Please email me to request a quote for an event or a translation: ruth.ahmedzai.kempATgmail.com
Translation
My rates for literary and academic translation vary, depending on several factors, including the language combination, technical difficulties or research required, the deadline and how easily I can fit the project in around other commitments.
Many of my recent translations have been partly or wholly funded by academic or literary translation grants. I can advise on how to apply for these if required. See this page for more information.
It is worth bearing in mind that for all three of my language combinations (Arabic > English, German > English and Russian > English) the word count of the English translation is usually higher than that of the source text. For that reason, translators in these language combinations tend to charge a slightly higher rate if quoting on the basis of the source text, or a lower rate if based on the predicted length of the resulting English manuscript. In general, I prefer to quote for a project fee based on the amount of time I expect a translation to take, factoring the editing process.
Recent rates
These are some of the rates I’ve agreed in recent contracts to give you an idea of how translation fees can vary:
£2,000 plus a 2.5% royalty for an illustrated chapter book, amounting to £160 per 1000 words (2022)
£11000 plus a 3% royalty for a contemporary novel, amounting to £150 per 1000 words (2022)
£8000 plus a 5% royalty for a contemporary novel, amounting to £60 per 1000 words (2022)
£250 for a picture book translation from Arabic, amounting to £490 per 1000 words (2022)
£410 for a picture book translation from Arabic, amounting to £290 per 1000 words (2022)
£170 per 1000 words for a media article (2019)
£300 per 1000 words for illustrated nonfiction (2019)
£95 per 1000 words for a children’s novel (2019)
£100 per 1000 words, plus a 2.5% royalty, for a trade nonfiction book (2018)
£95 per 1000 words for a short story for an anthology (2017)
£90 per 1000 words for fiction (2017)
$240 per 1000 words for a short story for a magazine (2017)
£90 per 1000 words, plus a 2% royalty, for a children’s novel (2017)
£140 per 1000 words for a specialised academic text (March 2015)
Events & workshops
I regularly give and contribute to events in person and online, including seminars, webinars, panel discussions, creative writing and translation workshops, and careers talks. See here for more details of my workshops and seminars for schools, university students and professional linguists, librarians and teachers.
My rates are variable depending on various factors; see the Society of Authors’ guidance on fees for events and educational visits. Please get in touch to discuss.
Mentoring
Please see here for more about my mentoring sessions for emerging translators.
Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp 