"Tech Writer" name

[Cherlyn B Paul <paulc -at- BATTELLE -dot- ORG>]

          If I may take this thread in a slightly different
          direction...

          I started in college textbooks, before computers.  It was a
          mid-sized publisher in the midwest, and I was one of, maybe,
          16 "production editors".  Because I liked the fields, and
          because they thought it odd that a "word person" could be
          comfortable with math and science as well, I did mostly
          math, hard sciences, and technology.  I came to understand
          that this was "technical editing", as opposed to what my
          colleagues did on sociology, special ed, history, political
          science books.

          After that came four years of freelancing--when you do just
          about anything you can get paid for, and now 7+ years in a
          contract research laboratory in the midwest, where they call
          me a "Senior Technical Writer/Editor".  My colleagues and I
          in the publications department do a huge variety of stuff,
          from newsletters to journal articles, lots of research
          proposals and reports, and a little bit of what "technical
          W/E" has come to mean--software or hardware documentation.

          We have all wondered what to call ourselves.  The option
          "science writer" keeps coming up, but that seems firmly
          attached to those who have specialized in a scientific field
          and write it for an audience from educated laypeople to
          specialists.  That's not us, either.

          I personally am not looking for a change of job title;
          that's not what these meanderings are about.  But rather how
          do I announce myself professionally in a way that will
          communicate accurately what I do and don't do (very
          intentional present tense, there)???  I/we can't possibly be
          the only ones!  How do others do this?

          Thanks in advance,

          CBP