Phyllis Zimbler Miller's Blog: Phyllis Zimbler Miller Author, page 21

New ABC Drama THE ASSETS: True Story of the Uncovering of CIA Spy Aldrich Ames

I have just watched the first episode (Thursday evenings) of the ABC mini-series THE ASSETS. Here is the short plot summary on imdbpro.com written by Sandy Grimes:

Two veteran CIA officers Sandra Grimes and Jeanne Vertefeuille who hunted down CIA officer Aldrich Ames, a mole who fed information to the Soviet Union that contributed to the deaths of at least ten Soviet intelligence officers who had spied for the United States.

The TV drama mini-series starts in 1985. While watching the first episode, I thought about how I might have been there at the CIA at that time if, in 1980, I had said yes to a telephone call:

The CIA and me: The CIA recruited at Wharton when I was an M.B.A. student. During winter vacation of 1979-1980 I typed endless application forms on a typewriter. A couple of months later I got a phone call with an offer to come to CIA headquarters at Langley for two days of interviews.

At the moment I got the call I was not in a position to accept this visit offer — something I have always regretted.

Years later in 1994 I thought I had arranged an invitation to visit the CIA when I would be in D.C. for another reason. Unfortunately, that was the week that the mole in the agency — Aldrich Ames — was unmasked and the CIA was in lock-down mode. Obviously this past connection makes me particularly interested in the mini-series THE ASSETS.

My romantic suspense spy story CIA FALL GUY is partly inspired by my work as a civilian for the 66th Military Intelligence Group in Munich (see link below to this true story). If the Cold War interests you, check out this book on Amazon now at http://amzn.to/L38eiP

Yes, I still have hopes of someday visiting Langley, and in the meantime, I’ll be watching the next episodes of THE ASSETS and writing more chapters of my own Cold War memoir TALES OF AN AMERICAN OCCUPYING GERMANY on Wattpad at http://budurl.com/TAintro

P.S. You might like to read the saga of how I eventually got a security-clearance job with the 66th Military Intelligence Group in Munich years before I applied to the CIA. This was an adventure unto itself including the “approach” to my husband and me in Copenhagen by an obvious Russian agent. Click here to read this saga now.

© 2014 Miller Mosaic LLC

Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of fiction and nonfiction books/ebooks, including TOP TIPS FOR HOW TO PUBLISH AND MARKET YOUR BOOK IN THE AGE OF AMAZON and the romantic suspense spy thriller CIA FALL GUY.

Evaluating Amazon Book Promo Campaigns

With two years of experimenting with different social media elements for promoting Kindle ebooks on

Amazon, I have come to some conclusions:

Most importantly, doing nothing means almost no sales (unless you are already famous).

To have sales, you must continually expend time and money in promoting ebooks.

Free ebooks via Amazon’s KDP Select program coupled with advertising on free and paid sites for this promotion and announcing via social media sites can result in very large downloads depending on the book, its reviews, and other factors.

When an author slacks off from constant promotional activities, sales plummet. This is especially true as the search engine benefits of large numbers of downloads or sales fade quickly, depending on which Amazon algorithms are used for which particular Amazon book list.

Cross-promotional activities with other authors can be beneficial, particularly if the books by different authors are in the same or related genres. Again, though, this takes effort and must be undertaken on an ongoing basis.

One of the biggest problems is that success with free downloads during a KDP Select promotion can be hazardous for the Amazon ranking of a book.

This happened with my women’s friendship novel MRS LIEUTENANT, which had a huge number of downloads during one promotion, mostly due to a paid ad on BookBub. But this also meant that the downloads included many readers who were not the target audience for the book.

This then resulted in some negative reviews, which brings the overall ranking of a book down on Amazon. Thus even though MRS. LIEUTENANT mostly gets great reviews, the few negative reviews really impacted the book’s ranking.

At the moment I am re-evaluating whether the effort (time and money) it takes for a non-famous book author to get her books purchased on Amazon has a large enough ROI to be worth it.

Please feel free to weigh in below on this topic.

