How much do technical writers get paid?

[Rakehellion]

How much should I pay someone to write an instruction manual? I heard $40. Do they also get paid to learn how to use the thing they're writing about?

 

[purbeast0]

lol @ $40.

 

[Jumpem]

Yes, they need to get paid to learn how to use it to write the documentation for it.

I have never encountered a dedicated technical writer. It is usually an engineer familiar with the product that creates any documentation.

 

[purbeast0]

Yes, they need to get paid to learn how to use it to write the documentation for it.

I have never encountered a dedicated technical writer. It is usually an engineer familiar with the product that creates any documentation.

there are multiple technical writers at my job (software dev). they do it full time.

 

[Leros]

I've seen it as a full-time job as well.

Looks like $60k a year may be a rough average salary: http://www.indeed.com/salary?q1=technical+writer&l1=&tm=1

Going off that, I'd expect to pay at least $30/hr, including the time to learn what they need to write.

 

[Jeff7]

Yes, they need to get paid to learn how to use it to write the documentation for it.

I have never encountered a dedicated technical writer. It is usually an engineer familiar with the product that creates any documentation.

Or it can be someone from the Marketing department who has a few ideas about how the thing works.



I wish I was joking.

 

[Leros]

Or it can be someone from the Marketing department who has a few ideas about how the thing works.



I wish I was joking.

Still better than getting the engineer who created the thing to write it

 

[Rakehellion]

What if it's an amateur? Would $80 for five hours be fair?

 

[purbeast0]

What if it's an amateur? Would $80 for five hours be fair?

not at all imo, especially for free lancing.

as mentioned above, if $60k is an average salary, that roughly translates to $30/hr and that is through a company so the company would be billing at a much higher rate than that to count for overhead + profits.

i'd say like $50/hr would be more like it if freelancing.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Yes, they need to get paid to learn how to use it to write the documentation for it.

I have never encountered a dedicated technical writer. It is usually an engineer familiar with the product that creates any documentation.

Or it can be someone from the Marketing department who has a few ideas about how the thing works.

You are both correct in how it's usually done but, that is exactly the wrong perspective and companies do this to save money because, they think good documentation is "something nice to do if you have the time and money." It truly adds value that far exceeds the cost of the technical writer but, and this is the key point, the value is hard to measure. As we all know, if it can't be measured, it doesn't exist.

 

[Meghan54]

What if it's an amateur? Would $80 for five hours be fair?

Sure, if you want to have to rewrite the entire thing to make it readable. You get what you pay for.


I took two semesters of tech. writing during my journalism degree....it's not as easy as you may think. The writer has to have the "knack" of being able to write coherently and understandably for a very diverse audience, much like writing to the lowest common denominator. Some can do that well, some struggle, some never grasp that effectively. Reminds me of doctors, nurses, nerds of all stripes who know their subject well yet cannot put complex subjects into common lay terms understandable by anyone.

I wrote research papers during college to supplement my "income". I charged $5/page and $15/hr for the research for the paper, and this was back in the mid-1990's. I would guarantee a "B" on any paper I wrote or your money back. Never had to return a penny and I had more requests than I could possibly complete during a quarter/semester.


Plan on spending some $$ for your writing, otherwise you're going to end up having to have the job done twice, esp. the editing part. (Hell, I charged $2/page/$20 minimum just to edit back then.)

 

[lyssword]

bout three fiddy

 

[unokitty]

How much should I pay someone to write an instruction manual? I heard $40. Do they also get paid to learn how to use the thing they're writing about?

If you have a local chapter of the Society of Technical Communications, contact them.

They'll know. And they will probably have a way for you to contact professionals that do this kind of thing...

Uno

 

[HeXen]

Writing a manual should be easy. Let me provide my expertise.....

"

Thank you for purchasing our product. We're confident it will provide you with many years of use. We use only the highest quality of materials to guarantee longevity and performance. Please read our 30 day limited warranty information online at http//:www.3udousche67/onlinewarrantyinfor...ctservices8290023/madeinchinabypoorpeople.net

1. Remove outer packaging contents and throw them away
2. Remove battery cover using a super small screw driver and insert 6 AAA lithium ion rechargeable and expensive batteries. Avoid using cheap batteries as they will void your warranty.
3. Press and hold the Power button for 5 long seconds to power up the device.

