A freelance technical writer is a self-employed technical writer who does not work for any specific corporation or technical writing agency or company, instead choosing to be his or her own boss. The freelance technical writing world is not an easy one to survive in--not only do you have to be remarkably good at what you do, but you have to excel at selling yourself. Freelance technical writers must be extremely self-motivated and driven and persevering. They can usually make at least $40 per hour and up-pretty good pay--but there are a lot of risks involved.
Freelance technical writing is traditional technical writing, but instead of being handed clients, you have to go find them; you will need to sell to them your technical writing expertise. A freelance tech writer may specialize in one technical segment, such as users manuals, but most freelancers should be able to provide a whole array of technical writing services, including training manuals and other technical documentation.
Make sure you always have plenty of sample technical writing on-hand when you are freelancing in the technical writing industry. Companies will demand to see your freelance work. You need to keep a healthy freelance technical writing portfolio.
I recommend these books to help you become a better freelance technical writing professional:
The Renegade Writer: A Totally Unconventional Guide to Freelance Writing Success. Fun and on-target, this book tackles the nuts and bolts of freelancing, including coming up with article ideas, writing solid queries, breaking in new markets, the ins and outs of contracts, getting good interviews and collecting money that's due.
The Well-Fed Writer: Financial Self-Sufficiency as a Freelance Writer in Six Months or Less. This is a great compendium of tips, tricks and techniques essential for aspiring writers to "turn pro" and be able to support themselves on their earnings; truly rewarding reading for aspiring freelance writers, copy writers, scriptwriters, columnists, journalists, and anyone else wanting to earn from what they write.
A great directory of freelance technical writing experts can be found on the Internet:
Also, here is a good site that addresses freelance writing: