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What do you think about babelcube? (Part 2)
Thread poster: Juliano Martins
Michael Wetzel
Michael Wetzel  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 14:12
German to English
earnings are the question Jun 17, 2015

Juliano,

As I wrote in the last thread, I think that Babelcube is a bad way to do a potentially good thing, that is, to self-publish translations on a speculative basis. That topic interests me, but I don't see the point in throwing away heaps of money and the freedom to actively pursue specific projects that we consider important or lucrative or both.

That said, the sales numbers are surprising and I would be interested to find out what they mean in terms of your actua
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Juliano,

As I wrote in the last thread, I think that Babelcube is a bad way to do a potentially good thing, that is, to self-publish translations on a speculative basis. That topic interests me, but I don't see the point in throwing away heaps of money and the freedom to actively pursue specific projects that we consider important or lucrative or both.

That said, the sales numbers are surprising and I would be interested to find out what they mean in terms of your actual earnings (for example, the author may have reduced the price to almost nothing). And could you please also mention the number of words again, so that we can calculate a price per word?

And obviously Tom's explanation is not far-fetched. There was an article by a yellow-journalist-turned-reality-TV-bookwriter-turned-corporate-tool linked here several months ago plugging Google Translate and eliciting responses like "How sweet!" from otherwise sober-minded translators.

Sincerely,
Michael
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Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:12
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Monkey Jun 17, 2015

Michael Wetzel wrote:

....obviously Tom's explanation is not far-fetched... [/quote]

Michael - don't feed the monkey



 
TalTranslations
TalTranslations
United Kingdom
English to Hebrew
Marketing is the key here Jun 17, 2015

To sell books through babelcube you need:
- good marketing
- target language with a big market
- a popular subject (such as romantic novelas)

If you want to translate books on Art History into Danish or Estonian, babelcube is not for you.

Quality is not important for babelcube.
The quality, style, accuracy of the translation doesn't matter.
The proofreaders can be as good or bad as the translators.
About the quality of Juliano's tran
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To sell books through babelcube you need:
- good marketing
- target language with a big market
- a popular subject (such as romantic novelas)

If you want to translate books on Art History into Danish or Estonian, babelcube is not for you.

Quality is not important for babelcube.
The quality, style, accuracy of the translation doesn't matter.
The proofreaders can be as good or bad as the translators.
About the quality of Juliano's translations, we don't know and it doesn't matter. The combination of good marketing, the target language and the subject, does the trick.
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Marjorie Gouzée
Marjorie Gouzée
Belgium
Local time: 14:12
Member (2014)
English to French
+ ...
More info Jun 17, 2015

Hi
I am happy for you that this worked for you. However, I think that it would be interesting to know
1) how many words was the book
2) how many time you had to translate it (did you rush or could you work on other projects meanwhile)
3) how much did you earn for those 1000+ copies.

Without that, it is really hard to know if this can be interesting or not (speaking of money only. Of course, translating a book is always a good experience)


 
Juliano Martins
Juliano Martins  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 10:12
Member (2008)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Details Jun 17, 2015

Michael,

The book is “The Wedding Favor” (in Portuguese, “Apenas diga sim”) by Caroline Andrews. It has 40K words.

To check how much it costs, you can visit the follo
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Michael,

The book is “The Wedding Favor” (in Portuguese, “Apenas diga sim”) by Caroline Andrews. It has 40K words.

To check how much it costs, you can visit the following links:

http://www.amazon.com.br/Apenas-diga-sim-Caroline-Andrews-ebook/dp/B00XWZECNQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1433964567&sr=8-1&keywords=apenas%20diga%20sim
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00XWZECNQ
https://store.kobobooks.com/pt-BR/ebook/apenas-diga-sim
https://pt.scribd.com/book/265666306/Apenas-diga-sim
https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id996120661
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/apenas-diga-sim-caroline-andrews/1121956521?ean=2940152183849&itm=1&usri=2940152183849
http://ebooksplace.pt/p/sem-categoria/apenas-diga-sim/
http://www.bol.com/nl/p/apenas-diga-sim/9200000045270905/

TalTranslations,

You can also use the links above to buy the book and check the quality, if you want.

