Buddies Welcome Newbies 2018

By The Savvy Newcomer | October 9, 2018

This year Buddies Welcome Newbies will be celebrating its sixth year of welcoming newcomers to the American Translators Association annual conference! After its debut…

Top 10 Tips for New Freelance Translators

By The Savvy Newcomer | September 11, 2018

Reblogged from Translator Thoughts blog, with permission, incl. the image If you’ve never worked in the translation industry independently before, it can be quite…

Hone Your Craft Before You Sell—How I Would Have Practiced as a Newbie in Hindsight

By The Savvy Newcomer | September 4, 2018

  I made almost every mistake in the book when I was starting out as a translator. However, I recently reflected on what I…

Focus on: New Translators (Part 1)

By The Savvy Newcomer | August 14, 2018

Reblogged from Silver Tongue Translations blog, with permission You know, the title of this blog post is a bit misleading (arrrgh! I’m breaking my…

Pursuing the Translation Dream: How to Keep the Phone Ringing

By The Savvy Newcomer | July 31, 2018

Have you been following our five-part series on how to assess your readiness to become a successful translator, inspired by ATA’s Self-Evaluation Questionnaire for Translators?…

So You Want to be a Freelance Translator or Interpreter: Money Matters

By The Savvy Newcomer | July 24, 2018

In the first post in this series, I alluded to a question I’ve been asked several times since I began freelancing—sometimes more subtly than…

Book review: Guide to Becoming a Successful Freelance Translator

By The Savvy Newcomer | May 8, 2018

The translation and interpreting industries have been blessed with a plethora of new books in the last few years. The book I’m going to…

9 Useful Questions by New Professional Translators

By The Savvy Newcomer | April 10, 2018

Qualifying is a massive part of becoming a professional translator. But once you’ve finished your training, how do you get started? This article answers nine of the most popular questions by budding professional translators when they get to the end of my Spanish-to-English translation course.

Year-one Chronicle: My First Twelve Months as a Professional Translator

By The Savvy Newcomer | March 13, 2018

A few days before Christmas I got a thick, imposing envelope in the mail from the Washington State Department of Revenue. “ACTION REQUIRED: Business…

Pursuing the Translation Dream: What to Know After the Phone Rings

By The Savvy Newcomer | January 16, 2018

As a new translator, you have prepared yourself long and hard to take on clients, and now the phone is ringing—metaphorically speaking. So, how…

Are You Using LinkedIn to Get High-Paying Clients?

By The Savvy Newcomer | January 9, 2018

If you are spending all or most of your social media time on Facebook, you are missing out on the chance to meet and…

So You Want to be a Freelance Translator or Interpreter: Services and Specialization

By The Savvy Newcomer | December 19, 2017

What services should I offer? Many translators provide more than just translation services. Since many are self-employed, it can be helpful to offer related…