The Single Point of Contact

Have you ever done a white paper? Marketing materials? A web site for a small catering company?

What do all of these projects have in common? Not only can they be complex, but more importantly, all of these projects can involve an organization's image. Any time you come anywhere near image, you run into the situation that many different people within the organization (the head, the second in command, the marketing people, the lead designer, and more) all want input. And in fact they often should have input. Just not at the expense of the project.

Without the right approach you can get caught in the middle of internal politics and tugs of war. These types of fun can lead to infinite and confusing change requests from many people all at once. If you quoted them a per-project rate, you'll end up making far less per hour than you had expected. Even if you're being paid by the hour, you'll end up miserable because you can't get the project done and the client will probably complain about the bill.

So how do you avoid this? Insist on a single point of contact. This will be the person inside the organization that acts as your interface or buffer zone to everyone else. This insider can handle much of the internal push and pull, whether by mediating a lot of the issues behind the scenes, or pulling together meetings where you can find out more about what the problems are and how you can address them.

Essentially, you make the client provide their own internal wrangler. Along with that, also define who has to sign off at what milestones, and keep those numbers down to a minimum. Ideally, it's the single point of contact that signs off on things as well. Even if internally that means they have to get five people at the company to sign off first before they can do so.

Along with this tactic, also set a specific number of drafts that are included in the quote. One or two is typical. From there, additional changes cost extra.

Doing all of this might feel a bit like micromanaging and being draconian, but really it's just being professional. I'm a big fan of setting expectations up front. When everyone knows how it's going to work, then things go a lot more smoothly. You'll end up much happier, and your clients will too.

Interview with a Freelancer: Ev Bishop, Writer and Editor

Ev Bishop is a freelancer writer and editor, and the sole proprietor of Ev's Writing Services.

DEE-ANN: Why did you choose to use your own name or start your own business to work under?

EV BISHOP: Well, a business license is cheaper when the business name contains the owner’s name. Seriously. However, I had another reason to use “Ev’s” besides my innate cheapness. My business developed almost unintentionally. I was writing a lot and starting to sell pieces, and eventually people started calling and asking me to take on writing/editing jobs.

When I realized that I could probably make a successful business out of these unsolicited phone calls, I didn’t want to lose the benefit of word-of-mouth/personal connection. I also didn’t want it to look like there was some other business in town competing with me. ☺

DEE-ANN: What types of projects/clients led to the unsolicited phone calls?

EV BISHOP: Two things particularly helped put me in people's minds as a writer to call:

1. In 1999, I landed a columnist position in the Community section of The Terrace Standard. Going on eleven years later, I'm still writing a monthly, and I still have people who call me because they read the latest one. 
2. Right around the same time I was hired on as a freelance columnist, I joined The Terrace Writers' Guild (TWG). Meeting regularly with other writers from a variety of backgrounds with hugely divergent writing experiences and goals was (and continues to be) incredibly inspiring and motivating. It was also (and again, continues to be) a great way to meet people who want  editing work done or know people who do.
   

DEE-ANN: What kind of clientele were they bringing in?

EV BISHOP: Terrace is a small town and word-of-mouth is a powerful force up here (in the whole region actually), but I expect that that's true most places you go. My column led to businesses calling me to do write ups to celebrate historic milestones (thirty years in business, for example) and things like retirement articles for company newsletters. The more of that type of work I did, the more people heard that I did that kind of work, and well, it was the snowball effect, I guess.

My "big break" into editing was meeting Angela Dorsey, a fantastic storyteller and YA writer, at TWG. She was trying to sell her first novel and at the point we met, it had been out to about 80 publishers and been turned down every time--usually with positive notes about what was working in the story. Her last rejection was almost a page long and elaborated on what (the publishers felt) didn't work. She was frustrated and I volunteered to read the book and see if I could figure out what they meant and how it could be remedied. She was happy to let me. I read and noted places I felt the rejection spoke to correctly (and how to perhaps "fix" the problem) and where I thought it was just personal taste. She rewrote with my suggestions in mind and landed an agent and book deal on the first new submission of the fresh story.

