I’ve been freelancing for almost thirteen years now, and I feel like I am at another juncture at which I am reassessing my business and contemplating how best to move forward. I periodically find myself here. This is partly driven by external factors, often the need to earn a little… Read More »Freelancing Within a Niche
Before I begin another mini-series, I want to touch on a topic that has been on my mind again recently, which is turning down projects that I don’t want. This has been a persistent struggle for me throughout my freelancing career. As a new freelancer, FOMO, or the fear of… Read More »Learning to Say No (to Projects)
Fall has definitely arrived here in Edmonton. Leaves are turning a beautiful golden yellow and the temperature at night is starting to dip below freezing. This year this also seems to be the season for an uptick in queries to index academic books, most of them ready for indexing in… Read More »When Potential Clients Ghost Me
Last month was very busy for me, culminating in the Indexing Society of Canada’s virtual conference, where I co-presented with Enid Zafran on the current state and future of embedded indexing. I may write more later about embedded indexing, but in the meantime, our findings reminded me of how segmented publishing… Read More »Finding Your Indexing Niche
A month ago I wrote about my ideal working relationship with publishers, as a valued member of the team. But not every publisher or client is going to be ideal, and sometimes you need to know when to walk away. Walking away from a project or client is scary. Especially… Read More »When to Walk Away
Local history can be both a joy and a challenge to index. It can be deeply personal, both for those telling and writing the stories, and for those reading, as it reaffirms our bonds with each other and with the places we belong. The index is often the first point… Read More »Indexing Local History: Stories I’ve Been Told Series
Happy New Year! I hope your year is off to a fabulous start, whether you are hitting the ground running or easing into the new year. I recently heard the term “gentle January,” which sounds about right to me. Do I have goals for this year? Yes. Do I need… Read More »2023: Year in Review
Marketing is tough. It may be the most fear-inducing part of being a freelancer. Especially if you are an introvert, like most indexers are. How do you find publishers and authors with books that need indexing? How do authors and publishers find you? Publishing is a vast, global industry. Where… Read More »Marketing and Building a Client Base, My Two Golden Rules
Where do you put potentially embarrassing or upsetting information in an index? The information is true. It is discussed. It qualifies as indexable. But where and how should it appear? I faced this question when I received feedback last year from Adele Weder, the author of the biography Ron Thom, Architect:… Read More »Index Profile: Placing (Hiding?) Sensitive Entries
I recently received the longest list of terms from an author that I have ever received. The list was so long that I immediately contacted the publisher and explained that even with the extra space I had already asked for and received for the index, there was no way that… Read More »Dealing with Authors and Their Lists of Terms