Phyllis Zimbler Miller's Blog: Phyllis Zimbler Miller Author, page 30
January 23, 2013
Have You Recently Checked Your Book’s Amazon Page?
If you have not recently checked your book’s Amazon product page, now would be a good time to do this.
You might be surprised at what you find.
For one thing, Amazon is rolling out the removal of the tag feature on all book product pages. Even if your book page still has tags, these will soon disappear.
On the other hand, Amazon is rolling out featuring the Shelfari information more prominently on book product pages. While this feature will not help in the Amazon search results, it will help with offering additional information on your book page.
Do you regularly check the reviews that your book gets on Amazon?
Once again one of my books has gotten a lambasting review because of the html code showing up on the Kindle ebook. When I see such a review, I immediately leave a comment on the review offering my email address and telling the person to email me for a well-formatted Kindle ebook. (I also ask on which device the person attempted to read the ebook.)
Then I add in the note the explanation of why this suddenly started happening to previously well-formatted ebooks:
Sometime in 2012 Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) stopped supporting third-party conversion software. Now KDP only supports KindleGen.
Apparently if you do not upload a new version of your ebook, there may not be problems with the ebook.
But if you frequently re-upload your books, as I do (to add info on the newest ebook), the previously well-formatted ebooks now look lousy UNLESS you re-convert the ebooks using KindleGen.
My business partner Yael K. Miller spent a great deal of time researching the steps for converting my ebooks using KindleGen so the ebooks would again be well-formatted.
Now that I have re-converted 11 ebooks using Yael’s research, my company Miller Mosaic is offering a Kindle ebook conversion service. (Click here to see www.millermosaicllc.com/kindle-conversion)
© 2013 Miller Mosaic LLC
Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of fiction and nonfiction books/ebooks, including TOP TIPS FOR HOW TO MARKET YOUR BOOK ON AMAZON AND FACEBOOK and the cozy mystery CAST THE FIRST STONE.
Click here to visit her Amazon author page at 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
January 21, 2013
Getting Your Manuscript Ready for Ebook Publication
You have written your book, had it professionally edited, and are ready to have it converted into an ebook.
Have you included the additional material that a finished manuscript has?
First, following the title and author name, do you have a copyright line? And are you putting the copyright holder in your own name or the name of a corporation? (This question is something for which you may want to consult an attorney.)
Second, what about a disclaimer for fiction and nonfiction books? For my fiction I use the standard one that starts “This novel is a work of fiction …” But I am NOT an attorney. This is another question for which you may want to consult an attorney. Also, decide whether you want this before or after the copyright line.
Third, due to online book buying, I think it is important to put a short author bio upfront, especially for a nonfiction book. Amazon’s LOOK INSIDE feature shows a certain percentage (based on the length of your book) of the beginning of your book. You want to encourage people’s confidence in your ability to write on the specific nonfiction topic.
Fourth, a table of contents. And, yes, I have personally had communication from Amazon’s KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) stating that a table of contents is encouraged even for a fiction book.
It is a good idea to consider how detailed you want the table of contents to be. A very detailed table of contents with numerous section titles may take up many pages of LOOK INSIDE. If your book is short, this may not leave you very many pages with which to demonstrate the value of the information in the book.
(Now you may argue that a detailed table of contents could encourage book purchases. While it might, the titles of sections do not demonstrate your ability to deliver the information of those titles.)
Fifth, in my personal opinion, while a dedication page or very short acknowledgment page can be at the front of an ebook, long acknowledgments should go at the end of the book. Again, this is because you do not want to use up your LOOK INSIDE pages with information that is unlikely to motivate people to buy your ebook.
What should be at the end of your ebook manuscript:
Put a call to action at the end of the ebook. This can include the Amazon links to other books you have written, links to your social media accounts, and definitely links to your websites and blogs.
While people will not be able to click on the links from a Kindle reader, for example, they will be able to click on the links from a Kindle Fire. And to make it easy for readers to copy your links into their browsers, use shortened URLs rather than very long links.
For example, this is a shortened URL for my Kindle ebook TOP TIPS FOR HOW TO PUBLISH AND MARKET YOUR BOOK IN THE AGE OF AMAZON — http://amzn.to/RXnpfY
(Note that the URL shortener bit.ly automatically changes an Amazon URL to a shortened URL that has an abbreviation of the word Amazon in the URL. This encourages people to trust the shortened URL.)
In conclusion, you have probably shed blood, sweat and tears to write your book. Before you have it converted into an ebook, make sure that you have included the additional information recommended for a published book.
© 2013 Miller Mosaic LLC
Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of fiction and nonfiction books/ebooks, including TOP TIPS FOR HOW TO MARKET YOUR BOOK ON AMAZON AND FACEBOOK and the cozy mystery CAST THE FIRST STONE.
Click here to visit her Amazon author page at 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
January 15, 2013
Why Authors Need to Participate on Social Media
I came across WiDo Publishing (@widopublishing) on Twitter and checked out the submissions requirements of this “independent literary small press.” Here is the social media part of the requirements:
We expect our contracted authors to come prepared with a marketing plan outlining the specific ways they intend to promote their book. Even a work of fiction needs a platform that can be maximized for promotion.Social media is key in book promotion and visibility, and we expect each author to be active in social media before and after their book’s release. A strong social media presence will be in your favor as we consider your manuscript for publication.
While I am quoting from one publisher’s submission requirements, it is a pretty good bet that most, if not all, publishers want the same thing of prospective authors.
And why not?
Thanks to the Internet, traditionally published and self-published authors have so many opportunities to create relationships around the world. Note that I said “create relationships” and NOT “sell their books.”
Of course it is appropriate to buy ads on book sites, for example, to promote one’s books. But effective social media participation means sharing information with others that motivates them to be interested in you — and by extension your books.
In conclusion, if you are querying publishers or agents about your books, you want to make sure that you have a good social media presence. If you do not have this, now is the time to start!
P.S. You might like to read my Miller Mosaic blog post “What Do People Find When They Google Your Name?” quoting a book publisher saying that, when he gets an author query, he first Googles the person before he reads the query.
© 2013 Miller Mosaic LLC
Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of fiction and nonfiction books/ebooks, including TOP TIPS FOR HOW TO MARKET YOUR BOOK ON AMAZON AND FACEBOOK and the cozy mystery CAST THE FIRST STONE.
Click here to visit her Amazon author page at 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
January 13, 2013
Preventative PTSD Intervention Spotlighted on CBS TV Show BLUE BLOODS
In the blog post “Post Traumatic Stress Disorder: Not Only From Combat” I wrote about how the October 12, 2012, episode of the CBS drama BLUE BLOODS dealt with non-combat PTSD.
Now in the January 11th episode of the same show the topic has again been treated with sensitivity and enlightenment. (Dawn DeNoon wrote this Jan. 11th episode, “Front Page News,” and Jane Raab wrote the Oct. 12th episode, “Old Wounds.”)
In this new episode officer Jamie Reagan (actor Will Estes) fatally shoots a man waving a gun in Washington Square Park. While Jamie insists he is okay, the people around him are concerned with the incident’s impact on him.
Jamie is mandated to see a police therapist, who explains that this is a preventative step to be aware of PTSD symptoms. The therapist then describes the symptoms.
This is a very well portrayed scene, and I hope that it may have resonated with people watching the episode who have undiagnosed PTSD. As this episode of BLUE BLOODS says, it is important that people with PTSD symptoms get help instead of trying to deal with this themselves.
Click here for information on PTSD, which can result from combat trauma as well as from non-combat trauma.
P.S. In my cozy mystery CAST THE FIRST STONE, the protagonist — Rebecca Stone — must decide whether to get help for the PTSD she has been unwilling to admit she has.
© 2013 Miller Mosaic LLC
Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of fiction and nonfiction books/ebooks, including the military fiction MRS. LIEUTENANT: A Sharon Gold Novel (2008 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award semifinalist) and the cozy mystery CAST THE FIRST STONE.
Click here to visit her Amazon author page at 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
January 7, 2013
Author Frustration: When Someone Totally Does Not Understand What You Wrote
After reading an article in The Wall Street Journal that the Black List in Hollywood now had a site that takes submissions, I submitted the screenplay THE WIDOW SPRINGER written by my husband Mitch Miller and myself.
The story is set in Berlin at the time of the fall of the Berlin Wall, and it deals with betrayal, competing intelligence services, and what happens when the “rules” of society change overnight.
Besides paying a monthly $25 fee for the screenplay to be on the site, I decided to spend $50 to have one review critique. I should have realized that the person who would be doing the review might have no idea about the Cold War.
In theory I should have been happy with the overall score of 8.0 out of 10. But the reviewer got the story wrong, did not mention the central theme of the script, and then wrote this:
Prospects: The script is a great historical drama that could appeal to an audience interested in historical fiction. Due to the subject matter and female-skewing storyline, the audience would be slightly narrow.
In actuality, I would say the story skews male, if it skews at all.
Why am I sharing this here?
Because I have to remind myself — and by extension other authors — that what we know our story is about is not always what the reader sees.
This could be because we have been too subtle. (My business partner Yael K. Miller mentioned how subtle much of the background information in Dickens’ A TALE OF TWO CITIES is.) Or it could be because the reader has such a different worldview than we do.
In either case, the response is not what we hoped it would be. But what do we do as writers? We keep writing!
P.S. You might like to read my guest post “Ask PZM: January 2013 — Sharing on Social Media.”
