RE: Another spin-off: where to find writing jobs that are NOT IT related?

[mlist -at- safenet-inc -dot- com]

Geoff Hart sez:
> <<Giving it some thought, I came up with a list of niches but 
> realized 
> I wasn't sure how to go networking for them>>
> 
> Here's the biggie: Find potential employers, and make your 
> pitch based 
> on solving _their problems_. I got a ton of journal editing work by 
> saying something really simple: "You get a lot of great science from 
> ESL authors, but you can't read their English to decide whether the 
> science is any good. You have no budget to hire an editor, and your 
> in-house copyeditors are swamped. Give these authors my 
> brochure, with 
> no endorsement on your part, and I'll guarantee (at no expense to 
> you... the author pays the whole shot) a manuscript so well written 
> you'll only have to pay attention to the science."
> 
> See how it works? Understand the real and vexing problem the client 
> has, and tell them how you're going to solve it. That's how you get 
> hired.

I'm sure it works, or you wouldn't be here telling us about it. 
Certainly you widen your potential customer base when you go 
after the individual writers/researchers (who are many), 
rather than just the publishing companies (relatively far fewer).
So, you are aiming for a "target-rich environment". My question 
is whether the targets are individually rich enough.

I don't know many budding authors, and almost none in technical 
and scientific fields (yeah, I should re-join STC and get to 
some meetings  :-), but my impression is that most unpublished 
authors don't have a lot of money to throw at major editing and 
re-writes, while once the author is established, it's the 
publisher who will pick up the editing tab (and they've got the 
bucks). 

So, what kind of money would a body make from editing/re-writing 
a hefty technical paper/article that was poorly written by an 
ESL author?  How does that compensation compare with the amount 
of work that's involved?   I suppose, anybody who is doing science 
these days is operating from a grant, and so can throw some grant 
money at you...?

Kevin

The information contained in this electronic mail transmission may be privileged and confidential, and therefore, protected from disclosure. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by replying to this message and deleting it from your computer without copying or disclosing it.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

New from Quadralay Corporation: WebWorks ePublisher Pro! Easily create 
14 online formats, including 6 Help systems, in a project-based 
workflow. Live, online demo! http://www.webworks.com/techwr-l

Doc-To-Help 2005 now has RoboHelp Converter and HTML Source: Author 
content and configure Help in MS Word or any HTML editor. No 
proprietary editor! *August release. http://www.componentone.com/TECHWRL/DocToHelp2005

---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archiver -at- techwr-l -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Send administrative questions to lisa -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-  Visit
http://www.techwr-l.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.