Is anyone out there working at home for a publishing co. I am interested in freelance work that I can do at home either editing books or reading books the editor may not what to take the time to read for other reasons? I have looked up various web-sites having to do with publishing and freelance work but haven't come across anything that fits me yet. Just wondering if anyone else has looked into this or is actually doing it. Thanks, Dee

-- Dee (drebai@yahoo.com), March 20, 2001

Answers

I'm with Dee, this is something that I've read about but can never seem to connect with a viable publishing company that wants this service.

I hope someone knows about this.

-- Kenneth in N.C. (wizardsplace13@hotmail.com), March 20, 2001.

Think about it...Why would any schooled editor hire someone off of the street to edit a book for them? I have seen the ads but...well Think about it

-- grant (organicgrange@yahoo.com), March 20, 2001.

I reviewed one of those programs for a local writers group when I lived in Florida. It sounded great for people who like to read and have good editing skills. But the reality was that all it amounted to was a list of publishers that you had to contact yourself and ask if they ever hired freelance editors or readers. As a test I contacted 25 of them. Few responded and all of those that did were not hiring freelance readers at that time.

If you are really interested in the idea, I would suggest getting a copy of the book, Writer's Market 2001 out of your local library and turning to the section listing publishers. Then find out which ones publish in an area in which you have specific knowledge and contact them. Perhaps they would be more receptive to having someone who is quite knowledgeable in a particular field read the book and possibly do some fact checking.

There, you just saved yourself $79.00 for the same advice!

-- Lori in SE Ohio (klnprice@yahoo.com), March 20, 2001.

I would be very wary of most of those ads.

I have been an investigative newspaper reporter/photographer for the past 21 years working for a daily and a weekly paper. Why don't you look into doing some freelance writing? I do a little freelancing on the side, usually stuff connected to articles I've written for the papers, but I started out as a freelancer.

Contact the smaller newspapers in your area...or better yet...get several copies and read them and then see what they are lacking. Do they need somebody to write a gardening column? how about cover the city council meeting every week? I even covered football this past fall to make some extra money while my husband was starting his home-based business as a handyman!

Most newspapers want someone who is articulate, neat, and possesses a lot of COMMON SENSE! Don't editoralize if you're covering a meeting or other event. Simply write what happens, who said what, etc. Hope this helps!

-- Suzy in Bama (slgt@yahoo.com), March 21, 2001.

UUPDATE: It doesn't appear that this may lead anywhere, but it sure has been interesting to see your perspectives on this. There has got to be something somewhere. I intend to keep searching around and will see what I can come up with. Thanks, everyone for your input...Dee

-- Dee (drebai@yahoo.com), March 27, 2001.