May 8, 2009

Scriptorium Publishing Services has just released the third edition of its popular reference, Technical Writing 101: A Real-World Guide to Planning and Writing Technical Content (ISBN 978-0-9704733-7-0). Adopted by dozens of technical writing programs as a textbook, the book is available for the first time as an instant digital download for just $20.

“We wanted to make the third edition of the book even more accessible and affordable. Readers can purchase the download at any time without the costs and delays of shipping a printed book,” said coauthor Alan Pringle. “Anyone interested in technical writing will be pleased to get the book for $20, particularly students who spend hundreds of dollars on textbooks each semester.”

The 328-page book is a Portable Document Format (PDF) file. The searchable file includes links, which make it even easier to find information. Readers can print the file, too.

The download from store.scriptorium.com is the primary method of distribution for this edition, but readers can purchase a printed paperback copy for $35.95 (ISBN 978-0-9704733-6-3). “A lot of people still prefer to read a printed book, so we’re offering that option as well,” said coauthor Sarah O’Keefe. The book is also available as a site license for $250. An organization with a site license can distribute the PDF download to up to 20 people.

The new edition of Technical Writing 101―which is 44 pages longer than its predecessor―contains new information about multimedia content, Web 2.0 technologies (blogs, forums, and wikis), and the Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) standard for structured authoring. For more information about what’s in the new edition, readers can view the table of contents in PDF format at http://www.scriptorium.com/books/tw101_3rd_toc.pdf. Instructors and reviewers can request a review copy by contacting books@scriptorium.com.

“Since we published the second edition in 2003, we have seen many changes in the tools and technologies we use to streamline our clients’ publishing processes,” said Pringle. “We wanted the updated book to reflect those experiences.”

Scriptorium Publishing provides expert advice on how to develop, deploy, and manage content.