Starting Monday, I’ll be facilitating a four-week online course taught by translator and productivity expert Dorothee Racette: the course is Organization and Productivity for Translators. Dorothee now runs her own consulting company–appropriately named Take Back My Day–and she’s been a tremendous help to me in my own business; I’m excited that more translators will now get to benefit from her expertise. This course will help you:

• Break the stress/time crunch/feast/famine cycle in your business
• Create a realistic plan for getting more done during each work day, without added stress
• Set up your ideal physical and digital work environment
• Learn productivity techniques specifically for translators, including managing your translation software

We’ll do two live sessions every week (recordings provided if you can’t attend), plus a weekly homework assignment. Everyone in the class will also receive an individual consulting session with Dorothee at the end of the course. Registration is $380 with a $25 discount for ATA members (use coupon code ATA). We have a good group signed up already, but there’s room for a few more people. Hop on over to the course web page for more information or to register!

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Thoughts on Translation has two more online classes running in 2018. Thanks to everyone who answered my survey about 2019 classes; lots of good ideas in the pipeline! The early registration price ends tomorrow, Friday 10/5, for:

• • German to English Translation Workshop, taught by Eve Hecht, Ted Wozniak, and Jill Sommer. This is a six-week fully online course, running from November 5 through December 21 and including three modules: legal, financial, and medical translation. It combines live presentations, question and answer sessions (recordings provided) and individual feedback on six practice translations. Early registration is $525, ATA members get $25 off with coupon code ATA.
  • Marketing to Direct Clients, taught by me. This is a four-week fully online course, running from November 5 through December 10. This course is for translators who want to find, market to, and successfully work with direct clients, and it combines self-paced videos, live question and answer sessions (recordings provided), and individual feedback on four homework assignments. Early registration is $365, ATA members get $25 off with coupon code ATA.

  Early registration for both of these courses ends on Friday; I hope to see some of you there!

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The next session of my online course Marketing to Direct Clients starts Monday. We have a good group signed up, and there’s room for three more people. This is a four-week class for translators in any language combination, and includes self-paced videos, live question and answer sessions, and individual feedback on four homework assignments.

Registration is $380, and I offer the following discounts: $15 for ATA members (coupon code ATA); $10 for anyone who has taken a previous class with me (coupon code ALUM), and $10 for anyone who has never taken a class with me (coupon code NEW). A past participant in this class commented: “Corinne’s course arrived just at the right moment in my freelance translation career, at this crossroads where you know you have to move up in terms of client base, rates and overall income, but you just don’t know where to start or what to do.” You’ll finish the class with a doable plan (instead of vague, unrealistic musings!) for finding and landing direct clients.

Registration is open through Sunday evening or until the three remaining spots are taken.

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I’m excited to announce that my Winter/Spring 2019 online courses are open for registration. Ahead of this “semester,” I surveyed my subscribers and asked what you’d like to learn about. You answered, and the lineup reflects the four most popular choices, plus my flagship course for beginning translators. All courses are four weeks long, $365 early bird/$380 regular (see the course pages for additional discounts), and offer a mix of self-paced and live sessions (recordings provided), plus individual feedback on four assignments. Additionally, everyone who registers for a 2019 course before December 31 receives a 30-minute individual consulting session with me. Here’s the lineup!

Spanish to English translation workshop with Holly Mikkelson, CT, FCCI.  January 9-February 6. Join Holly (ATA-certified SP<>EN, Federally-certified court interpreter, Professor Emerita at MIIS, longtime grader of the ATA SP>EN certification exam) for an in-depth translation technique course, focusing on legal and international development/diplomacy translation. Spanish to English translators at all levels are welcome, and this course is particularly recommended for anyone preparing for a certification exam. Early bird deadline: December 9.

Editing and proofreading for into-English translators with Karen Tkaczyk, PhD, CT, FITI.  February 11-March 11. As translators, we proofread and edit on a daily basis, but we often lack good techniques for these tasks, and we don’t know how to incorporate them into our range of services. Karen will cover proofreading, monolingual revision, bilingual revision, and self-editing, as well as information about how to market editing as a standalone service. Early bird deadline: January 11.

Getting started as a freelance translator, with me, Corinne McKay, CT. April 1-26. Running since 2006 with over 500 graduates, this is my flagship course for beginning and aspiring translators in any language combination. Learn how to create translation-targeted marketing materials, find your first clients, set up a website or online profile, and decide how much to charge. Early bird deadline: March 1.

Copywriting for your business and your clients, with Madalena Sánchez Zampaulo. April 29-May 24. Copywriting is an often-overlooked skill that can improve the quality of your translations, attract new clients to your business, and open up new income streams. Better yet, good copywriting is a skill that can be learned, and in this class, you’ll improve your copywriting skills in ways that you can immediately apply to your own business and to your work for your clients. Early bird deadline: March 29.

Organization and productivity for translators, with Dorothee Racette. June 3-28. Back by popular request, this course will help you get more done, in less time, and feel happier while doing it. A past participant told us that this class helped her “stop flailing.” Dorothee will help you minimize the feast-famine cycle and create sustainable business processes you’ll actually stick with, while learning productivity techniques especially for translators. This class includes a 30-minute individual consultation with Dorothee. Early bird deadline: May 3.

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I’ve been steadily adding courses to my winter/spring 2019 lineup, and I’m also considering running a March Marketing Madness coaching group that would include daily accountability and some individual sessions with me. If you’re interested in the March marketing group, send me an e-mail and let me know.

This year’s first three online courses sold out: I have wait lists going for Spanish to English translation workshop with Holly Mikkelson (two sessions sold out!), and Editing and proofreading for into-English translators with Karen Tkaczyk.

