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Career.fork() - How To Thrive As A Freelance Developer
- richo 14y agoObject.fork ? is there any environment in which that even attempts to make sense? Fork is a system call.
- gnaritas 14y agoUh yes, Smalltalk.
- JSadowski 14y agoYes: an environment called life, where you have a career object and you fork it.
- tptacek 14y agoGroan. You mean like, any language with class methods in which "Process" is a class? Like, say, Ruby?
- richo 14y agoIn which case you're not calling it on an instance, are you? Also, in ruby Process is a module, which kinda proves my point. The only reason I point it out is that I find it difficult to take anyone who posts titles like this seriously.
- gnaritas 14y agoIn Smalltalk, fork is an instance method on a block.
- patrickaljord 14y agoYou must be fun at parties (couldn't resist the snark).
- alinajaf 14y agoIn ruby, everything is an object, including modules. Boom.
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- stevejalim 14y agoThe title of the book is actually "career.fork()" not "Career.fork()" I wouldn't have been happy with a title that throws an exception :o)
- paulgb 14y agoI believe HN auto-capitalizes the first letter of titles. Can't wait to read the book :-)
- hetman 14y agoThank you for this highly relevant contribution to the present discussion.
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- klibertp 14y agoSmalltalk. You can fork any block IIRC. Edit: sorry, I posted reflexively before reading other comments. Turns out I'm not the only one who values Smalltalk to the extent that I actually want to remember something about it :)
- richo 14y agoWoots! Learned something new.
- wodow 14y agoThis looks good. But it wasn't clear to me that the author is talking about the UK (primarily? exclusively) without reading a fair amount of the page.
- stevejalim 14y agoHi wodow - thanks for your interest. Someone over on the Leanpub page has asked about how UK-centric it is, so I thought I'd post pretty much my answer to that question here, because I think it's relevant: "The majority of the book is relevant to going freelance wherever in the world you are. There are some sections, though (basically the money and legal ones) where, because I have first-hand experience of operating in the UK, I've framed it in UK terms. However, the principles/topics covered are still pretty relevant wherever you are in the world and will set you on a decent path to finding out about the local equivalents. While it's impossible to write a book that covers legal/financial stuff relevant to the whole world in one go, I do want to add in more territory-specific detail where people ask for it. So, in a future release of the book (which you'll get for free, remember) the plan is currently to refactor the UK-specific stuff to be generalised and then 'add support' for versions of that info applicable to additional territories (most likely in an appendix, but I'll see how realistic that is when I've had more feedback about the territories people want the book to cover). But, like I said, the advice in most the book is location-independent."
- wodow 14y agoGreat answer - thanks - and I see it on the leanpub page too. But maybe move it up top in case your comments there scroll it off the bottom of the Disqus section? I am actually resident in the UK and buying a copy shortly!
- AshtonBRSC 14y agoI'm going to buy a copy because the author is based in the UK and is less likely to have irrelevant information in it for me.
- bdunn 14y ago
- moystard 14y agoDoes anyone own this book? I am actually thinking of going the Freelance way and am looking for a good overview of the outcomes and challenges. I feel a bit lost with all the various information that I have read on the Internet, so am looking for something I can trust and that reflect the reality of freelancing well.
- hekker 14y agoI bought it, although I still have to read it. A quick glance tells me it contains the aspects it should have as a freelance book.
- stevejalim 14y agoHi moystard The Leanpub page contains a run-down of the main sections and (now that the book is published) also auto-includes the real table of contents - not sure if you've scrolled down the page all that way (it's quite a scroll to get there). For what it's worth, of the experienced freelancers I beta-tested the book on, the key peice of (pleasing) feedback that I got was a bunch of them all saying "I wish I'd had this book X years ago, when I started out".
- moystard 14y agoI had scrolled down that far before asking my question. I have been disappointed by a few books where the contents looks good but the writing style does not convince me or the author just scratches the surface. That's why I am interested in the feedback of people who have read it.
- moystard 14y agoBought it, I don't know if you are interested in the feedback of your readers, but will probably post one on this topic in a couple of days.
- edanm 14y agoRequest of someone interested in your feedback: if you're writing a detailed review, please post it somewhere other than this thread (blog?) and post it on HN's frontpage. Otherwise, I doubt that people like me will ever see it.
- edanm 14y agoThis seems like a very interesting book. How relevant is it for people starting consulting businesses, i.e. not solo freelancers but rather freelance companies? I'm talking about questions like: how to allocate the different people to different tasks, how/when to hire employees, hiring on-site employees vs. hiring freelancers who work from home (potentially form elance or similar), etc. Does this book get into any of these topics at all?
- stevejalim 14y agoHi - I wrote the book and its focus is on client work as an individual, rather than starting a company. In future releases, my list includes adding a section on sharing work with others, which might be more relevant. If you ping an email to feedback@freelancedeveloperbook.com with stuff you'll like covered, I'll add it to my Trello board
- edanm 14y agoGreat - I've sent the email, hope it helps. Will definitely be picking up this book. By the way, I've heard the book "Design is a Job" praised on HN as a freelance Designer's guide to freelancing. I'm currently reading it. It seems your book is very similar in its goals and content, only for programmers instead of designers. If I'm right, I would definitely consider marketing it as "Design is a Job - for developers", or at least include that message somewhere on the leanpub page. I know I looked for it.
