Increasing translation rates for existing clients - Germany

Excuse me in advance for being long-winded, and other translators please don’t get mad at me for undercharging! I realize now I was an idiot but that’s why I’m asking for advice. Anyway, my story:

I’m American and have been living in Germany for 7 years. Prior to that, I went to med school in the U.S. and finished 4 years of medical residency in Canada. When I first moved here, I needed a job for money but more urgently for a visa (I moved here for love ;-)). A doctor friend of mine suggested that I help out his department with proofreading medical research papers, which was right up my alley. I’m actually a wannabe novelist so the writing was fun. Unfortunately, I didn’t know anything about the going rates for such work and he suggested 15€ per hour, so that’s what I began charging. (I got the visa, and eventually got married and now have an unbefristet aufenthaltstitel, so this point is now moot).

I picked up German very quickly, and within a few months I began translating (Although I was charging by the hour, I actually charged much less because I was a beginner and realized I took too long for the work). I seem to have a knack for it. I sent out one round of letters offering my services to a University Clinic (six years ago?), but mostly my business has spread by word of mouth. I’ve been pretty busy during this time having a kid (2nd on the way) and trying to write, so I didn’t do any other marketing.

I did raise my rate a couple years ago to €18 per hour, but my German husband has discouraged me from more increases. I have been hesitant with this as well since I work mostly for a few loyal clients (they are EXTREMELY pleased with my work, and I think rightfully so), and though I’ve felt that I am undercharging for both my translating skills and medical expertise, I had no idea what the going rates were. (Not sure why I didn’t find the threads here in the past, but maybe because I was searching agencies and they don’t post prices).

In any case, I’ve remained on an hourly basis since many of the papers I do are mixed English and German and require extensive editing as well as translation. I find I usually translate between 200-400 words per hour, depending on the quality of writing/subject difficulty, so I use this for my estimates and actually for billing, so although it’s an hourly rate I won’t charge for less than 200 words per hour, if that.

So now finally I’d like to make a real profession out of translating, instead of a “housewife hobby” (as it was called in another thread from a few years ago). Does anyone have any suggestions for me?

Obviously, I’d like to charge a more competitive rate, which seems to be at least 1€ per line of text and 50€ per hour for proofreading. Is this enough? Too much for the current market?(Please advise).

I’ll probably apply to some agencies for work in general and scientific areas (unfortunately I have ZERO law experience so that sort of thing is quite difficult), but my plan is to market directly in my particular “niche.”

Any thoughts on what I should do with my current clients? Suggestions? I appreciate all constructive input here. Again to current translators, please don’t be angry with me about undercutting typical rates—I clearly haven’t been much of a businessperson in the past, but I’d like to change this asap.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

There is a wealth of information on this thread: What fees to charge for translation work.

The rates you state are prices that I think most professional translators would be happy with. The proofreading rate in particular is what I at least would consider a best-case scenario and you'll generally be getting quite a bit less than that, especially with agencies.

I can understand that you're probably a bit nervous jacking up the prices so substantially for your existing customers. However, they are probably aware that they're on to a good deal that won't last forever. The fact that they are pleased with your work and because you have the relevant background knowledge, they will hopefully mostly stick with you. I think it's important here to properly explain the situation, to give them a certain amount of notice, and perhaps to negotiate rather than dictate. Good luck!

thanks for the link--i'd seen part but not all of that thread. and thanks for the encouragement as well...