Page 102 - Sorry, We're Not Hiring Any Visionaries Today

SORRY, WE’RE NOT HIRING ANY VISIONARIES TODAY
out on LinkedIn and contact professionals in the grief and bereavement realm, along with those who support the dying. I introduced them to my little book. I often offered it as a gift to their lending libraries or their personal stash of books. It’s been eleven years of contacting people, and because of this, I’m connected to over 4,000 in the death and bereavement category.
Amazing things started happening right away. After I started reaching out with this little book, people started sending me their stories. They sometimes sent them as short little emails or quotes and longer things, which could be a chapter in a book or even longer stories. Sometimes, they sent me books they had published. Every day, something appeared in my mailbox or my email from someone who had connected with me because of my little book. I began to feel a sacred purpose, as though I were the keeper of the stories, because these were all their stories about their experiences with the dying or the bereaved.
Through LinkedIn, I met a social worker and blogger. We had never met face to face, but we decided that we had a common purpose. She had many stories, too. So, we put together a book, a compilation of over fifty different stories. About half of them are heartfelt accounts of death and dying experiences. The other half are more practical, educational stories. Many individuals connected with us and shared what they knew. Some were in new life roles and had cre- ated new businesses to support people in dying times. Some of them became hospice volunteers or workers. The book was eventually split into two vol- umes and continues to impact people. I am very proud of this work. It inspires and supports many people.
I have learned three important lessons as a writer. Sadly, there are many, many people out there who want to take advantage of self-published authors. I have learned the hard way that only some can be believed. There are a lot of false promises. It’s a situation of buyer beware.
But on the other hand, there is no limit to the number of people who can bene- fit from your story, from anyone’s story. We need to tell and share our stories. And if we don’t publish them in some way, whether on YouTube or in a book, nobody will have access to them. So that’s another important lesson.
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