say no.
I'm still very new to the translation world and started it as a hobby to improve my Chinese. It takes a lot of time but it's become my creative outlet. I like the challenge of trying to find the right words to convey the meaning. As for retiring, not any time soon? I have my current projects but definitely see more that I'd like to pick up and share! That being said, if making money is your goal, from what I gather from different threads, it's a very difficult field to get into as a sustainable career. There have been people who have made it but to do that they've gone official through the proper channels.
I've been translating for 5-6 years now, but it's always been as a hobby (I've never earned any money from it) so the concept of "retiring" never crossed my mind. It's like...if you asked a reader whether they ever planned to stop reading in the future, the answer would likely be no (although temporary breaks are quite common, it seems). Yes, it takes up my free time, but that's what a hobby is meant to do. The moment it is not something that you enjoy doing in your free time, it is no longer a hobby. And despite the fact that I have multiple hobbies, I've never felt that I had to abandon one hobby for another - it honestly just comes down to time management and how I want to distribute my time. I love translating because I love reading, and because I love sharing what I read with others (and proceeding to fangirl about how amazing it is with them). I don't think I'd ever stop translating unless I stopped reading...and even then, I have a ridiculously long list of my favourite novels that I want to translate in the future, so I'd probably still translate for a while even if I stopped actively reading. I guess if all my favourite novels miraculously got translated, I'd stop, but that's near impossible considering how much I read and the fact that I read physical light novels...If I ever really ran out of free time (ie. had a kid or something), I would naturally stop, but I wouldn't stop voluntarily if I have any sort of free time. As someone that has translated through college and through working a full-time job, I've always had free time somewhere. Of course, breaks are great, because there are always super busy moments in life where you really don't have free time - though I don't think I've ever taken more than a month-long break, and that was only because I was literally moving around. But thinking about it more carefully, it's possible that the fact that I read (and finish) untranslated novels helps keep me going too. I only translate novels that I've already completed and would reread over and over (where translating counts as rereading) because I love them that much. For those that translate as they read for the first time, I imagine it could be harder to stay motivated since you don't have a pre-established passion towards the novel. Or it could change as you realise that the novel isn't what you expected it to be. I can definitely see why anyone that does it for money would potentially want to stop, because it's really difficult for translating to be sustainable as a source of income and usually not as worth just switching to another source of income, namely a full-time job. If you don't enjoy it, there's really not much to keep you there.
I agree with the time management one, though I honestly feel bad that I've had to give up a lot of hobbies along the way and especially during university to be able to gain any free time at all. (That even included reading novels to only reading manga since I found it much faster. I only bingeread a couple of select novels when I have to pick up a new novel to replace the finished one.) I also honestly admire people who can work a full time job and still translate consistently cuz the last time I did work full-time, the only thing I wanted to do once I got home was to rest and watch TV. Even my weekends were spent socializing with friends or just catching up with my hobbies. Adulting...is exhausting especially when you're living alone.. Maybe you're right, the thought that this has to become a source of money has also birthed a sense of burnout. I was much happier doing once a week updates with just one or two novels and I was weak for falling into the trap of digging more pits when I knew I couldn't handle it. Either way, my only current goal right now is to finish the novels I have this year and see where I'd go from there but thank you for your piece.
haven't really thought about that, honestly. i think for me though "stopping" is a really grey area. i definitely have one consistent special interest which is writing in general, but i don't ever think about stopping my other less consistent hobbies. i don't do them for a while, and them i go back to it. at the end of the day, this is just a hobby i'm interested it. i don't think i can retire from it, if that makes sense. that being said, i do plan to get side income from translating where i can to stave off poverty because america, so i think depending on what relationship you have with a hobby, i do think some people will put it down after a while, especially when we're not doing it as something professional.
Hmm I hope to finish all my ongoing projects for both main and side. Don't like leaving stuff unfinished. But after all of them are done i think i’ll hiatus from tling. What motivates me: Sharing the authors work? (Side proj) As for main proj I’m getting paid a little from site rev so it’s a nice incentive too, also I kinda don’t mind the work I’m TLing Do I see myself continuing in the future? Maybe if releases can be own time own target
Yes and no. Money is great and you can say that's the "main reason" why I'm translating, but honestly translating itself is pretty fun as well. Most of the time, I read as I translate, thus it's fun to read novels as well. Reading while translating is a different experience since you have to go one line at a time. More often than not when I read other novels, I tend to skim or not pay full attention when reading, but that's not possible when translating, so I guess I'm getting the full reading experience when translating. Quitting... probably not though. Nowadays, I feel like something's wrong when I'm not translating a chapter or two a day.