Title: Freelancing for Dummies
Author: Susan M. Drake
Type: Non-Fiction
Page Count/Review Word Count: 336
Rating: 6/10
Susan M. Drake – Freelancing for Dummies
I read this book because I’ve been considering doing some freelance work and I thought it’d be a good idea to get my head around some of the concepts that I’d need to know. My day job is in social media marketing, but I consider writing to be what I’m best at and so it makes sense for me to take a look into doing some moonlighting as a freelance writer. It’ll help me to pay for all the books I read!
Sadly, though, the book was outdated, and while some of the tips and tricks that the author offers up are still relevant – such as how to track your time and some of the different ways that you can charge it out – many more of them no longer really applied.
There was also the fact that the book was written by an American, and so all of the tax information got confusing because she talked about things like the IRS, which doesn’t exist in the UK. I’m still not entirely sure how the taxation system works in the UK, and even if I’d need to worry about it at all if I was only doing a low level of freelancing.
Susan M. Drake
I did pick up a few ideas from the book that I might put into practice, but it’s also made me realise just how much effort can go into being a freelancer. And it also let me know about a few things that I hadn’t thought about at all, like how insurance works and where to invest money.
Overall though, I can’t really recommend it – I’m sure it had its use back when it was published, but the world has changed a lot and too little of it is relevant. It would be better to get a more recent book about freelancing, with some tips on social media and stuff. So there’s that.
Dummies Man
