The newsletter of Scriptorium Publishing

Volume 9, Issue 8
August 2006

In this issue:

Publishing Fundamentals Now Available!

Lava, London, and Lobster

Learn at Your Desk

Join Our Team as a Contract Consultant

Upcoming Training Schedule

Publishing Fundamentals Now Available!

Publishing Fundamentals: FrameMaker 7 (formerly FrameMaker 7: The Complete Reference) is now available in our online store. The book costs $59.99, and orders shipped within the US qualify for free standard shipping.

Here's what one reader, Jeffrey K. of Japan, had to say about Publishing Fundamentals:

"You did a great job on [the book], and I will send referrals to all my friends."

To learn more about Publishing Fundamentals, read these excerpts in PDF format:

• Table of contents (75 KB)
• Chapter 6: Formatting Text with Character Tags (285 KB)

Special thanks to all those who preordered the book. You should have received your shipments by now.

Lava, London, and Lobster

This fall and winter, Sarah O'Keefe will be traveling across the northern hemisphere (and we do mean across!) to present at three conferences:

• LavaCon 2006 in Kauai, Hawaii, on October 1–4: Sarah will be leading a hands-on afternoon workshop on XSL, so bring a laptop. She will also be doing a mystery presentation. For an overview of the conference offerings, check out the draft conference program (PDF format). LavaCon is intended for senior technical writers and project managers.

• STC Region 2 Conference in London on October 13–14: Sarah's presentation is about creating a business case for implementing an XML-based structured authoring environment. Sarah will also be available for discussions during the trade show component.

• XML 2006 in Boston on December 5–7: Sarah is part of panel discussion about XML project management.

Sarah hopes to see you in Hawaii, London, or Boston! If you plan to attend any of these conferences and would like to set up a formal meeting, please contact Sarah at sales@scriptorium.com.

Learn at Your Desk

TrackAccess webcasts offer you conference-quality presentations at the comfort of your own desk. The webcast schedule for the coming months is as follows:

• Integrating InDesign and XML
  August 22, 11 a.m. Eastern time (convert to your local time)
• FrameMaker and DITA Integration
  September 15, 11 a.m. Eastern time (convert to your local time)
• XML Architecture for Customized User Assistance
  October 16, 11 a.m. Eastern time (convert to your local time)
• Single-Sourcing with XML Transformation in FrameMaker 7.2
  November 3, 11 a.m. Eastern time (convert to your local time)
• Managing Implementation of Structured Authoring
  November 28, 11 a.m. Eastern time (convert to your local time)

Each webcast is only $19.95. Register soon; we limit the number of participants to ensure attendees can ask questions. To participate, you need a web browser with Flash support. We can deliver audio through a phone conference bridge (higher quality) or via Internet audio (less expensive, especially for attendees outside the United States). Attendees can ask questions either through a chat interface or via the phone bridge.

Join Our Team as a Contract Consultant

Do you have what it takes to work at Scriptorium? We're looking for a contract consultant/trainer for a six-month assignment with the possibility of a conversion to permanent status.

Our documents may be structured, but our environment isn't. To succeed, you need to be able to work independently, meet deadlines, manage clients, and get along with the rest of the team. If you delight in geeky publishing technology and like to explain it to others, this may be the right job for you.

You'll find details in our job posting, and please spread the word to friends or colleagues. Thanks!

Upcoming Training Schedule

Our web-based training lets you eliminate travel costs while still getting many of the benefits of our instructor-led training: small class size, the opportunity to ask questions, and a challenging curriculum that engages you. For more information about online or classroom training, contact training@scriptorium.com.

Web-based training schedule:

• September 11–14: Unstructured FrameMaker 7: Accelerated Introduction
• September 18–21: Advanced Unstructured FrameMaker 7: Template Design
• October 17–20: XML and Structured Authoring

Classroom training schedule:

• August 23–25: XSL in Publishing (just a few seats left)
• September 7–8: XML and Structured Authoring
• September 25: Structured FrameMaker 7: Introduction to Authoring
• September 26–27: Structured FrameMaker 7: Introduction to Authoring
• September 28: Advanced Structured FrameMaker 7: Building EDDs

You can review our complete 2006 schedule.

For those who prefer to learn FrameMaker at their own pace, we also offer our FrameMaker 7 Workbook Series. You can download the workbooks from our online store for $49.95 each. You get the workbook in PDF format, exercise files, and access to video clips that explain the FrameMaker interface.

Comments? Questions? 

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