Technical writing and ghost writing

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

(answered personally by Liz)

Q1: When was DUO started?
A: DUO was founded by my husband Greg and me in 1991. Both Greg and I were already veteran publications and documentation professionals with vast experience; and unbounding exuberance. We built a company designed to fill a need for a basic publications and documentation service fashioned and offered to accommodate industrious people and enthusiastic business professionals worldwide. Greg, a technical and creative writer, editor and illustrator/artist, is now retired and acts as a consultant to DUO and is presently a DUO e-book client producing a variety of literary works.

Q2: Why is DUO offered as a "basic" publications and documentation service?
A: Expert Engineers, Programmers and even Business Executives are not necessarily masters at the written and spoken word even though some may be and others think they are. Those of you who are experts in your chosen field usually have something more pressing to accomplish other than creating publications and documentation products, for instance, e-book versions of your information, personal or professional. Leave that to DUO. Spelling among business people is not as good as it should be, and wordsmithing, the molding of words into phrases, sentences, concepts and the like is a rare talent known only to the few, and I am one of them. I know wordsmithing; we have been doing it as a company since 1991 and longer as independent contractors. Our list of companies serves to show this. Read it.

Most requestors have no idea what you really want, and rarely know how to designate personnel or manage resources and time in a publications and documentation effort. I do, so I keep it simple. My methods are easy to understand, easy to determine for price and value, and are not hard to manage, if you choose to do so. We also apply DUO's Cooperative Work Arrangement (CWA) that places a reputable contract services company or consulting company as the middle man.

Q3: What is the DUO Cooperative Work Arrangement (CWA)?

A: I designed the Cooperative Work Arrangement loosely in 1988. It was designed to allow both Greg and I to work the same job with only one of us contracted to the project. The other remained transparent and served in a subservient posture even though we were informally "partnered." Greg talked to some of the contract service firms operating at that time, and it was agreed to "push" the concept to client companies with special needs, particularly short-term, difficult-to-staff projects. It was a success, and Greg and I applied since 1988, and DUO has operated in this mode since 1991.

Q4: How does DUO provide independent writers with publishing services?
A: DUO provides custom "packages" for independent writers like you. When you have already written your book or if you are entertaining the idea of writing a book, contact me to develop a package that includes a template for your existing material or one in which you can write your work. In either case, you will eventually want to upload your final product to the website of a commercial e-book sales and marketing company, i.e., Amazon.com - Kindle Books™, and I do that with you, not for you. When you are ready, you will want your material reviewed in my personal and professional soft edit to ensure there are no glaring errors. Then, you might want a "partner" for uploading, because in some cases, this can get a bit complicated in these early days of e-book sellers publishers and reader manufacturers. The objective of our DUO package program is to provide you with a fixed-price way to accomplish whatever degree of involvement you see fit. There are no additional fees, or hidden costs, since we are not interested in a typical publishing "deal" in which we share in your profits. We do not share your royalties nor "handle" these other than to make sure you "handle" your own process and keep all the money you are entitled to for yourself. If you want to contact me, please feel free to talk to me at duopubs@aol.com.

duopubs@aol.com