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Translator offered copywriting work - How much to charge?

by Copywriter2b
4 replies
For the past 10+ years, I have worked as a freelance technical and non-technical translator (not interpreter). Up until yesterday, I had never been approached with copywriting work. Apparently, one of my direct clients is tired of having text written in German and then translated into English or written in English by non-native speakers, so they'd like to have it written in English from scratch. So far, they have mentioned press releases and articles for customer newsletters. They have already commissioned me to do a small job: captions for their 2014 calendar.

My conundrum is pricing. I know exactly how much to charge for translations (usually by the word, sometimes by the line and in the case of proofreading/editing, by the hour). My first instinct for copywriting is to charge by the hour, because that's how I normally approach jobs which I can't count in words or lines. From what I've read, though, many copywriters and article writers charge by the job, rather than by the word or hour. I can tell you how much I'd charge for a translating job of 500 words down to the cent (and can also tell you about how long it would take to do it), but I have no idea now much to charge for a press release or article with 500 words written from scratch based on a short list of data points.

Any suggestions on how I can resolve this dilemma?

EDIT: I have translated a wide variety of text over the years, including plenty of press releases, newsletter articles etc.
#charge #copywriting #offered #translator #work
  • Profile picture of the author Alex Cohen
    Originally Posted by Copywriter2b View Post

    For the past 10+ years, I have worked as a freelance technical and non-technical translator (not interpreter). Up until yesterday, I had never been approached with copywriting work. Apparently, one of my direct clients is tired of having text written in German and then translated into English or written in English by non-native speakers, so they'd like to have it written in English from scratch. So far, they have mentioned press releases and articles for customer newsletters. They have already commissioned me to do a small job: captions for their 2014 calendar.

    My conundrum is pricing. I know exactly how much to charge for translations (usually by the word, sometimes by the line and in the case of proofreading/editing, by the hour). My first instinct for copywriting is to charge by the hour, because that's how I normally approach jobs which I can't count in words or lines. From what I've read, though, many copywriters and article writers charge by the job, rather than by the word or hour. I can tell you how much I'd charge for a translating job of 500 words down to the cent (and can also tell you about how long it would take to do it), but I have no idea now much to charge for a press release or article with 500 words written from scratch based on a short list of data points.

    Any suggestions on how I can resolve this dilemma?

    EDIT: I have translated a wide variety of text over the years, including plenty of press releases, newsletter articles etc.
    Article writing is not copywriting.

    Press releases can be written in direct response style, but most aren't.

    So it doesn't sound to me like you've been "approached with copywriting work".

    To answer your question, charging per assignment is a popular way to price article and press release writing.

    Alex
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    • Profile picture of the author Copywriter2b
      Originally Posted by Alex Cohen View Post

      Article writing is not copywriting.

      Press releases can be written in direct response style, but most aren't.

      So it doesn't sound to me like you've been "approached with copywriting work".

      To answer your question, charging per assignment is a popular way to price article and press release writing.

      Alex
      Wow, thanks for the friendly reply! I guess I made a mistake and didn't realize that writing press releases is in fact not copywriting!

      I did mention in my original post that many writers seem to charge by the job, so your response didn't exactly "answer my question", but thanks anyway for the effort!
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  • Profile picture of the author d3communications
    Your question brings up and interesting point that I have been evangelizing with my start-up in Japan. Plain translation is fast becoming a non-value-add. The work is either going to to to a machine/automatic/offshore (Philippines, India, China) or it's going to be true native copy writing based on an understanding of the message and marketing approach in the original language.

    My point is that translators need to be writers--skilled enough in their style (article, copy/sales) that they can take the original document and put it into the target language in a way that reads like it was written by a native from scratch.

    Translators are writers first and foremost (at least that's what I'm preaching). If translators can't cross that gap, they're going to be left behind most assuredly.

    So...that doesn't answer your original question at all, does it?

    You can charge by the job (reference fiverr.com and the other freelance sites to get an idea) for an article or a press release. Of course, you can also charge based on what the translation would have cost for a document of similar size.

    If it was an actual sales letter/direct response piece, then you have options for charging up front, getting a piece of the back end, or a combination of both, but it sounds more like what you're doing is the former.
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    • Profile picture of the author Memetics
      Originally Posted by d3communications View Post

      Your question brings up and interesting point that I have been evangelizing with my start-up in Japan. Plain translation is fast becoming a non-value-add. The work is either going to to to a machine/automatic/offshore (Philippines, India, China) or it's going to be true native copy writing based on an understanding of the message and marketing approach in the original language.

      My point is that translators need to be writers--skilled enough in their style (article, copy/sales) that they can take the original document and put it into the target language in a way that reads like it was written by a native from scratch.

      Translators are writers first and foremost (at least that's what I'm preaching). If translators can't cross that gap, they're going to be left behind most assuredly.

      So...that doesn't answer your original question at all, does it?

      You can charge by the job (reference fiverr.com and the other freelance sites to get an idea) for an article or a press release. Of course, you can also charge based on what the translation would have cost for a document of similar size.

      If it was an actual sales letter/direct response piece, then you have options for charging up front, getting a piece of the back end, or a combination of both, but it sounds more like what you're doing is the former.
      Most press releases by the bigger firms now are filled with language patterns and presuppositional stacks to subtly influence the reader.

      It's just the way of the world; beliefs are a currency.

      Translation of language patterns is extremely difficult unless you are totally bilingual due to grammatical considerations which can in some cases be insurmountable.

      I suggest you do some research into copwriting to let you get the lay of the land first, then proceed cautiously till you can recognise the structure and methodology of the writers intent then interpret them into the client language.
      Signature

      First we believe.....then we consider.

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