Training alert - Getting Started and Pitch & Deal in October

THERE ARE two NUJ professional training courses for freelances in October, both of a day each.

Getting Started As A Freelance - the nuts and bolts from tax and finance, to exploring your potential, finding markets, negotiating the ins and outs of contracts, copyright and problem-solving - is on Friday 16 October. For more info and to book, see here.

And on Friday 30 October there's Pitch & Deal - how to develop your ideas, target outlets and pitch to commissioning editors, how to talk money and protect your rights. Details, including how to book, are here.

Both courses have been running for decades and are taught by veteran freelances and NUJ Freelance Industrial Council members Louise Bolotin and Phil Sutcliffe. Both courses are part of the NUJ trade union training programme and are there subsidised, they're at the bargain rate of £60 for NUJ members, £ for NUJ student or unemployed members, and £110 for non-members who are in a General Federation of Trade Unions affiliate.

Amy Booth, an NUJ member, new to freelancing, who took part in the February edition of Getting Started commented; "I felt like I was flying blind before taking your course. After the course, I felt like I knew what I was doing and what to expect, and it massively improved my confidence, so a leap into the unknown no longer seemed like an impossible task. Thank you so much!".

And don't forget LFB's Freelance Salon event on Thursday 15 October, with plenty of opportunities for professional development for freelances.