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On the PublishingDC e-mail list, someone wrote looking for a freelancer
with experience designing in Word. The job entailed some complex and
probably frustrating Word tasks. Tight timeline, already heavily
designed but needs tweaking, etc.
Of course, one poster replied that the OP shouldn't be using Word.
But another poster replied: "Lengthy Word documents are my specialty!...
I would love the opportunity to give you an estimate on your project."
This poster went on to cite similar projects she had worked on,
references, etc.
All this to say, Stephen's right -- positioning yourself as a fixer is
smart. Aren't all tech writers fixers at heart?
-----Original Message-----
From: Stephen Arrants
Sent: Wednesday, October 27, 2010 9:27 AM
To: Elaine Garnet; David Neeley
Cc: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: RE: Rates
I encountered this when I lived and worked in California. What I did was
position/sell myself as a fixer. The company may have gotten a manual
out of a "technical writer" for $13/hour, but after they either couldn't
use it, couldn't understand it, or had a ginormous increase in support
calls they hired me...
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