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Hi folks, I'm de-lurking for a bit...hope somebody can help me with
this, because I have absolutely no clue.
I need a general, order-of-magnitude idea for how much it would
cost my company to hire a contract tech writer to create a manual
for our product. This isn't for an actual quote! It's just a reality
check to compare against what we're currently paying our inhouse
tech writer (me). This was actually requested by management,
much to my surprise!
We market a Windows-based, "shrinkwrap", low-cost software
package. It's basically billing software for psychotherapists
(although it also includes an appointment scheduling module). For
a contractor, this project would involve learning a bit about the task
domain - medical billing - and, obviously, learning the software ad
nauseum.
The manual would consist of the usual TOC, a "getting started"
tutorial, about seven or eight chapters covering major program
components, a troubleshooting section, and an index. It would
probably run somewhere around three hundred pages.
For a frame of reference, we figure it would take me about three
months to write this manual, and I already know this program
inside and out!
Any educated guesses, anyone? Really, all I need is an order of
magnitude. Thanks!