It was just luck for me that the novel sold after I edited it--Angela's work would've sold eventually anyway, because like I said, she's a great storyteller and a conscientious writer who would've, once the initial ouch factor faded, used the rejection to make her story stronger. But luck on my part or not, we do work well together. I love her writing and feel fortunate to still be the one who goes over each of her books before she submits them to her agent.

DEE-ANN: What type of freelance work do you do?

EV BISHOP: A lot of the magazine articles I sell relate to my personal interests, but as a writer/editor for hire, I’ll assist with reports, web copy, promotional materials, academic papers (editing only), newsletters, proofreading, structural and stylistic editing, storyline editing—you name it. Almost every project I take on is different, and I enjoy that.

DEE-ANN: How often do you get asked to write papers entirely for people?

EV BISHOP: Not as often as you might be afraid of! And when I have been, it was couched as a joke and very easy to dismiss (with a  short lecture/rant about the value and importance of intellectual integrity and work ethic! :)

DEE-ANN: How long have you been freelancing?

EV BISHOP: Almost ten years.

DEE-ANN: Full time or part time?

EV BISHOP: Full time as of January 2008. 

DEE-ANN: Can you describe a typical, or at least recent, project for us?

EV BISHOP: I don’t really have a typical project, a fact that keeps things interesting (although the learning curve can be a tad brutal at times!). Editing-wise, I tend to attract YA novelists (including Angela Dorsey) and post-graduate students. Recent big projects involved rewriting a business textbook and developing Sex-Ed curriculum.

DEE-ANN: What are the particular challenges in editing YA?

EV BISHOP: I think that the only real challenge is the same challenge that exists in editing any work: making sure that the suggestions you make, fit with and stay true to the writer who's telling the story. Thankfully, once upon a time, I had someone critique my work, beginning with the words, "If this was my story, I'd . . . " and all I could think was, It's NOT your story.

So yes, there's my editing mantra: It's not my story.  It's the author's. I strive to make all my comments or suggestions in that light--always stressing that they should disregard ideas that don't fit with their vision.

DEE-ANN: How did you get into editing for post-grad students?

EV BISHOP: Again, word-of-mouth. One of my old profs recommended me to someone doing their PhD, whose thesis adviser had told to find an editor.

DEE-ANN: What are the particular challenges there?

EV BISHOP: The biggest challenge is the material.  In order to edit something well, you have to understand the concepts and theories being addressed. You also have to be careful not to overstep the editor/writer boundary and do the rewriting for the student. When I work with fiction writers or creative non-fiction writers, I often rewrite brief passages to show what I mean by a specific comment. With academic works, I generally stick to proofreading notes and explanations of what I perceive to be problematic--the writer has to interpret and apply those suggestions.

The Editors' Association of Canada (EAC) website provides a very helpful list of guidelines for editing theses.

DEE-ANN: How did you get into developing Sex-Ed curriculum?

EV BISHOP: You're probably tired of me saying, "word-of-mouth," but there you have it. I've taught at Centennial Christian School in the past and when I started my business, they were a great client: I've designed posters for them, written up their strategic plan, and done other smaller jobs. British Columbia (as do most provinces, I assume) has guidelines about what should be covered in all subject areas.  Sex Ed (usually called by other names, like Family Planning, Personal Health, etc.) is no exception. I wasn't re-inventing the wheel, just designing and organizing lesson plans to help meet described learning outcomes.

DEE-ANN: About how much of your time do you spend on the business side, and how much on creating?

EV BISHOP: You mean the business side isn’t the creative side? ;-)

DEE-ANN: What is the most important piece of advice you could give to someone starting out or transitioning into your specialty?

EV BISHOP: Ask a good wage and don’t underestimate the time a job will take. The latter is always tricky, because projects have a way of changing scope as you work with a client.Make sure your contract allows for a certain amount of deadline grace, and if you’ve agreed on a set price based on estimated hours of work, have something in place in case the client’s vision for the project changes significantly and demands more time than the quote was based on.  

DEE-ANN: Do you have any tips for determining what and how to charge for a project?