© 2013 Miller Mosaic LLC
Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of fiction and nonfiction books/ebooks, including the military fiction MRS. LIEUTENANT: A Sharon Gold Novel (2008 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award semifinalist) and the cozy mystery CAST THE FIRST STONE.
Click here to visit her Amazon author page at 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
January 4, 2013
Ensuring Your Kindle Ebook Looks Good on Kindle Readers
If you are an author, after you have written your book you have probably had it edited and had a cover created.
Then comes the issue of having the manuscript converted to ebook status.
Click here to read my Miller Mosaic post “Top Tips for Avoiding Errors in Kindle Ebook Conversions.”
This post will also explain why taking the “easy” way of uploading a Word doc directly to KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) is NOT a wise marketing plan.
Now let’s skip ahead to other tips of having your ebook look good.
On a Facebook group on which I participate, an author announced he had uploaded his first ebook to Kindle and how easy this was to do. I checked out the “Look Inside” feature for his ebook and discovered he had very long paragraphs. In other words, the paragraphs were very dense.
Now on a Kindle reader this may not be a huge problem. But for people reading his ebook on a PC or Mac thanks to a free Kindle app, such long paragraphs can discourage reading.
What to do?
I recommended he break his long paragraphs into shorter paragraphs. At first he thought that, since he had already uploaded his ebook to Kindle, it was too late.
I explained that a great advantage to an ebook that you control yourself is that you can upload new versions whenever you want to do so. In ebooks, nothing is written in stone.
Having said this, though, I did mention the problem with re-uploading a book to KDP now that KDP no longer supports third -party conversion software such as Calibre (the software I previously used). Now KDP requires ebooks be converted via KindleGen.
From the last few weeks of my emailing back and forth to KDP, I THINK that emails converted via Calibre in the past will not be affected UNLESS the ebook is re-uploaded with certain changes that seem to trigger messing up the ebook’s internal functioning.
Because I re-upload my Kindle ebooks frequently (to add the link to a new ebook or to change a cover, for example), I have run afoul of KDP’s changes. My previously published ebooks are now getting mangled (especially on Kindle Fire) and require complicated steps in order to convert well using KindleGen.
After my business partner Yael K. Miller and I spent a great deal of time learning this new method, we are now offering this service to other authors. Here is what we are offering:
NEW KINDLE EBOOk CONVERSION SERVICE from $500: We will convert your Word document to a well-formatted Kindle ebook for all Kindle devices. Includes creating four coded documents that are combined with your provided cover, description and seven keywords via KindleGen and uploaded to your own KDP account.
Email me at pzmiller@millermosaicllc.com for more information.
And if you want to know more about self-publishing, click here to read my BookDaily guest post “First Steps for Self-Publishing Your Fiction or Nonfiction Ebook.”
(P.S. You also might like to read my guest post at BookGoodies “Are You Marketing Your Books Online?”)
© 2013 Miller Mosaic LLC
Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of fiction and nonfiction books/ebooks, including the military fiction MRS. LIEUTENANT: A Sharon Gold Novel (2008 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award semifinalist) and the cozy mystery CAST THE FIRST STONE.
Click here to visit her Amazon author page at 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
December 26, 2012
What Elements Define a Cozy Mystery?
FREE TODAY (Dec 27): Two cozy mystery short stories featuring Rebecca Stone in the Kindle ebook TWO BIRDS WITH ONE STONE (with 3 kosher recipes included). Click here to get this Kindle ebook.
I love reading mystery books and watching TV mystery series. And thanks to Netflix delivered to my TV, I have been watching the British cozy mystery series “Rosemary & Thyme,” which features two female landscape gardeners.
In this series, as in the majority of cozy mysteries whether written or filmed, the pace is what I would call gentile. Yes, there are murders, and, yes, somewhere in the background the police are working on solving the murders.
In the forefront of the stories, though, are the amateur sleuths, which are probably a major requirement for a cozy mystery. These protagonists are busy doing numerous things besides trying to solve the murders.
In the TV series “ Rosemary & Thyme,” Rosemary Boxer and Laura Thyme’s landscape gardening takes them to beautiful sites, including places in Italy and Spain. The gardens themselves are wonderful to behold, while the banter between the two protagonists is engaging even when not on the topic of the bodies falling around them as seemingly everyday occurrences.
I have been pondering why are these cozy mysteries so satisfying to read and watch?
First, there is no detailed depiction of gruesome violence. In fact, the bodies often seem as simply necessary “props” to give the amateur sleuths something to do.
Second, we the reader or viewer can match wits with the amateur sleuths. Can we solve the murders before the amateur sleuths do?
Third, often we are treated to a world that we know little about. For example, who knew that landscape gardening could be so interesting?
