Categories
Writing and Publishing

Is Assisted Book Publishing Right for You?

Assisted publishing or subsidy publishing is paying a company (or a person) to publish your book for you. I don’t have any experience using assisted publishing, because it’s not the right option for me.  If you go this route, check references, ask a lot of questions, and treat it like a business decision—because it is. […]

Categories
Telephone Answering Service

How Do You Use Social Media at Your TAS?

Use Social Media as the Spokes of the Wheel and Your Website as the Hub By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD Most telephone answering services (TASs) have a website. That’s great! But not all do. They don’t think it’s worth the modest investment and feel social media serves them quite well. I’ve even heard from services […]

Categories
Writing and Publishing

Blogging Your Book for Fiction and Nonfiction Writers

Many people wonder if you can blog your book. This is a common question and answers differ. Here are my blogging tips for blogging your book. Fiction Writers For fiction writers, you can blog about your book’s content: setting, characters, and supporting background, but you can’t dole out your book in blog-sized chunks. Of course, […]

Categories
Writing and Publishing

Finding Balance in Writing and Life

Personally, when it comes to finding balance, it seems something is always slipping, with the areas of writing, work, and life being in a constant state of tension. Yes, there are times where I may go a couple of days keeping everything in balance, but one little bump in the road and the whole thing […]

Categories
Healthcare Call Centers

Multichannel Contact Center Scheduling

Staff Your Operation with Agents with the Right Stills to Work at the Time They’re Most Needed By Peter Lyle DeHaan, Ph.D. You run a multichannel contact center for the healthcare industry and have staffed it with well-trained agents. Some specialize in one specific channel, others can handle related channels, and some are cross trained […]

Categories
Writing and Publishing

Tips for Query Letters, One Sheets, and Book Proposals

Early in my career, I thought a query and a proposal were two names for the same document. Boy, was I confused? A query letter is a short communication to get an agent or publisher’s attention. If your query letter succeeds, they’ll ask for a book proposal. A proposal is a lengthy, detailed document that […]

Categories
Writing and Publishing

Book Publishing Options

Writers often wonder if they should I indie publish their book or publish with a traditional publisher. I understand the question, and without sounding like a jerk, let me rephrase this question about publishing options. The question should be: Should I self-publish it or pursue a traditional publisher? Traditional Publishing I reworded it because we […]

Categories
Call Center

Make Chat Availability a Priority

Make Customer Service a Distinguishing Factor for Your Organization By Peter Lyle DeHaan, Ph.D. Companies are increasingly offering chat services as a way for their customers and prospects to reach them. Not only is this an option that more and more people want to use, but many businesses find it’s a cost-effective customer service solution. […]

Categories
Writing and Publishing

Should You Write a Book or Blog?

Many writers starting out try to blog and write a book at the same time. They end up doing neither one well. Or they try to write a book before they’re ready. Then they end up with something not suitable for publication, waste a lot of time, and endure much frustration. That assumes they finish […]

Categories
Writing and Publishing

Finding Time to Write

Finding time to write is a dilemma most writers face at one time or another. Maybe all writers do. I think the problem, however, is in the question. We don’t need to find time to write as much as we need to make time. We each have 24 hours in our day. While work and […]