EV BISHOP: It's tricky. I have a set per word rate for writing and a hourly rate for editing. I determined my rates in part by checking out different websites (PWAC offers great outlines), in part by talking to others in the business, and in part by figuring out how much I need/want to make per job, in order to have time to do a quality work every time.  I've read freelance success articles by writers who feel the secret to making a living is writing twenty or more shorts a day (often for Internet clients) for pennies that add up to dollars. I'm skeptical of that approach.

DEE-ANN: Do you have any time estimation tips?

EV BISHOP: I was always dead-wrong on my estimations, so now (it's so simple, I'm embarrassed it didn't occur to me years ago!) I ask to see the material and I work on it for a bit to get an idea of how long it will take, then I give a quote based on that.

DEE-ANN: How involved are the contracts you use? What's a typical length and number of clauses?

EV BISHOP: They vary too much to really give a helpful comment. For short pieces, I sometimes still just use an e-mail agreement. For bigger jobs, I always have a contract in place and I generally ask for 50% of my fee up front.

DEE-ANN: How did you develop your contracts?

EV BISHOP: Usually my clients are corporations or associations that have their own stock contracts, and I suggest any required modifications, then sign when the changes have been made.  In cases where I need to generate my own contract, I use the ones provided by EAC and PWAC. They're written in clear, concise language and easily modified.

DEE-ANN: What’s your favorite part of your work?

EV BISHOP: I find something to like about all of it. Editing is an intellectual challenge, and re-writing is like figuring out a puzzle—how do I best fit this other person’s words and thoughts into a cohesive (concise!) piece of writing? That said, I probably enjoy working with fiction writers best. It’s fun, and I derive a lot of satisfaction from helping other people pursue their creative goals. Despite the obvious importance of non-fiction writing, I feel like fiction is where the real truths are told and explored. Stories show us how to live, survive and thrive.

DEE-ANN: Do you write your own fiction?

EV BISHOP: Yes, and I'm slowly starting to put it "out there." I've short-listed in some bigger contests and have a short story, "My Mom is a Freak," published in Cleavage, an anthology editing by Deb Loughead and Jocelyn Shipley, published by Sumach Press. Sometime this summer, I will start submitting queries and partials for a mystery novel I just finished.

DEE-ANN: What have you learned about yourself and your writing from editing other people's work?

EV BISHOP: It's exciting (if a bit overwhelming, at times) to know that you never fully arrive. If you're up to the challenge and don't wimp out, you never have to stop learning, growing, and discovering new things.

DEE-ANN: Anything else you’d like to share with Freelance Survivors?

EV BISHOP: Just a small word to readers hoping to subsidize their fiction writing with freelance work: Make sure you slot in time for your novel or short stories, just the way you would schedule any job. It’s easy to have your time sucked into the vortex of the other people’s creations—wouldn’t it be horrible to write for a living and not have time to work on your own stuff?

[Editorial note: Excellent advice!]

Finding Sources

The old adage "Write what you know" has some truth to it, but some people take it far too literally. If people only wrote about what they knew at the time there would be no science fiction, no fantasy, no speculation toward the future, no dreaming ... all that would be left would be dry first-person experiences.

I prefer to take the phrase a little differently: Write what you Know. Know, as in Truth, as in the greater Truths that bind us all together. Such a definition doesn't rely on knowledge of particular details. It's more an awareness of the human condition and universal laws than whether you actually know what it feels like to be shot. 

However, when you do write (or talk, or film, etc.) about something, you also have a duty to try to portray it accurately. Again, I don't mean this term literally. Don't punish people with your research and include every tiny step on how to build your own thatch hut unless you are actually documenting how to do this so other people can replicate the process (in which case, go for it, cover every teeny tiny step!) I'm also not a fan of such detailed accuracy that you make it easy for someone to perpetrate a nasty crime.

Instead, the goal is typically to portray the flavor and reality of the thing without letting the nitty gritty details overwhelm. I tend to want someone who's a genuine practitioner not to roll their eyes at the ignorant stupidity of what I've put out there, and at the same time don't want to completely lose someone who doesn't really care about every step in making a snow cave since what they're there for is the emotional experience of it. Add the usual caveats for adjusting for your audience, the genre, the goals of the piece, etc.

