April Michelle was recently a guest on the National Association for Independent Writers and Editors’ The Freelance Life for a book chat. Where she spoke about her new book, A Guide for the Freelance Indexer. April Michelle’s book reads like an instruction guide to indexing. Do not be mislead, it is not just for indexers, but for writers and publishers to use as a reference when judging a good index. During the book chat, April Michelle also spoke about the business of freelance indexing, the process of becoming a successful freelance editor and indexer, professional development, and social media marketing.
April Michelle, named NAIWE’s Social Media Marketing Expert, initially promoted her book solely online. She uses Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and other forms of social media as promotional avenues for her editorial services, as well as her classes and speaking engagements, and as touch points with potential clients. April Michelle draws on social media to successfully reach the social media market. Through the use of social media, her website, and blog, April Michelle has optimized her web presence. For example, Google “april michelle davis” and you will find that nearly every result on the first page is about her or Google “editor indexer” and the first result is about April Michelle.
As April Michelle has experienced, becoming a successful freelancer takes hard work, but it also takes business know-how such as how to use social media beneficially. April Michelle shares some of these techniques in her course Editing 101: The Fundamentals of Copyediting. To hear April Michelle’s Book Chat on The Freelance Life, the live audio conference was recorded for your convenience.