P.S. As I don’t currently have any Kindle books on free promotion, you may read my writing on Wattpad with two works-in-progress:



The Cold War memoir TALES OF AN AMERICAN OCCUPYING GERMANY at http://budurl.com/TAintro

The dystopian thriller THE MOTHER SIEGE at http://budurl.com/MSintro

© 2013 Miller Mosaic LLC

Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of fiction and nonfiction books/ebooks, including TOP TIPS FOR HOW TO PUBLISH AND MARKET YOUR BOOK IN THE AGE OF AMAZON and the romantic suspense spy thriller CIA FALL GUY.

Adding Another Screenplay to Amazon Studios: THE WIDOW SPRINGER

I have just added another screenplay to my account at Amazon Studios — Amazon’s film and TV project. And I’m hoping that people will download the pdf to read and possibly review.

It has been quite a while since I have added a screenplay of mine to Amazon Studios, and much of the interface seems to have changed. In fact, I cannot find a particular option that apparently no longer exists.

What is most interesting to me is that the button to download the screenplay pdf seems hard to find, although the review button is very prominent. This seems to be promoting a review without someone actually first reading the script.

And truthfully, if people are not used to reading screenplays, they may find these difficult to read. When I worked as the client services person at a product placement agency in Los Angeles and had to read hundreds of screenplays, it took me awhile to accustom myself to this medium.

In fact, while I could often tell from a screenplay which story would make a good film, I could be way off base. My biggest “error” was the screenplay for the film MY COUSIN VINNY.

When I read the script, I thought it would make a boring movie. Then I saw the film — one of my long-time favorites!

In my defense, the actors made that movie. What was flat on the page became incredibly alive with flesh-and-blood characters.

All of this is by way of saying that, if you do read the script of THE WIDOW SPRINGER by my husband and me, you may find it flat even though I believe it is a compelling story. In fact, the screenplay has been optioned before but not produced.

Mitch came up with the idea for the story:

What do a former East German Security thug, the widow of an East German Security clerk, and an American CIA officer have in common? The answer is a shared destiny precipitated by the sudden collapse of the Berlin Wall.

After a few rewrites I joined in as we had both worked in U.S. Army intelligence in Munich during the Cold War (he as an officer, me as a civilian). We felt strongly about the betrayals that came to light after the Berlin Wall came tumbling down.

If Cold War history interests you, do consider downloading the pdf of the script and reading it. And if you like it, perhaps you would write a review. (My theory: Amazon Studios is influenced by the reviews that a screenplay gets.)



Click here to download the script now — and reviews are welcome!

P.S. I used an old alarm clock to represent the screenplay because the Berlin Wall coming down ”woke” people to the truth about what had been going on in East Germany since the end of World War II.

© 2013 Miller Mosaic LLC

Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of fiction and nonfiction books/ebooks, including TOP TIPS FOR HOW TO PUBLISH AND MARKET YOUR BOOK IN THE AGE OF AMAZON and the romantic suspense spy thriller CIA FALL GUY.

Ode to Short Paragraphs in Web Content

I am often asked to give feedback on someone’s blog or online content, and the most common issue I see is very long paragraphs.

While I’m not a huge fan of long paragraphs in general, on the web these long paragraphs are really not conducive for reading. It’s just too easy to click away to content that is easier on the eyes (due to the way our minds process information).

I understand that writers like to write long paragraphs. That’s fine, as long as in the revision phase those paragraphs are snipped into smaller pieces.

Besides ease on the eyes, shorter paragraphs can help comprehension.

I recently read a long paragraph in which most of the paragraph was about the past history of a place, and the final two sentences were current history. It took my mind a few seconds to shift thoughts. If there had been a paragraph break before the current history, I could have more easily made the switch.

Even on social media (excluding the 140-character limit of Twitter) it is important to remember short paragraphs.

When I see an update on Facebook that is one long paragraph, I am much less likely to read it than if I see a long update broken up into reasonable short paragraphs.



The important thing to remember about all online content creation: You want your target audiences to read what you have written.

Make it easy to do this!

© 2013 Miller Mosaic LLC

Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of fiction and nonfiction books/ebooks, including TOP TIPS FOR HOW TO PUBLISH AND MARKET YOUR BOOK IN THE AGE OF AMAZON and the romantic suspense spy thriller CIA FALL GUY.

Geena Davis Offers Easy Steps to Make Hollywood Less Sexist

Actor Geena Davis, founder of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, wrote a compelling guest post for The Hollywood Reporter.

