Phyllis Zimbler Miller's Blog: Phyllis Zimbler Miller Author, page 25
July 2, 2013
Devising Plots While Undergoing an MRI
Okay, I admit that I cannot control my freaking reaction to an MRI (apparently many people have the same reaction).
I approached this one with detailed preparations and the advice of my multi-talented friend. She writes song lyrics in such a situation and she told me to write a scene for one of my work-in-progress novels.
And, in fact, later in the week, when she took me to an ER, she and I discussed the characteristics of one of the prospective main characters of THE MOTHER SIEGE. This was very helpful in the creative process and in the “distraction from the ER” when your bed is in the hallways as there is no other place for you.
P.S. The three days last week that SOLOMON’S JUSTICE: A PTSD SHORT STORY was available free on Kindle Select were not very successful. This, of course, goes to show that — if you are laid up in bed and cannot use your computer to support your free promotion campaign &dmash; you cannot expect good results (even with the wonderful help of some very supportive online friends).
The short story is only $1.97 — so if you know people who could benefit from the story, do click here and buy it as a gift for them.
© 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 story CIA FALL GUY.
Click here to visit her Amazon author page at www.amazon.com/author/phylliszimblermiller
She also has an M.B.A. from The Wharton School and is the co-founder of the online marketing company www.MillerMosaicLLC.com
June 25, 2013
SOLOMON’S JUSTICE: A PTSD SHORT STORY Free on Kindle
While the LA County Veterans Court is one of only a few such special courts in the U.S., SOLOMON’S JUSTICE is a fictional story intended to entertain while helping to spread information about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder symptoms and getting help.
I believe that fiction can sometimes attract attention in a way that nonfiction cannot. (For nonfiction — see the article links at www.SolomonsJustice.com)
And I hope you will download the free short story and then share it with people that may be helped by the information.
Click here to read an author interview on the writing of SOLOMON’S JUSTICE.
© 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 story CIA FALL GUY.
Click here to visit her Amazon author page at www.amazon.com/author/phylliszimblermiller
She also has an M.B.A. from The Wharton School and is the co-founder of the online marketing company www.MillerMosaicLLC.com
June 23, 2013
Amazon Book Categories Frustrate Authors
I spend a great deal of time trying to take advantage of the opportunities and plow through the frustrations.
Recently I have both been working on changing the categories for my books on Kindle. I know that the categories from which authors can choose in the KDP dashboard are not the same as the ones for the Kindle store on Amazon.
This can be very frustrating for authors who have to email KDP asking to have the categories changed to the ones on the Kindle store.
In a recent flurry of emails back and forth with KDP, I finally got this additional information:
Keep in mind that the category options displayed in your Bookshelf won’t match the website exactly because the Bookshelf choices are BISAC categories (Book Industry Standards and Communications), while the names shown on the website are Browse categories.
Can you believe it! This disconnect drives me crazy.
Now the good news is that I also was told that more categories are being added to the KDP dashboard. Whether these will be only BISAC categories or actual browse categories remains to be seen.
Meanwhile I will continue my quest to find the answers to all my author Amazon questions.
P.S. My brand-new SOLOMON’S JUSTICE: A PTSD SHORT STORY will be free on Kindle June 26-28. Click here to see it now.
And do download a free copy and share this offer with people who could benefit from reading the fictional story.
© 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 story CIA FALL GUY.
Click here to visit her Amazon author page at www.amazon.com/author/phylliszimblermiller
She also has an M.B.A. from The Wharton School and is the co-founder of the online marketing company www.MillerMosaicLLC.com
June 20, 2013
SOLOMON’S JUSTICE: A PTSD SHORT STORY Now Available on Kindle
While this story is definitely fiction, it is composed of research (including at the LA County Veterans Court) and true anecdotes shared with me.
In addition, although this short story focuses on PTSD induced by combat experiences, PTSD can be brought on by non-combat trauma of all kinds.
(I write about non-combat trauma PTSD in the cozy mystery CAST THE FIRST STONE — click here to check out this novel on Kindle. I also write about PTSD before it was labeled as such in the YA short story PINKY SWEAR — click here for this short story on Kindle.)
Here is part of the Amazon review for SOLOMON’S JUSTICE written by Middle Grade children’s author Jerrye Sumrall:
After reading this story about the triumphs and tragedies of helping veterans suffering from PTSD, I have gained a new understanding of a tragic disorder that forever changes the lives of men and women who have risked their lives to protect our freedom!
The author has presented the issue in such a simple story form that you don’t have to be in the military or even know anyone in the military to understand the far-reaching effects of PTSD.
I hope that you will read the PTSD short story SOLOMON’S JUSTICE and share it with your friends. You never know when a fictional story — that I hope is also entertaining — may help others.
(This ebook short story also contains an excerpt from my women’s friendship novel MRS. LIEUTENANT.)
