JUST LIKE YOUR BOOK Indie Translations: Editing and Proofing
Your book is not only a work of art but a labor of love. You put a lot of effort into ensuring that it is all it can be. You make sure that the reader’s enjoyment is pure. That your story is told in the right way, with the right word in the right place, with no mistakes to trip the reader up.
An indie translation goes through the same steps as your original book, and for the same reasons, to make sure the reader enjoys your story in French, German, Spanish, Italian and other languages.
These are the steps a translation goes through for maximum reading pleasure:
1. The book is translated, which is similar to the writing process itself. The translator works hard to make sure the language evokes the same emotions as the original. Then the translator proof-reads the translation, just as the writer goes over her original manuscript.
2. Another professional line-edits and proofs the manuscript.
3. After the book has been translated, proofed, line-edited and proofed again, you will have it formatted and we will check it once again before you upload it.
Translators work from the author’s original text and brainstorm with other native-language professionals to come up with exactly the right phrase that conveys the author’s meaning. This is the stage where a translator will contact the author to clear up any ambiguities and to help decide how to translate cultural references or names of local streets and places. Translators will proof-read the translated manuscript up to three times, and teams of translators help each other by reading the translated text, just as authors send their manuscripts to beta readers and critique partners. Just like the writer, the translator wants the best work possible to emerge.
Another round of proof-reading is fundamental after this stage–checking for nuance, for continuity. It will include minor line-editing and will ensure that grammar, spelling and punctuation are perfect.
Proof-reading after formatting is essential. Just as it does with your book, formatting can introduce mistakes, unwanted hyphenations and other inaccuracies. The final, formatted version has to be proofed to make sure accents, hyphenation and punctuation are perfect.
