Also called: Book Translator
Translates novels, poetry, and comics from other languages into English.
A literary translator works through a Japanese novel line by line, trying to keep jokes, rhythm, and emotion intact, and emails the author about tricky phrases.
Approximate; usually paid per word and often combined with other translation work.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 4 years after high school. Fluency in two languages; often a degree in languages or literature.
Ways in: 4-year college, Self-taught. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Foreign Languages, Comparative Literature, Linguistics.
Shrinking. Machine translation is putting pressure on translators.
High risk for 10 years. AI translation now drafts most book translations; humans still polish literary work, but paid jobs shrink.
Classes: Spanish, French or another language, English literature, Creative writing, World history.
Official data: O*NET occupation 27-3091.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.