Check out my all-time, top posts about writing and publishing. Based on reader input, the top posts are: Thanks for reading. Have a great new year.
Is Saying “Your Call Is Important to Us” Rhetoric or Reality? By Peter Lyle DeHaan, Ph.D. Whenever I call a company, I pay close attention to what happens. You probably do too. I look for specific details that thrill me. I also look for areas that need improvement. And I especially note my overall reaction […]
I once heard about a self-published author who criticized other self-published authors for having professionally designed covers and hiring editors. He accused them of selling out. He claimed it wasn’t truly self-publishing if you didn’t do it all yourself. Rubbish. No one can truly self-publish a book all by himself or herself. Have you bought […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD Perhaps you’ve heard this story. Imagine you’re sitting in a college class. It’s one of those big classrooms, with tiered seating, able to accommodate hundreds of students. The class is assembled in expectation; what will the prof do today? At exactly 8 o’clock, he strides in and without acknowledging the […]
Consider all the really great books that don’t sell. Consider some of the poorly written books that do. Although this is unfair, it is also a reality. Fortuitous timing aside, these two situations point out the fact that producing and selling books is part art and part business. I’ve been in business much of my […]
Some authors start writing their book, focus on it until completion, work to publish it, and then promote it. Then they start their next book—assuming they have an idea for one. They have one book in their book pipeline. Other authors are working on so many books that it’s hard to accomplish anything. I fall […]
It’s Time to Take a Counterintuitive Look at Hourly Pay By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD The biggest expense for telephone answering service is payroll. You know that. You strive to hold down payroll costs to control expenses and stay in business, hopefully, to turn a profit. Scheduling too many people to answer phone calls drives […]
I’ve never met an author who likes to write book proposals, yet if we hope to sign with a traditional publisher, we need a book proposal—a really good book proposal. Aside from being tedious and time-consuming, parts of a book proposal are challenging, such as researching competitive titles, selling ourselves as the ideal person to […]
When book readers consider our book, few will bother to look to see who published it. They won’t care if a major publisher, let alone any traditional publisher, produced it. When it comes to publishers, there is little brand loyalty, let alone much brand recognition. The imprint is of no consequence. How the printed book […]
Instead of Hiring New Employees, Seek to Retain Existing Healthcare Call Center Staff By Peter Lyle DeHaan, Ph.D. With low unemployment rates, the task of finding qualified employees to work in healthcare call centers grows more challenging. This makes it even more important to take steps to retain the employees we have. Here are five […]