Karen will be speaking at the ITI Conference 2017 in Cardiff in May 2017. After missing the 2015 event, she is particularity happy to be able to attend the 2017 conference. See more at www.iti-conference.org.uk.

A Lucrative Sideline: Editing Non-Native English Scientific Writing

19 MAY 2017, 9:30 AM-10:20 AM

“The manuscript is poorly written and has too many grammatical and syntax errors. The results are very interesting from a practical standpoint, but the paper needs thorough revision to make it suitable for publication in The Journal of Astounding Scientific Developments.” Enter the native English-speaking editor. This session will describe what sets this work apart from translation or from editing texts written by native speakers, how to price it, and how to manage the customers: how to tactfully justify changes to the author’s baby. It will also describe an efficient editing process that makes the entire scenario lucrative and show worked examples of edits, as time allows.

Editing texts written in English for publication by scientists who have another language as their mother tongue is a relatively common sideline for freelance translators. The measure of success is the article being published.
I got into it because I’m a highly specialized technical translator with training in a hard science. I work mainly with chemistry and texts related to the chemical industry. I have received non-native editing work on and off throughout the nearly 10 years I’ve been a freelance translator. The work has come to me from my ProZ.com profile, from professors I’ve met at chemistry networking events, and from word-of-mouth from translation colleagues who live in France. In the last year or two the volume picked up quite a lot, so I developed a process to make it more satisfying and lucrative for me.

This session will include
– how to price this work
– how to justify changes
– how to handle authors’ egos and build the customer relationship
– what sets this work apart from translation or from editing texts written by native speakers
– how to edit this type of text, using planned stages and worked examples.

I would love to hear from you!

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