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: Primal Scream vs. Personal Quality Standards From:Robert Plamondon <robert -at- PLAMONDON -dot- COM> Date:Wed, 16 Oct 1996 06:41:36 PDT
Bidding on a project sight-unseen is something you end up doing sometimes,
usually because the client twisted your arm. If the project comes out
significantly nastier on the bid, there's no need to panic or allow the
mortgage company to reposess your house. Just pick up the phone (don't
we all work at home by now?) and call your client. This is not a complex
phone call. This is a, "Hey, Fred, is this the document we were talking
about? Somehow I'd gotten the impression that it was only half as long
and nowhere near as incomplete. I can't do it at the stated price."
For this to work, your bid must contain SOME kind of description of
the work (xx pages, xx illustrations, light/medium/heavy editing/formatting/
illustrating/reverse engineering). Your client may decide that you're
a flake otherwise, but people can hardly complain when you point out
that you charge more for a 300-page manual than for the 100-page manual
they asked about, or that "light editing" requires that the document
already be in complete sentences and nearly perfect English from cover
to cover.
On the other hand, if the document meets the sort of general description
above, and it's just going to take longer than you thought, you are
doomed.
-- Robert
--
Robert Plamondon, President/Managing Editor, High-Tech Technical Writing, Inc.
36475 Norton Creek Road * Blodgett * Oregon * 97326
robert -at- plamondon -dot- com * (541) 453-5841 * Fax: (541) 453-4139
