As some of you know, I’m Katy Cowan and I’m the person who started Creative Boom back in July 2009. It’s something I’ve always managed in my spare time, while hubby Tom does all the coding on the actual site.

Our ‘little side project’ has grown and grown over the past few years - something we just didn’t expect. Despite its increasing demands on our spare time, we’ve always been on a mission to provide free support to the creative industries and we hope that’s what we’ve done and will continue to do.

Of course, Creative Boom is now bigger than just the two of us. We’ve got nearly 1,500 people listed in our directory. We’ve got nearly 27,000 followers on Twitter and 9,000 ‘likes’ on Facebook. And we’re now opening up the floor to other contributors and writers on the site. 

If you’re interested - then read these Submission Guidelines on how to start writing for Creative Boom. If your writing is really good, it’ll make it onto The Guardian website and its Culture Professionals Network.

And because Creative Boom isn’t just about me anymore - I’m taking a more professional stance on Twitter. No more hearing me yap on about how I’m doing in Skyrim. No more tweets about pizza or what I’m eating for lunch. Creative Boom on Twitter is purely going to be about sharing our news, features, inspirations, jobs, opinions and everything that’s on there. I’ll still be the person updating the account. I’ll still be about for a laugh. It’s just not about me anymore.

If you want to follow Creative Boom on Twitter - we’re on @Creative_Boom. Tweets will still be from me and I’ll always be about for a chat.

Thanks guys

Katy

I’m still trying to get over today’s big announcement that Creative Boom has become part of a new professional network on The Guardian. I mean, for one - I’ve always loved The Guardian and two, I’d never have dreamed that one day my name would appear on their website.

The national newspaper has included an article I wrote on How to be a Happy Freelancer. Does it really get better than this? Could 2011 get any better for me and Tom? It’s something we’ll certainly be celebrating this weekend.

But we’re working hard on a new and improved Creative Boom, launching in the coming weeks. It could be next week, it could be the week after. We’re just trying to get something launched before Christmas. I’ll definitely keep you posted, so watch this space.

I suppose I’ll leave you with this quote someone sent me today…

“Hard work is the key to success, so work diligently on any project you undertake. If you truly want to be successful, be prepared to give up your leisure time and work past 5 PM and on weekends. Also, have faith in yourself. If you come up with a new idea that you believe in, don’t allow other people to discourage you from pursuing it.”

Charles Lazarus