How do I get started in freelancing?
Take a Freelancer to Lunch!
Registering in MA
On the Web: Freelancing
Editing Indexing
Writing
Recommended Books: General
Style Guides The
Business Side
Take a Freelancer to Lunch!
Many working freelancers would be glad to talk with you about getting
started. But you'll get more out of the conversation if you do some research on
your own first and come to them with some specific questions. Many people are
attracted to the idea of working with books, being independent, and working at
home. But on the downside, the pay can be low, and it's tough getting started,
especially if you haven't worked in publishing. And editing, proofreading, and
indexing do require training and experience; a way with words, or the ability to
spot mistakes in the newspaper, is a good first step, but only that! That said,
many of us love our work, and love to talk about it. And many of us work alone,
and love to get out once in a while. . . .You're welcome to come to a network
event, talk with us, and get a feel for what our work is like.
Registering as an
Independent Contractor
4/2010 Freelancers may need to be registered in the state as
Independent Contractors. Bits and pieces of information will be added here as
they become available. Send info for this page to
mfknight@crocker.com with "EditorsPlus"
in the subject line.
You may be asked to provide an EIN (Employer Indentification Number) from the
IRS and to register with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as a business.
The EIN is easy. Go to the
IRS Web site and fill out the on-line web form, and the IRS will assign and
e-mail you a number. You will then provide that number for the W-9 form, rather
than your Social Security number, to your clients.
Registering as a Massachusetts business is a bit more complicated. Go to
the
Department of Revenue site for information and registration instructions. We
are told that if we are sole proprietors with no employees and no inventory,
doing this will not subject us to any additional forms or taxes.
There seems to be a lot of variation among clients in the way they are
responding to this; maybe a measure of the paranoia of their individual legal
departments?
On the Web
Freelancing Freelance Mailing
List home page http://www.comteck.com/~tanuki/
See the Bookmarks page for links to freelancers' associations, job listings, and
e-mail discussion lists. Join the Freelance list and lurk to see what working
freelancers talk about. Freelance Online http://www.FreelanceOnline.com/
FAQ about getting started; job listings.
Editing
- The Editors Guild is designed to serve the
needs of professional freelance editors, but they've set up this page to help
those who are just beginning in the editorial field and aren't yet eligible to
join the Guild. Read on for advice, resources, and other information that may
help you on your path.
http://www.edsguild.org/become.htm
- Editorial Freelancers' Home Page
www.the-efa.org/
The Editorial Freelancers Association is a national, nonprofit, professional
organization of self-employed workers in the publishing and communications
industries.
- Bay Area Editors' Forum: "What Do Editors Do?" http://www.editorsforum.org/
See also "Speakers' Notes" for discussion of rates.
Indexing
Writing
Recommended Books
The two books most often
recommended by working freelancers are:
Karen Judd
Copyediting: A Practical Guide, 2nd ed.
Los Altos, CA: Crisp Publications, 1990
ISBN: 0-931961-94-7
Available from Crisp Publications, Inc., 1200 Hamilton Court, Menlo Park, CA
94025
Phone: 800/442-7477; Fax: 650.323-5800; http://www.crisp-pub.com/
"Gives the nuts and bolts of the job itself. Full of good test taking
advice, among other great stuff."
Other Recommended Books
Editorial Freelancers Association
Tips for Successful Freelancing
New York: Editorial Freelancers Association (U.S.$3.50)
"Focuses on how to find clients, what to look for in a contract or letter
of agreement, how to negotiate, and other aspects of freelancing."
This and other helpful publications are available from the Editorial
Freelancers Association, 71 West 23rd Street, Suite 1504, New York, NY 10010.
(212) 929-5400
http://www.the-efa.org/
Daryl L. Frazell and George Tuck
Principles of Editing
New York: McGraw Hill, 1996
ISBN: 0070219265
Leslie T. Sharpe and Irene Gunther
Editing Fact and Fiction: A Concise Guide to Book Editing
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994
0-521-45080-2 (hardback)
0-521-45693-2 (paperback)
Elsie Myers Stainton
Author and Editor at Work
Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1982
ISBN: 0-8020-6449-3
Elsie Myers Stainton
The Fine Art of Copyediting
New York: Columbia University Press, 1992
ISBN: 0-231-06961-8
Mary Stoughton
Substance and Style: Instruction and Practice in Copyediting, rev. ed.
Alexandria, VA: EEI Press, 1996
ISBN: 0-935012-18-4, $35.00
Peggy Smith
Mark My Words: Instruction and Practice in Proofreading
Alexandria, VA: EEI Press, 1997
ISBN: 0-935012-23-0, $35.00
The above two books are available from EEI Communications through its web site
http://www.eeicom.com/.
Nancy C. Mulvany
Indexing Books
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994
ISBN: 0-226-55014-1
Style Guides
University of Chicago Press
The Chicago Manual of Style, 14th ed.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993
ISBN: 0-226-10389-7
Also see the FAQ at http://www.press.uchicago.edu/
Robert Gay and Marjorie Skillin
Words Into Type, 3rd ed.
Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1974
ISBN: 0139642625
The Business Side
Herman Holtz
How to Start and Run a Writing and Editing Business
New York: J. Wiley, 1992
ISBN: 0-471-54831-6
Robert W. Bly
Careers for Writers & Others Who Have a Way with Words
Lincolnwood, IL: VGM Career Horizons, 1996
"Has a marginally useful section on freelancing's pros and cons."
Paul and Sarah Edwards
Working from Home: Everything You Need to Know About Living and Working
under the Same Roof
Los Angeles: Jeremy P. Tarcher, 1985
ISBN: 0874772400
"Has very useful information about taxes and other important
matters."
Marian Faux
Successful Freelancing: The Complete Guide to Establishing and Running Any
Kind of Freelance Business, rev. ed.
New York: St. Martin's Press, 1996
ISBN: 0-312-77479-6
"Covers a variety of careers, features comments from current freelancers,
and deals with all areas, business and personal, of the art of freelancing.
Copyright date is 1982, so some tax info may be
outdated, but otherwise a good source."
Alice Bredin
Virtual Office Survival Handbook: What Telecommuters and Entrepreneurs Need
to Succeed in Today's Nontraditional Workplace
New York: J. Wiley, 1996
ISBN: 0-471-12059-6
"Very informative; covers concerns of both self-employed and
telecommuters."
Jan Zobel
Minding Her Own Business: The Self-Employed Woman's Guide to Taxes and
Recordkeeping
EastHill Press, 1997
ISBN: 0-9654778-9-4, $16.95
Peter Kent
Making Money in Technical Writing
New York: MacMillan, 1998
ISBN: 0-02-861833-1, $16.95
THANKS to the members of the Western New England Editorial Freelancers'
Network; to Dan A. Wilson, Mary L. Tod, Vickie West, and Kathy Babbitt of the
Freelancers' List; Chuck Brandstater of the Cambridge Academic Editors'
Network; and to all the folks who maintain these Web sites and put this
information together.