So how do you manage capturing the essence of something that you don't know how to do? Or what if you're just writing something more straightforward like a journalist piece where you need to make sure you understand how something works, or have someone to quote with some facts? You start by tracking down the elusive beast known as a source.

Many people find it very difficult to approach strangers for assistance, especially strangers who have knowledge that they may admire. Let me start by saying that for a variety of reasons, a source is as afraid of you as you are of them. For one thing, there is the unfortunate fact that if the source is well-known enough or their field is covered enough, they may have experienced or heard horror stories of other journalists misquoting, slanting, or just plain garbling what they had to say in a way that may have reflected poorly on the source themselves. 

You can't do anything about past problems they may have run into or heard about. What you can do is conduct yourself in a manner that is respectful and clueful, showing them that you understand their frustration and that you will do a far better job on their behalf. If you're writing/filming/etc fiction then you might offer to show them a draft and give feedback. A journalist may not have that luxury since often you don't want to show people the article before it goes out, or you may have influence/pressure placed on you to alter it to be more favorable to them, which is not the goal either. Recording the interview is one method of protecting both them and yourself in this regard. Interviewing through email if you're working in a written medium is another, as you can just copy and paste the text.

But before you interview a source you have to find them and get them to agree to talk to you. I tend to think of sources in two groups, neither "better" than the other. There's the people who are already out there and covered and well-known experts on the topic, and then there's people who are maybe in your community (local, online, etc.) and have their own deep experience but don't have source-seeking creatives beating on their doors. Both groups are valuable in their own ways.

Sometimes it's the less talked to, more accessible people who will give you the most colorful and interesting information. They haven't been questioned to death on the topic so they're less rehearsed, and typically have stories that you won't find elsewhere that you can use (with their permission) to add some extra life to what you're working on. Depending on their particular credentials, they may or may not help you reach a level of credibility you need in order for your work to succeed (in some fields you really need to have internationally-known Ph.D.'s and whatnot on your source roster) but they're also less likely to have a personal agenda in sharing with you, in my experience. They might just be tickled you asked.

Then there's the rock stars of various fields. If you've already been doing reading/viewing on the topic, just look back through the works and see who was interviewed or thanked for their assistance. Unless you're doing a high profile project, though, these folks are probably too pressed for time to give you input. It depends on the circumstances and your timing. Again, I'm not a huge fan of using the same source everyone else does unless there really is only one expert to go to. Discussion can stagnate if only one expert is ever consulted.

On that note, here's some final suggestions for tracking down sources that may have the time to answer your questions:

• Professional associations - Track down professional associations serving the field of interest. Do they offer discussion forums that are open to the public? If so, you might post there. If not, you can write the association, explain what you're looking for, and ask if they can suggest anyone. Such associations also offer a member listing on their web sites, and may publish magazines and/or journals you can look at both for research materials and for people you might want to contact.
  
• Serious hobbyist sites - There's occasional hobbyists and then there's people who live and breathe a topic. Depending on what you're working on, you may not need a credentialed or titled source. Even if you do, hobbyists will have professionals that they admire and can recommend. They may even be able to give you an introduction.

My articles for the week of June 15 2009

On Linux.com I had:

Linux Migration Guide: Choosing a Linux Distribution to Replace Your Windows Desktop

On CMSWire.com I had:

• eXo, JBoss Community Merge Portals For Best of Breed Open Source Solution
• New Linux Kernel to Bolster Open Source Momentum
• No Amazon Didn't Open Source the Kindle
• Barrie North on Books, Videos, and Joomla!
• Plone 4 Call for Proposals

Master Courses Developed List

Yet another under construction portion of my online CV. 

