This is not a particularly new question. It's been extensively researched. The "boom" in the sense of people voluntarily adopting this lifestyle is kinda over. The peak was a couple of years back. In fact we're now in the bust phase. We don't notice it because this class of people has been increasing in size due to people joining it involuntarily (via getting fired/laid off instead of getting inspired by Tim Ferriss).

Some good books to read include:

1. Free Agent Nation by Dan Pink
2. One Person/Multiple Careers by Marci Alboher
3. Coworking (multiple authors)
4. The Future of Work by Tom Malone
5. Crowdsourcing by Jeff Howe
6. Wikinomics (and various spinoff books) by Don Tapscott
7. The Power of Pull by John Hagel and John Seely-Brown
8. The 4-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss (I don't recommend it, but it definitely belongs on the list).

I could go on and on...I used to write quite a lot about this a couple of years ago, but I think the subject has been beaten to death. At least the positive-spin aspect of it. Now there's a backlash brewing, criticizing the dangers of this kind of labor economy. I am watching that emerging conversation with interest. We are now entering the trough of the hype cycle around the trend (it began in 2001 or so with Pink, peaked around 2008, and has since been going downhill).

Here is a representative sample of this new, more critical kind of opinion. I expect somebody will write a book along these lines soon.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/art...

For a while last year, the downsized people I know went around
pretending they enjoyed the “freedom” and “variety” of doing “a whole
lot of interesting things.” Twelve months later, nobody bothers with
that cover story anymore. Everyone knows what it actually feels like,
this penny-ante slog of working three times as hard for the same amount
of money (if you’re lucky) or a lot less (if you’re not). Minus
benefits, of course.