This book is an excellent guide. If you’re not already familiar with FreelanceSwitch, check out the site. It’s one of my favorite resources. How to be a Rockstar Freelancer, written by Collis & Cyan Ta’eed, the founders of FreelanceSwitch, is full of good advice to help you make the switch to full-time freelancing. The book walks you through the entire process, including advice about when to make the switch, accounting, branding, networking and more. It’s packed with great tips.

As a designer, I’m always looking for good books and tutorials so I can keep up with all the latest software changes and design trends. I started out when print design was the only kind of design–when designers were just toying with the idea of computers. I actually remember a group of designers at a party laughing at the idea of computer design taking over–ouch. I hope they survived the transition. I think print production is a weak area for a lot of newer designers who are more accustomed to designing for the web. The other day I found the solution to this problem: Real World Print Production by Claudia McCue. This is a terrific book! It covers the print production basics and has some excellent software specific tips. The author really knows her subject and writes about it in an easy-to-read style. It’s infused with humor too–in the preface, she writes:

You know you’ve been in printing a long time if:

• Your grocery list has hanging indents
• Your driver’s license lists your eye color as PMS 5757
• Your shoe size is 6 1/2 plus 1/8-inch bleed
• You refer to painting your house as a two-color job
• You decide to write a book called Real World Print Production

Love it! If you can only afford one book on print production, this is it!