Books
Technical Book Review – “How to Write a Manual” by Elizabeth Slatkin
© Ugur Akinci How to Write a Manual by Elizabeth Slatkin (Ten Speed Press, 1991,120 pp) is the kind of perfect introductory book that a technical writing manager should buy and distribute to all her entry-level writers. Organized in a logical fashion, the book covers every obvious aspect of the document-writing process. It touches on…
Read More22 Questions to Ask Before Writing a Technical Manual
The traditional book format (“codex”) is under serious attack both from online and ebook platforms, and structured documents that have “topic” as their most basic information unit instead of the “page.” However, I believe the book format will be with us for a long time to come while XML-based non-book formats continue to make important…
Read MoreTechnical Book Review – THE COMPASS: Essential Reading About XML, DITA, and Web 2.0
© 2010 Ugur Akinci Here is a mighty little volume by Scriptorium.com that should be mandatory reading for all those either brand new to structured authoring or looking for technical details about DITA (Darwin Information Typing Architecture) OT (Open Toolkit) and PDF generation. The last chapter on “Web 2.0 in Technical Communication” is also good…
Read MoreTechnical Book Review — "Creating Technical Manuals: A Step-by-Step Approach to Writing User-Friendly Instructions"
© 2010 Ugur Akinci Creating Technical Manuals: A Step-By-Step Approach to Writing User-Friendly Instructions by Gerald Cohen and Donald H. Cunningham was printed back in 1984. So like most pre-Internet era technical books, it’s outdated in terms of visual content. Its page layout suggestions, for example, shows how rapidly the technical communication field has developed…
Read MoreTechnical Book Review – "Enabling Globalization" by Nabil Freij
© 2010 Ugur Akinci “Enabling Globalization: A Guide to Using Localization to Penetrate International Markets” by Nabil Freij, the President of the localization company GlobalVision International Inc. is a must reference for everyone thinking to market products and services globally. It’s kind of ironic but true – globalization requires localization, and this book has plenty…
Read MoreTechnical Book Review – "Guide to Technical Editing" by Anne Eisenberg
Guide to Technical Editing by Anne Eisenberg is a book outdated in some regards (printed in 1992) but the principles of editing covered in this 182-page volume are well established, still valid, and richly illustrated. For example, the illustration of a “rocket” on page 88 is one such visual element that clearly betrays the pre-Internet…
Read MoreWho Gets How Much When a Book is Sold?
(Excerpts) On a typical hardcover, the publisher sets a suggested retail price. Let’s say it is $26. The bookseller will generally pay the publisher $13. Out of that gross revenue, the publisher pays about $3.25 to print, store and ship the book, including unsold copies returned to the publisher by booksellers. For cover design, typesetting…
Read MoreImportance of Book Covers
A unique blog post on a topic that is usually ignored by most self-publishers… (Excerpts) There are two key things you can NOT skimp on when you are self-publishing. One is an editor. No matter how careful a writer you are, you have to have an editor. Period. The second, of course, is the cover.…
Read MoreBOOK: 101 Tips and Tutorials to Write Like a Pro!
Improve Your English Right Away Boost up your writing instantly by taking advantage of these 101 power tips provided by a Fortune 100 writer (yours truly). 126 page PDF file. Over 35,500 words. Includes hundreds of examples. —————————– This is what Bob Bly, the legendary Copy Writer, said about this book: ““Frankly, I was expecting…
Read MoreThe Importance of Writing Perfect Checklists
Ask yourself: would you be willing to fly in an airplane flown by a pilot who relies on his or her “memory and track record” rather than a detailed and time-tested checklist? I wouldn’t. The deeper question is: if checklists are perfect and indispensable for flying airplanes safely and reliably, then why don’t we use…
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