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| September/October 1998 |
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Making money in technical writing: Turn your writing skills into a $100,000/year job By Peter Kent ISBN: 0-02-861883-1 Review by Sarah Vallieres Sarah is the Chapter Treasurer. If you are looking for a book that will increase your salary as a full-time writer to $100,000 a year, this isn't it. Although Kent's book is specifically about possible financial benefits for technical writers, it is geared towards freelancers. The first edition was originally published as The Technical Writer's Freelance Guide. Presumably, Kent's new title will sell more copies and ensure that he, at least, turns his writing skills into a $100,000 a year. The ideal audience for Kent's book is probably novice freelancers or those considering freelancing. Kent includes great nuggets about negotiating with agencies, networking, sales techniques, contracts, taxes, shopping for medical and life insurance, and pension plans, as well as solid information on book publishing and magazine articles. Kent also has a strong discussion of the pros and cons of incorporating. He explodes myths such as "It's easier to deduct expenses for a corporation" and "Double-taxation doesn't exist, and is a myth". Unfortunately for Canadians, his discussion of taxes for the freelancer is aimed at an American audience. As far as making $100,000 a year goes, Kent proposes a three-step method for attaining this goal: 1. Use personnel agencies to get work and make contacts. 2. Obtain contracts independently of agencies by using your contacts from step one. 3. Increase your earnings/hourly rate by billing by the project, like a true consultant or freelancer, instead of billing by the hour. Interestingly, Kent's chapter on unethical agencies appears to be more of an appeal to employers not to use agencies or to use them cautiously, than actual advice to the writers |
who may be employed by agencies. While all of Kent's advice is excellent, some people might find the underlying tone of the book a bit reductive or perhaps even offensive. A benevolent way of explaining the tone of this book might be by arguing that Kent incorrectly analyzed his audience. The sections in the beginning of the book include information that is especially helpful for people just starting out in technical writing. For beginners, his chapter, "Teach Yourself Technical Writing" may prove particularly useful. In this chapter, he summarizes sources of education (college courses, books on technical writing, and so on). However, he also gives some general technical writing tips—despite having said that teaching technical writing is beyond his scope. While his tips are generally valid, including them seems to diminish the skills required for technical writing. (Earlier in the book, Kent questions technical writing's status as a profession.) Kent describes his tips as "the bare minimum you need to know to write good technical documentation" (p. 25-6). For me, at least, these tips and Kent's attitude seem to "dumb-down" the occupation. After Kent teaches technical writing in a mere thousand words, he then moves into a discussion of freelancing. This breakneck transition is misleading. I think someone who has never worked in the profession might conclude that there is so little to technical writing that you could train merely by reading tips and then move onto freelancing and consulting. In my opinion, those with no technical writing experience might not be ready for freelancing. And those who are already freelancing (hopefully) would find the chapter, "Teach Yourself Technical Writing" irrelevant. But perhaps, these criticisms are "nit-picky" since I really did enjoy the book. Overall, I found the book empowering, factual, and concise. It is the first book I have found that clearly explains the ins and outs of contracting. Would I buy it again? Yes. Did I learn anything? Absolutely. Peter Kent recently wrote The Best Sex of Your Life (co-authored with Dr. Jim White, Barricade Books). Formerly an oil-field geologist, Kent says he went into technical writing since "best-selling author jobs [were] in short supply" (from his interview at www.amazon.com). Check out Kent's Web site at www.mcp.com/mgr/arco.techwr/. |
