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Subject:Re: Price Range for User Manual: Me Too From:"Nina L. Panzica" <panin -at- MINDSPRING -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 25 Jul 1997 16:08:54 -0500
Ok, since everybody else is posting their emailed reply to the list I will
too. New or potential writers: notice the practically unanimous opinion
(and strength of opinion!) on this one. That's so unusual in itself, that
it's worth paying attention to.
>This post is primarily a question for those who have done a lot of
>contract work for small software companies.
>
>I have heard that most people bid their freelance contracts by the job
>rather than by the hour. Assuming that this is true (and let me know if it
>is not), what would you charge to develop a user manual?
I have had only bad experiences charging by the job, and will now never do
it, no matter who the client is or how big they are. It is standard in my
area to charge by the hour.
The problem with charging a job rate (or having a not to exceed x dollars
clause in a contract) is that in technical writing work, the job always
takes longer than you estimate, even if you're a really good estimator.
Often this is not your fault, it is the fault of the subject matter experts
and people giving your source documents, but if you charge by the job,
you're stuck with potentially giving your client a lot of free time.
Work that I've charged by the job have averaged out to be about 50% less
per hour than work I charge by the hour. I urge you to charge by the hour
if at all possible, that is standard to do, charge low if you think the
company is too small to pay higher rates, but still get paid for every hour
you work. After you give them your hourly rate, you can then, if they still
need it, give them a rough estimate of how long you think it will take you
to do the work.
But specify that it's only a rough estimate and that it could change if
material and answers to questions aren't given to you in a timely fashion.
Regards,
Nina P.
____________________________________________________________________________
____
Nina Panzica
Masterpiece Media
(404) 237-7889
Can't reach me at the above number? Try my pager: 404-596-7889 mailto:panin -at- mindspring -dot- com http://www.mindspring.com/~panin/
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