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"Writing is like prostitution. First you do it for love, then for a few close friends, and finally for money."
Molière (1622-1673), Nom de Plume of Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, French playwright and actor
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Prices per line for translation
We basically calculate the price for a translation on the level of complexity and the length of the original text. - Level of complexity: A much higher degree of research and consideration is required to ensure an accurate translation of technical and scientific terminology, or for specialized topics and certain kinds of text, such as advertising copy.
- Length of text: We base this on the standard generally adopted for translation in Germany, the (DIN) "standard line", defined as every 55 characters including spaces, punctuation and special symbols. You can calculate this from the Word Count feature in MS-Word, for example, by simply dividing the statistic of characters (incl. spaces and special symbols) by 55 and rounding up any fraction.
For this reason a quotation is only possible once we have seen the actual document, or at least a representative sample of the text to translate. Please send us your text and we will promptly send you a quotation (or if based on a sample, our price per line) without obligation on your part, free of charge.
As a general guide to our line prices: - General correspondence, easily understood, very few technical terms: from €1.35/line
- Technical text or text containing complex constructions: from €1.50/line
- Highly technical text, where much research is required: from €1.65/line
Extra charges may arise, say, if amendments are made necessary by customer changes to the original text during or after translation, for the extraction of text from certain data formats or time-consuming layout tasks in the target text. We agree all extra charges in advance, but generally base them on our hourly rate for editing (see below).
Hourly rates for editing, correction and creative writing
Creative writing, the editing of text and proofreading we calculate at an hourly rate or a flat rate agreed with the customer. Our rates are generally: - for proofreading and editing: €40/hour
- for consultancy and creative writing of copy: €60/hour
The amount of time required for editing and proofreading not only depends on the amount of text in the original copy, but also on the degree of correction and other changes required, such as sentence reformulation and paragraph restructuring. For this reason, we can only offer an estimate of costs once we have seen your draft copy. As a rule for proofreading and simple editing, it is possible to handle between 5 and 10 standard pages (every 1700 characters incl. spaces) per hour.
For a creative writing job, we can only estimate the costs once a detailed project plan is in place. The most important variables are the kinds of text and length required and the purpose it is intended for, the amount of learning and research involved, the quality and comprehensiveness of the briefing and the number of approval meetings needed.
Surcharges for express delivery
For jobs up to €350 we generally deliver within 2-3 days following your acceptance of our terms or the time you send us your text. We are also happy to deliver small jobs of up to €50 within 24 hours at our normal prices. However, should you require a more urgent delivery, making us unable to accept other work while we work on yours, we may request a surcharge of between 25% and 50%, depending on how tight the schedule is. Please discuss your needs with us in advance, to find out whether we have capacity for express deliveries.
We agree the delivery times for extensive projects individually with you.
The pricing information given above is only a guide; individual negotiations apply in each case. For customers in Germany: All prices are additionally liable to German VAT (19%).
Copyright ©2005-2010 Alan Frostick, Hamburg, Germany. All rights reserved.
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