This year, whitefox will celebrate four years of trying to create a new business model within the world of publishing. Many of the conversations we were having back in late 2011 and early 2012 which must have seemed somewhat outlandish or unnecessary to some people are now taken for granted. No one now blinks at the talk of more outsourcing, the need to bring down fixed-costs, the drive for greater trust, transparency and quality, vetted services within self-publishing. It is accepted that freelance professionals will play an increasingly important role operating in the space between writers and readers.

We spoke to Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp, a translator in the whitefox network, about the differences between Russian and Arabic, her most challenging project to date and her advice for those considering a freelance translating career.

We spoke to Kate Wilson, MD at award-winning children's book publisher Nosy Crow, about running a start-up, her prediction for children's storytelling and what you must know to be a good children's publisher.

We talked to Erin Brady, a translator in the whitefox network, about her translating career, her life as a freelancer and what she feels everyone should know about the profession.

We talked to Whitbread Award-winning author Joan Brady about her new book on Alger Hiss, her decision to work with specialist external marketing and PR freelancers, and her advice for fellow authors.

There’s so much talk at the moment about the growing freelancer economy, the pluses and pitfalls of going solo, that it isn’t always easy to differentiate between the reality and the myths of striking out on your own. So to try and understand what it is really like, whitefox has been talking to Jill Sawyer. Jill has been freelance for 3 years, working as an editor, typesetter and project manager for a number of individual and company clients. Previously, she worked at DK and Scholastic.

We invited Lisa Goll, founder of the London Writer's Cafe, to share her insights on the isolation of writing and the benefits of connecting with other writers.

whitefox CEO John Bond describes the age of the specialist, where there is real value in exact knowledge and skill. In a world obsessed with peer review and a marketplace driven by innovation, the big winners will be those who aspire to be better than the rest. This article first appeared in the Publishers Weekly London Show Daily on April 16th 2013.