Splunk
Supporting Splunk
Using the Splunk for Change Management Application
Using the Splunk for PCI Application
Script for “Daily Log Review” online course

Skillbridge
Custom internal course for Qualcomm

HPLearningCenter.com
Linux 301
Linux 201
Linux 101
Linux 101 Revised
Open source solutions in the business world

DigitalThink
Red Hat Fundamentals I
Red Hat Fundamentals II
Red Hat Fundamentals III
Red Hat Fundamentals IV
Red Hat Linux Security (a)
Red Hat Linux Security (b)
Red Hat Linux Networking Services (b)
Introduction to Red Hat Linux System Administration Series 1: Installation and System Initialization
Introduction to Red Hat Linux System Administration Series 2: System Administration
Red Hat Linux Essentials 1: The Basics
Red Hat Linux Essentials 4: Networking and the GUI
Introduction to Red Hat Linux II
Introduction to Red Hat Linux I        

Digital Education
Networking Linux

Ziff Davis Online University which became Element K
Unix: Linux Installation and Configuration
Using Eudora
Using Eudora II

Master Presentations and Workshops List

This list contains the presentations and workshops I've given, mostly at conferences. Like the rest it's under construction. Sorry for flooding folks with these, I've got a few cool interviews in the queue, just waiting on responses on my follow-up questions before I can post them!

Master Books List

Again, this is list is the first part of a work in progress, as I put together my online resume/CV/portfolio. I'll make it prettier, I swear. :)

Wiley

Linux for Dummies Seventh Edition
Linux for Dummies Sixth Edition
Linux for Dummies Fifth Edition
Linux for Dummies Fourth Edition
Linux for Dummies Third Edition

New Riders

Linux Routing

Coriolis

Linux General I Exam Prep
Linux System Administration Black Book
Linux Install and Configuration Black Book

Active Education

Introduction to Microsoft Word 2000

Que

Using Eudora Second Edition
Running a Perfect Internet Site with Linux
The Internet CD Tutor
Using Eudora

My articles for the weeks of June 1 and June 8

On TechTarget's Security site, I've got an article up on memory-related security issues around OS X:

Mac OS memory flaws pose challenges for enterprise endpoint protection

On InformIT I had:

Barrie North on Books, Videos, and Joomla!

On CMSWire I had:

• Facebook Goes Open Source Under CPAL
• Reviewed: New Book on Selecting an Open Source CMS
• Open Web Vancouver: Hijacked by Pirates
• Open Web Vancouver 2009: Want More Women In Your Project?
• Open Web Vancouver 2009: Open Source Business
  

Master Article List

This list should contain every article I've had published. It's possible that I missed a few along the way. This section is under construction, I'll work on links and usability later.

Edited to add: This list is as of 2 July 2009. I'll be updating it from time to time, I'll increment the date when I do.

Builder.com/TechRepublic.com

Warding off Feature Creep
Developing documentation without a tech writer
Burned out (or laid off)? Consider a career coach

