Re: Chopped Liver?

["Gene Kim-Eng" <techwr -at- genek -dot- com>]

The individual in question preferred to work in the nonprofit
sector.  "Technical writing" gigs in that sector tend to be very
low-paid, even in comparison to other jobs in the sector.  Also,
if you're working as a contact/consulting business analyst, the
criteria for getting top dollar usually includes being able to
show that you've helped bring some private sector company
to some degree of profitability.

Here in Silicon Valley, a writer with a "highly technical"
background (engineering or science degree and hands-on
experience developing, installing, servicing or otherwise
supporting the big-ticket tech in the area, as semiconductor
fab equipment, biotech instrumentation, telecom backbones,
etc.) typically run between $75 and $100.  I've seen some
of the most "technical" people demand and get more than
$100 per hour and carry their own contracts, and many of
them have waiting lists of clients who want them to start
work).  For a "less technical technical writer," the contract
rates are usually somewhere in the $40-$75 per hour range.
I don't know anyone who is working for less than $40 per
at the moment.  OTOH, a lot of the "dotcom newbies"
I remember meeting at the local STC meetings during the
90's seem to have vanished

Gene Kim-Eng



----- Original Message ----- 
From: <tom -dot- green -at- iwon -dot- com>