Ever wondered what goes on within a visual novel translation group? Ever wonder why so many groups seem to fail horribly and publicly, while others keep churning away, release after release? Some of it’s luck, but there’s much to be said bout proper management.

A project isn’t lumping a bunch of people into a ball and flinging them at a goal hoping they’ll make it. It takes hard work; work that most people don’t even realize is happening. If you’re under a good project manager, many of the issues I’ve written about in the following articles are taken care of before they’re even a n issue, sometimes instinctively. However, that’s relatively rare. Leadership is a skill anyone can learn with some work, but the first step is to know exactly what you’re facing.

I’ve written up my own personal thoughts on this topic. It’s certainly not the only way to look at things, and I’d love to hear about other perspectives that work. My goal is to just lay out what I believe, and give clear reasons for them every step of the way so that you can make your own decisions.

If they help, I’d love to know. If they don’t, I’d also love to know.

1. Organization and staffing for visual novel translations, intro
2. Organization and staffing for visual novel translations, Staff roles
3. Organization and staffing for visual novel translations, Staff composition
4. Organization and staffing for visual novel translations, Recruiting
5. Organization and staffing for visual novel translations, Project Management 101
6. Delving into details: the visual novel translation process
7. Armed to the teeth, translation project team tools