by Jan Yager
How many authors admit their second manuscript under contract was rejected after their first book with a major or even an indie commercial house was accepted and published? I do in my new memoir, Looking Backward, Going Forward: Reflections on a Writer’s Life. Here is an excerpt from that section in Chapter 12, “Raising a Family, Teaching, Writing, Publishing, Nashville, and Back to Connecticut:”
by Jan Yager, Ph.D.
Whereas remote work was previously associated with freelancers as well as consultants and the self-employed, those working for companies and corporations of all sizes are working remotely anywhere from one to two or more days a week. Even though beginning in 2022 an untold number of workers were mandated to return to their traditional outside offices some or all of the work week, for so many working remotely some or all of the time has become a reality.
by Jan Yager, Ph.D.
Unfortunately, I know firsthand what secondary victims of homicide deal with since my 23-year-old brother, Seth Alan Barkas, died from the injuries caused by his stabbing during a mugging several days before by a teenage gang. I was 20 years old at the time and majoring in fine arts at Hofstra University. I know it sounds naïve but back then before the Internet and social media, I thought violent crimes like that only happened to other families, not to my upper middle-class family with a dentist father and a kindergarten teacher mother. Seth was an aspiring playwright, film critic for Baltimore magazine, and a freelance theater critic for a major national theatre newspaper. It was on his way home from reviewing an off-off-Broadway play that the stabbing occurred in Manhattan’s East Village.
Continue reading What Secondary Victims of Homicide Have to Deal With
by Jan Yager, Ph.D.
Many of you may have read one or more books on time management – maybe even one of mine! – or you have read articles about it, or even attended an in-person workshop or an online webinar. That’s great! But even if you have a basic knowledge about time management, reminding yourself about these seven ways to greater productivity should prove helpful to you. For some of you, this information and approach to managing your time may be new. That’s fine too!
Whatever your starting point, here is what I have observed over the decades I have researched, written about, and conducted workshops on time management that are the seven essentials’ ways to make yourself more productive at work: Continue reading Seven Fundamental Steps to Becoming More Productive
By Jan Yager, Ph.D.
Fortunately over the years I have been published by such major houses as Simon & Schuster, Doubleday, Scriber, Grove Press, prentice-Hall, Penguin Random House, HarperCollins India, and others, as well as through my own small press, Hannacroix Creek Books, Inc. I have also interviewed or surveyed more than 100 book authors on their varied publishing experiences. Based on my own experiences, as well as the research I have conducted, there is no ”one size fits all” when it comes to publishing. If you read my blog, “The Ten Best Reasons to Self-Publish your First or Next Book,” to offer you a balanced “other side of the coin” perspective, here are ten reasons to consider signing with a traditional or commercial house (if you are offered that option, of course): Continue reading Ten Top Reasons to Publish Traditionally with a Commercial House
by Jan Yager, Ph.D.
What do Irma Rombauer’s Joy of Cooking, Andy Weir’s The Martian, Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of Peter Rabbit, Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad Poor Dad, and Lisa Genova’s Still Alice have in common? All those bestselling books were originally self-published!
Fortunately, in addition to coaching other book authors, I have had a publishing career that encompassed both types of publishing, self-publishing through my own press, Hannacroix Creek Books, Inc., since 1997, and publishing with commercial houses, beginning at age 27, through presently, such as Scribner, Simon & Schuster, Doubleday, Grove Press, Prentice-Hall, Penguin Random House, HarperCollins India, and many others! Continue reading Ten Best Reasons to Self-Publish Your First or Next Book
By Jan Yager, Ph.D.
In the ongoing effort to engage and retain workplace talent, one distinct trend rings true: Employees who are happy in their Jobs are more likely to stay there.
But what does it take to improve your employees’ level of happiness? Here are seven suggestions:
*Excerpted from Chapter 6 of How to Finish Everything You Start: Understanding the Causes of the Unfinished Epidemic, Its Cures, and When Choosing Not to Finish Is Okay (published by Hannacroix Creek Books).
Here’s the F-I-N-I-S-H acronym and what it stands for:
Continue reading Jan Yager’s F-I-N-I-S-H System to Help You With Your Unfinished Tasks*
By
Jan Yager, Ph.D.
If you ask someone why he or she has not read a book, either a novel or non-fiction, in a while, the answer is usually “Because I just don’t have enough time.” That same person would have no trouble finding the time when asked to read a book or article for work. It’s what we might call “reading for pleasure” that falls by the wayside because work and other personal commitments seem to take up all our time.
What some of us fail to realize or simply forget is how much reading can enrich our lives.
Yes, reading a novel, a short story, a biography, a political nonfiction book, a self-help guide, a memoir, a children’s book, or even a poem or book of poetry, can be pleasurable. But it’s also much more than that. Continue reading 15 Tips to Making Time to Read a Book
By Jan Yager, Ph.D.
As a sociologist, as well as the author of many books on relationships —romantic, friendship, and work — I am sometimes asked if I have any suggestions for having a joyful marriage. Based on all the research I have done, as well as my own life experiences — I have been happily married to Fred for 34 years — here are my ten tips: Continue reading 10 Tips for a Happy Marriage