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A while ago, I posted a question on how to come up with an estimate for
editing a software manual. I apologize for the very late posting of this
compilation of responses. (Had some hardware problem after the holidays.)
Thank you so much to all who replied. I think others will benefit from
your knowledge and advice. One common response was to get everything,
especially rates, confirmed in my contract. Will do!
Kathryn J Acciari
Technical Writer/Communicator
Buffalo, New York
acciari -at- acsu -dot- buffalo -dot- edu
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A couple of thoughts...I base my editing rate on the "level of edit"
involved, with the least ($30) for proofreading and the most ($60) for
substantive (based loosely on JPL levels of edit). If I'm doing a full
project, I offer a %age discount.
If you give them a project cost, make sure you define what you're
going to do as *explicitly* as possible, including the number of
revisions if someone is going to check your editing. (I'm sure you do this
already; it's on my mind because I have a client now who is paying me by
the hour--thank God--and is doing more revisions than make sense on a
single-copy manual.)
Do you have "Technical Editing" by Judith Tarutz? I find it useful
to cite her as my reason for certain decisions...for some reason, people
find it easier to take the opinion of a *published* consultant!!
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What you're being asked to do is much more than editing a software
manual. You're being asked to be the project lead. I would use a
higher rate of pay for this service than you usually charge for simply
writing/proofing/editing (all of which I charge the same hourly rate).
I'm not sure what rates are customary in your area, but I feel that a
$50-60 per hour (or better) charge wouldn't be out of line (at least in
my area).
You're being asked to do the following:
> - establish a style guide for the writing team
This is typically done by the tech pubs manager (or similar) - charge at
least $55-60 per hour for this service. This requires interviewing
others at the company that determine 'style' such as marketing, etc. I
can't believe they're hiring a contractor to perform this task. There
are many nuances you have to consider such as: nomenclature used
specifically for this company, hyphens or not for words such as online
and e-mail, etc. This is a HUGE task to ask someone to do with no
previous knowledge of a company.
> - outline the TOC and the order in which chapters should appear
This should be fairly straightforward.
> - identify software functions that need more instruction
In general, you're being asked to clean up the existing manual using the
new 'style,' then apply that same style to the additional chapters, etc.
Ask if they have any usability studies, surveys, etc. from customers to
determine their impression of the existing material.
> - proofread, check grammar
Duh
> - in general, supervise the entire writing and production process
This is called project management. Ensure that you have management's
buy-in and backup or you're doomed for failure on this one, especially
as a contracter vs perm employee. Some people will resent an 'outsider'
doing a job they wished they could do.
In summary, you need to break down the tasks into categories and charge
per hour for the various tasks. If they ask you to bid the contract as
a project (lump sum, no hourly rate), run as fast as you can the other
way. Not knowing their staff, business rules, etc., you'll never be
able to anticipate the project management side and will end up with huge
overruns that you'll have to absorb. I'd hate for you to make $2.00 an
hour as an end result of a project payment.
I'd give them an hourly fee, because there is absolutely no telling how
long this is going to take. Will the writers cooperate and only have to be
told something once, or will you have to go through 4 drafts with one
particular writer because s/he just Doesn't Get It? Will the programmers
come up with a new feature at the last minute that affects several others, causing significant rewrites to several
chapters? Also, I'd give them a single fee, say $40/hour, rather than
$35/hr. for the Style Manual and $50/hr. for managing, etc.
A bit of friendly but unasked-for advice: Make sure you have management
backing for your authority, so you'll have the last word in any
disagreements. You don't say if the writers work for the company, are
contractors, or both, but in any case, you need to have support for your
authority or your job will be very frustrating.
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I budget 20 minutes per page for Technical/Grammatical Editing. I
figure this is the amount of time required for two iterations. I state
this in the contract.
If more iterations are required then it's a contract overrun.
I've been working on a project similar to this one and here are my
guesses for the time I either have spent or expect to spend. For each
one, you might want to hedge your estimate by specifying what you
include and adding a provision for additional revisions or whatever.
Especially since the software is being rewritten! I usually give an
estimate for what I plan to do and then provide a separate guess at
revision time. This also helps your client understand that more
revisions = more money.
- establish a style guide for the writing team
2 hours to go through the doc and establish what needs to be
standardized
1 hour to decide which style manual will be the main reference text and
where you'll deviate from it
4 hours to write everything up
1-2 hours to prepare/format a printed copy for internal publication
- outline the TOC and the order in which chapters should appear
3 hours
BUT then another 2 hours of close reading to determine how that sequence
of chapters affects the content
- identify software functions that need more instruction
????? First you'll need to decide IF each function needs more
instruction, then HOW MUCH more, and finally WHAT it needs. Also how
much consistency in the amount of instructions is needed between
functions. Depending on the number of functions, you might decide on a
general time estimate per, then multiply by the number of functions.
- proofread, check grammar
We've found that each 25 pages takes about an hour for basic,
sentence-level editing. If your proofreading task is higher-level, I'd
tack on more time.
- in general, supervise the entire writing and production process
Ummm..... What's the time frame? How many hours per day will you need to
be onsite or available? You might think about questions like these and
any other "administrative" issues you can foresee. Time with each
writer, vendor contacts for printing, etc.
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I won the contract on an hourly basis with no contractual limits, Thank
God.
The original project included editing revisions to an existing manual of
95 pages. The software was undergoing minor changes (from version 1.3 to
1.4). The most important change was a lexicon change that changed
terminology throughout the product. I was contracted to:
make all lexicon changes,
do new screen captures,
improve the index,
desktop publish the manual,
edit the online help,
edit a new 20 page manual for a sister product, and
test the online help for both products.
We originally estimated about 180 hours at $35.00 per hour over a six
week period.
We are now into week 7. I have billed 185 hours, and have not even
gotten to start desktop publishing. I still have quite a few revisions
needed for the manual as new software changes keep happening. I've done
some online help editing, but will need to spend at least another 30 hours
on that, in addition to the other manual and the desktop publishing. I'd
say I'm about 75% done with the project.
I figured when the project started that the original estimates would be
pretty close because I am working with two other writers, both of whom
did consulting, but they obviously didn't know what to expect either.
I would imagine that when the project is done, I will have billed at
least 1.5 times the original estimate.
