As a translator who has published various translations of fiction and poetry in literary magazines, both in print and online, in Canada and internationally, I often find myself in the position of having to explain how translation contracts, rights, and editing work over and over again to dozens of editors and magazines.
I have written this guide as a basic overview and resource to help assist editors and literary magazines I am working with who may be new to publishing work being translated into English in North America and beyond. This guide is built on the knowledge that I have gained working with other editors and translators, and I welcome feedback from other translators as well in terms of anything I can add to the resource.
Disclaimer: this guide only provides general information based on my experience and is not legal advice. I am not a lawyer. Please seek out a lawyer for help with any specific legal questions or problems.
Translation Permissions/Rights
- When publishing a translation of a work that has been translated into English, two rights are involved:
- 1) The underlying right to publish an English translation of the source work (similar to adaptation rights).
- This comes from the rights holder of the source work (often the author, but sometimes, the estate, a publisher, or another party), unless the work is in the public domain.
- 2) The publication right(s) for a particular translation created by the translator (e.g. first English world publication rights of the translation, or whatever the magazine normally requires from the English-language writer whose work it publishes).
- By default, this right belongs to the translator who created the translation, just as an author has the rights to their own writing.
- Both rights are exercised when the work is actually published (not when the translation is created), and therefore, need to be purchased by the party actually publishing the translation and using the rights.
- 1) The underlying right to publish an English translation of the source work (similar to adaptation rights).
- Before submissions/acceptance:
- For non-commissioned work (translations directly submitted by translators), it’s normally the expectation that the translator has confirmed with the original rights holder that the translation rights are available for purchase.
- Translators should not begin any work on a translation until they confirm the availability of the translation rights.
- When submitting a translation to a magazine, translators may include a letter from the rights holder that asserts the above.
- The letter has no standard format, but typically names the author, the titles of the original work/translation, and the specific rights (e.g. English translation rights) available. The letter may be in bilingual format and written by the translator as the original author might not speak English.
- It’s a good idea for literary magazines to request in their submission guidelines that a translator includes such a letter and leave room for it on the submission form, so a magazine can ascertain the availability of the English translation right when considering a piece for acceptance.
- For non-commissioned work (translations directly submitted by translators), it’s normally the expectation that the translator has confirmed with the original rights holder that the translation rights are available for purchase.
- After Acceptance/Publication contracts:
- Given that two rights are involved, it is a best practice that contracts are given to and signed by both the rights holder of the original work and the translator.
- The contracts for the original rights holder and translators should be specific in addressing each party as the rights holder and translator, and clarify the separate rights being obtained.
- Author Contract:
- This should be addressed to the original author, mention the original work, and refer to the English translation right(s) for any specific format needed (e.g. print, web, audio, etc), with the optional mentioning of any specific requirements like exclusivity or regions.
- In cases when the author/rights holder does not speak English, the translator may go in between the magazine and rights holder to help facilitate the signing.
- Translation Contract:
- The contract for the translator should only use language specific to translations (“The Translator” instead of “The Author”; “The Translation” instead of the “The Work”).
- Any “first publication” clause should refer to the first publication of the translation, rather than the original work, which often has already been published in the original language.
- This contract should not ask the translator for any rights that actually belong to the original rights holder and would not be within the translator’s capacity to assign (e.g. translation/adaptation rights for the original, any assertions about the original work as opposed to the translation).
- Sometimes, a magazine will treat the rights holder’s letter of permission as a contract, or ask for it to be updated to explicitly mention the granting of the translation permission to a particular publication.
- This is considered less formal, and it is up to the magazine to decide if this is sufficient and if they want to take that risk of not having a full contract with the original rights holder.
- Given that two rights are involved, it is a best practice that contracts are given to and signed by both the rights holder of the original work and the translator.
Payment
- It’s understandable that many literary magazines have limited budgets when it comes to pay writers/translators. However, both writers and translators are co-contributors and collaborators of any published translations.
- The best practice is to pay the original author/rights holder and translator both the full publication fee, to acknowledge each of their labor involved. This is much appreciated, and it is best the magazine budget for this in advance if they want to publish translations.
