Thank you for your interest in commercial writing, Japanese translation, and Japanese interpretation by Matt Rouge. The following are my standard rates; however, I offer significant discounts to those who use my services in volume or consistently over the long term, so please contact me directly to discuss your needs. I am very happy to produce a quote in advance for any type of project.

General rates
For writing I charge $0.40 per word as counted by Microsoft Word with a minimum of $160.00 per written piece or set of related pieces. My general hourly rate is $80.00, billed in 15-minute increments (rounding up).

Translation from Japanese to English
I charge $0.18 per Japanese character as counted by Microsoft Word (typically the number of English words will be 0.45x the character count, hence this rate).

Translation from English to Japanese
I charge $0.60 per English word as counted by Microsoft Word. I do not perform English to Japanese translation myself but use highly qualified native Japanese translators who produce advertising copy-level Japanese (these are not easy to find). This rate also includes my own careful examination of their work to ensure it reflects the meaning of the original English.

Japanese interpretation
I charge $160.00 for the first 0-2 hours and $20.00 per 15-minute increment thereafter, rounding up. I do not charge for travel in Indianapolis/Marion County or to nearby cities.

Research
Japanese companies are constantly innovating and creating new terms for products, processes, etc. For this reason, translation often requires research to determine the appropriate English term or to create one in harmony with current usage in the applicable industry. I will inform you of the need to perform such research before commencing a project and will typically bill for it at $80.00 per hour in addition to the per-word rate.

Samples
As is often true in the world of advertising and PR, much of the work I do for my clients is collaborative or confidential. To interested parties I am happy to provide PDFs of or links to my recent work, explaining in detail precisely what my role was in the project. To request a sample or receive a quote, please feel free to contact me at any time.