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Subject:Re: The cost of producing printed documentation From:Ward Rosenberry <wardr -at- world -dot- std -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Tue, 5 Dec 2000 07:57:11 -0500 (EST)
This discussion gets to the heart of estimating a project. Something
few writers these days do.
Donn La Vie's reply suggests the $300-$400/page statement from my
earlier response is too low. An average $45-$55/hour for writing time
puts the writing labor alone in the 300-400 range. Now add engineering
review time and printing expenses and the cost goes up.
If you fine tune calculations for your project, add development time
for very complicated/complex technical information where research and
digging is needed; The metric I use for "very technical" is .5 pages
per day and 2-4 pages/day for simple information and procedures. Of
course a manual will contain a mix of complex and simple so you have
to do research up front to determine page count and complexity as
possible.
-------
Donn Le Vie wrote:
> JoAnn Hackos has stated that the industry average across all types of
> high-tech information appears to be 7 or 8 hours per page. You should
> account for the following in your calculations:
>
> 1. Managing the project
> 2. Research and interviews
> 3. Writing and editing
> 4. Illustrating
> 5. Proofreading
> 6. Translating
> 7. Prepress preparation
> 8. Attending project meetings
> 9. Attending review sessions
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