The AuthorViews Tour continues through Colorado. We arrived in Fort Collins on July 3rd. Jesse Vohs and I were guests of Pat Hartman, former publisher of SALON: A Journal of Aesthetics -- a printed zine that predates Salon, the web site. July 4th is Independence Day here in the USA, and I can't think of anyone more appropriate to spend it with than Pat Hartman.

Pat is one of the most talented journalists I've ever read. She has spent years writing, editing, and publishing for weekly newspapers, newsletters, her own magazine, and now online. She's a thorough researcher with a nose for a good story. Recently, she's been all over the case of a boy imprisoned for murder based on no physical evidence whatsoever -- just a sketchbook of drawings that jurors found disturbing. She continues to follow the case and advocate for the man's release.

Hartman is one of a growing breed of individuals who have leveraged the technology of the Internet to make a living without a job. She is the proprietor of VirtualVenice.info, a web site devoted to Venice Beach, California, where she used to live and where two of her books are set. Pat has managed to bootstrap an income from the sale of used books, memorabilia, and hand crafts on her eBay store. She values her time and independence above everything else, and has made lifestyle sacrifices to remain an independent woman beholden to no person, place, or corporation. I've been trying to get her to work as my newsletter editor for years, but it's too close to a job for her liking. I've settled for an epic correspondence, swapping roughly one handwritten letter a week with Pat for many years now.

Jesse and I made videos for Pat's two books, Call Someplace Paradise and her new release, Ghost Town. Both are set in Venice Beach, California, and attempt to capture the magic of that tainted bohemia. Typical of her independent spirit, Pat self-published both books through print-on-demand firm Xlibris. She couldn't stomach the idea of being edited by a commercial publisher, and she wanted her own paintings to grace the covers of these books. You'll find both books at her web site, VirtualVenice.info, or at Amazon or other online booksellers.

Along with Pat Hartman, I interviewed another independent spirit in Fort Collins -- music journalist and photographer Tim Van Schmidt. Tim is the author of King Koncert: Memoirs of an American Rocker. Volume One: The 1970s -- the first volume in a collection of concert reviews, interviews, and artwork. King Concert, Volume I covers the 1970s. Future volumes will cover the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s.

Tim has written literally thousands of articles covering the music beat for daily, weekly, and monthly papers and magazines in the greater Denver area. He's also an avid photographer and has rare photos of touring musicians -- seemingly, everyone who came through Denver carrying an instrument in the past 30 years. The combination of articles, photos, and audio tapes is a goldmine of proprietary content that Tim is gradually making available through his web site, KingKoncert.com.

Like Pat Hartman, Tim Van Schmidt now makes his living through an eBay store that helps pay the bills while he continues to write. Once we get his video online, you'll see just how fiercely independent he is. Like Pat Hartman, he self-published his first book through Xlibris, though he's less thrilled than Pat with the outcome.

The Internet, eBay, Xlibris, web sites, blogs... This technology has spawned a new era of independence. People who used to be dependent upon employers or publishers are now finding they can reach enough people through this technology to go it alone. Pat and Tim are not thriving online, but they're getting by, and they're very proud that they've managed to retain their independence while developing an audience for their work.

I'd be interested to hear your comments, as online communicators, about this balance between independence and interconnectivity that the Internet allows. It seems like we have become a global village, technologically united like never before, and yet able to get by more independently than ever. Will the workplace of the future be the Internet, and will we all be self-employed there?

Celebrating My Independence,
STEVE O'KEEFE