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> You left out "ugly." Seriously, though, I realize your persona here is to
> be the cynical prima donna of the list, but you are overplaying it. You
> could have said "dozens" or "scores" or even "hundreds," but saying
> "thousands" makes you sound, well, hysterical.
You have a delete key, Bill. Use it. Learn to embrace its awe inspiring power.
> A suggestion: add a signature to the end of your email that says, "I'm
> smart and you're not." It will make the point much more succinctly, and I
can
> skip reading the entire text of your message to get to the real point of
> your posts.
Okay. Can I add "and I breathe radioactive fire."
> Time for a little reality check here, my friend. There are "very
> high-end" consulting firms for many things--law, information technology,
> marketing, mergers and acquisitions, to name a few--but there are none
> for "technical writing."
Thanks. I know there are high-end consulting firms. I run one. I used to do
tech writing as well. So, while I may be a prima donna and an arrogant prick -
I do have *some* credibility on this topic.
> In order to forestall a deluge of challenges to this statement,
> let me be specific. There are plenty of individual technical
> communication consultants and small firms who make a decent living out
> there. But "very high-end" implies, to me anyway, real money--several
> hundred dollars an hour and up. That isn't happening in any technical
> writer's life today or any day soon.
Happened to me.
> I know some authors of technical books who do very well, but
> often they are combining their writing income with technology
> consulting--a different thing entirely.
That's right, no money in tech writing. Did you ever wonder why? How come
security auditors can command $250 an hour but tech writers settle for $45?
I'll tell you something you don't know. Tech writing (I mean GOOD tech writing)
is actually much harder to do that good information security. Most info sec
consultants are mouthing idiots. But they make obscene wads of cash telling
people to run virus scans.
Now - how come something that is very taxing and difficult to do: tech writing
is worth less to corporations than a dweeb in a polo who runs Nessus scans?
Think about that for a while. See if you can solve that riddle.
Andrew Plato
I am smarter and you're not...and I breathe radioactive fire
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