So, I think I might like to set myself up a sideline as a part time freelance indexer. I took an Indexing and Abstracting class in library school, where book indexing was only a part of the course, but I quite enjoyed it and I’ve ordered the first USDA graduate school correspondance course in Basic Indexing, which is evidently the thing to take.
So, questions for anybody who does it or has done it:
Does anybody here do it? If you do, is it a part-time extra money thing for you, or were you able to parlay it into a full time job?
How difficult was it to get your first clients? Did it get easier?
Do I need both of the USDA courses? For that matter, is there any reason to take the silly exam at the end that I have to get somebody to proctor me on? I was going to just audit, as long as nobody looks down on that.
Did you have a mentor? Did you have to pay him/her? Did he/she send jobs your way to get you started?
Were you able to get enough jobs in your speciality, or is that more of a starting place? I have an undergraduate degree in history with a minor in music and a hobby interest in fabric arts - am I going to get hard up for work and start doing software and medical?
(Odds this thread will sink like a rock… very good. I’m pretty sure I scared a guy away once on a first date when he asked me what my class was about and I ran on and on about indexing and subject analysis. Hey, I think it’s cool!)
Oh, also, do you use any software? CINDEX is the only thing they make for a Mac, and while I have a PC available I like my Mac. Any opinions on the other software?
I know a young woman who does this work full time. She worked for someone before striking out on her own. Apparently there was plenty of work to go around. She is always working and always under a deadline. She has a liberal arts degree. I don’t know to what extent she limits herself. I know that she does accept medical indexing. (She enjoys learning about everything that she can.)
It will be another month before I have a chance to talk with her to find the answers to some of your questions about requirements. If you will check back to this thread sometime around July 22, I will try to have some answers posted. I’m a little forgetful, so feel free to flag me down in the Pit if I don’t respond!
Actually, there is an American Society of Indexers that might be a useful resource. There’s also a society in the UK (I can’t remember if your location is the US).
As for using software, I’ve never tried. I’m an editor for a small research institute, and usually do the indexing for the books I work on. I do the subject markup by hand, on a paper printout of the proofs. We’re all Luddites over there ;j
Well, I know all that - I hit the Index-L archives occaisionally, as it’s a pretty high volume list and I don’t need it in my inbox every day, and I’m familiar with the ASI site. I was just looking for personal experiences. The only people I actually know IRL who’ve done it did it fifty years ago on index cards as full time employees, which isn’t much help.
Well, OK – you could also try the Freelance mailing list. It’s for people who freelance in publishing, and there are a fair number of indexers. Not terribly high-volume.
