By Jess McCabe | 1 October 2009, 09:19

Red Chidgey reviews a step-by-step guide to going freelance

Hands up if you’re an office outsider. Tell-tale signs include: a rotating handful of ‘work clothes’ to feign respectability, perpetual feelings of wishing you were anywhere else, the sure-fire ability to sleep in till lunch. Alternatively, what about you workaholics- doodling five year plans in Moleskins, fidgeting with Excel sheets just for kicks and volunteering more hours than is probably saintly. Whether slacker or over-achiever, it’s possible that there’s an army of freelancers in waiting amongst you: currently unnumerated, highly skilled and with a healthy distaste for The Man.

If you’ve ever thought about going solo, even in these miserable economic times, My So-Called Freelance Life: How to Survive and Thrive as a Creative Professional for Hire by Michelle Goodman (Seal Press) will see you through the trauma and gumption of saying no to the conventional and building an alt. career success story from scratch.

With irreverent style, Goodman, of Anti9to5Guide fame, lays out the bones for how to live the freelance life well. From setting-up work spaces and stabilising income, to clever self-promotion tips, subcontracting and financial know-how, this guidebook is indispensable for self-employees with a creative bent. Thankfully, a BFF style keeps the pace lively:

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