Literary Translation Model Contract

The important labor of literary translators deserves fair contract terms and pay. Bringing literary works from one language into another requires great creativity, knowledge, and skills. This is often overlooked or taken for granted, leading many publishers not to credit translators properly or pay them royalties.

To help change practices in the industry, the Authors Guild has created a publicly available Literary Translation Model Contract and Commentary, for the use of translators and publishers alike. The model contract explains the standard terms of a publishing contract for book-length translations of prose, and offers important suggestions for translators to negotiate a better deal.