A book of great value that authors of novels, biographies, and other great works don’t often think of is the product manual.  We all are familiar with them, I just worked through one yesterday with a new GPS I purchased for Geocaching.  I’m new to geocaching, and will be spending a good bit of time enjoying our local woodland trails to search for hidden treasures…in the woods with the bears, mosquitoes, and other fun creatures.  My husband will be joining me to protect me from the bears, and I may have to rely on a Mosquito Magnet for the other little bugs, with that help it should be a fun experience.

But getting back to product manuals. They are a humble publication compared to a novel or a biography, lets say, but very important…I spent the whole day with one. But I notice that with access to the internet, you can often get information you need at the website of the product you purchased.

Lets consider the item that I’m using for mosquitos…when I was reading about Mosquito Magnet and considering how to protect myself while out in the woods, I saw that they offer support in a big way at their website, especially important if you find yourself in a situation where you need mosquito magnet repair advise. There is a lot of interactive material that you can take advantage of that you can’t get in a manual so you can keep your product in optimum condition.

I don’t think that the writers of product manuals need to worry too much about being replaced, I always expect to find one in any technical or other product that I purchase. But at the same time, writers of a different kind, those that put together helps on websites, are playing an important role as well.

All of this has me wondering whether any of you readers actually do put together product manuals as a writing profession.