CIO.com

7 Reasons Not to Use Microsoft Outlook for Your Company's E-mail

CMSWire.com

Hiking through CMIS Repos with CMS Explorer
Strong Web CMS Presence in Google Summer of Code Projects
Happy Tenth Apache Software Foundation
RDFa, Drupal and a Practical Semantic Web
An Updated Community Builder Suite for Joomla Web CMS
Subtext the.NET Open Source Blogging Platform You Never Knew
OASIS Approves Open Standard for Unstructured Information Access
New Book - Drupal 6 Social Networking (packt)
UK Government Backs Open Source
Plone Web CMS Geeks Ready 3.3, Call for Testers
XOOPS 3.3: Installation of Open Source CMS Gets Easier
Motion for Movable Type Eases Brand Tracking in Social Media
Drupal Documentation Project Gets Funding
Drupal Improves Security Update Process
DAMP Stack Installer Gets Drupal Newbies All Wet
Bug Fixes the Focus of Latest Release of CMS Made Simple
Alfresco host Worldwide Meetups for Community and Customers
ECM3 Maturity Model: Taming Enterprise Content Management Challenges
Mentioned on Ron Miller's Fierce Content Management site
Redact Documents and Protect Privileged Information
HTML 5 Supercedes Web Forms 2.0
Make Your Own Magazine with OpenZine
Alfresco Gets A New VP of Americas
Google Invests US$ 90,000 in Drupal
Open Source Value and the CMS Ecosystem
Open Source Code worth US$ 387 Billion
Open Source: The GPL, Your CMS Project and You
Packt RAW Program Produces First Book
Open Source CMS Fan? Thank These Folks!
Deploying Drupal Just Got Easier
Semantic Web Language Continues to Evolve with OWL 2
Microsoft's Quest for Interoperability and Open Standards
Ruby on Rails Playing in the Open Source Web CMS Market
Taking a Closer Look at Microsoft's Ms-PL Open Source License
State of the Project Report: Joomla! Web CMS
Open Source Knowledge Stack Call for Contributors
Improving Web CMS Usability: Drupal 7 Needs You
Could You Help with Some Open Source Research?
Drupal vs Joomla: Which CMS is Best?
New Google Tech Fuses SEO and Semantic Web
Alert: What's Coming for Open Source CMS in June 2009
Plone Foundation Approves Relicensing Policy
EU to Make Life Hard for Software Vendors, Open Source Projects?
The 2020 FLOSS Roadmap - Call for Contributions
Alert: What's Coming for Open Source CMS in May 2009
Packt Publishing Celebrates Its 5th Birthday with Gifts for You
State of the Project Report: Plone Web CMS
SilverStripe CMS Goes (more) International, Launches Partner Network
Alert: What's Coming for Open Source CMS in May 2009
Facebook Goes Open Source Under CPAL
Reviewed: New Book on Selecting an Open Source CMS
Open Web Vancouver: Hijacked by Pirates
Open Web Vancouver 2009: Want More Women In Your Project?
Open Web Vancouver 2009: Open Source Business
eXo, JBoss Community Merge Portals For Best of Breed Open Source Solution
New Linux Kernel to Bolster Open Source Momentum
No Amazon Didn't Open Source the Kindle
Barrie North on Books, Videos, and Joomla!
Plone 4 Call for Proposals
Plone Makes It Easier For Users To Give Feedback
Drupal 7 CMS to Add Content Type Extensibility for Dummies
Case Study: Momentum Magazine Builds Web Version With Drupal

Coastlines, the STC Canada West Coast Chapter newsletter

Welcome to Microsoft Office XP
Intro to Cascading Style Sheets
Intro to JavaScript
Intro to Dynamic HTML
Online Ergonomics resources
Online Help resources
E-mail newsletters
Online learning
JavaScripting
Cascading Style Sheets
Welcome to Microsoft Office XP

Computer Power User Magazine: "Warm Up to Penguins" Section

Installing Nvidia & ATI Drivers
A Look at SuSE 10.1 & XGL
Working with Flash in Linux
Listening to MP3s in Linux
Explore with Konqueror
Navigate with Nautilus
Surfing for Torrents in Linux
Making Music CDs in Linux
Introducing OpenOffice.org Base, Part II
Introducing OpenOffice.org Base, Part I
Resize LVM Partitions, Part II
Resize LVM Partitions, Part I
Playing Old Arcade Games with XMAME
Using the Find Command
Create OpenOffice.org Macros
Page layout with Scribus
A Hitchhiker's Guide to traveling with Linux
Create your own Linux boot CD
Playing Windows games under Linux with Cedega
Working with processes
Compiling source code
Introducing SELinux
Grab Web & FTP content with curl
Customize your built-in firewall, part 3
Customize your built-in firewall, part 2
Customize your built-in firewall, part 1
Monitor your hard drive space
Auto-starting GUI applications
Sorting out regular expressions
Update your Gentoo system with Portage
Grab updates & new software with apt-get
Everything you never wanted to know about yum
Spiff up your browsing with Firebird
Secure your machine against in-person exploits
Distributions on Bootable CDs
Civilization with Style
Use SmoothWall to Set up A Firewall
Get the Kernel You Need
FM Radio on Your Linux Box
Create & Edit Images with the GIMP, Part II
Create & Edit Images with the GIMP
Control Who Does What, Where, and How with Sudo
Make the Most of Your RAM
The Video Issues Linux Users Face, Part II
The Tricky World of Video in Linux
Start and Stop Programs Automatically, Part II
Start and Stop Programs Automatically, Part I
Get to Know Your Network Traffic
Watch Your Log Files for Intruders
Get up to Speed with Your Command History
Customize Your Command Line Login

