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If he fits most of the above qualifications that I listed, I expect that he will do a great job. A Technical Editor who can read what the authors write from the standpoint of an inexperienced user and then persistently test the example code may very well be better qualified than one who knows the material inside and out.
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Those are not ingredients for a good TE. As somebody who has written several books and has been a TE, I ought to know...

Cmon David, lets employ some common sense here. If what you say is correct, If I wrote a book about a langauge that you knew nothing about or did not have any experience with, are you saying that you could be an effective TE? I don't think so. Surely, you would be at the bottom of the list of candidates that would be qualified to do the job. i.e., you would be my last choice...