contracting & consulting (was "[PHP] Pricing for PHP programming???")

Somewhat related to the recent discussion on pricing for contractors, I thought I'd ask if anyone knows of any good resources to help budding contrators/consultants find their way around. I'm a skilled web developer, but I'm not so knowledgeable when it comes to law and conventions in the US for contractors and consultants doing web development (or anything else). If there are any good books or websites that talk about this type of self-employment, or if anyone has personal experience they wish to offer, please let me know. Thanks. Dean.