Scoping calls for large translation projects: what to ask

For any project bigger than a few pages, quote only after a short scoping call: agree the real volume and formats, the audience, the terminology to follow, the deadline and whether delivery can be in batches, and who reviews the translation on the client's side. Offer the call as a bookable service, ask for sample files by email beforehand, and send a written scope with your quote afterwards. Large projects then start with fewer surprises for both sides.

A request that says "about 40,000 words, needed soon" leaves out almost everything that decides your price and your schedule. The files may be scanned PDFs, a website export or a spreadsheet of short strings. There may be a glossary nobody mentioned, or a legal team that must approve each chapter. "Soon" may mean a fixed launch date or a vague wish.

A twenty-minute conversation, prepared with the files in front of you, turns a vague request into a scope you can quote and meet.

Write the answers into a short scope document and send it with your quote. When the client accepts, that document is what both sides refer to if the project changes along the way.

On a large project, delivering everything at the end leaves no room for correction. Propose batches instead: a first chapter or a sample section early on, reviewed by the client, then regular deliveries on fixed dates. The first batch settles questions of terminology and tone while they're cheap to fix; later batches go faster because those choices are made. Put each delivery date in the scope, and agree a short review call after the first one, so feedback comes in one conversation rather than scattered comments in the margins of a file.

On Book, each service has a name, a price and an optional description shown on your public page. You open slots for each service at the length it takes, one place per slot. Clients pick a service, then a free slot, and book without an account. If you work with clients in other countries, your public page shows slot times in your time zone and displays its name, which avoids confusion.

Durations and prices are examples: set your own. In the description, say what to send before the call: sample files, the glossary if any, the deadline.

The public booking form asks for first name, last name, email and phone, plus an optional note you read in your new-booking email. Ask for the company, the language pair and the type of document in a sentence. Files go by email: Book doesn't handle attachments. The note can't be edited once the booking exists, so put the instructions in the service description.

Translation needs long stretches of focus. One option is to open calls on two afternoons a week, repeated each week until a date, and keep mornings for translating. During a project, book check-ins and batch reviews yourself from your calendar on agreed dates: first and last name are required, email and phone optional. With one place, a booked slot is full and no longer shown on your page.

Clients can't move bookings online: they contact you, you reschedule or cancel from your bookings list and confirm yourself, since Book doesn't email clients about changes. With calendar sync (Google, iPhone, Mac), calls sit next to your delivery dates. Book doesn't produce quotes, contracts or invoices; it handles appointments. It costs €5/month, everything included: unlimited services and bookings, no commission, no contract.