Last September, we hosted a blog carnival on the topic “book recommendations for freelancers” at freelancermap.com. Today, thanks to the participation of 22 freelancers from all over the world we are able to present a great collection of books that will help every freelancer to thrive on their business and stay inspired.
We were delighted by the broad welcome that our initiative got and we would like to thank everyone who decided to participate and invested a little bit of their valuable time to share their favorite books with us. It’s great to see how professionals are keen to help others and share their experience with fellow colleagues and – in general – with our global community.
Finally, we were able to gather a great and large list of books for freelancers that we hope will shed some light on the freelancing path. Some bestsellers are on the list, as also some new book titles that got our attention. We are sure they will also get yours too!
We got great book recommendations for freelancers in every field. To help you find out the best books that cater to your needs, we have broken up the list into 5 different categories:
1. Business Essentials and Inspirational
2. Productivity and Time Management
3. Programming and Development
4. Design and Illustration
5. Marketing, Content and Social Media
We would like to briefly present all freelancers who allowed us to publish this great collection of books:
Alex Tamoykin – Software developer living in LA who loves writing about tech and enjoys organizing talks at local tech meetups.
Augusto Pereira – Freelance web developer based in Brazil with more than 5 years of experience in the field of web development. Passionate about Ubuntu and pen test.
Brooke Scovil – Passionate about illustration and graphic design. She is a full-time freelancer and has already illustrated comics, fantasy trading cards, books and more.
Claudia Rosa – Blogger, entrepreneur and wife. Claudia has been sharing online her experiences and tips since 2010.
Garik Himbebaugh – Blogger, entrepreneur and ardent coffee drinker. His passions are productivity and minimalism. On his blog, he shares his best tips to turn goals into actions.
Gustavo Sapienza – Full stack web developer specialized in WordPress. He works full-time as freelancer to have time to create startups and watch movies with his family.
Jo Harrison – Virtual assistant from the UK currently living in the French countryside. She also offers free advice on productivity, time management and social media tips on her blog.
Jorge Sánchez – Software developer with more than 14 years experience under his belt. Now he offers his services as freelancer to clients worldwide.
Krystel Leal – Portuguese digital marketing freelancer and traveler. She runs a website for digital nomads and remote workers.
Larissa Favery – Digital marketing freelancer, she has been helping companies worldwide with their campaigns in Brazil since 2014. She is part of the freelancermap team since 2016.
Leandro Dias – Frontend developer, he has been freelancing for more than 10 years and contributed to several media agencies in São Paulo. He recently started a website to promote the freelance lifestyle.
Luciane Costa – Journalist and freelance writer. She loves creating digital content for sites and blogs. Started freelancing to earn extra money and now she can’t think of turning back.
Mauricio Biasotto – Digital marketing (SEO and SEM) and PHP developer from Brazil. He has been working as a freelancer for almost 10 years.
Nipuna Dananjaya Kumara – Web and software developer with over 7 years of experience working as a freelancer.
Paulo Oliviera – Freelance digital marketing consultant, he provides services in content strategy and copywriting, social media strategies, online reputation management and website traffic growth.
Razvan Coca – Linux C++ developer and numerical simulations consultant. He is self-employed since 2014.
Renee Desuza – Freelance content writer and blogger who helps small business with their blogs and other content requirements.
Sarah Landrum – Freelance writer and the founder of Punched Clocks, a career advice blog aimed at helping you create a career you love and enjoy.
Scott Greer – After gathering extensive experience as digital marketer, he founded Greer Interactive in 2015. He helps businesses develop effective digital marketing strategies.
Stefan Lindblad – Freelance illustrator based in Stockholm, who also work as a graphic designer and book cover artist.
Stefano Scarpanti – With a master’s degree in electronic engineering, he has been working as a Java/J2EE and Grails developer since 2014.
Thaís Dias – Full-time freelance graphic designer specialized in branding, visual identity, prints, packaging and digital design.
Thamires Moura – Graphic designer and digital marketing freelancer. She also runs a blog about the freelancing life.
Business Essentials and Inspirational Books for freelancers


1. Get Clients Now! A 28-Day Marketing Program by C.J. Hayden
2. What to do when it’s your turn (and it’s always your turn) by Seth Godin
3. Secrets Of The Millionaire Mind: Think rich to get rich by T. Harv Eker
4. The Lean Startup: How Constant Innovation Creates Radically Successful Businesses by Eric Ries
5. The $100 Startup by Chris Guillebeau
6. Art of Non-Conformity
by Chris Guillebeau
7. Think and Grow Rich
by Napoleon Hill
8. Wisdom from Rich Dad, Poor Dad
by Robert Kiyosaki
9. Business Model You: A One-Page Method For Reinventing Your Career
by Tim Clark
10. Be a Free Range Human: Escape the 9-5
by Marianne Cantwell
11. Ego is the Enemy: The Fight to Master Our Greatest Opponent
by Ryan Holiday
12. The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles
by Steven Pressfield
13. How to Win Friends and Influence People
by Dale Carnegie
14. How To Stop Worrying And Start Living
by Dale Carnegie
15. Outliers: The Story of Success
by Malcom Gladwell
16. Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us
by Daniel H. Pink
17. Business Stripped Bare: Adventures of a Global Entrepreneur
by Richard Branson
18. Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear
by Elizabeth Gilbert
19. Freedom from Bosses Forever
by Tony Robinson
20. Your Business Foundation Book
by Christopher Briggs
21. New Business: Next Steps
by Ann Hawkins & Ed Goodman
22. Losing My Virginity
by Richard Branson
23. Anything You Want: 40 Lessons for a New Kind of Entrepreneur
by Derek Sivers
24. The Challenger Sale: How To Take Control of the Customer Conversation
By M. Dixon & B. Adamson
25. Choose Yourself!
by James Altucher
26. Emotional Agility: Get Unstuck, Embrace Change and Thrive in Work and Life
by Susan David, PhD
27. The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future
by Kevin Kelly
28. Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography
by Walter Isaacson
29. Mindset: How You Can Fulfil Your Potential
by Carol S. Dweck
30. The Servant: A Simple Story About the True Essence of Leadership
by James C. Hunter
31. Double Your freelancing rate by Brennan Dunn
If you think your are being underpaid or you are insecure about how much should you charge for a work, this book is the right choice for you. This brief book is a recommendation from Razvan and for him, it says it all and should be an introductory reading for any freelancer. Razvan says that the author has a calm and even tone and the online video-lectures that accompany the book are a plus.
32. Geração de Valor. Compartilhando Inspiração
by Flávio Augusto da Silva (Only in Portuguese)
33. A Menina do Vale by Bel Pesce (Only in Portuguese)
Productivity and Time Management Books for freelancers


34. Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-free Productivity
by David Allen
35. The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do, and How to Change
by Charles Duhigg
36. The 4-Hour Work Week: Escape the 9-5, Live Anywhere and Join the New Rich
by Tim Ferriss
37. Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time
by Jeff Sutherland
38. Do the Work: Overcome Resistance and Get Out of Your Own Way
by Steven Pressfield
39. Eat That Frog!: Get More of the Important Things Done – Today!
by Brain Tracy
40. 15 Secrets Successful People Know About Time Management
by Kevin Kruse
41. The 80/20 Principle: The Secret of Achieving More with Less
by Richard Koch
42. The One Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results
by Gary Keller
Programming and Development Books for freelancers


43.The Unified Modeling Language User Guide
by Booch, Rumbaugh, Jacobson
44.Head First Software Development
by Dan Pilone, Russ Miles
45.Head First Java
by Kathy Sierra and Bert Bates
46.The Software Craftsman: Professionalism, Pragmatism, Pride by Sandro Macuso
47.Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code by Martin Fowler
48.Test Driven Development: By Example by Kent Beck
49.Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture by Martin Fowler
50.Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship
by Robert C. Martin
51.Oracle Essentials: Oracle Database 11g
by Rick Greenwald, Robert Stackowiak, Jonathan Stern
52. PHP – Programando com Orientação a Objeto by Pablo Dall’Oglio (Only in Portuguese)
This book is for the Portuguese speakers and PHP programmers out there. Mauricio points out that this book about object-oriented PHP helped him to change the way he used to program his systems. It also improved his coding and boosted his productivity.
53.Métodos Ágeis Para Desenvolvimento de Software by Fabiano Milani
Design and Illustration Books for freelancers


54.Business Cards: The Art of Saying Hello
by Mike Dorrian and Liz Farrelly
55.Bring it Home with Coreldraw: A Guide to in-House Graphic Design
by Roger Wambolt
56.How to be an Illustrator
by Darrel Rees
57.Starting Your Career as a Freelance Illustrator or Graphic Designer
by Michael Fleishman
58.Graphic Artist’s Guild Handbook of Pricing and Ethical Guidelines
by Graphic Artist’s Guild
59. “Typografisk Handbok” by Christer Hellmark (Only in Swedish)
Stefan recommends this book for our Swedish and curious readers. Stefan says: “If you use fonts in your design, you really must learn the craft. Don’t dabble and hope for the best too long. We all work on the fly. But deliver great results and give your clients something they are willing to pay for”.
60.Viver de Design (Série Oficina)
by Gilberto Strunck (Only in Portuguese)
61.Quanto custa meu Design? Gestão financeira para freelancers by André Beltrão (Only in Portuguese)
62.Valor do design, O – Guia adg Brasil de pratica profissional do designer grafico
by Adg Brasil (Only in Portuguese)
Marketing, Content and Social Media Books for freelancers


63.Marketing Management
by Philip Kotler
64.The Art of Community: Building the New Age of Participation
by Jono Bacon
65.Save the Cat!
by Blake Snyder
66. A Arte da Guerra no Marketing by Pedro Barbosa (Only in Portuguese)
Krystel included this book in her top books for freelancers. This is a book to understand how close the marketing and management areas are. It is a clear proof that a marketing book doesn’t necessarily have to be boring or technical! If you want to check out a book in English from the same author, you can find it on Amazon here.
67.Conversion Optimization: The Art and Science of Converting Prospects to Customers
by K. Saleh & A. Shukairy
68.The Complete Social Media Community Manager’s Guide
by Marty Weintraub
69.Content Strategy for the Web (Voices That Matter)
by Kristina Halvorson, Melissa Rach
70.Advanced Google AdWords
by Brad Geddes
71.TOP 101 growth hacks – 2:
by Aladdin Happy
72.Web Analytics 2.0: The Art of Online Accountability and Science of Customer Centricity
by Avinash Kaushik
73.Perfecting Your Pitch by Ronald M. Shapiro
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Do you have any other book recommendation? We would love to add more titles to our list! Leave a comment in the comment section below or submit your book recommendations to info@freelancermap.com.
Pics: Unsplash 1. © Olu Eletu / 2. © Sonja Langford / 3. © Ilya Pavlov / 4. © Joanna Kosinska / 5. © Kate SERBIN