Re: Translation costs?

Subject: Re: Translation costs?
From: kafkascampi <kafkascampi -at- gmail -dot- com>
To: "techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Wed, 6 Apr 2011 13:52:46 -0700

"Yow! So, about a million bucks to translate my Help, huh?"

I had our help and manuals translated into Simplified Chinese a few years
ago. I did not have as many topics as you do--maybe 300. Cost was
by-the-word. The going rate for a translation company (where they farm out
translation to different translators--or do it in-house depending on the
language) was about 12 cents per word. Since we were only doing the one
language, I decided to use a translation company in China itself and ended
up at 8 cents per word.

We have updated the translation a few times since then, and have never had
any negative feedback from users.

All my content was in XML--DITA and Docbook. In converting from Word to XML,
I had reused content wherever possible. That's about the only advice I can
offer for cutting costs, other than aiming for minimalism in your writing.

Chris



On Wed, Apr 6, 2011 at 1:27 PM, Combs, Richard <richard -dot- combs -at- polycom -dot- com>wrote:

> McLauchlan, Kevin wrote:
>
> > Yow.
> >
> > If you've seen the average help page for MadCap Flare, that's about
> > as wordy as I am in the product WebHelp that I create _using_ Flare.
> > (Hint, they almost never finish a thought above-the-fold, and you'll
> > often have to scroll three times or more...)
> >
> > Even my short pages are peppered with drop-down and expanding text,
> > as well as links and references.
> >
> > Yow! So, about a million bucks to translate my Help, huh?
> >
> > Yow!!!
>
> There are dollars-and-cents reasons for creating minimalist documentation (
> www.google.com/search?q=minimalist+documentation). Even though it's more
> difficult and time-consuming to write. :-)
>
>
> Richard G. Combs
> Senior Technical Writer
> Polycom, Inc.
> richardDOTcombs AT polycomDOTcom
> 303-223-5111
> ------
> rgcombs AT gmailDOTcom
> 303-903-6372
> ------
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
> Create and publish documentation through multiple channels with
> Doc-To-Help.
> Choose your authoring formats and get any output you may need. Try
> Doc-To-Help, now with MS SharePoint integration, free for 30-days.
> http://www.doctohelp.com
>
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Create and publish documentation through multiple channels with Doc-To-Help.
Choose your authoring formats and get any output you may need. Try
Doc-To-Help, now with MS SharePoint integration, free for 30-days.
http://www.doctohelp.com

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Follow-Ups:

References:
Translation costs?: From: McLauchlan, Kevin
Re: Translation costs?: From: Gene Kim-Eng
RE: Translation costs?: From: McLauchlan, Kevin
RE: Translation costs?: From: Combs, Richard

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