The guest post includes very interesting statistics on the dismal number of women characters in films and TV. And Ms. Davis has an easy answer for screenwriters to help correct this issue:

Step 1: Go through the projects you’re already working on and change a bunch of the characters’ first names to women’s names. With one stroke you’ve created some colorful unstereotypical female characters that might turn out to be even more interesting now that they’ve had a gender switch. What if the plumber or pilot or construction foreman is a woman? What if the taxi driver or the scheming politician is a woman? What if both police officers that arrive on the scene are women — and it’s not a big deal?




Step 2: When describing a crowd scene, write in the script, “A crowd gathers, which is half female.” That may seem weird, but I promise you, somehow or other on the set that day the crowd will turn out to be 17 percent female otherwise. Maybe first ADs think women don’t gather, I don’t know.

While I wholeheartedly endorse these recommendations, it was the last part of Geena Davis’ guest post, when she talked about using fictional portrayal to change the real world, that was so compelling for me.

I have often written about the importance of fictional portrayal — and I’ll admit I cried when I got to Ms. Davis’ final words: “Here’s what I always say: If they can see it, they can be it.”

(Don’t get me started on my years-long disgust with Lego ads that only show boys building the complicated Lego sets. Or the pink sets that Lego created for girls.)

I’ve put the link to Ms. Davis’ entire article at the end of this blog post. But first a few words in response to the guest post mention of Ms. Davis wishing to be considered for movies with a female lead as well as for unusual female roles.

I have two such screenplays for you, Ms. Davis, and you can first read both as stories (adapted from the screenplays) on Amazon to see if you like the roles:



Screwball romantic comedy HOT POTATO‘s lead female is a field sales support engineer (weapons expert) in Eastern Europe — click on http://amzn.to/16gMBaS for HOT POTATO on Amazon.

Spy thriller CIA FALL GUY‘s lead female is a marketing consultant who takes matters into her own hands — click on http://amzn.to/Sp29TC for CIA FALL GUY on Amazon.

Click here to read the entire guest column by Geena Davis.

Check out Ms. Davis’ organization at seejane.org

P.S. Click here to read my blog post “Monitoring Portrayal of Fictional Military Female Characters”

© 2013 Miller Mosaic LLC

Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of fiction and nonfiction books/ebooks, including TOP TIPS FOR HOW TO PUBLISH AND MARKET YOUR BOOK IN THE AGE OF AMAZON and the romantic suspense spy thriller CIA FALL GUY.

Trying Favstar for More Effective Twitter Use

I just came across a July 24, 2013, Wall Street Journal article — “On Twitter, More ‘Favoriting’” — by Katherine Rosman and was reminded that I wanted to check out the site Favstar.

The article explains:

…a website dedicated to ranking tweets and tweeters by the favorites they generate. Founded in 2009 by Tim Haines, Favstar has 3 million monthly users. Mr. Haines, an engineer, says he created the site because he realized that the favorite was an important feedback signal that could help him get a sense of what his Twitter followers were interested in reading in his feed.

I have now signed into Favstar via my Twitter account (@ZimblerMiller) and am trying out the different features. (There is a pro account that has a fee; I’m using the free option.)

What I like best so far is the ability to put in the Twitter username of anyone and see the “Best of” that person’s tweets. (You can also do this for your own Twitter account.) You see both the number of favs (the star option for favoriting a tweet) and the number of retweets.

In the past I have not often used Twitter’s favorite feature. Now given Favstar’s tracking, I understand that you can help others on Twitter by using the favorite feature when appropriate.

And as being a helpful member of the Twitter community is what it is important in my opinion, favoriting tweets and utilizing Favstar appear to now be effective strategies.



Click here to check out Favstar.fm now.

© 2013 Miller Mosaic LLC

Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of fiction and nonfiction books/ebooks, including TOP TIPS FOR HOW TO PUBLISH AND MARKET YOUR BOOK IN THE AGE OF AMAZON and the romantic suspense spy thriller CIA FALL GUY.

Publishing an Ebook and Author Press Kits

I have written two new guest posts for the blog of Publicity Hound Joan Stewart and I want to share the blog post links here.

