some hints for freelancers

At the SEJ conference, I teamed up with fellow freelancer Karen Schaefer and hosted one of the beat dinners during the conference to share information about how to make the freelance life work, at least a little better. Here’s a resource list we ended up with, put together from a variety of sources, including many gleanings from the ever helpful SEJ Freelance listserv, participant suggestions, places people learned about from Maya Smart, and more. It’s by no means exhaustive, and possibly redundant to other resource lists out there, but we wanted to share it in case it helps even one floundering freelance soul out there. Feel free to share widely.

The Business of Freelancing:

Poynter Online: http://www.poynter.org/

Writer’s Market: http://www.writersmarket.com/

Elance: http://www.elance.com/

CNN Small Business: http://money.cnn.com/smallbusiness/

Wall Street Journal Small Business Marketing: http://online.wsj.com/public/page/news–small–business–marketing.html

Inc.com: http://www.inc.com/

Biz Journals: http://www.bizjournals.com/bizjournals/small_business/

Small Business Planner: http://www.sba.gov/smallbusinessplanner/index.html

Writer’s Digest: http://www.writersdigest.com/GeneralMenu/

Writers and Editors:  http://www.writers-editors.com

Writers Weekly:  www.writersweekly.com

Writing Coach: http://www.writingcoach.com/

Freelance Success: http://www.freelancesuccess.com/

Association of Independents in Radio: http://airmedia.org/

Daily Freelance Net: http://www.freelancedaily.net/

Editorial Freelancers Association: http://www.the–efa.org/

Editorial Pay Rates: http://www.the–efa.org/res/rates.php

Registering a business name: http://www.business.gov/register/business–name/

Small business FAQ: http://www.business.gov/faqs/

State taxes: http://www.business.gov/manage/taxes/state.html

IRS Small Business, including Employer Identification Number (EIN), taxes and more: http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/index.html

Best Business Practices for Photographers: http://www.best–business–practices.com/

Tools:

Blog Talk Radio:  http://www.blogtalkradio.com – social network Internet radio site that supports free talk radio show hosting, podcasts and more.

Transom.org:  http://transom.org – a website showcasing the work of new public radio, with a fantastic section on tools

PRX:  http://www.prx.org/ – Public Radio Exchange, a website where radio stations and independent producers can share their work.  If radio stations air indy work, there’s a small royalty.

The Non-Designer’s Design Book by Robin Williams:  http://www.amazon.com/Non–Designers–Design–Book–Robin–Williams/dp/0321534042/ref=sr_1_1?s=gateway&ie=UTF8&qid=1285258063&sr=8-1

Sound Reporting, put out by NPR: http://www.amazon.com/Sound–Reporting–Guide–Journalism–Production/dp/0226431789

Rights:

Media Perils: http://publiability.com/ – Liability insurance.

Contract Lingo: http://www.writingcoach.com/blog/bid/43764/Contract–Terms–Every–Freelance–Writer–Should–Know

Creative Commons : http://creativecommons.org/ – An open-source approach to copyright.

Covering your Ass (by SEJ-er Alion Kerr) http://writetodone.com/2010/10/15/are–you–using–protection–free–speech–libel–and–covering–your–ass/

Health Insurance:

Freelancers Union: http://www.freelancersunion.org/insurance/explore/

MediaBistro: http://www.mediabistro.com/insurance/

The Artists Health Insurance Resource Center directory: http://www.ahirc.org/

E Health insurance: ehealthinsurance.com

National Writers Union: www.nwu.org

Alternative Funding Sources:

SEJ list of fellowships and workshops: http://www.sej.org/initiatives/awards–fellowships/non–sej–environmental–journalism–fellowships–and–workshops

Spot.Us: http://spot.us/ – Spot.Us is a nonprofit project of the “Center for Media Change“ and funded by various groups like the Knight Foundation

Fund for Environmental Journalism (SEJ): http://www.sej.org/initiatives/fund+for+environmental+journalism/overview

Kickstarter: http://www.kickstarter.com/ –

National Geographic Expeditions: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/field/grants–programs/ec–apply/

Fund for Investigative Journalism: http://fij.org/

Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting: http://pulitzercenter.org/travel–grants

Investigative Reporters and Editors: http://www.ire.org/ (Also have trainings)

Foundation Center: http://foundationcenter.org/findfunders/fundingsources/gtio.html

Consider museums, historical societies, etc.

Nonprofit Journalism:

ProPublica: http://www.propublica.org/ ProPublica is an independent, non-profit newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public interest.

Rocky Mountain Investigative News Network ((I-News): http://www.inewsnetwork.org/

InvestigateWest:  http://invw.org/ – A non-profit investigative journalism team started by former investigative journalists from the now-closed Seattle Post-Intelligencer.  InvestigateWest uses foundation funding along with donations from private individuals to create multi-media content for the general public and media partners.

InvestigateWest, Lessons from the First Year: http://www.knightdigitalmediacenter.org/leadership_blog/comments/20100824_investigatewest_lessons_from_the_first_year/

The Journalism Shop:  ww.thejournalismshop.com – A cooperative composed primarily of former Los Angeles Times staffers laid off or bought out during the current financial storm.

Oregon News Incubator: https://newsincubator.wordpress.com/ – A nonprofit network that advances entrepreneurial journalism in the evolving media ecosystem, supporting structures, tools and collaborative space for independent and emerging media producers.

**Many more at sej.org**