I've done IT contracting (not for, um, 15 years and counting) and I've been a freelance author. There's a significant difference in terms of what you do and who

I've done IT contracting (not for, um, 15 years and counting) and I've been a freelance author. There's a significant difference in terms of what you do and who has control. (I come up with ideas for products and pitch them at publishers, who then pick and choose which to buy. I then do the work. So I'm not under my publisher's control, and they don't have any input on my hours -- but they hold the purse strings and I have to deliver a product they're satisfied with.)