A few resources for finding your next gig...and living as a contractor/freelance

[David Neeley <dbneeley -at- gmail -dot- com>]

I have been reviewing the various sites I have in my RSS feed reader, 
and I thought I'd mention a few of them which seem relevant here. There 
are a few which list long-term employment (either direct hire or 
contract) and many others that may include some project listings for 
those who are already contractors, remote freelance writers, or even 
those "between gigs" who could use some projects before longer-term 
things present themselves. (Plus, of course, the occasional temporary 
project may wind up building relationships leading to longer-term 
engagement after you deliver a bit of the Wow! factor.) There are also 
some which deal with the many aspects of freelance life--running your 
own business and all that is associated with it. Thus, a few of these 
links (with the regular disclaimer, I have no connection with any of 
them other than reading their posts through my own RSS reader):

PoeWar. This one contains job listings occasionally, including more 
specific tech writer posts than other blogs I've seen. However, this is 
largely a repost of lists obtained from www.indeed.com so you can also 
go there directly. He does deal with many aspects of freelance writing 
of all sorts. For instance, here is a post dealing with querying 
publications with article ideas: 
http://www.poewar.com/know-it-or-blow-it-querying-a-publication/

Freelance writing jobs blog: many listings for all kinds of freelance 
writing and editing, including some techwriting specifics. Also some 
pointers that may be useful. http://www.freelancewritinggigs.com/

Freelance Switch: this one does a good job of dealing with the many 
crucial details about running a successful freelance writing 
business--client relationships, collecting money, working efficiently, 
etc. A typical recent post on friends as clients: 
http://freelanceswitch.com/clients/navigating-the-pitfals-of-a-client-friend-relationship

Others that are worth checking out for general freelancing advice include:

   * Freelance Folder: http://freelancefolder.com/
   * Freelance Zone: http://freelance-zone.com <http://freelance-zone.com/>

Next, a few that deal more with improving our writing:

   * Daily Writing Tips: an excellent one to take a few moments and
     become aware of some of our personal writing ideosynchrasities
     that may be improved: http://www.dailywritingtips.com
     <http://www.dailywritingtips.com/>
   * Men With Pens: (Also deals with the writing life, among other
     things...and by the way, the chief "Man" is actually a woman!)
     http://menwithpens.ca
     <http://menwithpens.ca/>
   * Magical Words: http://www.magicalwords.net
     <http://www.magicalwords.net/>

Obviously, there are many resources for writers out there. These happen 
to all be ones I have found worthwhile often enough to continue 
monitoring what they have to say. There's always room for a few new 
tricks for this old dog!

I hope one or more of these may prove helpful.

David
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