Editing

The editing service is the process of revising a text, assuring that a correct terminology is used.

Editing is aimed to enhance the fluency of the text (be it a translated one or an Italian one that needs to be revised for different reasons – to have a flawless grammar or a more localized text for a specific market).

This typically means to carry out some research – whether online or in specialized dictionaries – accompanied by recommended corrections.

An example?
Words like “our cordial staff”, or “enjoy our comfortable sofas”, sound perfectly all right in English, and they are effective and widely used.
When translating them into Italian, though, the sensation is completely different if you translate them literally, namely as “cordiale, gentile” and “comodo”. An average reader could sense that something is not working. If you are dealing with a five-star hotel, for example, those words – although correct – clash with the general tone, not sounding Italian at all.
So you will have to erase them in the target language, if you don’t want to give the impression that one is reading a translation.
You will then have to convey the same meaning and feeling of a luxury accommodation using more appropriate terms in the target language.

From this point of view, being mother tongue is important, because it allows an accurate, consistent and effective work. You also must have excellent writing skills and be a profound connoisseur of your own language.
But being a mother tongue speaker is not enough: you must be qualified, with cultural awareness, well educated and with a vast knowledge of the field you are talking about, knowing its audience and its language.

The price for editing depends on several factors: the length of the text, its complexity, the topic and of course if you have additional requirements (urgency, tight deadline, etc). I usually ask to evaluate an excerpt of the work before signing a contract. Anyhow, the standard rate for editing is of 40€/h. or 0,10 eurocent/word.