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| Perhaps the best cookbook we own? |
This post marks the return of our recommended reading series, and this is the first book we recommend for 2015. As we've done for many years, we like to recommend good books to our readers. Our rules for reviewing books are simple: we receive quite a few unsolicited books, and even solicited books don't guarantee a review. In general, we see no point in writing unflattering reviews, so we generally don't review books we would not recommend. We did receive a (very welcome) copy of The Marketing Cookbook for Translators by our colleague Tess Whitty (English<->Swedish translator), who lives in Utah, and here's the short version: we like it. Go read it, especially if you are a beginning translator.
Now, here's the longer review. In general, we think the market for self-published books in the T&I industry is getting a bit saturated. Some of the books that have hit the market lately aren't particularly useful, but Tess' book sure is, because it focuses on a very specific area that's particularly challenging and scary to many newcomers (and even advanced translators): marketing. It can all seem a bit daunting when you go out into the big world of translation and try to leave your mark, acquire clients, and earn a living. While there already is a lot of information out there on how to market your services, as far as we know, there previously hadn't been an entire handy-dandy book that focused just on marketing. Now we have one. Reading this book is infinitely easier and more convenient than trying to compile the information from multiple sources such as blogs, newsletters, etc.
We really liked the clever idea of structuring the book like a cookbook, and the entire theme is quite cute and well executed. The book is divided into eight chapters with witty names such as Your Pantry, Appetizers, Side Dishes, etc. Then the individual sections are aptly called Recipes (of which there are 25). Tess' style is clear, easy to read, and direct and insightful. We particularly like Recipe 8, which focuses on the ever-important topic of the website, and includes solid SEO (search engine optimization) advice. We also like the easy-to-locate resources sections that are included for additional reading throughout the book.
Many readers might recognize Tess from her very active involvement in the ATA and her fantastic podcast called Marketing Tips for Translators (for which Judy has been interviewed). With this book, she's given our industry newcomers a solid guide to marketing their services. No recipe is ever truly foolproof, but with this book, Tess has given you all the right ingredients and plenty of good tips to set you on the right path. However, the hard work is still up to you.
Here's some purchasing information for the book. It will make a great addition to any translator's collection. And for the record, Judy's copy lives in her office, but was only posing on the cookbook shelf for the picture.
2 comments:
Thank you very much Judy and Dagmar for the review. Your excellent advice on marketing to direct client has also been included as a resource in one of the recipes.
@Tess: Our pleasure. Thanks for writing such a fantastic book and thanks for including our advice in it. :) Happy Friday!
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