Please email me to request a quote for a translation project: ruth.ahmedzai.kemp@gmail.com
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, I may 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.
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:
£160 per 1000 words, plus a 2.5% royalty, for a children’s illustrated fiction (2022)
£150 per 1000 words, plus a 3% royalty, for a historical novel (2022)
$300 for a picture book translation from Arabic (2022)
£170 per 1000 words for a media article (2019)
£300 per 1000 words for illustrated non-fiction (2019)
£95 per 1000 words for a children’s novel (2019)
£100 per 1000 words, plus a 2.5% royalty, for a trade non-fiction book (2018)
£95 per 1000 words for a short story for an anthology (2017)
£90 per 1000 words for fiction (2017)
£95 per 1000 words for a children’s novel (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)
Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp 