For technical writers
Documentation projects stall on one thing: access to the engineer who knows.
Technical writing work — API references, developer guides, user manuals, SOPs, release notes — depends on people you don't control. The subject-matter expert is busy, the product changes while you're writing, and review comments arrive weeks late from three engineers who disagree. Projects quoted as a fixed number of pages end up twice as long because the product moved underneath them.
ApeiroCraft sends the proposal as a link with the document set, the SME time you need, review cycles and turnaround, the tooling and format, and what happens when the product changes mid-project. You see when it's opened and reopened, it's signed in the browser, and milestones are invoiced from the accepted proposal.
Where documentation projects drift.
No time from the experts
You're given a staging login and a Slack channel, and the engineer who built the feature answers questions once a week. The deadline was set assuming daily answers.
The product moves
An API endpoint is renamed, a UI is redesigned, a feature is dropped. Rewriting for a moving product is real work that a page-count quote doesn't cover.
Reviews without an end
Three reviewers, comments in different tools, contradictory edits. Without defined review cycles and a deciding reviewer, docs never reach 'done'.
From scoping call to published docs.
Doc set, not page count
List each document or section — getting started, authentication, endpoint references, tutorials — with its audience and format, so scope is a table of contents.
See when engineering leads read it
Opens and re-opens are recorded on the link. A proposal reopened before sprint planning is being slotted in — ask for SME time then.
SME access, signed
The signature records name, email, IP address and a UTC timestamp and can't be altered — the SME hours and review turnaround you need are on record.
Milestone invoices
Convert the accepted proposal to a draft invoice for the first milestone. Convert again as each doc set is delivered.
What a technical writing proposal has to include.
Good documentation proposals price the dependencies, not just the writing.
Document set and audience
If it's left vague
'Write our docs' covers developer, admin and end-user docs at once.
With ApeiroCraft
List each document, its audience and format.
SME access and turnaround
If it's left vague
Questions wait a week for answers and the schedule blames you.
With ApeiroCraft
Name the SMEs, the hours you need from them, and the response time; dates move if it's not met.
Review cycles
If it's left vague
Endless comments from multiple reviewers.
With ApeiroCraft
State review rounds per document, turnaround, and one reviewer who resolves conflicts.
Tooling and publishing
If it's left vague
The client expects you to set up the docs platform too.
With ApeiroCraft
Say whether you write in their docs-as-code repo, CMS or a document, and who publishes.
Product changes
If it's left vague
Rework from product changes is absorbed.
With ApeiroCraft
State that changes to the product after a doc is approved are quoted as updates.
- Milestone invoices from one accepted proposal.
- Team notes for SME contacts, style decisions and open questions.
- Maintenance retainers sent as separate signed proposals.
Common questions.
How do technical writers usually price projects?
Common models are hourly or day rates (often with an estimate and cap), fixed fees per document or doc set, and monthly retainers for ongoing docs maintenance. Fixed-fee projects usually have milestone payments. ApeiroCraft holds the structure you use; it doesn't suggest rates.
What does an API documentation proposal look like?
A doc set of a getting-started guide, an authentication guide, reference pages for a named set of endpoints and two tutorials; written in the client's docs-as-code repository; two hours a week of SME time with answers within two working days; two review rounds per doc with the API lead resolving conflicts; product changes after approval quoted as updates; payment at signing, after the guides and after the reference. The engineering lead reopens it before sprint planning, signs, and you invoice the first milestone.
When is ApeiroCraft not the right fit for a technical writer?
If you bill hourly against tracked time, you'll need a time tracker — ApeiroCraft doesn't have one. It's not a docs platform or a review tool either. It fits fixed-scope and retainer work where you need the terms signed and the milestones invoiced.
Can I quote an ongoing docs retainer?
Yes — as a separate proposal listing what's covered each month, such as release notes and updates to existing pages, and what counts as new docs.
Which template is closest?
The copywriting template, for its deliverables and approval structure. Add SME access, tooling and product-change sections.
Price the SME time, not just the pages.
Write your doc set and review terms once, and reuse them on every project.
Start freeStill deciding? Talk to the founder
Keep reading
Free template
Copywriting proposal template
Reframe the sale away from price-per-word — and end the revision spiral in writing.
Solution
ApeiroCraft for freelancers
The whole loop — lead, proposal, signature, invoice — in one subscription.
Solution
Proposal tracking, explained
Timestamped opens on the proposal itself — not an email pixel, not a guess.