Translation Handoff Begins With a Brief

Define the work

A translation handoff begins with a source edition, not a vague manuscript folder. Identify language pair, rights holder, source file version, word count method, deadline, territory, intended audience, and whether the work is complete, excerpted, adapted, or updated.

For a hypothetical history book, attach a terminology sheet for place names, quotations, dates, archival captions, and terms that should remain untranslated.

Make voice choices visible

Supply a short style brief: register, dialogue treatment, typography, transliteration, and how to flag unresolvable ambiguity. Ask the translator to mark queries in a shared system rather than silently guessing. Do not promise readers a “literal” translation when the brief calls for adaptation.

Review as a publication

A bilingual reviewer or qualified editor should assess accuracy, consistency, and reader fit against the actual source and approved brief. Record all substantive changes, translator credit, permissions, and final edition relationship.

Specific production checks

Choose one representative passage containing dialogue, a quotation, a technical term, and cultural reference. Discuss it before the full translation begins and record decisions about register, citations, and notes. This prevents the whole book becoming an accidental experiment in policy.

At final review, compare a sample of corrected passages against the source and terminology sheet. If a factual correction enters the source edition after translation begins, mark whether it has been incorporated rather than allowing the target edition to look silently current.

Credit the translator in the metadata and visible book matter according to the agreed form, then proof that spelling against the signed record.