TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Re: Another "TWs get no respect" story From:"Huber, Mike" <Mike -dot- Huber -at- SOFTWARE -dot- ROCKWELL -dot- COM> Date:Tue, 8 Oct 1996 10:01:56 -0400
No kidding! I had a printer situation where the covers were too small
(not the printer's fault - the covers are generated by another part of my
company, and we messed up. Corporate reorganization is not a happy thing.
Since then, I've learned who to bother with stupid questions that don't
officially concern me, so this kind of thing doesn't happen again.) and
the printer, instead of contacting us for instructions, photo-reduced the
manual to fit the covers. The type size ended up too small (DUH!) and the
graphics were a complete mess, because the gray-scale masking created big
blotches. Just about the ugliest manual I ever wrote.
----------
From: Eric Haddock[SMTP:eric -at- ENGAGENET -dot- COM]
Sent: Tuesday, October 08, 1996 8:45 AM
To: TECHWR-L
Subject: Re: Another "TWs get no respect" story
>the printing company messed up and printed our
>manual covers for an upcoming release
Hey hey--that's _their_ fault. There's _no reason *at all*_ why the
printer shouldn't reprint the manual covers--and do it quickly enough to
meet the deadline they were assigned.
The time it will take you to redesign the layout of the manual to
accomodate the margin change _will exceed_ the time it would take the
printers to correct _their_ mistake. It's up to the printer to make it a
rush job if they have to meet the deadline they were assigned. This is an
important point. It's up to the printer to accomodate _you_, not the
other
way around. You are the customer, you are the one already paying--you
deserve satisfaction. You are paying them to deal with headaches like
this,
not the other way around.