WriteGirl

Those of us who freelance or have other small businesses from our homes often have no one to help us navigate the treacherous tax waters. I sit down with Bruce Nowakowski, a Maryland small business accountant , to talk about the basics of freelancing and tax. 1. What can a home-based freelancer claim on taxes as expenses? It depends on a number of things. If you have a room dedicated to your business then you can deduct a portion of your rent, electricity and other utilities. The portion... Read Full Story

No, not writing blog posts, as a verb. Writing blogs, the noun. I subscribe to over 70 writing blogs, and 90% of them are trying to pitch me every day. “Buy my expensive course!” “Join my expensive membership site!” No wonder they can write about making money – they’re taking it from other freelancers! Disgusting. Now, there are a few gems buried among the turds. I have bought quite a few ebooks that have been hugely helpful. But for the most part, I am being offered a bill of goods. A lot... Read Full Story

When I left my job at a deeply flawed, borderline law-breaking company last week, I had to do some soul searching. Friends keep asking where I’m going next, have I found a new job, and they’re kind enough to send me job opportunities. It’s very sweet, but I really don’t want to go back to an office. A change of career direction should not be mistaken for standing still, but it often is. If you are seen to be sleeping late, not wearing pants*, etc, you are considered a time-waster; someone... Read Full Story

This is my first official day out of the office, and my third actual day (they let me go two days early). I have written three articles for pay, 2000 words of my memoir, applied for 6 gigs… And only now remembered to shower. It is 94° in my apartment, mercifully minus the bedroom, where the air conditioner is straining to capacity to keep my sheets cool. As I reached for a book about an hour ago, a funk tickled my nostrils and I realized I had fallen into the worst work-from-home trap... Read Full Story

I haven’t updated this blog in ages. You see, I left the idyllic world of Topless Wednesday™ and No Pants Friday™ to take an office gig. I finished said gig yesterday, after 10 months, with many lessons learned. Here are those lessons, in no particular order: 9-to-5 really doesn’t work for me. First of all, my circadian rhythm is such that my natural wake-up time is about 9. Oops. Add to that a 45 minute commute with dirty “bus people,” and it was a failure from the outset. I have an... Read Full Story

My pal Lisa Kanarek over at Working Naked has put out a book by the same name: Working Naked: A guide to the bare essentials of home office life . Lisa’s gig is streamlining the home office process, so that you aren’t shoved into a corner of your dining room, buried under a pile of receipts. For $12, Lisa’s book is jammed with little lists of small changes you can make NOW, which will reap big rewards in the longer term. What to keep and what to shred, how to avoid cluttering up your desk... Read Full Story

Hey everybody! It’s time once again for NaNoWriMo – the National Novel Writing Month ! All the go-getter scribes will be typing or scribbling away to meet the 50,000-word goal by the end of the month. That means a daily tally of 1666 words. Sounds fairly simple – and it is if you are unemployed, young, live at home and have few other worries in the world and a penchant for Red Bull or Monster energy drinks. If you are like the rest of us, completing NaNo (as it is affectionately known... Read Full Story

Last week I wrote about Ray Connolly, who is publishing his story in serial form on his blog, and is making it available for inexpensive immediate download. It was his choice to try this little experiment, but other writers are eschewing traditional publishing in favor of the ebook for different reasons. Sometimes, no matter how good your story, publishers might not be willing to take the risk to publish it. Perhaps it’s too controversial, or they are concerned there may not be enough... Read Full Story

Darren Rowse is the ProBlogger. In fact, he’s THE ProBlogger! And today he released another fantastic resource for bloggers – The Copywriter’s Scorecard for Bloggers . Totally ignore the price on the banner – Darren is taking $5 off for the next two weeks and selling it for $9.97, just like he did with 31 Days to Build a Better Blog, which I and many of my readers benefited from. The Scorecard will help make your blog posts more compelling, plus give you the skinny on SEO to better... Read Full Story

A freelance writer is the sole proprietor of a small business, and treats his or her business accordingly. There are overhead costs, taxes, occasionally there are employees or contractors to be paid, but as a small business in Ontario there is help available. Opening a business is always tricky. In Ontario, entrepreneurs and small business owners can turn to the federal, provincial and municipal governments for financial assistance. Governments at all levels understand that small businesses... Read Full Story