Freelancing Technical Writing

[Beth Agnew]

As writers, albeit technical writers, we routinely create intellectual 
property. Often, that property belongs to the client as a result of our 
work contract, but occasionally that valuable asset belongs to us. A 
format and technique for a documentation plan, a quote document in 
response to a proposal, or a detailed project schedule could all be 
considered intellectual property assets that the authors can use to 
increase their value in the marketplace.

Even our strategies for cover letter writing, salary negotiation, 
marketing, finding freelance work, and dealing with other people could 
be significant advantages for getting and keeping work, particularly in 
a competitive area of the industry.

Many professionals are quite willing to share their knowledge to help 
you learn, but please understand that there may be a reluctance to share 
certain kinds of knowledge in an open forum, or even with someone we 
don't know.

There are a number of freelancer sites such as elance.com, 
freelanceworkexchange.com and similar ones that exist to help you 
connect with freelance writing opportunities. The techwr-l archives have 
other suggestions about using such services.
--Beth

iam nobody88 wrote:
> I totally agree with Paul on this. A lot of us worked really hard to get where we are, and technical writing is not exactly an industry that is easy to penetrate.
>    
>   -----Original Message-----
> From: techwr-l-bounces+yvettedenoga=crimsonlogic.com at lists.techwr-l.com [mailto:techwr-l-bounces+yvettedenoga=crimsonlogic.com at lists.techwr-l.com] On Behalf Of Paul Pehrson
> Sent: Friday, July 21, 2006 6:51 AM
> To: Anuj Kapoor
> Cc: techwr-l at lists.techwr-l.com
> Subject: Re: Freelancing Technical Writing
>    
>   Anuj,
>    
>   That is an interesting question. The problem with it is that those who know
>   the answer to this question are likely using these connections themselves to
>   gain employment. Any of our freelance writers aren't likely to tell you who
>   their clients are; it's not really good to help the competition, if you know
>   what I mean.
-- 
Beth Agnew
Catch the Buzz: http://bethbuzz.blogspot.com
STC Presentation archived at:
http://www.301url.com/podcasting

Professor, Technical Communication
Seneca College of Applied Arts & Technology
Toronto, ON 416.491.5050 x3133
http://www.tinyurl.com/83u5u