Re: Newbie Contractor needs advice

[Elna Tymes <etymes -at- LTS -dot- COM>]

I wanted to echo some of Eric's sentiments and add a few bon mots of my own.

> First, if you "anticipated" or had a gut feeling that it's a mess,
> walk away and don't look back. Following gut feelings is important,
> and gets MORE important with experience.

Remember the old maxim "Once burned, twice careful?"  Our newbie has now
been
burned and with luck for the only time.  (Yeah, yeah, I know - but we could
all
hope it would happen that way.)  The lesson in this is that people can go
into
contracts with tech writers with the best of intentions, and then find that
things weren't as they expected. Protecting their own interests comes before
taking care of the poor tech writer, so when the writer is out there
swinging
in the wind, these folks can only go "tsk, tsk" and try to get on with
things.

> I'd give them an "estimate" as a flat-rate,
> and figure it at about 1.5 times normal hourly rate times 12 hours/
> day for 10 days.

A good rule of thumb for a project with slippery edges like this one is at
least double your rate, or double the time you think it will take, with LOTS
of
caveats like Eric suggested.  Attractive though *any* work might be,
sometimes
there are just projects that aren't worth doing, not even for the learning
experience.  If you are desperate enough to take it, PLEASE protect
yourself.

> I'd be sure to plan to charge for waiting time at full
> rate (because of the very special circumstances) and I'd make that
> clear to the client. I'd also tack on an hourly rate surcharge
> for the overruns that _WILL_ happen.

One of the tactics I use is to bill in minimum 8-hr. increments.  I justify
it
as the client paying me to keep me off the streets - in other words, like a
fireman, he's paying me to stay available.  Once I know the client well, and
can trust them to treat me responsibly, I can afford to bill them in
less-than-8-hr. chunks.  But they have to earn my trust too.

> You have to structure contracts so
> your deliverables are contingent on theirs. That is, don't say you'll
> deliver anything on September 1--say, rather, that you'll deliver it
> 8 days after you get all of the source material. Then remind the
> powers that be of the schedule slips as they happen (e.g., "it's
> now August 28 and I don't have the source material, so the earliest
> you'll see the copy is 8 days from now, which is September 5").

One of the most important lessons from your experience is the fact that, if
given any room at all, most clients will slip (1) delivery of source
material,
(2) freezing the code (and especially the user interface) if it's a software
product, and (3) anything having to do with reviews.  This will, of course,
result in a product that is late and its lateness is then all the fault of
the
writer.  What you need to learn is that this is something like a game, and
that
you can win only if you politely construct an end-run around these little
gambits.  And then realize that "winning" means you get paid, not
necessarily
delivering the kind of quality document you'd like to produce (although
delivering quality is a nice byproduct, I must admit).

> It's not unusual to require a partial payment up front, BTW.

What's important to realize when you're negotiating a contract like this is
that you have the right to be treated like others who provide goods or
services
to a company, and that most of them require some sort of "down payment"
before
beginning action.  Lawyers require a retainer.  So do ad agencies and PR
agencies.  People who provide equipment to a company usually require some
sort
of down payment and then progress payments as milestones happen.  So it's
nothing new to expect something like a retainer at the beginning of the
contract.  I call it "reality money," meaning that by paying it, the client
is
more likely to realize that the contract between you and the client is a
real,
bona fide, business deal and you both have things to accomplish.

> > In fact, I spent an entire day and a half
> > trying to get someone to answer my phone calls and even physically
> > visited the office with no results. (Do I bill for that time?)

You betcha!  The fact that they didn't have the information they promised
isn't
your problem - it's theirs.  You spent your time (=their money) waiting for
them to do something they said they'd do.

> Second, make ALL of your deliverables contingent upon client actions,
> and spell everything out. (It sounds like you're a couple of weeks
> from getting nailed by the multiple-and-iterative-reviews-just-until-
> we're-sure-it's-all-right snafu that we've all done at least once.
> Your contract should clearly state the number, scope, and duration
> of the reviews.)
> Third, make sure that there are financial penalties for client
> screwups, particularly in cases like these, and don't deliver
> your final materials until you've been paid or are REALLY SURE
> you will be paid.

Hear, hear!  One of the most common elements in the war stories seasoned
(and
bruised) tech writing contractors tell each other is just how many review
cycles this client or that went through.  There's no reason for you to take
a
financial hit for that, unless you promised perfection, which no sane writer
is
going to do.  It's important for you to be reasonable, but it's also
important
for you expect your client to be reasonable too.

It's never pleasant to withhold delivery of a final product to make sure
that
you'll get paid, but I've done it on more than one occasion, and a lot of us
hoary ol' pros around here have done it too.  It's not something I do
frequently, only when I suspect the client is going to be flaky about
keeping
his/her agreements.  After all, I've done what I signed up to do - now it's
their turn.

Elna Tymes
Los Trancos Systems

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