RE: Beginning as a Tech Writer in Telecommunications

Subject: RE: Beginning as a Tech Writer in Telecommunications
From: Kat Nagel <kat_nagel -at- rte -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Thu, 18 Jan 2001 10:52:41 -0500

One of my favorite freelance clients is a company that creates financial
management and customer care software for resellers of telecomm and utility
services. (Can you say 'niche market'?) One of the useful things I learned
was that EVERY teeny segment of that industry has at least one informative
trade journal.

Find out what trade journals your niche uses, and browse through several
back issues. Newton's Telecom Dictionary is quoted frequently in all of
them. Each niche has other classic reference books that will come in handy.
Find ads for ones that look useful for your particular situation, print the
TOCs from Amazon, and ask your engineers and managers which ones they
recommend for their situation. Trust what they say, unless they are
co-authors and need the royalties.

/K@ Kat Nagel, kat_nagel -at- rte -dot- com
"Technical fiction: This term refers to user manuals written
according to technical specifications or programmer assurances
about how a system is going to turn out, in the absence of a
working prototype." (M. David Orr, Orr & Associates Corporation)

-----Original Message-----
From: train2 -at- sprynet -dot- com [mailto:train2 -at- sprynet -dot- com]
Sent: Wednesday, January 17, 2001 11:36 AM
Subject: RE: Beginning as a Tech Writer in Telecommunications


I have recently started my career as a tech writer working for a telecom
company. As has been said, this industry is vast - my compnay offers
broadband access and services to multi-tenant buildings (to put it in a
nutshell).
>From my limited experience, I have found "Newton's Telecom Dictionary" to be
the bible.
Also, read every service description about the companies products, including
their competitors - this info will be invaluable.
The marketing people at the company will help here.
Your best friends should be the engineers, though, they can tell you how it
all really works without the fluff.

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