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Is There Room For You?

© Dawney Spencer

"An indexer does not need to be an editor or possess the same degree of skill an editor or proofreader does in English usage and mechanics. You don't need a college degree or have any formal training to be an indexer. All you really need is a love for reading and an eye for detail....the market for potential freelance indexers has never been better and will continue to grow."--Make Money Reading Books, by Bruce Fife

Is this what you have read? Is this prospect one of the things that attracted you to indexing? Is this statement true when it implies there are many opportunities? How tight is the indexing field? Is it easy to break into? Is there room for you?

That depends entirely on who you ask, and what their perspective is. Many indexers quickly tell you LOTS of room exists. Others declare it's a closed field. Who should you believe?

Yourself.

DID YOU CREATE YOUR BUSINESS PLAN YET?

Now is the time to dig out that business plan that you wrote up a few months ago. (You did write it up, didn't you?) Part of a serious business plan includes a marketing plan and market research to:

(1) establish your product,
(2) determine your niche,
(3) discover how many potential clients there are,
(4) pinpoint what your potential clients want to buy and how often,
(5) identify your competitors and what services they offer, and
(6) distinguishing yourself from them.

Why is any of this thought process necessary to find out if the field is tight, or if there is room for you?

The Indexer, in the October 1997 issue brings home this answer. In an article on the USDA's two indexing courses it says, "Records confirm ... a completion rate of 23%" for Basic Indexing. According to the article, these records are from 1987 (when the course began) through 1996.

This means a DROPOUT rate of 77%!!!

Some will tell you they got too busy with "work" to finish. But these are generally people who already have contacts in the publishing field from previous jobs, or know other indexers who pass the work on to them. Others just need brushing up since they have education and experience in an Information Science or Librarian degree. Some have other degrees from highly respected universities.

However....

WHAT ABOUT YOU?

Is this YOUR situation?

If you are starting from "ground zero" like many USDA students, is it reasonable for you to believe you will be one of the "dropouts" because you get too busy with indexing work?

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