$20 a page?! Christ, let's do the math.
The most well-paid manga translator I know makes around $1000 per volume.
A volume is about 150-200 pages, so at best, that's about $6.70 per page.
$20 in 1999 is worth about $37 in 2025.
That would be $5,500 for a 150-page volume in 2025.
The most well-paid manga translator I know makes around $1000 per volume.
A volume is about 150-200 pages, so at best, that's about $6.70 per page.
$20 in 1999 is worth about $37 in 2025.
That would be $5,500 for a 150-page volume in 2025.
Reposted from
Tom, Legally Certified Date Simmelier
Publishers will cry boo-hoo about tight budgets from thin margins, which I don't dispute per se, but when you consider that manga used to pay $20+ per page to translate in the 90s when foreign industry revenue was tiny, forgive me if I wonder if it's more a question of priorities than lack of money.
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Man, even if it had just stayed at 20$/page 🥺
Why pay your employees or contractors more money when you can find someone to do it for less, and pass the profits on to yourself?
If I was paid $5,500 per volume...
I'd make $66,000 per year just doing manga.
(Before taxes, of course, since I'm a contractor.)
If I worked full-time as a manga translator, I could bang out 40 volumes a year at max.
$220,000 a year before taxes.
Federal minimum wage in 1999 was $5.65, worth $9.36 today.
In 2025, federal minimum wage is $7.25.
Anyways, fuck capitalism.
seriously, pay us for our expertise, so we can afford to live semi-decent lives
i'm so burned out man
since "anyone can learn how to letter 🤓" /s