This collection of links and articles is intended for the artist interested in making the transition to the world of freelancing. My intention with this set of articles was to provide a simple business primer to get you up and running in a hurry. I will be revisiting this post frequently to remove old links and add new ones to keep down the fluff and give you the information that is truly helpful in your freelancing career.
Independent Contracting
Working as an Independent Contractor FAQ Nolo.com 
Quick answers for consultants, freelancers, and contractors.
Pros and Cons of Freelancing, Contracting, and Consulting Nolo.com
The benefits — and drawbacks — of working as an independent contractor rather than as an employee.
Paying Estimated Taxes Nolo.com
Contractors and consultants don’t have taxes withheld from their paychecks, but they have to pay estimated taxes every quarter.
A survival guide for the uninsured moneycentral.msn.com
How to find affordable health care when you need it most.
Inspiration
Media Artist Secrects Podcast Franklin McMahon 
The Podcast for the Creative Professional, Media Artist Secrets provides creative artistic inspiration, tells how to market your talents in your business, fine-tune your vision, advance your skills and share your creations with the world
Nine Steps to Your Success digitalvideoediting.com
Nine reasons that are preventing you from being the success you want to be and how to build the level of success you deserve.
Legal
Starting Artist Law starvingartistslaw.com
A nice collection of links on artist related legal issues.
Market Statistics and Analysis
Animation Minimum Rates in the local 839 Animation Guild Local 839
Journey minimums for the new and currnet collective bargaining agreement.
Visual Effects and Broadcast Demographic Information Trendwatch.com
Accurate market trends and market sizing information for the graphics, visual effects and Broadcast/Cable markets. The full reports are extremely expense but check out the download section for free sample reports.
Marketing and Sales
Marketing Basics sba.gov
The Small Business Administration marketing section provides a great general overview of how to identify customer needs, identify competition and more.
Get Slightly Famous getslightlyfamous.com
Free articles on marketing and promotions.
What Do You Have To Sell? commarts.com
Learn the importance of knowing what you are really selling and to whom.
Pricing and Collections
How Much are you Worth nolo.com
How to decide what to charge for your services.
How to Set Rates FAQ hwg.org
A great article on how to calculate your rate.
Setting Your hourly Rates allfreelancework.com
How to determining how much to charge for your services.
Getting Clients to Pay Up nolo.com
Getting work is one thing, getting paid is another. What to do if a client won’t pay.
How to Successfully Raise Your Rates brennerbooks.com
Charge Your Clients More 1099.com
When you have to raise your rates.
Getting Paid alistapart.com
Laments over the difficulties of getting paid.
Project Management
Clients You Can Live Without 1099.com
Nightmare clients and how to avoid them.
Unfinanced Entrepreneur povonline.com
An enlightening article from a cartoonist on how to develop the right mind set when these pesky “work for free” request are made of you.
Small Business
Small Business Association sba.gov
Fantastic site for small business, your first place to start if you want to start a small business.
SCORE “Counselors to America’s Small Business” score.org
Free and low cost expert business counseling and mentoring.
Entrepreneur.com’s Startup How-To Guides entrepreneur.com
Entrepreneur’s guide to starting your own business. A nice primer and overview.
Breaking Out of the Cubicle: How a Small Swiss Company Got Its Groove On alistapart.com
Makiko Itoh and her partner left New York’s cubicle land for a web shop of their own in the suburbs or Zurich. Learn from her tips on running your own web agency.
Insurance Basics (Video Industry) dv.com
Digital Video tells you what it takes to keep your business and productions covered.
Getting Rich is Simpler Than You Think moneycentral.msn.com
A regular habit of investing, even a little bit every month can reap huge long term financial rewards.
Tax Issues
The Self-Employment Tax TurboTax.com
What is the self-employment and estimated taxes, does it apply to you? Most likely it does. Turbo Tax explains some of the conditions that would require you to pay these taxes if you do freelancing or are an independent contractor.
Tools and Contracts
Film Festival Directory indiefilmmaker.org
Film Festival Directory with the most current, accurate and comprehensive listings of festivals around the world.