The post “How to publish an ebook: Must-know facts” begins:

The tremendous proliferation of ebooks has opened up opportunities for self-published as well as traditionally published authors. And as Amazon is the major online book retailer, at least in the U.S., you’ll want your ebooks on Amazon.




Here is the good news: Amazon makes this relatively easy to do.



Here is the bad news: It is not so easy to do this optimally.

Click here to read the entire blog post.

The post “Author items to include in your New Media Age press kit” begins:

I am no longer a big fan of the traditional physical press kit with its glossy paper folder and numerous information/photo sheets placed into the inside pockets of the glossy paper folder.




Yet I do think that authors have to consider what could constitute a press kit for our New Media Age.

Click here to read the entire blog post.

And if you want more information about publishing and marketing in the age of Amazon. click here to check out my Kindle ebook TOP TIPS FOR HOW TO PUBLISH AND MARKET YOUR BOOK IN THE AGE OF AMAZON.

© 2013 Miller Mosaic LLC

Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of fiction and nonfiction books/ebooks, including TOP TIPS FOR HOW TO PUBLISH AND MARKET YOUR BOOK IN THE AGE OF AMAZON and the romantic suspense spy thriller CIA FALL GUY.

Terrific Must-See Video Re Girls and Toys

As a long-time feminist I have been dismayed for years when advertising for toys such as Legos only depicts boys. Or, on the other hand, I am also outraged by ads with pink toys aimed at girls.

I strongly believe that toys, novels, movies, TV shows, etc. can dramatically shape perception of the roles for men and women.

This is one reason why I always write strong female characters in my fiction, whether books or screenplays.

Watch this video now — and then please share this post with others. Perceptions can be changed!

P.S. The military thriller LT. COMMANDER MOLLIE SANDERS that I wrote with my husband often gets dinged in reviews that LCDR Sanders is a superwoman. Trust me, nothing she does is not realistic, and if she were a male protagonist, I doubt the book would get any dings for the character being a superman.

© 2013 Miller Mosaic LLC

Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of fiction and nonfiction books/ebooks, including TOP TIPS FOR HOW TO PUBLISH AND MARKET YOUR BOOK IN THE AGE OF AMAZON and the romantic suspense spy thriller CIA FALL GUY.

Using Fiction to Disseminate Important Information

HOT POTATO: A SCREWBALL ROMANTIC COMEDY NOVELLA is free on Kindle through November 14 at http://smarturl.it/HotPotato and, if you do not have a Kindle, you can get a free Kindle app for PC, Mac, etc. at http://budurl.com/freeKindleapp

In the November 12th episode “Endgame” of the CBS drama “Person of Interest” more backstory is depicted for New York cop Joss Carter, who we already know was deployed as a military interrogator before she joined the New York police force.

In scenes from years earlier than the current timeline, her ex-husband is clearly suffering from combat trauma and she urges him to go to the VA. He says he doesn’t need any help.

Fast forward in the November 12th episode and we learn that he has finally gotten help from the VA and is doing much better.

Now while the VA is not always the best resource for military personnel and vets suffering from PTSD, at least the emphasis in the “Person of Interest” storyline on overcoming resistance to getting help is a very important message.

I took part in a Department of Defense Bloggers Roundtable in honor of Military Family Month, and I asked a question about how MilitaryOneSource can help family members encourage military personnel or vets to get help.

Click here now to read the answer in this post.

And if you want to learn more about the impact of PTSD, check out www.SolomonsJustice.com

© 2013 Miller Mosaic LLC

Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of fiction and nonfiction books/ebooks, including TOP TIPS FOR HOW TO PUBLISH AND MARKET YOUR BOOK IN THE AGE OF AMAZON and the romantic suspense spy thriller CIA FALL GUY.

Author Interview on Indie Books BlogTalkRadio Show

Popular Books Internet Radio with Indie Books on BlogTalkRadio

P.S. Thanks to Will Wilson of Indie Books BlogTalkRadio show for this great opportunity!

© 2013 Miller Mosaic LLC

Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of fiction and nonfiction books/ebooks, including TOP TIPS FOR HOW TO PUBLISH AND MARKET YOUR BOOK IN THE AGE OF AMAZON and the romantic suspense spy thriller CIA FALL GUY.