Devoted to technical writing and technical writers

According to my source at a publishing company, how-to books on the subject of technical writing simply aren't selling well enough for a publisher to take the risk. Evidently, "Technical Writing for Dummies" has sold less than 10,000 copies in five years according to Nielson's Bookscan. Amazon has it ranked at 264,891 as of today.

On the other hand, my own informal survey shows that among English students in a local university, there is considerable interest in getting into the field. There are undergraduate and graduate degrees in Technical Communication available at a growing number of academic institutions.

My personal theory on the matter is that writers, and non-writers who want to become writers, often suffer from a common ailment - anybody-can-write-itis. Who needs to read a book on the subject? How hard can it be? That kind of thing.

But a university degree - that spells J-O-B, and that trumps buying a how-to book any day of the week.