Work From Home As A Book Indexer
Are you patient, analytical, well read, and you don’t mind working alone? Do you have an excellent grasp of language and pay good attention to detail? If so you might enjoy working as a Book Indexer.
To be honest, I had always assumed that the indexes in the backs of books were created by computer. I know that MS Word has an index function, although I have never used it. But it turns out, that computers are just not all that good at creating a useful index, and so that task falls to freelance indexers.
I first found out about freelance opportunities for book indexers while reading Freelance Sprout. From there I found even more information from the American Society for Indexing (ASI).
There is a low barrier of entry for indexing. No specific degrees or credentials are required to be an indexer. However, publishers will look to see if you have subject matter expertise for indexing a technical book or manual. You can learn indexing by taking courses offered by your local college, by taking a correspondence course offered by the US Department of Agriculture, or there are a number of self-paced course offered by ASI.
Once you gain clients and experience, you can earn decent money. This is definitely not a get rich quick scheme! Full time experienced indexers can earn up to $50,000 per year, working from home.
According to ASI, most indexers find work by sending letters and resumes to publishers. Experienced indexers find most of their work comes from networking and referrals from satisfied clients.
If you have good attention to detail, and can work with tight deadlines, indexing could be a good work from home opportunity. Learn more at Freelance Sprout and American Society for Indexing (ASI).
How I Made The Move
Well, as you can probably tell, I am no longer on Blogger. It just goes to show that where there is a will, there is a way. If you are interested, I am posting my How To Switch from Blogger to Wordpress post over on Ninja Success. (It really doesn’t fit with the them of this blog!) Lots of thanks go to John at RareVictorian.com. He is the one the had the “secret” to making it all work.
Freelance Writing Jobs
I just found a free forum that lists freelance writing jobs. I really liked the layout, as the forums are divided into high paying jobs, low paying jobs, free jobs. There were also sections for collaborations (when you want to work with other freelancers), writer and publisher ops (writers looking for publishers and vice versa), writers for speaking engagements, and freelancers seeking work.
One thing I found nice about this forum is that for the high paying/low paying jobs section, the posters are required to list the pay for the job. Great if you don’t want to waste your time applying for very low paying jobs. There is also a section to list scams, I suggest you peruse this section before replying to any of the posts!
Today while I was perusing the forum, in the high paying jobs forum I found job listings for bloggers, legal writers, online gaming writers and travel guide writers. I found pay rates from $15 per post, to $20 per hour to $750 per day. Quite a spread!
The low paying jobs forum included jobs for e-book writers, quiz writers, and bloggers. Pay rates ranged from $10-$20 per post.
It is a moderate sized forum so there are a decent number of jobs listed, and not a huge amount of competition. If you are a decent writer you should be able to find a job here.
The forum is Online-Writing-Jobs.com.
Check it out and let me know how it works out for you. Did you get a job? Did you get scammed?
Help With Moving to Wordpress
Edit: I’ve done it! I still have a lot of work to do, but The Work From Home Pro is now on WordPress!
I am at the end of my rope! I would really like to move this blog to WordPress, but I can’t seem to get the WordPress import feature to work. I keep getting a timeout error while Google is authorizing. If anyone has any suggestions please let me know. I can find plenty of people with the same problem, but no solutions. I don’t want to end up moving this post by post! Please leave a comment if you have any ideas.
Thanks.
3 Tips for Better Work From Home Productivity
We all know that working from home saves time and money. You don’t have commute costs and you can save on your work wardrobe. However, home can be a very unproductive place to work. There are many distractions.With children and neighbors interrupting and the distraction of the television and household chores, it can be hard to get any real work done. Here are a few tips to help increase your productivity.
1. Consider childcare. Many parents choose to work from home so they can spend more time with their children. However, it can be very difficult to take care of children and work. Consider part time childcare. Something that worked well for me was to have a teenager come in for a few hours after school. This gave me a few hours to work without any distractions. It was a good time to make client phone calls, and I was only steps away if my children needed me.
2. Create a real office for yourself. Working at the kitchen table may seem economical, but it is not very ergonomic! Your office does not need to be a separate room, but a second hand desk, a high quality office chair, and good lighting go a long ways towards increasing productivity. Plus, you can let everyone know, that when you are at your desk you are working, and not to be bothered unless it is important.
3. Work With a Schedule. One of the appeals of working from home is that you can set your own hours. This is true, but make sure to have a schedule or a plan for your working hours. Have definite start and stop times, and schedule regular breaks for yourself. It may seem that you are more productive if you work 10 hours straight, but studies show that regular breaks increase productivity.
These are just some of the techniques that helped me to be more productive while working from home. What are your work from home productivity tips?
Look!
Entrecard
Categories
Archives
Links
- Let’s Talk About Money
- My CFO on the Go!
- Ninja Success
- The WebMaster Blog - Topics of interest to Webmasters and Bloggers