- stevejalim 14y agoEmail received and Trelloed :o) Thanks, too, for the suggestion. I've tried not to make my pitch copy on the leanpub site too SEO-ey, but I certainly get the point about helping people understand what the book may be like compared to ones they know. I'll check out "Design is a Job" when I get a moment.
- liangzan 14y agoI'd like to recommend David Maister's book http://www.amazon.com/Managing-The-Professional-Service-Firm/dp/0684834316 http://www.amazon.com/Managing-The-Professional-Service-Firm... It is similar but presents it from the angle of a company, not an individual. It focuses more on how to run a consultancy effectively.
- bdunn 14y agoSteve, this is great! As somebody who's a week or two away from releasing a book on pricing for freelancers (http://doubleyourfreelancingrate.com http://doubleyourfreelancingrate.com) I'd love to compare notes sometime. Buying now. I'm especially interested in the "Oiling the wheels" section.
- stevejalim 14y agoThanks, man. Happy to chat - email is in my profile.
- jqueryin 14y agoSpeaking of pricing, even your initial rate is too high for my blood. Are you going to be offering it up in different formats? I'm only personally interested in a Kindle Fire edition, but the only site reference is to "book", which I'd believe to be paperback but I could be wrong.
- bdunn 14y agoIt's a PDF, but I'll be converting it to Kindle and epub after it's released. Also, if the cost of a $39 book that might be able to help you raise your rates, thus resulting in thousands of extra dollars is too high... Well :-)
- gjm11 14y agoThe kicker here is that word "might". I'd willingly pay $39 for a book that will get me thousands of extra dollars; I wouldn't for one that will do so with probability 0.1%. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle; perhaps the book is worth every cent it costs and much more; but it's no good just to say "it might make you thousands" as if that settles the matter.
- jinfiesto 14y agoActually, by your logic, it is. If the book stands to possibly make you $10,000 with probability .1%, the book is worth $10. As you mention, the truth is probably somewhere in the middle. I'd conjecture the book is worth at least $39 if it stands to make you $10,000+ with greater than .1% probability.
- andr3w321 14y agoNo free chapter?
- draven 14y agoThe introduction would be nice, especially since it contains a "note for non UK readers", a group I'm part of. Still, I'm thinking about going freelance, the book is reasonably priced and the table of contents looks interesting.
- stevejalim 14y agoSample now added - hope you like it.
- jaggederest 14y agoMy question about books like this is always 'If you are doing so well at what you're writing a book about, why are you wasting the time writing a book about it?' Surely you don't expect that your time spent writing a book is going to pay out at $300 an hour, or whatever your consulting rates are.
- robbiea 14y agoNo, but this does allow the author to get more publicity and thus allow him to survive even easier as a freelancer.
- pyre 14y agoMaybe he's done well enough that he doesn't need to be making $300/hr and has a desire to create a book? There's also the publicity angle too.
- jaggederest 14y agoHonestly, if you're really able to pull $300 an hour, you run out of things to do? Work more, donate the money to charity. You can easily save a life for $300.
- bdunn 14y agoConsulting: Will always require more of your time to make money. Products: Long term, residual income and the ability to build up an email list that you can market to with other offerings.
- netmau5 14y agoYou make it sound as if the choice is obvious.
- jaggederest 14y agoThe problem is that, if you can bill for your hours, it's guaranteed money. With products, you may build it, and they may never come.
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- joss82 14y agoWhy link to an ad for a book instead of an article that would add value, and maybe point to the book at the end?
- ricardobeat 14y agoPay-what-you-want with a high minimum price gives me conflicted feelings. What I read is "this book costs $11.99, but you can give me more money if you want!".
- antihero 14y agoCan we get it free then pay you back double once the advice starts to work? Call it an investment...
- jqueryin 14y agoWhere's the coupon code for HN :) I'd suggest doing this and then having a link to your PayPal if we feel it was worth more.
- ilaksh 14y agoThe hard part is finding good clients who have lots of money. How do you do that?
- neurostimulant 14y agoJust bought it. As a new full time freelancer, I really appreciate your effort to take time and write this book. Thanks.
- sebilasse 14y agoI bought and read the book. It is a good overview of many aspects on freelancing work. Being a freelancer myself most of the stuff i knew, experienced it or read elsewhere, so nothing ground-breaking. However it's a good compilation of all the advice out there. Recommended
- jiffyjeff 14y agoI purchased this book and read it today. I think it's a nice collection of advice for the budding freelancer. It's a little light on the legal aspects such as business structure, taxes and contracts. I would consider it a beginner's book on freelancing. For a little more depth on the business side of freelancing, I strongly recommend the following book: Working for Yourself: Law & Taxes for Independent Contractors, Freelancers & Consultants, by Stephen Fishman J.D.
- stevejalim 14y agoThanks jiffyjeff. It was tricky deciding how much detail to go into on the legal/financial details, because it's hard to write things that are globally applicable and also useful. However, the plan has always been to add support for other geographical areas in 1.0 (as well as a bunch more general topics), so thanks for the US-specific book tip -- should come in handy.