Devoted to technical writing and technical writers

If you haven't felt it yet, you probably will. A lot of technical writing jobs are being out-sourced to India. The recent STC conference in Seattle had at least a half-dozen seminars on outsourcing, and there's no forseeable end to it. Even Microsoft is taking advantage of the opportunities in a country with a technically skilled workforce that comes with a 50% or more discount on wages.

The problem, and the opportunity, that comes with writers in India, China, and the like is that they use British idioms, not American. Even worse, some simply have a terrible sense of word flow. In other words, the work that Company A thought would be done for half the price in India, is not complete, and Company A now needs to hire an American writer to polish the content. One of the companies that I've done this for is Lionbridge, but there are plenty of others. It's a good niche for writers because it can be done entirely off-site, making it a nice second income.

As a technical writer, remember that your value is not just in your ability to write technically. It's in your ability to create a friendly, yet professional tone, and a polished flow. That's not an easy skill to acquire, because it only comes with practice, and time, and a genuine love for the art of writing.