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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/43288
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/43288
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

I've read that writers and editors are often paid on a per-word basis. Then I did a search about the cost of translating a literary work into a different language and I've found varying information. For example in [this thread on proz.com](https://www.proz.com/forum/money_matters/308711-translating_a_novel_price_range.html) mentions a price model on a per-word basis, a price model on a per-page basis, per-chapter, flatrate-per-book basis and [here on Quora](https://www.quora.com/How-much-does-it-cost-to-translate-a-book) someone mentions a per-source-character basis.

I'd think that different price models mean different prices in the end. Therefore I would like to know more about the way I should estimates the costs for translating a literary work from one language into another.

Answers should therefore include information about typical price models and how they affect the calculation as well as typical price ranges I can expect.

As there are probably differences between languages answers that take German as the "source" language into account will be rated higher than answers that are based on other languages. English as the "destination" language will be rated higher than other languages. Sources that allow me to look up multiple translation variations (for example not only German to English, but also German to Japanese) would be the most valuable. The type of literary work to be translated should be a fantasy novel, but information about other types of literary work are also valuable.

Original score: 5