At last, direct from the trenches, here’s the book technical editors have been waiting for. Unlike other guides which review grammar and spelling—but don’t address the special challenges of technical editing—this lively, practical book deals with the real-world problems, issues, and decisions that face technical editors and writers.In this book you’ll get tips for preparing a style guide technical writers will want to use. You’ll find checklists of what to look for during different types of editorial reviews, learn how to make the transition from traditional to desktop publishing, and see how you can build true usability into printed and online documentation. Enhanced by real examples, case studies, and practical techniques, these flexible and pragmatic solutions go far beyond the mechanics of marking up manuscripts. You get guidance that will help you decide how heavily to edit, how to manage and track large projects, and even how to position yourself for the future when software will handle the copy editing.Whether you edit technical documentation for a living, write technical material, or review the work of others, this book helps you improve your skills and your understanding of the technical editing function.
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About the Author
Judith A. Tarutz, a former Senior Technical Editor at Hewlett-Packard, is a co-founder of Ibis Communications Inc. in Lynnfield, MA. She also teaches a graduate-level course in software technical editing.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Highest praise for this book,
By (LM) New Tech Writer (Upstate New York, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Technical Editing: The Practical Guide For Editors And Writers (Hewlett-Packard Press) (Paperback)
As a newbie tech writer, I picked up this book with interest. This book was much more practical than other industry books on theory. All of the information is applicable to everyday situations as both a writer and editor. I am wholeheartedly recommending this book to my colleagues, and to anyone who would appreciate an insider's view of the technical documentation process. This is probably the most helpful book I have read on the process, textbooks and style guides included. After the author's challenge to readers to find and report any errors, I turned a skeptical (and trained) eye to each sentence...and found no errors. I hope that there are similar books on the market. A must have for every tech writer's book collection (and we know we all hoard great TW books!). The author lends real-world experience on almost every page and shows that she knows her field well. Personally, I found this book a great relief from the theoretical texts on TW that I have been reading for the past year.
14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
How to justify a Technical Editor on your staff,
By Halo (THE valley) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Technical Editing: The Practical Guide For Editors And Writers (Hewlett-Packard Press) (Paperback)
This book is particularly useful in defining the role of your Technical Editor, but what I found useful was the way the author addressed the need for a technical editor. In many technical writing and documentation groups, a technical editor is not in place because they use peer edits instead. Peer edits are not as effective as a technical editor! This book addresses quantitative results of having or not having a technical editor and how to "sell" your management on adding a technical editor to your team. I would recommend this book to writers, so that they may better understand the role of their editor. I would recommend this book to editors, so that they may better understand how to work with writers effectively. And I would recommend this book to any documentation manager or communications manager who is considering hiring a technical editor or trying to gain management approval for hiring a technical editor.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A survival guide for the real world of technical editing.,
By A Customer
This review is from: Technical Editing: The Practical Guide For Editors And Writers (Hewlett-Packard Press) (Paperback)
The subtitle says it all. This book gives practical advice and guidelines for both editors and writers who must edit or deal with editors. Tarutz provides a heavy dose of "real world" information, including working with impossible schedules, difficult writers, and projects from hell.
This book is NOT a guide to marking up manuscripts, nor is it a style and usage manual. It IS an excellent guide to the profession of technical editing.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
In this chapter, you'll see technical editing from several perspectives. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
literary edit, developmental edit, editorial skill set, collating sheet, spectroscopy manual, editorial mind set, index slugs, style guide writers, doc spec, thorough copy edit, production edit, house style guide, integrity edit, substantive edit, desktop publishing environment, print vendor, editing pass, preliminary edit, language edit, documentation conventions, user advocate, documentation set, text heads, replacement pages, technical editing Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
United States, Information Systems, The Elements of Style, New York, Red Sox, The Chicago Manual of Style, Style Guide Writers Will Want, Ten Lessons, Customary System, The Wall Street Journal, Third Edition, Well-Meaning Editor New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
In this chapter, you'll see technical editing from several perspectives. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
literary edit, developmental edit, editorial skill set, collating sheet, spectroscopy manual, editorial mind set, index slugs, style guide writers, doc spec, thorough copy edit, production edit, house style guide, integrity edit, substantive edit, desktop publishing environment, print vendor, editing pass, preliminary edit, language edit, documentation conventions, user advocate, documentation set, text heads, replacement pages, technical editing Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
United States, Information Systems, The Elements of Style, New York, Red Sox, The Chicago Manual of Style, Style Guide Writers Will Want, Ten Lessons, Customary System, The Wall Street Journal, Third Edition, Well-Meaning Editor New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 37
books:
See all 37 books this book cites
11
books
cite this book:
See all 11 books citing this book
- The Levels of Edit by Robert Van Buren on page 162, page 164, and Back Matter
- The Elements of Style, Fourth Edition by William Strunk Jr. on page 170, page 200, and Back Matter
- Pocket Pal by International Paper Company on page 262, and Back Matter
- On Writing Well, 30th Anniversary Edition: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction by William Zinsser on page 62, and Back Matter
- Words into Type, Third Edition, Completely Revised by Marjorie E. Skillin on page 203, and Back Matter
See all 37 books this book cites
- The Copyeditor's Handbook: A Guide for Book Publishing and Corporate Communications, Second Edition, With Exercises and Answer Keys by Amy Einsohn on page 21, page 63, and Back Matter
- Writing and Developing Your College Textbook by Mary Ellen Lepionka on page 174, and page 226
- Opportunities in Technical Writing Careers (Opportunities in . . . Series) by Jay Gould in Back Matter
- Business and Technical Communication: An Annotated Guide to Sources, Skills, and Samples (Bibliographies and Indexes in Mass Media and Communications) by Sandra E. Belanger on page 111
- New York Public Library Writer's Guide to Style and Usage by Andrea Sutcliffe in Back Matter
See all 11 books citing this book
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