Troubleshooting.
1. Device won't power on: Please make sure you inserted 6 AAA lithium ion rechargeable and expensive batteries.
2. Still won't power on: Please make sure you pressed the Power button for 5 long seconds.
3. Shrug. Please contact out tech support dept and fill out a form. Please have your s/n, registration number, purchase date in hand.

Returns:
Please fill out an RMA form. Pack device in original box along with reciept and pay $25 shipping. We'll send you an email to confirm arrival in 8-12 weeks.

....see, i'm a pro.

 

[lxskllr]

Writing a manual should be easy. Let me provide my expertise.....

"

....see, i'm a pro.

That is pretty professional. I think this thread can be closed as [Solved] now.

 

[shortylickens]

My dad worked at Jet Edge. He made manuals for industrial waterjet cutting equipment.

Before he had to quit he was making about 45 thousand a year. Based on the number of machines thats probably 5 grand a piece.

 

[homebrew2ny]

There is no real standard here, the requirements of a technical writer can vary greatly. A good friend of mine was hired by G.E. right out of MIT and was trained to be a TE for the turbine division over seas. He also had to learn the technical details and installation process. He was able to retire a VERY wealthy man at 38 years old.

 

[Raizinman]

I did technical writing for about 8 years. Many companies contacted me about doing some technical writing on the side. A motorcycle company asked me to do a repair manual and said they would give me a motorcycle. That came out to about $25,000 for 4 months work. It is always good to give the tech writer the object that is being written about if possible. In todays market, there is a surplus of Tech Writers, so I would say, an average of about $50 per hour, but it would depend on the specialty and knowledge of the item being written about.

 

[IronWing]

Still better than getting the engineer who created the thing to write it

I've written manuals for my own software. It is hard to do. I'd write a very clear, concise explanation for using a feature then go back and follow my own instructions only to find I left out steps 3-9 of a ten step process because it was just so intuitive.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Whoever writes it should definitely know all the ins and outs of the product, and after that the manual should be tested by someone who barely knows anything about the product while taking notes of things that could be more clear.

I find with anything that requires assembly or operation of a physical object, clear pictures are worth more than words. Also I cannot stand instruction manuals that are for 50 different models of something. Better off having 1 manual per major model. It's not too bad if the difference between models is extra steps, ex: a snow blower, one model might have a track, the other might have wheels. That can use the same manual and have a separate section for when it gets to that part. Or if it's just different sizes/power but general operation is the same.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

there are multiple technical writers at my job (software dev). they do it full time.

This. I know several absolutely brilliant engineers that can't write docs worth a damn. :twisted:

 

[Capt Caveman]

My cousin, an English Major, was a Senior Technical Writing Editor for Adobe and made six-figures.

 

[Jeff7]

Still better than getting the engineer who created the thing to write it

Where I work, those are the options:

- Marketing writes the document, and it's written as a marketing piece, to tell the person what a wonderful thing the product is - that product which they've already bought, and are now simply trying to install and use. They don't necessarily know how the thing works or all of its primary features, but...details.


- Engineering writes the document. (Well....me.) My documentation has received praise on numerous occasions for its accuracy and thoroughness, at least when I'm permitted the time to create it. However, the attitude stated in this thread often prevails:
"...they think good documentation is 'something nice to do if you have the time and money.'"

The short-term solution for the present day is to not bother with good documentation, as it just wastes time that could be spent solving other problems. Then you just deal with ongoing support calls for the next few years when people need instructions and do not have a decent manual to reference.
Future bonus points: You need to reverse engineer your own company's product because the people who designed it are either gone or unavailable, and all you can do is wonder why there are no traces of a manual.
Triple-word score: You were working on creating documentation for another product so that this sort of thing wouldn't happen again, but reverse-engineering this old product was deemed to be more important, and the documentation project ends up being shelved permanently.
That's when the circle of life turns out to in fact be a Möbius strip.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

I've written manuals for my own software. It is hard to do. I'd write a very clear, concise explanation for using a feature then go back and follow my own instructions only to find I left out steps 3-9 of a ten step process because it was just so intuitive.

That needs to be tattooed in reverse on the foreheads of every cube monkey on the planet. There has NEVER been a single piece of software EVER that was "intuitive." The reason is very simple. Programming is not organic. It is built on an artificial language and environment that is alien to anyone who hasn't spent a considerable amount of time working with it. Programmers have a loose collection of style formats that have never been agreed upon or codified and tend to only follow them in practice when they're forced to.

 

[JEDIYoda]

My cousin, an English Major, was a Senior Technical Writing Editor for Adobe and made six-figures.

that's nice....