I am very fortunate to have people like my writing enough that they wish to translate it.
Here’s a list of translated articles and books. Below I’ve written information for those who are interested in translating my work.
Spanish
- The Muscle and Strength Pyramid: Nutrition and Training textbooks.
- Articles: The Importance of Patience and more on The Macro Wizard.com (by Alberto Alvarez).
Portuguese
- The Muscle and Strength Pyramid books — translation in progress.
- My books: The Complete Nutrition Setup Guide and The Last Shred.
- Articles: Dietaemalhacao.com.br (by Rafael Ferreira).
Japanese
- AthleteBody.jp is a full Japanese version of this site.
- The Muscle and Strength Pyramid books — planned release by the first quarter of 2020.
- A shortened version of The Muscle and Strength Training Pyramid is available for free, here.
Italian
- The Muscle and Strength Pyramid books — Currently in negotiations with an Italian publishing house.
Chinese
- The Muscle and Strength Pyramid books — Contract signed with the second biggest publisher in China. No information on the release date yet.
German
- The Complete Nutrition Setup Guide, (by Fabian Mertens).
- Articles: Aesirsports.de (by Damian Minichowski), Yourpal.me (by Alessandro Palermo).
Croatian
- Articles: Nevencuk.com by Neven Ćuk
Information for Those That Would Like to Translate
If you would like to translate something, firstly, I think that’s awesome. Here’s why…
My career in this industry was born from the desire to help people in Japan by translating articles to fight the industry bullshit. That was back in 2011 when it started as a little blog. We have since built that out to be the most respected fitness site in the country. (You can read about that journey here.)
If you would like to join the fight to make the industry in your country better, translating some already existing articles is a great place to start, and the evidence-based fitness community will love you for it.
Category 1: Articles, Currently Publicly Available Online for Free, Translated and Republished for Free
To anyone that asks if they can translate an article of mine that is already out on the internet for free, the answer is a resounding YES…
…as long as all the following conditions are met:
- Don’t duplicate work. Seek to find if there is a version in your language already out there first before proceeding.
- Let me know before you do the work what specifically it is you wish to translate. This way, if I know of someone currently in the process of translating it I can let you know and if I think there is something better out there, I can tell you.
- Do a good job. This means the language and the presentation. Would your standard of writing pass for a major publication? If not, improve it. It’s not just your name on it, but mine. I get translated work checked, if you do a sloppy job I will ask that you delete it.
- Keep all links, link back to my site and credit the work with my name.
- Let me know when it is done so I can link to it here. This makes us both look good and helps with your Google rank.
- Do a really fucking good job!
Sound fair enough? If yes, please send me an email via this contact form.
Category 2: Paid Products — The Last Shred, and The Muscle and Strength Pyramids
Sometimes people email me casually to ask about translating one of my books. Then, more often than not, after I explain everything they realize they aren’t in the right position to do it currently. To save me having the same conversations again and again I created this section.
Translating paid products is a much more serious endeavor than simply translating articles. They cannot be put out for free because that would stop us from selling it in that market in the future, and partners need to be chosen very carefully.
There are three key areas you need to consider:
- Translation
- Selling & Distribution
- Legal and Technical
Translation
You need to be (or have access to) a professional translator (1), with experience translating fitness information (2), who can get the job done at a very high quality (3).
Speaking a language and knowing about fitness does not qualify you to translate it. Translation is a skill that people go to school for. It is a profession.
If you are a translator who can pitch this to a publishing house (for physical versions), you can largely skip the next two sections.
Selling and Distribution
If you go to the trouble of translating it (or finding someone who can), do you have the ability to sell it? Potential buyers won’t speak English, so while we can email our list to tell people about the translation, it’s not likely to lead to many direct sales.
You need to have an established audience (1), have a history of selling digital products (2), and be evidence-based with information that matches up with what we have (3).
Selling is hard. Thinking you can do it is not enough, you need to have proven yourself before (or work with someone who has), and we do not want to be affiliated with people who promote bro-science, even if they can sell.
Legal and Technical
You need to be the kind of person who can figure things out. You’ll need to get a lawyer to put together a contract for us and get a website put together with a sales page, you’ll need to find software to deliver it, and you’ll need to be willing to handle any technical support issues.
***
If after having read these things you feel you are a good fit for a language we don’t already have covered (listed in the top section), I’m very interested in speaking to you. Please send me an email via the contact form explaining clearly, point by point, why.
If this is not you, then don’t get disheartened. My own journey in Japan started out from a similar place. I wanted to help but had no audience and skill set to do so. Fortunately, determination and persistence can get you far.
I started out by approaching respected western fitness professionals and asking if I could translate the free articles that they had out in English for free. I paid to get them translated and put them out on a blog, asked for nothing in return for years (and lost money doing so), and built a loyal audience (eventually).
It is only now, seven years later, that we are ready to put out a paid-for product. So it can be done, even without experience (at first), but the first step is to try translating the one free article and see how it is received. — Consider this is the litmus test for yourself, you’ll quickly find out whether it is something you wish to continue with.
I hope that helps.
– Andy