Friday freelance link roundup

Before we get into the freelance link roundup, a quick anecdote from the only real-life roundup I’ve ever been involved in. At the time, I was the managing editor at Golf Illustrated magazine, and my wife and I had been invited on a fam trip to the Flathead Lake region of Montana. (Absolutely gorgeous area. If you ever get the chance to go—take it!) Over the course of the weekend, we played golf and went whitewater rafting, and then spent a day on a dude ranch.

At the end of a long, dusty ride, it came time to get the little dogies along into their pen for the night. We were crossing an enormous pasture in the valley, and it was clear that our horses knew exactly what they were doing—without any input from their riders.

Well, it was clear to most of us. A tough-guy New Yorker, who’d clearly seen City Slickers too many times, shouted out, “Hey! Which way are we drivin’ ’em?!”

“We’re following those bulls,” my wife said, pointing at the horned herd that was headed inexorably to the feed bin, again with no input needed from us. The would-be wrangler’s face fell, crushed in recognition that we were not cowboys at all. Just as the ranch name indicated, were only a bunch of dudes.

With that, let’s get to the…

Freelance Link Roundup

• Writing Discipline And Mindset For Authors With James Scott Bell. A fantastic podcast/transcript, which delves into the importance of applying business and entrepreneurial principles to your freelance writing enterprise. Plenty of good insights on the current landscape in publishing, and what writers can do to take advantage of it.
• Spare me the stylebook fundamentalists. File this piece from The Baltimore Sun by John E. McIntyre under “Articles I Wish I’d Written.” (Indeed, I took a crack at a similar topic in “I Have No Style.”) Key quote, among many gems: “Fire from heaven will not consume you if you write okay for OK, or hotline as two words.” Just so.
• 27 Things to Put on Your Portfolio when First Starting Out. Honestly, even if you’re not just starting out, this is a solid checklist (with lots of visual examples) to make sure you don’t have any gaps.
• Why Isolation Is a More Serious Problem for Freelancers than You Think. Let me state for the record: If you feel isolated in your freelance career, it’s 100% in your control to do something about it. This article from Fast Company gives some supportive stats on why you need to take action, and recommendations on how to do it. (Note: In the new Dr. Freelance Advisor Guide, Juggling on a High Wire: The Art of Work-Life Balance When You’re Self-Employed, author Laura Poole takes on the topic of isolation, among many other important sanity-saving strategies. So grab your copy today!)

Have a great weekend, cowboys and cowgirls!