Here’s what’s new. All of these courses run for four weeks, fully online, with individual feedback on the homework, and recordings of the live sessions if you can’t or don’t want to attend them. Discounts are available for ATA members, new students, and returning students: see each individual course page for details.

In April, I’ll be teaching Getting Started as a Freelance Translator, my flagship course for beginners, running since 2006 and focusing on creating a translation-targeted resume and cover e-mail, marketing plan, rates and billable hours sheet and online presence.

In May (actually starting April 29), Madalena Sánchez Zampaulo will teach Copywriting: for your clients and for your business, focusing on writing better marketing materials for yourself, and on offering copywriting or content marketing translation as a service to your clients.

In May/June, another brand new course that I’m sure will be popular: French to English financial translation with Judy Lyons, an introduction to financial translation, the life of a financial translator, and the market for French to English financial translators.

In June, Dorothee Racette will teach round two of her popular course Organization and productivity for translators. The first session of this course was a great success, and Dorothee will have even more tips on how to get more done in less time without losing your mind, and how to organize your electronic work space for maximum productivity.

Already scheduled for September is Paula Arturo’s Plain language for into-English legal translators, focusing on how to write legal translations that are clear, accurate, and readable (yes, it’s possible!).

I’m excited for this lineup and I hope to see some of you there!

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My March Marketing Madness challenge group starts Monday morning, and registration closes Sunday night at midnight NYC time. The challenge group is for anyone who wants to spend 30 minutes a day on business development for 20 consecutive business days. You’ll receive a daily e-mail from me with that day’s tasks, there’s a Slack group (optional) for motivation and accountability purposes, and we’ll do a weekly question and answer session. Registration is $75 and there is no limit on the number of people who can participate.

Today (Friday, March 1) is the last day to register at the early bird rate for the April session of Getting Started as a Freelance Translator; registration goes from $365 to $380 after that. This is a four-week online course for beginning and aspiring translators in any language combination, who want to launch and run a successful freelance business. Right now there are five spots left!

I hope to see some of you there!

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Update: this session is now sold out. Contact me at corinne@translatewrite.com if you’d like to be on the wait list for a future session.

There are two spots left in the April session of my online course Getting Started as a Freelance Translator. It’s a four-week class for beginning and aspiring translators in any language combination, and we combine self-paced videos, live sessions, and individual feedback on four homework assignments. As a past participant says,

“I was surprised and delighted at how practical this course was. Corinne is extremely generous in sharing her insights, suggestions and tips, and this was very important to me as a relatively novice translator. I always got the feeling I could ask any question, no matter what, and Corinne would provide a thoughtful and thorough answer. This course is a must for beginner translators.”

Registration is $365 and there are various discounts available (see the codes on the registration page). Once this session is full, I’ll start a wait list for a fall session. Hope to see some of you there!

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Greetings, readers! I promise that I have a few substantive posts waiting in the wings, but they’re on hold until I wrap up the March marketing challenge group (it’s been fun!) and some translation projects. In the meantime, just a reminder that the early registration rate for Madalena Sánchez Zampaulo’s online course (beginning April 29) Copywriting: for your clients and for your business ends Friday. Madalena–who has quickly gained a reputation for offering tips and techniques you can apply right away–will help you learn to “write like a copywriter,” write better marketing copy for your own business, and target translation clients who may need copywriting services.

This hands-on course with lots of individual attention is limited to 15 people, and we’ll do two live sessions a week, plus a weekly copywriting assignment that you’ll submit to Madalena for individual feedback. Early registration is $365 (goes up to $380 after Friday), and there are various discounts available on the course page. Once this session is full, I’ll start a wait list for a future session.

I’m excited about this course, and I hope to see some of you there!

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Next up in my online course series is French to English financial translation, with expert financial translator and former commercial banker Judy Lyons. Judy taught the financial module of last year’s French to English Translation Workshop course, to rave reviews. I’m excited that she’s back to teach this course exclusively for beginning and aspiring financial translators (or experienced financial translators who want individual feedback on their translations). The early registration deadline is April 21 for this course.

Registration is $365, with discounts for new students ($380 after April 21 if spots are still available), returning students, and ATA members (see the registration page). The course includes four live slide presentations, four live question and answer sessions (recordings provided), and individual feedback on four practice translations. Students in Judy’s previous course commented, “Besides the feedback on my translations, I really appreciated how much information was presented in the live sessions and also in the extra materials. We got an amazing amount of resources!”

Part of moving up in the market is becoming a better translator–join us for a unique opportunity to hone your skills in this specialization. All previous online courses this year have sold out, so don’t delay if you’d like to join this session.

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Over the past several years, I’ve sold the translation rights to my book How to Succeed as a Freelance Translator, to freelancers working into Arabic, Brazilian Portuguese, Spanish, French, and Italian. It’s always fun to see the book come out in new languages. Congratulations to English>Italian translators Chiara Rizzo and Barbara Ronca for the latest translation: Come diventare traduttori di successo, now available in electronic format.

Next, I’m excited to announce a new challenge group: the June Time Crunch Challenge. From June 3-June 28, German<>English translator and leadership/productivity coach Dorothee Racette will lead this group, modeled on my March Marketing Madness challenge group (which inspired feedback such as “This greatly increased my confidence in marketing and has been a turning point for me. My business will never be the same again!”). There will be daily challenge activities, motivational videos, and a Slack group to keep everyone accountable and motivated. Registration is $75 and there are various discounts available on the registration page. We’ve already got a good group signed up, with room for more!

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