Re: Advice on work-for-hire rates

["Eric J. Ray" <ejray -at- RAYCOMM -dot- COM>]

Mark,

That's potentially not bad, payment wise. With no track
record with the publisher, you're unlikely to get much more.
The writing schedule is certainly reasonable, as these
things go. (That is, it's a lot of text, but pretty standard
in the computer book publishing industry.) Deb and I found that
producing 120+ pages per week of new material
(plus screencaps and CD material) isn't unusual, although
it is painful.

We've been on both sides of this issue (outsourcing chapters,
and doing WFH on our own) and can offer some comments.

If you think you'll ever want
to do this again, hit ALL of your deadlines on time or
early, with REALLY, REALLY, clean copy. From the publisher's
perspective, those are the priorities, in order.
If you are SURE that you want to do it again, you might
even consider additional time invested in getting it right
as an investment in your career. Gaining a reputation
with a publisher as someone who produces clean copy
on time is invaluable and can help ensure that more
(and better) projects come your way.

Antipicate a learning curve to the publishers templates and
styles. Plan for it.

Nail down exactly what your responsibilities are--and aren't.
Consider what happens when the software revs again while
you're writing, or if the editor completely rejects your stuff.

Check out the book you're revising and verify that you like
the style, can write to the style, and that the publisher doesn't
expect substantive changes.

Make arrangements with the publisher--and get it in the
contract if you can--that you'll submit a full chapter or
two very quickly and will get substantive feedback on it
before you're expected to write more. Make sure the document
goes all the way through their standard process and comes
back to you for author review so you can see how it looks
before you proceed--it'll save you a ton of time on revisions.

If you're trying to do this and hold down a full time job,
bid your friends and family farewell, and make sure you'll
be able to take a few days off from your real job at the time
for revisions.

Don't get sucked into doing extra stuff. Requirements
creep is real. Assuming it's someone else's book and your
name won't be on it, then your responsibilities end when
you've finished the book and review cycle. For example, the publisher
will probably send you a copy after it's out and tell you that
you have a week to read it, again, and find any errors that
crept in. If it's not in your contract, don't.

Mini-horror story: We once did a revision of an existing book--
updating from Version XX to XX+1. We looked at the length,
scope of software changes, $$, and jumped on it. We didn't like
the author's style or flow, but attributed it to the particular series
of computer books. We started getting chapters back from the
editor that were just ripped to shreds--even the chapters with
no changes from the first edition. Turns out that the publisher
wanted a complete rewrite, not a technical update, because they
were really unhappy with the reader response to the first edition.
We did it, but learned. Lost a lot of money on that one.

Alexia's comment about hack writers is true--you'll have to prove
yourself before you get anything really worthwhile, payment wise,
because the publishers don't know you from Adam and have lots
of people who "want to write books" lining up. If you're reliable
and fast and good, there's some potential in it.

Mike's also got a good point: If you don't produce good clean copy
really fast, writing computer books is not the way to go.

This is certainly appropriate for TECHWR-L, but you'll also find
more information at www.studiob.com and on their list. Check
the archives, and, before you sign a contract, look at Ivan Hoffman's
Web site.

Feel free to email us off list with specific questions.

Eric and Deborah



**************************************************
Eric J. Ray                      ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com
TECHWR-L Listowner         http://www.raycomm.com/

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