P.S. For those of you who have wanted to read my romantic suspense spy story but don’t have a Kindle, click here to see the novel now available as a paperback on Amazon.
And, as this post talks about military subjects, I want to add that CIA FALL GUY was inspired by my experiences living in Munich, Germany, when my husband was a U.S. Army intelligence officer stationed there.
© 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 story CIA FALL GUY.
Click here to visit her Amazon author page at www.amazon.com/author/phylliszimblermiller
She also has an M.B.A. from The Wharton School and is the co-founder of the online marketing company www.MillerMosaicLLC.com
June 17, 2013
Amazon Customer Review Tweaks
Previously there were three complete reviews on the left-hand side of a book’s Amazon page (placement decided by some Amazon algorithm) along with partials in chronological order on the right-hand side.
Suddenly there are many more complete reviews on the left-hand side along with the partials in chronological order on the right-hand side.
For an example, click here and scroll down the page to the reviews on the left-hand side for cozy mystery CAST THE FIRST STONE.
Author Central new feature:
Plus there is a new feature in Author Central if you are an author and have claimed your Author Central account. If you click on “Customer Reviews” in the nav of your Author Central account, you will find the latest reviews with this info:
Customer Reviews for your books are listed below. Try the sorting options to find the view that works for you, or select a book title to see just that book’s reviews. Recent reviews may take 1-2 days to appear in Author Central.
Full disclosure: It took me a little time to realize that there was a tiny dropdown arrow next to “All Books” that would enable me to switch to a single title.
Yes, sometimes reading the reviews for one’s book or books can be upsetting. (I got a negative review for CAST THE FIRST STONE from “rednecksally” — yup, that is her username on Amazon.)
In general, though, this new Author Central feature is very useful for authors with more than one book because it is a good idea to keep an eye on your book reviews. And going to each book page can be very time consuming.
(I do wish that people on Amazon had to use their real names when they left reviews. If the review is an honest one, why hide behind a username that is not your own?)
Click here to see TOP TIPS FOR HOW TO PUBLISH AND MARKET YOUR BOOK IN THE AGE OF AMAZON: 3 TOP TIPS BOOKS in 1.
© 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 story CIA FALL GUY.
Click here to visit her Amazon author page at www.amazon.com/author/phylliszimblermiller
She also has an M.B.A. from The Wharton School and is the co-founder of the online marketing company www.MillerMosaicLLC.com
June 13, 2013
Announcing Amazon Studios Storyboards
While this new program is still in beta, I wanted to try it out for my romantic comedy screenplay HOT POTATO written with my husband.
Overall I think the program is genius — really easy to use AFTER you experiment yourself. The actual tutorial is not very helpful. But playing with the features yourself is very interesting.
Click here to check out my storyboarding for romantic comedy HOT POTATO.
(Then click on the “Launch storyboard” arrow — and you can rate a slide “engaging” by clicking on the green arrow on the right-hand side.)
Full disclosure: I did not spend the hours needed to scour the web searching for the best background images. Except in one instance — when I uploaded a photo of a tree that I had previously purchased from istock — I used the background options offered in the storyteller program.
And as I did a very large number of slides, I did not experiment on each slide with all the different facial and body options. But I did do a great deal of experimentation.
Tips: The uploaded screenplays have to be in RTF format in order to use the storyboards program. And apparently once you publish the storyboards for a specific screenplay, those storyboards can no longer be edited.
Read more about this Amazon Studios storyteller program now.
And the entire screenplay for HOT POTATO — which includes scenes not in the storyboards — is in the book FOUR COMEDY SCREENPLAYS. Click here to see this book on Amazon 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 story CIA FALL GUY.
Click here to visit her Amazon author page at www.amazon.com/author/phylliszimblermiller
She also has an M.B.A. from The Wharton School and is the co-founder of the online marketing company www.MillerMosaicLLC.com
Annuoncing Amazon Studios Storyboards
While this new program is still in beta, I wanted to try it out for my romantic comedy screenplay HOT POTATO written with my husband.
Overall I think the program is genius — really easy to use AFTER you experiment yourself. The actual tutorial is not very helpful. But playing with the features yourself is very interesting.
Full disclosure: I did not spend the hours needed to scour the web searching for the best background images. Except in one instance — when I uploaded a photo of a tree that I had previously purchased from istock — I used the background options offered in the storyteller program.
And as I did a very large number of slides, I did not experiment on each slide with all the different facial and body options. But I did do a great deal of experimentation.
Tips: The uploaded screenplays have to be in RTF format in order to use the storyboards program. And apparently once you publish the storyboards for a specific screenplay, those storyboards can no longer be edited.
Read more about this Amazon Studios storyteller program now.
>And the entire screenplay for HOT POTATO — which includes scenes not in the storyboards — is in the book FOUR COMEDY SCREENPLAYS. Click here to see this book on Amazon 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 story CIA FALL GUY.
