Odd Job of the Week

Greeting Card Writer

Between 7 and 8 billion greeting cards are sold every year in America. Seeing as I have probably wasted close to a solid year of my life standing in the card aisle looking for one that doesn't make me gag or choke, it amazes me to discover that about 235 greeting cards fly off the shelves every second. That's a lot of sweet/sappy/funny/clever verses to be written, and it turns out that about one-third of them are composed by freelance writers. So if you think you can produce something more touching, unique, or hilarious than most of what's out there, check out the writers' guidelines available on many greeting card Web sites.

What You Get: From $35-$150 per card (usually around $50).

Sites to Check Out:

• http://www.writerswrite.com/greetingcards/publish.htm is a list of greeting card publishers.
• http://www.writerswrite.com/journal/feb98/gak4.htm offers helpful advice and useful links.

Odd Job of the Week

Foley Artist

As a kid did you like to bang pots and pans together until your mother screamed? This could be the job for you. Foley artists are responsible for creating and recording the "everyday" background sounds in movies (i.e. snow crunching under foot, doors squeaking open, a child sneezing). To try your hand, thump two watermelons together-- no seriously, try it. What does it sound like? Like someone just got socked in the nose! Now snap a crisp piece of celery in two... hear that bone breaking? Believe it or not, the sound of sliding doors in Star Trek was made from someone pulling a piece of paper from an envelope.

What You Get: Up to $80,000/year, or $400/day

Sites to Check Out: www.filmsound.org/foley/

Odd jobs. Most of us have had one at some point in our lives. Some of us have had a lot of them. And some of us have had a lot of REALLY odd ones. I've had about thirty jobs in my twenty-three years-- some lasted an hour, others for close to an eternity. From getting old women to kiss scraps of paper (lipstick reading) to swimming with an Alzheimer's patient in an outdoor pool in a blizzard, my employment has shaped my life in some unusual ways. This blog is an opportunity for you to discover interesting ways to make money and to share your own unusual employment experiences, however weird, fabulous, frightening or mundane. Please add helpful information to my posts, offer tips to other moonlighters, commiserate with struggling freelancers, and celebrate your greatest successes. I know you have stories. Now you have an audience.