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Technical Writing 101: A Real-World Guide to Planning and Writing Technical Content

Winner, Award of Excellence, STC Carolina Chapter, December 2009

Technical Writing 101 details the skills you need as a technical writer to create both printed and online content. This valuable reference describes the entire development process—planning, writing, visual design, editing, indexing, and production. You also get tips on how to write information that is more easily translated into other languages.

This updated third edition features new information on the Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) standard for structured authoring, and it explains the impact of Web 2.0 technologies—blogs, wikis, and forums—on technical communication.

Download now, $20, or buy from online booksellers. 328 pages.

The Compass: Essential Reading about XML, DITA, and Web 2.0 (second edition)

This book is a compilation of our white papers available at scriptorium.com. The papers introduce you to critical tools and technologies, including structured authoring, Extensible Markup Language (XML), the Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) and the DITA Open Toolkit, and user-generated content (blogs, wikis, and fourms).

Buy from online booksellers. 220 pages.

In early 2009, Scriptorium Publishing conducted a survey to measure how and why technical communicators are adopting structured authoring. The survey received 616 responses. 29 percent of respondents indicated that they had already implemented structured authoring. Only 16 percent indicated that they do not plan to implement structured authoring. The remaining respondents were either in the process of implementing structured authoring (14 percent), planning to do so (20 percent), or were considering it (21 percent).

This report summarizes our findings on everything from the reasons for implementing structured authoring and implementation cost to authoring tools and DITA adoption rates.

Download now, $200. 56 pages.

The unstructured interface of FrameMaker 8 is ideal for publishing complex documents. Publishing Fundamentals: Unstructured FrameMaker 8 helps you implement automated workflows that let technical communicators focus on creating content instead of struggling with tedious formatting tasks.

The book also includes a long list of FrameMaker resources and information about add-on software that can further boost your productivity. Written by veteran FrameMaker users, Publishing Fundamentals: Unstructured FrameMaker 8 is the must-have reference for anyone using the unstructured interface of FrameMaker 8.

Order now, $39.99 $19.99. 736 pages.

Written by long-time FrameMaker users Sarah O’Keefe and Sheila Loring, Publishing Fundamentals: FrameMaker 7 shows you how to master the many powerful features of FrameMaker 7. This comprehensive guide explains the basics, such as creating a new document, and advanced topics, such as converting to XML. The book also covers both the structured and unstructured interfaces and explains new features, such as WebDAV.

Formerly published as FrameMaker 7: The Complete Reference, Publishing Fundamentals has nearly identical pagination as The Complete Reference. Readers can easily find the same information in either book.

Download now, $39.99 $14.99. 878 pages.