Crossnodes.com/Internet.com

Securing the Mail: Batten Down the Hatches With Groupwise
Securing the Mail: Lock Down Exchange
Securing the Mail: Lock Spam and Viruses Out of Sendmail
Secure Your Network Against Viruses and Spam
Sign Your Users Up in the War on Spam and Viruses

DevSource    

A Gentle Introduction to Software Testing
So You Want to Work in QA?
Save QA Time with Test-Driven Development
When eXtreme Programming Makes Sense
Testing Web Apps on a Shoestring Budget

Executive Report from IBM    

TOURCast: A Real-Time Golf Coverage Application on Linux (reprint from InformIT)

Freelance Survivor (my blog)

Blog Posts

Freelancer Interviews

InformIT.com

E-Mail Server Administration 101
Fighting Spam and Viruses at the Server, Part V
Fighting Spam and Viruses at the Server, Part IV
Fighting Spam and Viruses at the Server, Part III
Fighting Spam and Viruses at the Server, Part II    
Fighting Spam and Viruses at the Server, Part I
TOURCast: A Real-Time Golf Coverage Application on Linux
Barrie North on Books, Videos, and Joomla! 

Inklings magazine (www.inkspot.com)

The Complete Non-Idiot's Guide to Breaking Into the Computer Book Market
Working with Editors   

Intercom magazine, the STC’s magazine for members

Breaking Into Computer Book Publishing

ITBusinessNet.com

Practical Revision Tracking in OpenOffice.org
Sharing Calendars Across Platforms
Should You Release Your Code as Open Source
Understanding and Setting Up WebDAV with Apache

Linux AppDev, newsletter

Samba: A Bridge Between Linux and Other OS’s
Samba: Handling Filenames

Linux Foundation

Linux Developer Network

Linux.com

Linux Journal/LinuxJournal.com

Puget for a Sound Decision on the Desktop
Playing PlayStation Games in Linux
You are Now Entering Blog-City
Get Your Windows Game On with Linux
Linux System Administration Tools

LinuxPlanet.com/LinuxToday.com/Internet.com

Novell's Desktop Advances
New Mono-Based Applications for GNOME in Fedora Core 5--Part II
New Mono-Based Applications for GNOME in Fedora Core 5--Part I
Buffalo Link Theater High-Definition: A Linux Multimedia Center from End to End
Pixel Image Editor Gives Graphics Goodness
Hardware Emulation and Old Games
Gaming Open Source
Penguins Like Salmon, Too: LinuxFest Northwest
Real World Linux 2004: Bigger and Better
A Day at the IT Forum in Vancouver
VERITAS Continues Linux Push
OSDL Seeks To Be Linux Center of Gravity
VERITAS: Then and Now
Big Changes Ahead for Red Hat: Opening up the Model for Linux Development
Previewing Summer LinuxWorld: Growing with Each Passing Day
Moving Files in Linux
Real World Linux Showcases New Products, Strategies
User Mode Linux: Coming to a Kernel Near You, Part 2
User Mode Linux: Coming to a Kernel Near You, Part 1
Controlling Access to Your Services with xinetd
Burning CDs Over the Network with webCDwriter
Exclusive Preview of Red Hat 8.0: Bluecurve's Debut
The Linux Kernel's SCSI Subsystem
Linux Books: The Best and the Brightest
Building Sounds for your Applications with SoundTracker
Burning CDs in Linux: Tips and Tricks
Linux in Canada: Are We Going Open Source Yet?
A Look at Kernel Cousins and KDE Myths
Win4Lin--For Those Who Can't Leave Microsoft Windows Behind
Gentoo Linux 1.2: Getting Better Every Day
Making Linux Sing
The UnitedLinux Dark Horse: Conectiva
Linux Partitions: A Primer
Ending Microsoft FUD: An Interview with Peruvian Congressman Villanueva
The Many Faces of Wine: Realities of Open Source and Business
A Sneak Preview of NetWin's SurgeMail: Exit Dmail, Enter SurgeMail
Linux Package Management: Keeping Up with the Times
Distribution Watch: Gentoo Linux
KDE 3.0 Review: Bumpy Install, Smooth Run
CrossOver Office: The Killer App for the Linux Desktop?
Review: SuSE Linux eMail Server III
Case Study: Clusters and Image Processing, Part I
Case Study: Clusters and Image Processing, Part II
Volution: Promising Solution, GUI Not Quite There Yet

