JoAnn T. Hackos

Bottom Line: If you are a "lowly" tech writer (like me) and not a manager, you probably won't get much from this book and it's painful to read. If you're a manager at a large company with a large writing team, it's probably a great resource.

I picked up this book in the hopes that even though it's designed more for managers or supervisors of writing groups, that I would be able to use some of the information to manage my writing projects. I was able to use a couple bits and pieces on project planning, but the rest of it was not helpful for me.

If you're looking for best practices on how to manage your writing projects (as in project planning, scheduling, writing, and keeping on top of tasks) as opposed to managing a writing team, you won't find it in this book--even if you can make it through the large blocks of text.

Speaking of large blocks of text, I think Hackos has been in management way too long and has lost her tech writing ability to be concise and to the point. I know she's well respected in our profession, but seriously, this book is not something that I pictured a tech writer writing. The major points get lost in her rambling paragraphs and walls of text. Thank goodness for the bullet points and summaries or I never would have made it through this beast.

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find a resource for the information I'm seeking. Hopefully somebody will write a book on the best practices for writers managing their documentation projects, cuz this ain't it.… (mer)