Additional Technical Writer Questions.doc

1. Will meetings between the contractor and the Bulletin staff be in person in Beaver, West Virginia or by telephone?

All meetings will be conducted via telephone. Email will also be used as a means of communication.

2. How many meetings will be needed in person in Beaver, West Virginia through 9/30/2009 (the contract end date)?

Zero. All meetings will be conducted via telephone. Email will also be used as a means of communication.

3. It looks like the contractor would produce 50 articles in the approximately seven month period beginning approximately March 2009 and ending 9/30/2009, is that correct?

Yes. 50 articles by Sept 30, 2009. That is you must submit 7 to 8 articles per month between March and the end of September, 2009.

4. Would the contractor obtain electronic copies of photographs taken by someone else, or does the project include taking original photographs?

Yes. Articles and photographs need to be sent to the editor electronically. As long as the person taking the photograph signs a release form stating the contract writer or Holmes has the right to publish/republish the photo. Please fax the release form and then mail the original to the Editor.

5. I am looking to determine how often copyright permissions would need to be obtained for publishing the articles. Would this perhaps be once per article?

We will only publish the article once, so yes once per article.

6. For the task: Coordinate with persons from the industry who contribute materials for inclusion in the Bulletin, would this just require brief telephone and email contact several times a month, or does this task require more than approximately one hour per month of work to perform?

We will not dictate to the writer how much time they should spend researching and writing their articles. Communication via telephone is required to ensure the writer is meeting the terms of the contract and to answer any questions. You MUST submit 7 to 8 articles per month, so monthly communication with the editor is essential.

7.Is there an incumbent or past contractor that is eligible to submit a proposal? If so, who?

The incumbent may submit a proposal if they choose to. This combined synopsis/solicitation is open to any business that is small. The incumbent is Red Inc.

8.Does the selected contractor need to generate ideas for article topics, or will they be assigned? If they need to be generated, will MSHA review and approve the ideas before articles are generated?

The contractor will generate the ideas for the article topics; however, the topics must fall into one of the 3 required categories / types of articles: on the job safety, off the job safety, and general mining subjects.

9.Will MSHA be reviewing drafts of the articles and returning them to the contractor for revision/clarification (within the fixed per-article cost), or will they be accepted as final upon initial submission? The initial submissions will be accepted as final submission.

Please don’t send us a draft unless you have questions about something you need clarified before finalizing the article. All articles are subject to revision by our editorial staff.

10.The SOW states that “the contractor will be required to periodically meet with the senior course developer, editor, or graphics personnel.” Is it acceptable for the meetings to take place via teleconference or video conference? If not, what assumptions should we use regarding travel (location of meetings, number of meetings, meeting duration) in our cost proposal? Whether the meetings will be accomplished remotely or in person, how should the cost of participating in the meetings be handled in the proposal, which asks only for per-article costs?

Face to Face meetings are not required. All meetings AND COMMUNICATIONS can be done via telephone or email. You should estimate all costs you may incur in your proposal. No extra fees will be paid at a later time.

11.Is there a limit on the number of sample articles and past performance references?

You are only allowed to submit 3 sample articles. One each of the following types: on the job safety, off the job safety, and general mining subjects. We have no requirement of submitting any performance references.

12. Is the current writer, or the writer of the samples and articles in 2008 issues of Holmes Safety Bulletin, namely RED Inc. Communications, under consideration for the contract under solicitation?

The incumbent may submit a proposal if they choose to. This combined synopsis/solicitation is open to any business that is small.

13. When will the writer selection be made, and approximately when will an order to proceed be issued?

A selection will be made as quickly as possible. Hopefully an order can be place by end of February first or the first week of March.

14. The SOW states that 50 articles are to be submitted through 09/30/2009. As it looks like the average use of writer articles per issue is 4, and there are four issues annually of Holmes Safety Bulletin, that is 16 published articles. What happens to the other approximately 34 articles that will be submitted?

We reserve the right to not publish every submitted article. Although articles meet the contract requirements, it does not guarantee they will be published. All accepted articles will then go through a final and stringent review process to determine if they are acceptable to publish. Articles that do not initially get published may be published at a later date provided they survive the review process. Articles that don’t survive the review process will be so marked and stored by the editor. Since they were initially accepted and met the contract requirements, they will be paid for according to the contract.

15. Is the writer paid for all 50 articles submitted, or only paid on an "as-accepted" or "as-published" basis for the articles actually published?

They are paid on “as accepted.”

16. It is not clear from the "Answers to Questions" who will pay for any photographs/graphics that are obtained by the writer from photo-banks or other professional sources. In other words,is the writer responsible for payment for non-government sourced photos, or non-public domain photos? Does cost of such photos need to be priced into the estimate per article? Is there a budget for photos?

There is no budget for photos. The writer pays for photographs that he/she takes or has someone else take. Yes. All estimated fees you believe you will incur should be added to your cost per article BID/proposal.

17. Can one of the writing samples submitted by a chapter from a published book?

NO. You are only allowed to submit 3 sample articles. One each of the following types: on the job safety, off the job safety, and general mining subjects.

18. We note that this solicitation was originally listed as a SDVOSB set-aside on FBO, but is now listed as a small-business set-aside, though we did not identify any amendment specific to this change. Can you please confirm the set-aside status of this solicitation?

This set-aside is for small-business. The solicitation was changed because I was unaware of an incumbent for this requirement