My worldwide client map

Just for fun, I used Google Maps to plot the location of my translation clients.

 

Here it is! http://g.co/maps/qztk3

Translation Rates and Services as of July 1, 2011

Blair M. Sheridan and Svitlana Surzhyk
Freelance Translators and Editors
Russian/Ukrainian/French-English
English-Russian, English-Ukrainian

AREAS OF EXPERTISE
Legal texts (including contracts, court rulings), engineering, literature, banking, business, finance, civil society and politics, history and others. If you don’t see the area you’re looking for here, don’t hesitate to ask! You’ll receive a straightforward answer.

RATES
Basic translation rate: $0.09 per source word
Basic editing rate: $0.32 per source word

Translation rates by volume (all language pairs):

0 – 5 000 words: $0.09/word
5 000 – 10 000 words: $0.08/word
10 000 – 15 000 words: $0.075/word
15 000 and more: $0.07/word

Surcharges:
1. Urgent, weekend and night-time translation (to be discussed with client): +25%
2. Scanning of image files (.jpg, .gif), PDF’s, etc. for preparation of translation: $1 per page
3. Delivery of hard copy translations by courier mail worldwide: $2 per page, plus courier costs
4. Creation and delivery of client-specific Trados translation memory: $10

Any potential cost items not listed here to be confirmed with client.

PAYMENT
We accept payment in cash (for clients in U.K., Ukraine or Kazakhstan), via PayPal, Moneybookers or via transfer to our Canadian or U.K.-based accounts. No cheques – sorry!

CONTACT
By e-mail at: blair.sheridan@mail.mcgill.ca, blair_wanderer@yahoo.ca or svetasurzhyk@yahoo.com
By Skype: contact names – blair.sheridan or sveta.surzhyk
By telephone: (+38) 099 550-7344. Please keep in mind that Blair is on EET (GMT +2)

Now working with a colleague and offering EN-RUS, EN-UKR

Pleased to report that I’m now partnering with a long-time friend and former co-worker, Sveta Surzhyk. This means that we’ll now be offering, in addition to Russian/Ukrainian/French-English, translation from English TO Russian and Ukrainian.

Dodgy potential client

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – thank God for Proz.Com.

I was contacted with a request from a translation agency I had never been approached by before. They wrote that they had a Russian-English translation for me, nothing too complex, but that they needed it within 2-3 hours. In general, I’m not opposed to that sort of thing, but, ever since I joined Proz, I’ve had the opportunity to do a little background checking on potential clients.

I couldn’t find them. That’s not necessarily a terrible thing, but in my experience the more “solid” companies can always be found in the Proz “Blue Book.” I wrote back, saying that I didn’t wish to be rude, but that I needed to know a little more about them, before I took on work for an unfamiliar company. They replied with a promise to pay…but I’ve had those promises before, so I decided to check again…

And I found them – but under a different name (NOT a good sign.) In addition, the last 4 bits of feedback were very negative, regarding payment. That was enough for me: I wrote back, declining the job. They replied quickly and, I had the feeling, with resignation.

We freelancers have to take care of ourselves. Proz is a big help and my membership payment as already paid for itself many times over.

The Perils of Freelance, Part One: Non-Paying Clients

Working as a freelancer can be very rewarding, for a great many reasons. Working from home, avoiding silly office politics and pettiness, setting your own schedule, picking what look to be the best projects – both in terms of interest, as well as profit – all of these things add up to what can be a great job. There are, however, significant potential disadvantages.

Probably the foremost among these is the non-paying client. You’re contacted for a job, do the work (in some cases, rush jobs, overnight, giving up sleep and stressing out, in general), submit the invoice and…the rest is silence. As the payment deadline hits, then passes, you send a polite reminder – still nothing. Then, perhaps a slightly more terse reminder. Still – nothing but the chirping of crickets.

At some point, you come to the very unpleasant realisation that the “client” has no intention to pay. In other words, you’ve been scammed. “Rankles” is an understatement of what it does to you. This is your job, your living and, when people don’t pay, they are taking money out of your pocket. So, what are your options? Is there any way to get them to pay? If not, is there some way you can gain at least satisfaction?

Unless you have a contract with the “client”, the chances of getting them to pay are few and far between. So much of the freelance translation business is based on trust and, with deadlines often impossibly tight, contracts seem to get forgotten. Particularly if the “client and the freelancer are located in different countries, the chances are slim that you’ll be paid for your work.

That leaves only the second option. For lack of a better word, let’s call it “revenge”. Frequently, these job contacts come from freelancer job aggregation sites, allowing clients to find freelancers and vice versa. One thing you can do is post a message to the other freelancers (as well as the site administrators), to the effect that “Client X” is a non-payer. At the very least, you’ll be doing other freelancers a service, by helping them to avoid the pit you’ve fallen into.

Also, despite the fact that the freelancer will usually have no direct contact with the “end-user” (assuming the “client” is an agency), it’s often clear from the text just who the “end-user” is. For example, the work I did for a recent non-payer was clearly from a very well-known Russian anti-virus software company. If you know who the end-user is, why not drop them a line, informing them that you have not been paid by the agency in question? You can’t expect the end-user to pay you – they won’t and they shouldn’t: they have no relationship with you whatsoever. You might, however, want to remind them that they may find deadlines being blown, as freelancers drop the agency like a hot rock. It may help the end-user to make a decision to look for a new agency.

Again, unlikely you’ll see your money, but – if you’re like me – you’ll get a little bit of satisfaction from the fact that you have made their lives somewhat more difficult. After all, why should they sleep easy, when you’re not?

Looking for quality Russian/Ukrainian to English translation? You’re in the right place!

Who Am I?

I am a freelance translator from Russian and/or Ukrainian to English.

I have more than 14 years of experience working in this field, with clients ranging from international organizations (World Bank, UN, European Parliament) to multi-national companies (G4S, GfK, JTI), educational institutions, non-governmental organizations and private clients.

Have you ever paid for a translation, only to receive pages upon pages of unintelligible computer-generated gobbledygook? Have you ever tried to use Google Translate to generate anything other than the most basic gist of a document?  If so, you know the frustrations and futility involved in accepting anything less than a document translated by a real human being.

I offer translations of the highest quality, executed with great care and pride in my work, as my returning customers will attest.  While accuracy and readability are of paramount importance to me, I also guarantee quick turnaround and strict attention to deadlines.

Rates

My basic rates for Russian-English or Ukrainian-English translation are 0.05 USD (five cents) per word.  For English-Russian, the price is 0.06 USD (six cents).  Editing/proofreading is a bargain at 0.04 USD (four cents).  I am, of course, open to negotiation, especially for large-volume orders.

Ukraine-based customers have several payment options open to them:  cash, bank transfer or PayPal.  The exchange rate used for calculation will be that of the National Bank of Ukraine on the day that payment is made.

Customers based elsewhere should use PayPal option, unless they are clients of a Canadian bank, via which they can do an electronic transfer to my RBC account.

Don’t be shy:  ask any questions you like.  I will reply in the speediest fashion possible.

I look forward to your orders!

PAY HERE