About Freelancer Dispatch

Freelancer Dispatch started as a private newsletter sent to about 60 freelancers in the publishing world. I sent emails every Friday, under the title “ABC+ Update.” To learn the significance of Freelancer Dispatch name, go to [What’s in a Name page].

When members started to ask about sharing the newsletter with other freelancers they knew, I realized, for obvious reasons, that I couldn’t continue to send the updates from my work email. Plus, I was now sending it to over 100 freelancers. Keeping my work email separate from my advocacy work became important. My solution was to move to a mailing service that ran into some hurdles when Google updated its analytics.

So, why did I even start a newsletter originally named ABC+ Update? Most importantly, what is the ABC—and now also the PRO Act—and why are freelancers of all stripes battling them as if our businesses are on the line? Because our businesses are on the line.

First, let me state unequivocally this is a site run by a single freelancer who is not paid by anyone for my time. The site is not political, and it is only to share information with freelancers about their businesses and the battle against the ABC Test and PRO Act being pushed by legislators, policymakers, lobbyists, and others across multiple states, in Congress, and at federal agencies. Also unequivocal is that if the ABC Test and PRO Act are passed at state and federal levels, respectively, they would wreak havoc on all types of freelancer businesses and our clients’ businesses. How would this happen? Because they could no longer hire us as freelancers. Sound scary? It is. Sound impossible? It isn’t.

Second, to keep the pages from being massively wordy, this site has been designed to be easily readable and navigable. 

Third, deep thanks to Nick Singer of dkdkdkdkdk site for the logo design and Joe Bowen of Borealis Systems and Renegade Websites for the website design.

To learn more about the reason for the newsletter and website, go to [Background page].

What’s in a Name?

Why is this site called Freelancer Dispatch?

There are two reasons. First, it’s for freelancers who want to remain in business but must now battle just to keep our choice of career.

Second, the word dispatch has several meanings:

  1. To share news (think of Paul Revere and William Dawes dispatching news in their famous ride).
  2. Dispatch is often used in the names of small-town newspapers.
  3. Dispatch includes “murdered” as one of its definitions in dictionaries.

The idea of dispatching news about our fight to retain our chosen freelance careers comes from meanings 1 and 2. The idea of having to do battle to save ourselves at all comes from avoiding meaning 2.