Freelancing for Dummies

Practical and accessable. I actually ended up choosing Dummies for Freelancers as one of the required core textbooks for a "one-time" course I am teaching in our department--"Freelancing and the Liberal Arts." We are inviting many, many professional freelancers as guest speakers to our night class, too. The book has been a fantastic starting point for our college students as they prepare to interact with the classroom guests.

It may sound quitchy, but man, these for dummies books are packed full of information, easy to read and sometimes downright funny. Another stellar resource from Hungry Minds, Inc.

That's what the author is and that's the perspective she writes from. Which is fine with me, because that's what I'm looking to do. For freelance biz writers, this is a good one-stop-shopping kind of book. I've seen plenty of freelance writing books, and this really addressed my needs transitioning from staff writer at a software company to contractor to freelancer. Too many of these books are all about breaking into magazines (VERY tough to do) or start off by suggesting that all you need to do is just open the Rolodex from your old job and start phoning those CEOs you know. Easy! Others have an aggressive, in-your-face "gonzo" approach to marketing that can be profitable or off=putting. If you're not comfotable with that style, it'll also be UNprofitable. By contrast, I *like* the upbeat tone, professional tone of this book. I'm tired of all the negativity in freelance books of the "why you'll likely fail" variety. Nobody ever succeeded at something by believing from the outset that they would fail. And with so many others around us willing to say that, who needs a book to say it? The book covers that ground quickly and then gets on with it. Much of the focus - such as setting up a comfortable work environment and tracking your billable hours - is really targeted to writers and others whose work is mainly sedentary and likely at home. If this doesn't describe you, you may find the book a little frustrating. I'm just getting started in freelancing from contracting for others, but I found the information in it to be detailed, thorough and accessible. Besides "Freelancing for Dummies," I like Peter Bowerman's books ("The Well-Fed Writer" and "Back for Seconds") a lot, too, on the subject. By contrast, Bowerman skipped the whole "write a business plan" thing. If you're looking to go into freelance writing, these 3 books should be enough to get you off to a good start.

I have been doing freelancing work on the side for years, but have recently decided to go at it full time. This book laid everything out as far as what it takes to make it in a situation where what you do directly affects how much food gets put on the table. It also details exactly how to go about everything from naming your company/freelancing, to how to getting paid for your work. It's a great book!

My first "for dummies" book. I don't know if they're all this good, but I have found the Freelancing book to be top notch. It is very well written, well organized, comprehensive in content ... there are plenty of real-life examples; the advice is realistic and there's plenty of humor. The author did a lot of research among many different types of freelancers, which adds some nice diverse perspectives on the world of freelancing. This book is juuuuuusssst right for someone contemplating making the jump out of corporate life into self-employment.