Click here to visit her Amazon author page at www.amazon.com/author/phylliszimblermiller
She also has an M.B.A. from The Wharton School and is the co-founder of the online marketing company www.MillerMosaicLLC.com
June 10, 2013
Book Marketing Tidbits
Here are some information tidbits to help you:
Considering whether to use pseudonyms for your books? Click here to check out what I said in a guest post for author Joylene Butler’s blog.
And the same blog post has some thoughts on author taglines.
If you have read my ebook TOP TIPS FOR HOW TO MARKET YOUR BOOK ON AMAZON AND FACEBOOK, you now might want to read Penny Sansevieri’s short ebook HOW TO SELL YOUR BOOKS BY THE TRUCKLOAD ON AMAZON.COM
While these two books were not written as companion ebooks, after having read Penny’s book I think the two books go well together. And at the moment I’m trying one of her tips about keywords for Kindle ebooks.
Now I have just embarked on my third Goodreads giveaway. This time with the thriller LT. COMMANDER MOLLIE SANDERS. If you are a Goodreads member, you can go here to sign up to win a paperback copy.
In terms of paid advertising, I’m trying a month-long inclusion for CIA FALL GUY in the bargain books section of www.indiebookoftheday.com Click here and scroll down to see CIA FALL GUY.
Finally, I’m pleased with the feedback I’m getting for a guest post I wrote for the Spunky Seniors blog. Click here to read why I think seniors get a bum rap about technology.
P.S. And if you have not yet read my post about what I learned from attending Book Expo America re translation rights and foreign rights, click here to read this post 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 story CIA FALL GUY.
Click here to visit her Amazon author page at www.amazon.com/author/phylliszimblermiller
She also has an M.B.A. from The Wharton School and is the co-founder of the online marketing company www.MillerMosaicLLC.com
June 6, 2013
BEA Attendees Interested in HOW TO SUCCEED IN HIGH SCHOOL AND PREP FOR COLLEGE
I thought about this today when reading The Wall Street Journal article “Interns Take the Lead” by Melissa Korn. The article described the importance of summer internships between the first and second academic year for M.B.A. students.
I left a comment on the article about the importance of internships for all students, starting in high school, not only for potential employers to get an up-close-and-personal look-see but for students to get an inside feel for prospective career paths.
Important areas of following your passion featured in HOW TO SUCCEED are the various elements of looking for and obtaining an internship. Topics from how to write a query email to what to wear to the interview are included.
And, as I told people at BEA, I hoped this book would help level the playing field between those students who are fortunate to have mentors to help them with these areas and those students who are not as fortunate to have such advisers.
HOW TO SUCCEED IN HIGH SCHOOL AND PREP FOR COLLEGE is an ideal 8th grade graduation gift with advice to consider before students start 9th grade. Or, if students are already in high school, they can use the advice for preparing for their next steps towards college or other career paths.
(And it may even help students to consider how many tattoos they get — tattoos that usually need to be covered up for internship or job interviews.)
Click here to get the paperback or ebook on Amazon 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 story CIA FALL GUY.
Click here to visit her Amazon author page at www.amazon.com/author/phylliszimblermiller
She also has an M.B.A. from The Wharton School and is the co-founder of the online marketing company www.MillerMosaicLLC.com
June 3, 2013
Book Expo America, Book Translations and Foreign Rights
First, let’s consider book translations:
While our books on Amazon are sold on Amazon country sites in their English versions, what about having these books available in the native languages of those country sites?
I spoke with Silvia Mas and Arantxa Mellado of www.thespanishdigitallink.com about having my ebooks translated into Spanish ebooks. What’s especially interesting is that these two women described a standard Spanish for translation that makes these ebooks more user friendly for Spanish readers around the globe.
I am definitely interested in pursuing this opportunity because it could open my ebooks to a much larger audience.
Second, foreign rights:
Selling foreign rights to Spanish-speaking countries, for example, may appear to make the future need for ebook translations unnecessary. If you sell foreign rights, then presumably these books will be translated as part of the deal. (But will you really sell foreign rights to all Spanish-speaking countries?)
The question here is: If you are a self-published author, how do you sell foreign rights?
One new option is www.PubMatch.com — partnered with Publishers Weekly. The site plans to introduce new features this fall. I will definitely be checking out this option.
Finally, a word about the success of the Booksicals/Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf booth at BEA to promote the launch of the MASTER DAVEY AND THE MAGIC TEA HOUSE project. (I attended BEA as the marketing consultant for Booksicals.)
All the members of the project team thought the exhibiting at BEA went well. Many, many people enjoyed sampling the Blue Tiger herbal blend created to accompany the children’s picture book.
And even if you did not attend BEA, you can take advantage of the free ebook download offers for BEA at www.booksicals.com/expo
© 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 story CIA FALL GUY.
Click here to visit her Amazon author page at www.amazon.com/author/phylliszimblermiller
She also has an M.B.A. from The Wharton School and is the co-founder of the online marketing company www.MillerMosaicLLC.com
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