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Manga and light novel translators in Germany are speaking out against declining wages, despite the manga market’s explosive growth in the country.
In an open letter, the translators elaborated that the German manga market has seen unprecedented growth, nearly tripling in size over the past four years.
Yet, according to an internal survey, 57% of translators said they could not imagine working under current conditions for much longer.
The translators also emphasized that adjusted for inflation, their earnings have dropped by as much as 30% over the past decade.
Day by day, we translators build bridges between cultures, but our own foundation is crumbling—and severely so: According to an internal survey, 57 percent of respondents cannot imagine continuing to work under the current conditions in the long term.
Manga is booming like never before. In just the last four years, the market has nearly tripled. However, the economic success of the publishers is not reflected in the fees for us translators, even though no title could appear in German without us. While manga and light novels are selling better and better in German-speaking countries, we translators are earning effectively less per volume with each passing year. In fact, when adjusted for inflation, the fees offered by some publishers are up to 30 percent lower than they were ten years ago.
The translators also highlighted the impact of these conditions on their well-being, citing overwork, burnout, and economic instability. Many translators are living at the poverty line, and fear they may fall into old-age poverty if conditions do not improve.
Despite their repeated attempts to negotiate, they were met with rejections and such demands often led to loss of contract and bad business relationship.
This prompted them to start a public petition.
This development is damaging our physical and, above all, mental health, threatening our livelihoods, and preventing us from devoting the time and care the texts deserve. This leads to overwork, burnout, or living on the edge of poverty, with a high risk of falling into old-age poverty. The standard rates are economically unsustainable for freelancers and are not enough to live on. Despite repeated attempts to negotiate, we are given almost no room for discussion. This lack of negotiation space feels like a sign of disrespect. In our experience, even after many years of professional translation work, asking for fee adjustments often leads to the loss of the contract, and in some cases, the complete breakdown of the business relationship. It’s particularly ironic that manga and light novel publishers tend to downplay the complexity of their own products when arguing against fee increases.
The publishers’ business policies and the poor working conditions for us translators ultimately harm the end products on the shelves: the manga and light novels that fans pay for. This needs to change!
The group is demanding higher base pay, regular inflation adjustments, and compensation based on standard pages, in line with the agreement between the German Association of Literary Translators (VdÜ) and the German Publishers and Booksellers Association.
Additionally, they are calling for tiered pay scales for long-term collaboration, compensation for extra work, and fair royalties starting from the first copy sold.
Therefore, we demand an increase in base fees and billing based on standard pages, in accordance with the agreement between the German Association of Literary Translators (VdÜ) and the German Publishers and Booksellers Association. We also call for regular inflation adjustments and a tiered pay scale for long-term collaboration. In cases of disproportionate extra work, there must also be room for renegotiation and/or allowances for research or rush surcharges. Tasks such as acquiring and preparing the original texts (scanning, numbering speech bubbles), managing glossaries, etc., should not be requested from us without compensation. We also demand fair royalty agreements, with participation from the first copy sold, without being offset against the base fee (in line with the joint remuneration rule of the VdÜ; see Federal Court of Justice rulings from 2009 and 2011).
While acknowledging that some publishers are working toward better conditions, the group stressed that most German-speaking manga and light novel publishers still fail to offer fair compensation.
The translators are urging fans to support their cause by raising awareness on social media, at conventions, and in conversations with publishers. They are also inviting other translators to sign the open letter, with hopes of starting a dialogue that leads to sustainable change for everyone involved in the industry.
Here is a link to the petition.