I have just received the first comment from a reader (Amazon BR), I translate it into English:

"I found the book very short, some things happened too fast, but I really liked the story and the author's writing style. I recommend it."

And by "author's writing style" of course she means my style, because she has read it in Portuguese.

Best regards to all!
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Phil Hand
Phil Hand  Identity Verified
China
Local time: 21:12
Chinese to English
Thanks, Juliano Jun 17, 2015

This new model is causing a lot of interest and confusion in my pair as well, so it's great that you've been so open about your experience. It's very valuable data for the rest of us as we decide how to conduct our own business.

 
Juliano Martins
Juliano Martins  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 10:12
Member (2008)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Questions Jun 17, 2015

mockingbirds wrote:

Hi
I am happy for you that this worked for you. However, I think that it would be interesting to know
1) how many words was the book
2) how many time you had to translate it (did you rush or could you work on other projects meanwhile)
3) how much did you earn for those 1000+ copies.

Without that, it is really hard to know if this can be interesting or not (speaking of money only. Of course, translating a book is always a good experience)


1) 40k words.
2) I didn't have to rush, I can determine the deadline and extend it as many times as I want. I worked on other projects meanwhile.
3) Those 1000+ copies are not the only copies that will be sold. We have to wait at least 5 years until we know the total amount.

Regards.


 
Jeff Whittaker
Jeff Whittaker  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 09:12
Member (2002)
Spanish to English
+ ...
New Program Jun 17, 2015

Read all the e-books you want on Amazon for just $9.99 a month (the Netflix of books):

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=ku_learn_more_ku_cen?docId=1002872331&ie=UTF8

"Q: What is Kindle Unlimited?
A: Kindle Unlimited is a new service that allows you to read as much as you want, choosing from over 800,000 titles
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Read all the e-books you want on Amazon for just $9.99 a month (the Netflix of books):

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=ku_learn_more_ku_cen?docId=1002872331&ie=UTF8

"Q: What is Kindle Unlimited?
A: Kindle Unlimited is a new service that allows you to read as much as you want, choosing from over 800,000 titles and thousands of audiobooks. Freely explore new authors, books, and genres from mysteries and romance to sci-fi and more. You can read on any device. It's available for $9.99 a month and you can cancel anytime. Try it out free for 30 days"

I wonder how many pennies you'll get.

Example: The Wedding Favor is available for free: http://www.amazon.com/Wedding-Favor-Caroline-Andrews-ebook/dp/B00I655NHQ/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1434573511&sr=1-2

That having been said. I read the first page in English and in Portuguese. The English version is awful. Sounds like a boring conversation you might have with a realtor. But somehow, the Portuguese is much better. Perhaps because it's not my native language and I haven't heard those trite realtor phrases over and over. I think you have improved the book through translation.


Juliano Martins wrote:

1021 books sold. 700+ on Amazon, almost 300 on Apple and a few on Google and Kobo. So far.


[Edited at 2015-06-17 20:30 GMT]

[Edited at 2015-06-17 20:39 GMT]

[Edited at 2015-06-17 21:44 GMT]
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Tom in London
 
TalTranslations
TalTranslations
United Kingdom
English to Hebrew
Target language Jun 18, 2015

Jeff Whittaker wrote:

Read all the e-books you want on Amazon for just $9.99 a month (the Netflix of books):

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=ku_learn_more_ku_cen?docId=1002872331&ie=UTF8


That having been said. I read the first page in English and in Portuguese. The English version is awful. Sounds like a boring conversation you might have with a realtor. But somehow, the Portuguese is much better. Perhaps because it's not my native language and I haven't heard those trite realtor phrases over and over. I think you have improved the book through translation.


If the style is nice, it's even better

BTW,
the names of the translators and editors are always mentioned?
In that case it's a good way for clients and outsourcers to check the quality and style of a translator,
by downloading a Babelcube book for FRee.

Babelcube might be interesting if the target language has a big market for the subject of the book.
If your native language is Portuguese, Spanish, Arab, Chinese.


