A Time for Renewal
I am not exactly new to the translation world. In fact, I’ve been ATA-certified in German to English translation since 2018. However, as I mentioned in my last blog post, it’s been a bad year. I faced some challenges in my life that bled into my business. Now that I can finally get some breathing room, it seems like a good time to reflect, to grow, and to do some of the things I’ve meant to do for a long time.
How to Succeed
What better place to start than with Corinne McKay’s very well-known work, How to Succeed as a Freelance Translator? I’ve heard it mentioned any number of times, but I was still curious about the reality of it. How would it hold up to the very different translation world of 2021? Would it still hold value for someone with experience in translation?
There’s no two ways about it: if you are just starting out as a translator, you need this book. The six years since its initial publication in 2015 do nothing to dim the actionable advice and sheer scope of How to Succeed as a Freelance Translator. From the advent of machine translation to increasing pressure on wages, Corinne McKay covers it all. I only wish that I had read it when I was first starting out. I can think of a number of mistakes I would have avoided.
Starting Out, Keeping Going
However, I’m glad to say that the value was also there for me as a mid-career translator. Some parts of the book were self-evident to me, and could be quickly skimmed, but there were many passages that I highlighted and read in detail. In my reading, I created an action list of thirteen tasks. All are things that I will be updating, improving, and getting for the first time as a result of How to Succeed as a Freelance Translator. (No, I won’t be sharing the list here – all the value is in making up a list that is specifically relevant to your business!) Some of the items on the list were merely reminders of things I already knew I needed to do. However, quite a few are ideas that were new to me and resources that I hadn’t heard of before.
For more reviews and a purchase link, you can visit Corinne McKay’s website here. I highly recommend it. For most translators, How to Succeed as a Freelance Translator will teach you to do just that.
