How much do you charge?

Let's get straight to the point since your time is valuable and I believe in being up front about business details. My fees are based on the current average market rate in Austin, Texas and are influenced by the scope of work and the specialized knowledge and skills required. Please use the following table to get an idea of what your project might cost. 

Title/Skill Set	Deliverables	Time Estimate*	Hourly Rate**
Software Technical Writing (Word, FrameMaker, SnagIt, and RoboHelp)	User Guide	2-3 hours per page	$45
	Online Help or Embedded User Assistance	2-4 hours per topic	$50
	System Documentation	3-5 hours per page	$47
Web Content Writing	Web Copy (or any basic business writing)	1-3 hours per page	$35-$40
Technical Editing - see Levels of Edit	Complex editing including restructuring, rewriting, formatting, and source verification	1-2 hours per 500 words	$40-$47
	Simplified editing including refining and polishing and corrections to grammar, spelling, punctuation, consistency, and coherence	2-3 hours per 500 words	$35-$42
Instructional Design (PowerPoint, Word, HTML, and Captivate)	Computer-Based Training	15-40 hours per 1 hour of training	$50-$60
	Software Tutorial	2-3 hours per task	$50-$55
Policies and Procedures (Word, FrameMaker, and SnagIt)	Corporate Policy Manual	1-3 hours per page	$45
	Franchise Operations Manual	1-4 hours per page	$50

* Time estimates vary greatly with content, complexity of material, amount of research needed, availability of subject matter experts, need for and frequency of meetings and interviews with SMEs and other personnel, and whether the project is developed from scratch or is drawn from existing materials. 

** Hourly rates vary depending on the complexity of the material, the skills set/specialized software knowledge required, and number of screen captures and graphics if applicable. Hourly rates may also be negotiable. 

This list of deliverables is meant to give you a rough idea of what a project might cost and is not all-inclusive. Please contact me for an estimate that considers all of the factors unique to your project.

An initial deposit is usually required for new clients. If you prefer, we can discuss a flat per-project fee or apply a maximum amount cap. You can pay for my services by check, or via my verified PayPal account if it is more convenient for you to use a credit card (PayPal fees apply). 

We can use my contract or I will look at yours. I will happily sign your non-disclosure or confidentiality agreement. To keep you current on work in progress, you will receive an itemized invoice every week. 

You will always know the status of your project and you will have my undivided attention. I handle all work myself. 

You own the work product unless you tell me otherwise. 

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What is the documentation process?

For most documentation projects, ask yourself the questions like these:

	What do I want to accomplish?
	Who is my target audience?
	Where is the existing documentation and do I want to build from it or start over?
	When do I want to complete the project?
	How will the deliverable(s) look? Do I have a layout in mind or a style guide I want to follow?
	Who are my subject matter experts?
	Who will review the documentation?
	What type of document do I need (user manual, online help, installation guide)?
	What are my project milestones?
	What about changes?  How do I avoid scope creep (where the project keeps changing and never gets finished)?

Answering these questions will lay the foundation for your plan. Specific tasks will logically flow from this foundation. If you take the time to plan the project, the process will be smoother and less stressful.

I incorporate industry best practices for documentation including the following:

	Analyze the audience and the tasks.
	Create a project plan with specific milestones.
	Write reader-friendly documentation in active voice.
	Include jump lists to provide an overview of what will be learned in each chapter.
	Use adequate white space and present information in blocks.
	Separate task steps from other descriptive information.
	Provide cross references to related information.
	Include a quick start section.
	Ensure the index is comprehensive and accurate.
	Have at least two document review cycles.

I can help you with your entire documentation life cycle and your content management plan. 

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Why do you telecommute? Will you work on-site?

Technical writing naturally lends itself to an off-site work arrangement. Telecommuting has worked quite well for my clients. I have successfully worked with clients as far away from me as Johannesburg, South Africa. However, if you would like me to work partially on-site in the greater Austin, Texas metropolitan area, or to travel to your site for an introductory meeting or orientation we can certainly arrange that. 

Here are some of the benefits of hiring a telecommuting contractor.

	Fewer interruptions and time lost to office conversations.
	Fewer days lost to illness – a telecommuter can work at home despite an illness just bad enough

to prevent a commute to the office.

Major time savings due to elimination of the commute to and from the office which translates to

more time actually worked during a day. The telecommuter has more time to spend working rather than getting ready for work and getting to an office (average of 90 minutes). Eliminating an 80 minute commute (40 minutes each way) can result in an almost seven week per year gain in working time.

	No equipment or office space costs.
	No employee benefits costs.
	Ability to pay only for projects you need rather than incurring costs for full time staff.
	More qualified candidates - access to a larger labor pool eliminates reliance on local workers.
	Increased worker satisfaction. Workers who telecommute are on average less stressed and

happier than their commuting counterparts.

No loss of communication - high speed internet access, online instant messaging services, and

          cellular telephones offer real time communication with telecommuters.

Reduced traffic congestion, air pollution, and traffic accidents.

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What are your Technical Writer and Editor certifications?

Brainbench was founded in 1998 and serves over 4,000 corporate customers by offering testing in over 600 topics and certification in over 50 job roles.  I must admit to some initial skepticism. However, I ultimately found the tests challenging and representative of each topic.

I passed eight tests to obtain a Technical Writer job role certification from Brainbench.  The Editor job role certification required seven tests, six of which I had already passed when I achieved the Technical Writer certification.  Passing the editing test earned me the additional job role certification of Editor. Interestingly, my scores on the tests tracked with the grades I made at the university I attended; mostly A's with a few B's.

Here are the subjects and scores. If you prefer you can view them directly on my transcript on the Brainbench web site.

	3.88/5.00 - higher than 90% of all previous test takers
	4.82/5.00 - higher than 99% of all previous test takers
	3.98/5.00 - higher than 85% of all previous test takers.
	5.00/5.00 - higher than 99% of all previous test takers.
	4.25/5.00 - higher than 99% of all previous test takers.
	4.87/5.00 - higher than 97% of all previous test takers.
	3.83/5.00 - higher than 95% of all previous test takers.
	3.83/5.00 - higher than 88% of all previous test takers.
	3.42/5.00 - higher than 89% of all previous test takers.

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Can you communicate with our programmers?

I hope so - I am married to one. Seriously, yes I can.  Back when I worked for other people, I served as the liaison between the programmers and the non-technical folks on three successful software conversion projects. 

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How are you set up to work from home?

	Dedicated area of my home for work
	High speed internet access (ability to remotely connect to your system to document your software or

          perform usability testing)

Fast notebook PC with Windows XP Professional operating system protected by Norton 360 - it's mobile

          so I can work from anywhere - your place or mine

	Color printer
	Scanner
	CD Burner
	Xdrive account for secure transfer of large files
	BlackBerry with me at all times during working hours (7am to 5 pm CST, Monday-Friday) so you can reach me
	MSN Messenger on during working hours as an additional way to stay in contact
	Tools of the Trade:  Adobe FrameMaker 7.2, RoboHelp 7, Adobe Acrobat Pro 8, PaintShop Pro,

           SnagIt, Microsoft Office Professional 2007 (Access, Word, Excel, FrontPage, PowerPoint,

           Publisher), Captivate 3, FrontPage, and Visio. Experience with collaboration software - Visual

           SourceSafe, MS Project, SharePoint.

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