Author Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD, publishes books about business, customer service, the call center industry, and business and writing.
There are different types of writers. They have different motivations, are at different places in their writing journey, and have different goals. Here are five common scenarios: 1. The Aspiring Writer: I’ve heard many people refer to themselves as aspiring writers. But they’re misusing the label. They say aspiring because at this point in their […]
Hire Staff with the Abilities That Today’s Consumers Need and Expect By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD There was a time when hiring managers looked for three key skills in their call center applicants: a pleasant and understandable telephone voice, good spelling, and neat penmanship. Yes, legible writing was key because everything was handwritten. Then computers […]
I’ve read many self-published books and looked at even more. Too many of them scream “Self-published!” This distresses me. I love self-publishing and the many options it offers, but I loathe seeing it done poorly. This begins a series of posts on the Errors of Self-Publishing. The primary error of self-publishing is poor content This […]
Part 6 in the continuing series on using WordPress for blogging: a platform-building, book-selling tool. Today we’ll cover plugins. In many ways a WordPress plugin is similar to a WordPress widget: both enhance the functionality of a blog or website. Though widgets are visible to readers, plugins generally work behind the scenes. If a widget […]
Here are the lessons learned from a computer fiasco I had:
Determine the Role Artificial Intelligence Will Play in Your Telephone Answering Service By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD Unless you’re intentionally ignoring it, talk of artificial intelligence (AI) is all around us. It’s hard to miss. AI is not a fad that will soon fade, a hype that will soon die down. AI is a trend […]
In theory, my workload should proceed as a steady flow of predictable effort year round. In reality, it doesn’t happen that way. It takes five weeks from start to finish to produce one issue of one magazine, and Connections Magazine is published six times a year. Medical Call Center News and Answer Stat releases every other […]
Last week I posted Five Things You Can Do With E-Books. Today I consider their limitations. Here are my top e-book challenges: Footnotes If a book needs references, I prefer footnotes to endnotes. However, with the font resizing aspect of e-book readers, displaying footnotes is challenging at best and impossible at worst. Charts and Tables […]
Participating in writing contests can offer 6 key benefits I used to enter writing contests, but I haven’t done so lately. Writing contests are fun when you win, and I had a few wins early on. Interestingly, as I’ve improved as a writer, my success rate has dropped to zero. Hence I’m now less motivated. […]
YouTube Channel Features Veteran Author Peter Lyle DeHaan was interviewed on the Self-Publish Your Books with Confidence YouTube channel by Taryn Nergaard, owner and creative director of Typewriter Creative Co., posted on May 25, 2023. The video is titled “How I Self-Published: Peter DeHaan.” DeHaan has indie published (also known as self-publishing) over thirty books […]