Since 2003, Upod has been a place for freelancers to support, inspire, amuse, inform, advise, celebrate and hire each other.

Why UPOD? It's a nod to my guiding principle as a professional writer: Under Promise, Over Deliver.

I'm your host, David Hochman (www.davidhochman.com)

A few quick tips and guidelines:

Consider opting for the 'daily digest' so you're not flooded with emails.

After you sign up, please introduce yourself to the Pod with a quick post.

There is zero tolerance for incivility on the Pod.

No announcements for classes or workshops without permission.

Upod is not a forum for spammers, advertising without consent, press release blasts or negativity.

Upod believes that writers should be paid a decent wage. I'm no longer tolerating pitches in this forum from editors who ask Podders to work as freelance sharecroppers.

Each posting must be marked clearly and succinctly in the title line. The point is to help Podders identify which postings to open and which to skip. Please use the following category lead-ins:

[Intro]: Introducing yourself to the pod.
[Jobs]: Employment leads, job queries.
[Link]: Sites, curiosities, internet godsends.
[Origins]: The story behind a story you've had published
[Rave]: Praise, shrines to writers, epiphanies, joy.
[PodBiz]: Suggestions, gripes, praise for UPOD itself.
[PodMind]: A higher-minded QuickSeek. For bigger ideas, deeper questions.
[QuikSeek]: Need editor contacts? Quotable brain scientists? Quick unGooglables?
[PodCad]: Info about The Upod Academy's classes, workshops and events
[TK]: Miscellaneous. Just be clear in the subject line.

Upod Academy is a school for freelance superheroes. Since 2011, more than 100 articles have sold as a direct result of Upod Academy classes. Take a look and learn more at http://www.upodacademy.com

You can also follow us on Twitter @davidhochman or @upodeditorial

Thanks for visiting and happy Podding!