 
Michael Wetzel
Michael Wetzel  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 14:12
German to English
Thank you for the numbers Jun 18, 2015

Hi Juliano,

Thank you for the numbers, but one was missing: How much money has arrived in your bank account so far (and on the basis of what number of books sold)? If the scheduling of payments means that the first payment has not arrived yet, that is fine, but it would be great if you could post it here when it does arrive.

Obviously, the real question is how much money the book will earn you over your lifetime, but that doesn't mean that more limited figures are not h
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Hi Juliano,

Thank you for the numbers, but one was missing: How much money has arrived in your bank account so far (and on the basis of what number of books sold)? If the scheduling of payments means that the first payment has not arrived yet, that is fine, but it would be great if you could post it here when it does arrive.

Obviously, the real question is how much money the book will earn you over your lifetime, but that doesn't mean that more limited figures are not helpful.

Sincererely,
Michael
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Juliano Martins
Juliano Martins  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 10:12
Member (2008)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thanks Jun 18, 2015

Jeff Whittaker wrote:

I read the first page in English and in Portuguese. The English version is awful. Sounds like a boring conversation you might have with a realtor. But somehow, the Portuguese is much better. Perhaps because it's not my native language and I haven't heard those trite realtor phrases over and over. I think you have improved the book through translation.



Thanks, Jeff! I believe that is possible too. I certainly worked in that direction.


 
Juliano Martins
Juliano Martins  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 10:12
Member (2008)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
No money yet, but good results Jul 4, 2015

So far no money reached my account. I have read that the websites (Amazon, Apple, Barnes&Noble, Kobo, etc.) pay Babelcube after 60 days only. That's why.

1107 copies of The Wedding Favor (Apenas diga sim) in Portuguese were sold so far. Let's see by the end of this month.

I'm very happy that because of this topic Terah Edun contacted me. I am translating her series (Sworn to Raise, etc...), which is a bestseller (over 100K copies sold in English). I hope we will have gr
... See more
So far no money reached my account. I have read that the websites (Amazon, Apple, Barnes&Noble, Kobo, etc.) pay Babelcube after 60 days only. That's why.

1107 copies of The Wedding Favor (Apenas diga sim) in Portuguese were sold so far. Let's see by the end of this month.

I'm very happy that because of this topic Terah Edun contacted me. I am translating her series (Sworn to Raise, etc...), which is a bestseller (over 100K copies sold in English). I hope we will have great results in Portuguese too.
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Paweł Hamerski
Paweł Hamerski
Poland
Local time: 14:12
English to Polish
+ ...
This happy Babelcube promotion blog Jul 5, 2015

is a bit one-sided. Not too much interest among translators. Sober people.

Tom in London
 
Kuochoe Nikoi-Kotei
Kuochoe Nikoi-Kotei  Identity Verified
Ghana
Local time: 13:12
Japanese to English
I'm interested Jul 6, 2015

I'm interested, for one. I don't think Juliano make much money once all the other parties have taken their cut, but I do want to see how things turn out.

[Edited at 2015-07-06 14:11 GMT]


 
Juliano Martins
Juliano Martins  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 10:12
Member (2008)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Still waiting for the royalty statement Aug 3, 2015

Hi people,

It's been now 2.5 months since the publishing of my first translated book, "The Wedding Favor". I didn't get any money so far, and asked the author about it, she told me the following: "As for the royalty statement, Babelcube pays at least four months behind the current month. My current royalty statement is showing March sales so we have a few months to go before payment."

So, everything seems okay.

For the first book, "The Wedding Favor", 1138
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Hi people,

It's been now 2.5 months since the publishing of my first translated book, "The Wedding Favor". I didn't get any money so far, and asked the author about it, she told me the following: "As for the royalty statement, Babelcube pays at least four months behind the current month. My current royalty statement is showing March sales so we have a few months to go before payment."

So, everything seems okay.

For the first book, "The Wedding Favor", 1138 copies were sold by now, which represents over 3100 USD that will be split according to the rules. More copies are being sold every day. I see that after 1k copies the sales are at a slow pace but still growing.

I have finished a second book, "Stand Alone", with 103k words, but the author is still proofreading it. I am now working on a bestseller, "Sworn to Raise", for which I have great expectations.

See you!
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What do you think about babelcube? (Part 2)







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