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While rule-of-thumb time estimates are a dangerous game, I've
found that it's easier to get certain kinds of business if you
quote a fixed price.
The usual way of estimating jobs is with the equations:
Dollars per page = hours per page * hourly rate
I'm curious as to the consensus about rule-of-thumb rates
of page generation for an experienced writer. This would
include all billable time on the project divided by the
number of pages (not, say, the time spent on the first draft).
Knowing the expected rate of completion and the prevailing
hourly rate allows those of us who are faster than average to
bid jobs by saying, "The going rate for good contractors is $50
per hour, and the rule of thumb for this kind of document is
two finished pages per day. That makes $200 per page the going
rate, and that's what I charge." Obviously, if you can crank
out four finished pages per day, you make $100 per hour, which
is better than a poke in the eye with a stick.
(Or, you can say, "Because of my experience, I charge a little
more than the going rate..." But, either way, this is a
wonderful pricing game for those of us who are faster than
usual.)
My conception of the rules of thumb for the computer/electronics
industry is:
Software reference manuals and users' guides: 2 pages per day
Hardware reference manuals and data books: 1 page per day
Non-glossy marketing material (white papers, etc.): 1 page per day
Glossy marketing material (not incl. art or layout): 0.5 pages/day
(Very short projects have start-up times that can't be amortized
across, say, a single page, but I won't go into that right now.)
This is for "real writing": writing from scratch or from a draft
so bad it has to be rewritten, either incrementally over serveral
drafts or all at once with a deliberate rewrite. (For completeness,
the rate I've heard tossed about for technical editing is 25
pages per day, while desktop publishing is more difficult to
pin down, but should be in the range of 25-50 pages per day,
exclusive of complex illustrations, with captured text and
good hardware and software.)
What's the consensus? Also, if you're not reporting rules of
thumb for computer/electronics industry, please not this.
If you send the e-mail to me, I'll summarize in a week or so.
Here's a list to fill in (please don't quote my entire message
when this part will do):
Software manuals and users' guides: __ pages per day
Hardware manuals and data books: __ pages per day
Installation manuals: __ pages per day
Release notes: __ pages per day
Technical editing: __ pages per day
Non-glossy marketing collateral: __ pages per day
Glossy marketing collateral: __ pages per day
(Remember that this includes TOTAL BILLABLE PROJECT TIME, and
thus includes the time spent on outlines and revisions, but not
the time waiting for the review period to end.)
-- Robert
--
Robert Plamondon, High-Tech Technical Writing, Inc.
36475 Norton Creek Road * Blodgett * Oregon * 97326
robert -at- plamondon -dot- com * (541) 453-5841 * Fax: (541) 453-4139 http://www.pioneer.net/~robertp
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