What Salary To Expect Becoming A Freelance Technical Writer?

Technical writer is the person who is involved in producing instruction manual and any other supporting document for the purpose of communicating complicated technical information in an easier way. These people would involve in developing, gathering and disseminating technical information for their customers and designers. A technical writer is also called as ‘technical communicator’.

Most typically, technical writers work with the following people for managing the flow of information among workgroups during the processes of development and testing:

• Computer hardware engineers
• Scientists
• Computer support specialists
• Software developers

Are you wondering why people choose to become a freelance technical writer? The reason is quite obvious.

Freelance technical writing is one among the good ways to earn money. If you have read the book: “Making Money in Technical Writing”, you will definitely know why I said this. So, how much salary could you expect being a freelance technical writer? Here are the details for your reference:

Software Technical Writer:

Being a freelance software technical writer, you might get opportunity to write any of the following:

• User guides
• Online help pages
• Policies
• Procedures
• System and process documentations
• Life-cycle development
• Information Technology network manuals

The salary for a software technical writer could range from $52 per hour to $80+ per hour with the average rate of $68 per hour. You could increase your earnings if you have the following skill set:

• 5 years (or more) experience
• Graduation in English and/or Technical Writing
• Sound skills in the software technical aspects like Acrobat, MS office, HTML and so on.

Hardware Technical Writer:

A freelance hardware technical writer might get the opportunity to write any of the following:

• Statement of Purposes
• Manuals for installation, maintenance and operations

The salary for a hardware technical writer could range from $50 per hour to $75+ per hour with the average rate of $64 per hour. You could increase your earnings if you have the following skill set:

• 5 years (or more) experience (Engineering or Mechanical)
• Graduation in English and/or Technical Writing
• Sound skills in the tools like MS office, FrameMaker and so on.

Technical Editor:

The production options for a technical editor include:

• Formatting templates, tables and table of contents

The salary for a technical editor could range from $47 per hour to $72+ per hour with the average rate of $60 per hour. The salary can be further increased by having the aforementioned technical skills as per the area of interest.

Thus, anyone who is entering into the field of freelance technical writing could make good money if he/she is passionate about the work provided having the required skill set.