Two new handbooks by attorney Stephen Fishman, from the legal self-help publisher Nolo Press, explain the rules of independent contracting from both angles: Wage Slave No More is aimed at workers who want to become self-employed, while Hiring Independent Contractors helps employers stay legal in their dealings with self-employed contractors. Independent contractor status has advantages, but simplicity isn't one of them. And whether you hire employees or subs, you have to deal with rules and a sea of paperwork. In fact, it's this very complexity that makes these books worth reading. Fishman doesn't have all the answers to every question, but he does present the issues in organized form, and takes you most of the way to getting your arrangements straight. From the general
