Translators are co-creators of many of the books we love, yet the years of craft behind their work are among the least compensated for their work in all of publishing. 

PEN America’s new white paper, Fairness in Publishing: The State of Literary Translation in the U.S., follows up on its 1969 Manifesto on Translation and its 2023 update, which observed that  “translators remain underpaid, often absent from book covers, and regarded as adjuncts to literary production.” The report takes a hard look at the state of literary translation today and the unfair terms translators must often agree to while facing the existential threat of AI to take their place, despite the clear value that literary translators bring to the industry.

Drawing on interviews with 17 translators and 20 editors, publishers, and booksellers, as well as the Authors Guild’s 2023 Survey of Literary Translators’ Working Conditions, the report confirms what our survey found and gives textured voice to the people navigating this landscape, challenges the publishing industry’s own mythmaking around translated fiction, and addresses the informal hierarchy of languages that compounds the inequities translators already face. It makes numerous recommendations, including that industry payment conventions be treated as a floor rather than a median, that translators’ names appear consistently on book covers and in digital retail metadata, and that the ART principle — Authorization, Remuneration, and Transparency — govern how translators’ work is used to train AI models.

The report cites many of the findings from our 2023 survey, including these key facts:  

• The average pay rate for literary translators is 13 cents per word, with the largest share earning 10 cents or less, and some as little as 1 cent per word.
• Only 11.5 percent of translators derive all their income from translation; fewer than 10 percent work full-time as translators.
• 73 percent of translators always or usually retain copyright to their work, up from 66 percent in 2017, but still leaving too many without rights to their own creations, often because publishers simply refuse.
• The field remains over 80 percent white, a disparity that deepens when translators of color work with languages already treated as low priority by publishers.
• More than a third of translators rely on their publisher receiving a grant just to get paid at all.

We thank PEN America for this important report that focuses our attention once more on the urgent need to improve working terms for literary translators as a crucial, creative part of the publishing ecosystem. Translators are co-creators of literature, and it is long past time they were treated as such.

Tools You Can Use Right Now 

Literary Translation Model Contract

The best way translators can protect themselves is with a well-negotiated contract. The contract is where all of these dynamics—pay, copyright, credit, AI protections—are settled, and where translators either secure their rights or sign them away.

That’s why the Authors Guild created a model contract specifically for literary translators. Our publicly available Literary Translation Model Contract explains the standard terms of agreements for book-length prose translations, offers concrete negotiating guidance, and includes language protecting translators against the use of their work to train generative AI. 

Webinars

For translators looking to go further, these recorded conversations are a good place to start: 

Negotiating Literary Translation Contracts  

How to use the model contract to negotiate higher fees and royalties, ensure proper credit, and retain sublicense rights. 

Translation Contracts 101 

An overview of key contract elements and negotiating points for translators entering a book deal. 

Path to Publication: Literary Translation  

A roundtable with editors from Archipelago, HarperVia, Open Letter Books, and Tilted Axis Press on navigating the publishing landscape as a translator, moderated by ALTA board president Chenxin Jiang. 

Looking Ahead 

The Authors Guild is working on new advocacy initiatives for translators in collaboration with fellow translation organizations.

We invite you to become a member or sign up for our newsletter to receive details as they become available.

For more resources on translation, explore the American Literary Translators Association (ALTA).