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Subject:RE: Freelance Rates From:Michele Davis <mdavis -at- bitstream -dot- net> To:Jeremiah -dot- Gardner -at- schwans -dot- com, techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com Date:Tue, 30 May 2000 09:12:22 -0500
<non-sales pitch mode> Hi Jeremiah, I believe you're in my state,
Minnesota,
right? The average rate for a decent WinHelp writer would be about
$45-70/hr.
and they would probably want to telecommute. The average cost of a
WinHelp
system is based upon a formula of 4 hours per topic, this is assuming
that the
help system will be menu-driven as well as have context-sensitive help.
There
are also another assumption, and that is that there are standards, the
data
model is done, the sw is semi-stable, etc. Any additional time spent
doing
things like a glossary, implementation of WexTech's natural language
query
system, etc, would not be in the 4 hour per topic formula.
<sales pitch mode> I do this sort of thing. You can email me directly if
you're
interested in getting more information. <end sales pitch>
> Hey all. I'm a "tech writer" at a food company in the Midwest. Even
though
> we are a large company, I am one of only two tech writers. As such, it
is
> impossible to take care of all of the tech writing opportunities here.
We
> have one project, in particular, for which an extensive Winhelp system
must
> be developed. I figure it could be up to a five- or six-month project
for a
> single Help author. Because our resources are limited, I'm getting
> "important people" thinking about the idea of hiring a free-lance tech
> writer, who could do the job and then hand it over to me for
maintenance.
>
> I'm wondering if any of you could throw out some ballpark figures on
how
> much it generally costs to bring in a free-lancer. Some average rates
or
> something - just so I have more info to give to the "important
people."
> NOTE: Our offices are not in a metropolitan area, so a free-lancer
would
> have to be brought in from at least 2.5 hours away.
>
> Thanks!
>
> Jeremiah Gardner
> jeremiah -dot- gardner -at- schwans -dot- com