LinuxWorld Magazine and LinuxWorld.com

Linux & Games: Installing TransGaming's Latest Release, Cedega 4.0
PowerDVD Software on the Linux Platform
Anarchy Online: Linux-Powered Science Fiction
Linux on the Back-End: Dark Age of Camelot
Linux Gaming: My Kingdom for an Artist
Ask the AnswerSquad: Patch Management
The Technologies behind the Games
Gaming Roundtable Highlights
Mainstream Games on the Linux Desktop
Linux for Fun and Profit
Don't count Linux out of games
The Loki Drama Rears its Head Again
Quick Linux Certification Guide
Introducing the Gaming Industry Department
Chris DiBona: Interview from the Future of Rekonstruction
Spam about the 'CAN-SPAM' act ... from a US government office
To Whom it May Concern
Ask the AnswerSquad! Backup Tools Available under Linux
Kernel Focus
Linux: Politics or Technology?
A Call to Action
Authors in search of Linux Experiences"
SCO Reveals its Secrets, Linux Community Laughs
Embarrassing Dispatches from the SCO front
Open Source Development

NewsForge/IT Managers Journal/OSDN

IT Opportunities in Radiology: Managing Digital Images with PACS
Programming and IT career opportunities in radiology
TransGaming's WineX 2.0: Get out those DirectX 8 games!
StudioB author resource section    
Computer Book Publishing for Beginners

TechTarget.com

Mac OS memory flaws pose challenges for enterprise endpoint protection
Optimizing MySQL database performance on Linux

The Computer Paper (Canada-wide print publication)

Both Canadians and the Canadian Government Notice Open Source
Linux Filesystem Round-Up
Penguin Sound Bytes: Technology and Society
Using Linux: Linux in Tinseltown
Using Linux: Canadians, government paying attention to open source
Using Linux: GUI the next generation
Using Linux: Seeking and supporting the elusive Linux desktop
Using Linux: Successful PostgreSQL bucks post dot-com trend
Using Linux: Linux distribution news
Using Linux: Share printers, files between multiple OSes
Getting ready for USB 2.0, UML, and LSM
Linux User Groups in Canada

Tiplet.com

Change Your Default Mail Client in OS X
Getting Programs to Start at OS X Login
Twitter Clients for Mac OS X
Disabling Sleep Mode in OS X
Adding a Calendar to Your OS X Menu Bar
Sites to Follow for Discount OS X Software
How to Show the Date and Time on Your Mac's Task Bar
Changing What Program Opens A File By Default in OS X
Two OS X Apps Every Mac User Needs

TUX

Customizing GNOME
Distribution Smackdown: Fedora Core 5
Software on Linux with CrossOver Office
The Amazing Amarok: Let the Music Play

WebSphere Developer Technical Journal

WebSphere Application Server 4.0 for Linux, Part 1: Installing and Starting Advanced Single Server Edition as a Non-Root User
WebSphere Application Server 4.0 for Linux, Part 2: Installing and Starting Advanced Edition and DB2 as a Non-Root User

Windows Professional, from ElementK Journals

Sharing files between Windows 98 and Linux
Sharing printers between Windows 98 and Linux

Syndicated on YouWordMe.com

This is an announcement that may come off a bit as a commercial. My apologies if that bugs you. I just thought I'd share some cool news that adds to my own freelance survival.

I'm pleased to announce that Freelance Survivor articles are now being syndicated onto YouWordMe.com, a site that offers turn-key solutions for writer web sites. Essentially an account gets you access to a content management system that you can configure and add content to without having to set up a full web site. Higher level accounts also let you add a storefront to your site.

The articles will appear here first and then on YouWordMe, so from the reader's perspective, little really changes. But I'm pleased as punch! First syndication on one site. Next, all over the world (I can dream, right?)