In the midst of blogging, Christmas shopping, and tree trimming, I’ve been sneaking away all week to steal some alone time with My So-Called Freelance Life, the most recent freelance survival guide from alt-work guru Michelle Goodman. And let me tell you. It is good. Which is why I’m taking a break from our usual [...]
Archive for the ‘book review’ Category
December 4th, 2008
6 Things I Like About My So-Called Freelance Life
Steph Auteri 
Posted in book review 
Tags: book, book review, book reviews, books, career, freelance, how-to, michelle goodman, my so-called freelance life, self-help 
8 Comments » October 9th, 2008
My 5 Favorite Things In: Get a Freelance Life
I’ve been using MediaBistro since, like, forever so, when they put out a book for freelancers (and for freelance writing in particular), I totally jumped on that. That was a couple years ago, and it still maintains an important spot on my resource shelf. After the jump, my 5 favorite things about Margit Feury Ragland’s [...]
September 18th, 2008
My 7 Favorite Things In: The Boss of You
Seal Press is a goldmine (I swear, they’re all I’ve been posting about lately) and, though the press is aimed toward women, many of their how-tos and handbooks are relevant to men as well. Which is why I don’t mind bringing up another one of their books, Lauren Bacon and Emira Mears’s The Boss of [...]
September 11th, 2008
My 5 Favorite Things In: The Money Therapi$t
I feel as if I’ve been writing a lot lately on the importance of money matters. To that end, I’d like to tell you all about The Money Therapi$t by Marcia Brixey, another how-to from the always-awesome Seal Press. Not necessarily geared toward freelancers in particular, it does take you step-by-step down the path of [...]
August 28th, 2008
My (More Than) 5 Favorite Things In: The Anti 9 to 5 Guide
I read a ton of books in my personal journey toward freelancedom, but I have to admit, the one that provided the impetus to my actually leaving my 9-to-5 was Michelle Goodman’s The Anti 9 to 5 Guide. In fact, my copy is so dog-eared that I couldn’t stop at just listing my five favorites:
August 21st, 2008
My 5 Favorite Things In: Monday Morning Choices
Okay. So David Cottrell’s Monday Morning Choices isn’t exactly a freelance-specific book, but I have a weakness for the self-help genre. I find that — like a good session with my shrink — self-help books inspire me to be the best version of myself. As people who have willingly given up benefits and a regular [...]
August 14th, 2008
My 5 Favorite Things In: Test-Drive Your Dream Job
When I first stumbled upon Brian Kurth’s Vocation Vacations website, I thought it was just about the best idea I’d ever seen. As someone with so many interests, she doesn’t know quite what to do with them, the opportunity to go on a vocation vacation and experience an entirely new career for a limited period [...]
August 7th, 2008
My 5 Favorite Things In: The Well-Fed Writer
When I first read The Well-Fed Writer, it terrified me. Promising to aid me in gaining “financial self-sufficiency as a freelance writer in six months or less,” author Peter Bowerman then went on to sing the praises of cold calling. When I was growing up, my parents used to collect magazine clippings of articles with [...]
July 24th, 2008
My 5 Favorite Things In: One Person/Multiple Careers
When I first read Marci Alboher’s One Person/Multiple Careers, I felt vindicated. After all, while I had been happily frolicking from interest to interest, maintaining a comprehensive list of things I wanted to do and accomplish in my lifetime, my husband had been calling me unfocused. Unfocused! Can you believe it!? Alboher’s book assured me [...]
July 17th, 2008
My 5 Favorite Things In: What To Charge
Since I’ve started freelancing for a living, I’ve screwed myself over multiple times, mostly by undercharging clients. It never fails. A new possible client asks for my rates, I panic, and then I proceed to sell myself short. I’m still learning, even as I get a firmer grip on market norms, which is why Laurie [...]
