A poem

I once danced on the wings of an angel. 

Wrapped in a four-leaf clover, she lay me down on a field of petals.

Though I lay still,
I felt my heart soar 
Through the clouds above.

I envisioned a red bird with wings outstretched 
Gliding through the blue sky.

On that day it was hard to recall the snake that had drug me down just a short time ago.

It was hard to imagine the tightened ribcage, the deadened eyes,
The weight of the world on my chest.

Today I danced on the wings of an angel.

3 Things I Learned from Self-Publishing My First eBook: And what I'll do differently next time

I published my first eBook in 2015. I was thrilled to get my words out there and anxious to see how people received them. Now that my book has been out for a bit, I want to share what I learned and what I will do differently the next time I self-publish a book.

First, I decided to publish on Lulu.com. I assumed publishing directly on Amazon would be more complicated, and I was impatient to get my book out there. I also saw that Lulu had an option to push the eBook out to other sites, including Amazon, iBooks, Goodreads, and more.

On Lulu, I was able to format the document for my book and upload it to the site. I was also able to create a cover page and follow the other necessary steps. I registered with Lulu for my ISBN and had my eBook online and for sale within a few short hours. A huge benefit to Lulu is that they also publish hard copy books that you can design online. After a few people asked about ordering a hard copy, I added a paperback option.

Here's what I learned:

1. Choose a searchable title

I named my book "So, My ______ Is Clinically Depressed (Girlfriend, Boyfriend, Partner, Sister, Brother, Best Friend, Daughter, Son, Mother, Father)".

Clever? Maybe. Good for searching? Definitely NOT.

Let's put aside the fact that it's long and potentially confusing. The words "clinically depressed" are also not the best versions of the related words: clinical and depression. When you search for "clinically depressed" on Amazon, my book comes up first! But I'm guessing that much more often people search for "clinical depression" or just "depression".

Next time I will put more thought and research into choosing a title.

2. Invest in a good cover

I created my own book cover. As mentioned earlier I was impatient and ready. When it came time to publish, my goal was simply for it to look somewhat professional. I grabbed a free image and spent about an hour designing this:

Paperback

eBook

At the risk of a terrible pun, this cover is DEPRESSING. Yes, it may fit the subject, but it's not exactly alluring.

Next time I will hire a graphic designer for my book cover.

3. Publish directly on Amazon

Lulu is a fantastic site and I hate to direct people away from it, but Amazon is where it's at. My book is published as an eBook on Amazon via Lulu, but that process took a while so I first marketed it on Lulu. I imagine I lost many people simply due to unfamiliarity with the site.

Also, as I said, when people began to request paperback copies I created that on Lulu. Now I end up recommending different links for my eBook vs. the paperback copy. It's simply not clear or easy and that's what you want to give people.

Next time I will be patient and publish directly on Amazon--then figure out how to publish a paperback copy on Amazon.

These are the three biggest lessons I learned from my first experience publishing an eBook. Writers out there, add your advice! I need it.

Watch for my next book on How to Become a Freelancer! (working title ...)

Teleworking in 2016: Not your grandma's teleworking

Thirty-three years have passed since Jack Nilles first coined the term “telecommuting”. Despite criticisms about productivity and Marissa Mayer’s 2012 decision to stop all telecommuting at Yahoo!, telecommuting has only become more popular. We now favor a more active name: “teleworking”, also coined by Nilles. According to this popularized infographic from the New Jersey Institute of Technology MBA program, the number of remote job listings went up 27% from 2014 to 2015. That’s impressive growth.

It would seem teleworking is here to stay, and more and more often the smartest and most creative workers demand it.

But what makes up an effective teleworking environment in today's workplace?

1. Innovative collaboration tools

You absolutely MUST have a collaboration tool to facilitate communication and cooperation among remote workers or between remote and non-remote workers. You have to take the time to pick the right one, socialize it, help people to use it in the most effective ways, and get full support from top management as well as team leaders.

This article from PCMag gives a list of the top collaboration tools in 2015, as well as an intro paragraph that really hits some good points on why you need this type of tool.

2. Shared workspaces

Shared workspaces gained steam with the tech boom and the rise of remote workers who needed a more controlled place to work—or maybe just a reason to get out of the house. Today they have become much more than that. Large companies with office space often also have a membership at a shared workspace—for large meetings, for overflow, for particular types of collaboration—and most relevant to this article, for meetings with telecommuters.

Not only is it a good idea, millennials have begun to expect it. You can cater your level of membership (and thus costs) to your needs. You can get one membership for a workspace that is nationwide if your remote workers are scattered.

The above linked article provides a list of the more popular companies providing shared workspaces: Pipeline, WeWork, Grind, NextSpace, Roam, Industrial, and the list is growing.

3. Trust & flexibility

When remote working started to become mainstream, there were a lot of questions about productivity and accountability. Would remote workers still work hard, work well, and stay on task? And the underlying question, could we trust them?

I suggest that you should always aim to trust your employees. Someone can slack off down the hall from you just as easily as from home, and studies have shown that productivity generally goes up with remote workers.

Also, remote workers tend to demand more flexibility as far as when they work and how they get things done. Focus on the end goal and be clear about parameters if you do need them specifically available at certain times. Otherwise, allow the flexibility and reap the benefits of happier workers.