Making
Money in Technical Writing
Reviewed by John Crossley FISTC LCGI [1998]
There are lots of books which claim to tell you how to make money, and some
of them suggest wild schemes to acquire the capital with which to start a
business This is not such a book, and all the ideas that Peter Kent suggests
look feasible. But - the book is about the market in USA, and some of the
ideas will not be useful in other countries.
The first 8% of the book describes how to get started in technical writing
and goes into the everlasting question - is technical writing a profession?
Many examples are given of technical writers with different backgrounds and
it is clear that becoming a technical writer can be an extension of almost
any career. The advantages and disadvantages of freelancing are described
and Peter advises on how to make a preliminary assessment of your chances,
before you take the plunge.
The chapter on learning how to be a technical writer is largely based on
USA colleges, although there is an honourable mention of the College of Technical
Authorship in Great Britain.
The three steps are very practical and even if you allow for the USA bias,
there is a lot of sense in each step. It is worthwhile looking at the steps,
if only to assess the practical value of the ideas.
Step One
This consists of contacting agencies that might place technical writers,
and Peter Kent includes personnel agencies, because he says that they may
also negotiate contracts for technical writers. Peter makes it clear that
you should contact a lot of agencies, on the basis of "the more offers you
have the more choice you have". And you cannot know just what each agency
can do, until you ask.
The section on sources of information about agencies is clearly North American
in content and Peter Kent makes the telling point that many technical writers
live like gypsies, travelling from one contract to another. He recommends
the Internet as a source of information, if you want to move around Europe,
too.
The chapters on Step One go on to describe how to negotiate with agencies
and gives some practical advice to the new freelance technical writer on insurance
and contracts.
Step Two
This Step describes how to cut out the agencies and there is a strong mercenary
element in the text. The chapter on networking includes a suggestion that
you keep records of everyone you meet, and of every organization that can
influence the market for technical writers, from agencies to chambers of commerce
and job fairs. Peter makes the important point that you have to meet the people,
not just know of their existence. He claims that parties are tax-deductible,
which is a tempting thought.
There are thirteen methods of finding work and a good description of how
to make telephoning less of a 'cold-calling' technique. Then Peter mentions
a problem that we are familiar with - should you become a company, or trade
as an individual. He advises against becoming a company just for the sake
of a name.
Chapters 18 and 19 deal with taxation, and are clearly useful only to technical
writers in the USA. However, some of the ideas may be useful elsewhere, if
they can be adapted to the local situation. There is a lot of useful advice
in chapter 20, on the nature of contracts. There is so much to include that
a technical writer could easily forget some items. For instance, do you negotiate
the ownership of the copyright in what you write for a client? According to
Peter Kent, the client can only use the work for what was agreed, and cannot
use it in other applications, or modify the text. The term 'made for hire'
has a particular significance in USA law, and there is probably something
like this in other countries.
Broadly speaking, work done by an employee is automatically 'made for hire'
and the copyright belongs to the employer. If the work is done by an independent
contractor, there may be some scope for negotiation and the situation is complicated.
The significance of registering a copyright is shown when a client will not
pay up properly. If you have not registered the copyright you have limited
scope, in the USA, for legal action. The situation may be different in other
countries, but the idea is worth thinking about.
Step Three
The description of this Step starts by naming Satan as the first consultant
then goes on to recommend that technical writers who are confident of their
ability should become consultants and start to negotiate terms "per contract"
rather than "per hour". That leads to the matter of what to charge, and it
seems that there is just as much confusion about that in USA as there is in
other countries.
When you charge a set fee per contract it is worthwhile learning how to work
quicker, and such simple ideas as "don't fix typos - leave it to the spell
checker" can make quite a difference. There is a list of similar ideas, and
Peter Kent recommends that you learn new tricks on a just-in-time basis.
Perhaps the most important advice in Step Three is to find a niche in which
you can specialise. A well paid niche, of course, and one that enables you
to sell yourself as an expert in the specific niche.
Chapter 22 is a basic manual on selling techniques, and Chapter 25 describes
how to write magazine articles and books. The book ends with a lot of contact
names and addresses, for training and networking, in many countries.
This is an excellent book, because the advice given is clearly practical
for most of us. Even if you have to ignore the USA-biased items, there is
a lot left that could be useful to technical writers everywhere.
Macmillan, USA ISBN 0-02-861863-I
Available from Amazon.co.uk |
