Authors' Union response to KVK Bookwork survey
Ensure fair contracts, better fees and protect translators from the effects of AI. This is the only way to keep the translation profession attractive for new generations and prevent experienced translators from dropping out, says the Authors' Union, the interest group for writers and translators with 2,000 members.
Authors' Association responds to new Research by KVB Boekwerk showing that 80 per cent of book translators in the Netherlands earn the minimum wage or less on a full working week. A significant proportion are even below the subsistence level. Only a small minority achieve a modal income, and that number is decreasing.
The Authors' Union calls this situation alarming. "We have known for some time that translators are structurally underpaid. Unfortunately, it is difficult to change this because translators are in a weak position in relation to the powerful publishing groups. Book translators are professionals with a great love of books and language, but they are forced to supplement their income with other work, lower their quality standards or stop translating altogether. In addition, it leads to insufficient recruitment of new, young translators, who are so important for the future of the translation profession," says Maarten van der Werf, chairman of the Translators' Section of the Authors' Union.
Translators enrich Dutch culture
Translators make international literature accessible to Dutch readers who do not master the original language. In doing so, they increase the diversity of the book supply and enrich Dutch culture. "Without translators, there would be no world literature. Translations account for a third of all newly published titles. If translators disappear, all those voices will also be extinguished," said Mattho Mandersloot, Korean-Dutch translator.
Unfair competition by AI
Besides the low fees recorded by KVB Boekwerk, the translation profession is also threatened by the rise of generative AI. Increasingly, publishers are using machine translations, which then hire human translators to correct the AI texts. This results in lower quality for the reader, and for the translator, more work for less money. Translators thus have to compete with systems that have been trained with their copyright work, without asking their permission and without receiving compensation.
Structural solution needed
"Fair contracts, better remuneration and protection of translators from the effects of AI are needed to keep the translation profession attractive and to prevent experienced translators from dropping out. This is in the interest of the whole culture," says Maarten van der Werf. "To keep our language alive and preserved as a language of knowledge and literature, a wide range of good, recent translations is essential. Good remuneration for translators is therefore a dire necessity!"