- If the above is not possible, many translators (including myself) have an existing agreement with the original authors/rights holders of works we translate to split any publication fees received.
- However, forcing an author/translator to do this is an act of de-valuing translations and translators, especially since the translator is not only doing all the creative work that an original creator is doing, but also taking on the extra administrative labor that is involved in publishing a translation. It’s saying a translator is not deserving of the full fee in their own right.
- The low payment and poor working conditions experienced by translators are well-documented by surveys and contribute to barriers for translators working in or looking to enter the field, especially marginalized translators.
- Likewise, if print or digital contributor copies are provided as a part of payment, both the translator and the original author/rights holder should receive that.
- Sending payment/contributor copies across borders: Please consult with the translator about the best way to get a fee or contributor copies to an author/rights holder. Be ready to spend some extra time on this as not every country accepts paypal or international bank transfer, and sending mail overseas can be complex.
Editing / Proofreading / Publishing Translations
- When it comes to publishing translations, it is more common for translated fiction and non-fiction pieces to be published alone without the original, while it can be quite common for poetry to be published in a side-by-side bilingual format.
- Always check with the translator upon acceptance as they may have a clear preference for how translations of poetry appear. They may have stated this in their submission letter.
- An anti-oppressive approach to editing should be practiced, especially when working with underrepresented translators, authors, and languages.
- When giving any editorial feedback on the translation, remember that the original text has likely already been published.
- The edits will generally be limited to copy edits related to style, word choice, translation decisions, clarity, and flow rather than substantive edits related to content, structure, or other bigger picture elements (which would require a discussion with the author/rights holder).
- Be sensitive about how translation decisions may be political and what impact they have. For example, the choice to italicize “foreign” words or not, the choice to translate/transliterate/footnote, assumptions about readership, etc.
- Remember that a translator should always be consulted in the same way a writer is consulted during the editing process. All edits should happen in discussion with the translator and this should be a process built on consent.
- If the source text is being published alongside the original, the original text should not be altered in any way without consultation with the original author/rights holder and translator.
- The original work is likely to have already been published and gone through an editing process, so there would not be any edits unless in exceptional circumstances.
- Be very careful when laying out non-English texts, and always put effort in ensuring the text looks exactly like the original submitted, including in terms of spacing, symbols, punctuation and other details.
- Do not make any assumptions about how the language works.
- For example, as a literary translator working from Mandarin Chinese, I have had line breaks changed, the character for “one” replaced with dashes, Chinese periods replaced with English periods, and other alterations added by editors who do not speak Mandarin, all without my permission. All of these are really inappropriate.
- Remember that there is a long, long history of many marginalized and underrepresented languages being made fun of, mistreated, and appropriated, so practice extra sensitivity here.
- If you have questions about the original text and its format, font, and design, consult with the translator sooner rather than later.
- Please give the translator ample time to proofread the original text, as it would need to be reviewed by both the original author and the translator. It can also be helpful to find another proofreader who knows the original language to review the proof as well.
Acknowledging the Author/Translator
- As mentioned before, the author and translator are collaborators and co-creators.
- Authors/translators should be equally acknowledged when a translation is published. This includes in the magazine, byline, table of contents, and also on social media, at events, in reviews, and so on.
- There is a #NameTheTranslator movement happening that urges more publications to be explicit about naming translators because they are often overlooked. This movement calls for putting a translator’s names on the cover of a book along with the author, and similar practices should be practiced by magazines.
- Likewise, when it comes any events, readings, or other promotional activities, the magazine should try to invite both the author/translator to take part where possible.
Additional Resources:
- PEN Model Contract for Literary Translations
- Authors’ Guild Translator Book Contract
- SFWA Model Contract for Writers
- “Getting started in translation as an emerging translator” on the Translationista site
- #NameTheTranslator movement
- New PEN America Manifesto on Translation
If you found this resource helpful and would like to support my work as a literary translator, you can buy me a virtual cup of tea on Ko-fi.
