Possible idea

I talked with a friend last night, and she suggested editing/tutoring for college students. I'll have to think on this. I know students are notoriously difficult to work with, and do I want to spend my free time dealing with them? And doing even more editing? The payoff, however, could potentially be pretty good. If I decide to go down this route, I'll probably wait until December/January to officially launch a website -- it's too late for me to start helping (read: billing) with term papers this semester. Besides, it'll take me at least that long to crank out a working website.


Other possible part time jobs...
Teaching sign language -- tends to pay well, but jobs are few and far in between.
Working at a nearby bookstore -- minimum wages in Va, it's about $5.15 to start. Yech.
Other ideas?

I'm doing fine, financially (just to reassure family or friends who read this) -- I'd just like a little extra money in my pocket. And think it'd be challenging/fun to start a business. For me, when things start feeling too safe/predictable/boring, I lose motivation. And that's not what life's about. It's important to me that I live my life to its fullest, so that I can, in 60 0r 70 years, say "I lived a good life. I played hard."

I don't understand how some people can play games or just sit at home every night and watch crappy shows. What will they say about their life when they're facing St. Peter at the Pearly Gates? "I sat there and did nothing."

And...D.C. is just fucking expensive.

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Goals for this fall...

I said last week I was thinking of starting an e-business. I've been reading some articles and columns about starting your own business, and I'm confident that I can do it. The hard part is, for me, figuring out what kind of business I can do. And making sure it's interesting enough for me to continue for several months or years.

I get bored easily, especially if it loses its challenge after awhile. It'd suck if I put money into this, then blew it off because I wasn't interested enough to keep going.

Ideas for an e-biz:
1. Rare used-book sales middleman (woman?).

• Pros: Shouldn't be too difficult to set up, and wouldn't require me to have an inventory...in theory.
• Cons: I know very little about used books, don't have any contacts/networks in this area, which is important.

2. ????

I'm just full of ideas.

Also, I thought about trying to freelance again. I'll have to think hard on this, because the market for freelance writing is primarily nonfiction, which isn't in my area of interest. I'd much rather write fiction. Hmm. But extra money is good.

Another possibility I didn't consider last week is freelance editing. Now that I have some more experience under my belt, I could theorectically contract to do newsletters and other short-term jobs. This requires less time for research/interviews/whathaveyou that I'd have to do for writing nonfic, and it can pay fairly well. The hard part is breaking into the field. Most reputable companies don't advertise a need for contract editor.

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