Fourth, factual information can be shared in a fictional story in a way that encourages people to learn the info. For example, the information on PTSD included in my cozy mystery CAST THE FIRST STONE: A REBECCA STONE MYSTERY.
Fifth, cozy mysteries often include recipes, as do CAST THE FIRST STONE and my cozy mystery short stories ebook TWO BIRDS WITH ONE STONE: REBECCA STONE MYSTERY SHORT STORIES. (Recipes are from the Jewish holiday book SEASONS FOR CELEBRATION that I co-authored with Rabbi Karen L. Fox.)
Sixth, the solving of the murders in a cozy mystery provides a sense of justice achieved. Often the murderer is cornered into confessing and all the loose ends are tied up.
On Thursday, December 27, two cozy mystery short stories featuring Rebecca Stone — together in the Kindle ebook TWO BIRDS WITH ONE STONE — will be free on Amazon (with 3 kosher recipes included). Click here to get this Kindle ebook.
(Don’t have a Kindle? No problem. You can get a FREE Kindle app for your iPhone, iPad, Android, PC or Mac at http://amzn.to/NBoSGU)
© 2012 Miller Mosaic LLC
Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of fiction and nonfiction books/ebooks, including the military fiction MRS. LIEUTENANT: A Sharon Gold Novel (2008 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award semifinalist) and the cozy mystery CAST THE FIRST STONE.
Click here to visit her Amazon author page at 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
December 25, 2012
U.S. Military Ranks and KDP Issues
Again my thriller LT. COMMANDER MOLLIE SANDERS has gotten a negative review with the person (who according to Amazon has never written another review on Amazon) complaining that Mollie Sanders is unrealistic — she gives orders to higher-ranking officers.
Oh how I wish my husband and I had made Mollie a commander in the U.S. Navy rather than a lieutenant commander. I think people see the word “lieutenant” and get confused.
First, I added to the ebook’s Amazon product description that a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy is equivalent to a major in the U.S. Army.
Second, I explained this as a comment in response to the above-mentioned review and added:
Just as a lieutenant colonel in the Army is addressed as “Colonel,” a lieutenant commander in the Navy is addressed as “Commander.”
I added this because the ebook has gotten criticism about Mollie being called a “lieutenant,” which she is not called.
Although both my father and father-in-law served in World War II, I grew up knowing nothing about the U.S. military. When I married my husband before he went on active duty as an officer in the U.S. Army (he was ROTC at Michigan State University, where we met), I learned the officers’ ranks.
(I admit I never learned all the enlisted ranks. But in those days the officers’ wives and the enlisted personnel’s wives were kept very separate.)
As I have stated before, Mitch is a member of the U.S. Naval Institute, and we did a great deal of research before writing about Lt. Commander Mollie Sanders.
And as a long-standing feminist, I should not be surprised at the negative comments about what FICTIONAL Mollie Sanders can do — comments that would almost certainly not be said about a FICTIONAL male protagonist.
Still, it does bother me when people criticize the book thinking they are demonstrating what they know — and they are in error.
KDP Warning:
I have just completed the extensive coding work (four separate documents) in order to convert an ebook via KindleGen. This is because I have learned that Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) no longer supports third-party conversion software such as Calibre, which I previously used.
I learned this because recent reviews commented about lousy formatting. After extensive emailing back and forth to KDP, I got the problem identified. But I still do not know when and why the previously correct formatting went haywire, although I suspect Kindle Fire has something to do with this.
Hopefully all this effort will now ensure that LT. COMMANDER MOLLIE SANDERS will be correctly formatted for the Kindle Fire as well as the Kindle.
Now if only readers would remember that a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy is the equivalent of a major in the U.S. Army!
Click here to check out LT. COMMANDER MOLLIE SANDERS on Kindle now.
(Don’t have a Kindle? No problem. You can get a FREE Kindle app for your iPhone, iPad, Android, PC or Mac at http://amzn.to/NBoSGU)
Mitch and Phyllis visit the USS Midway aircraft carrier on February 1, 2007, in San Diego after attending the U.S. Naval Institute conference.
© 2012 Miller Mosaic LLC
Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of fiction and nonfiction books/ebooks, including the military fiction MRS. LIEUTENANT: A Sharon Gold Novel (2008 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award semifinalist) and the cozy mystery CAST THE FIRST STONE.
Click here to visit her Amazon author page at 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
December 12, 2012
Kindle Ebook HOW TO SUCCEED IN HIGH SCHOOL AND PREP FOR COLLEGE Free on December 13
The eternal question asked by adults to children is:
What do you want to be when you grow up?
Thanks to having written the 3-book series HOW TO SUCCEED IN HIGH SCHOOL, COLLEGE AND BEYOND COLLEGE, I believe the question children should be asked is:
What do you love to do or learn now?
If your 12-year-old son replies he would like to learn how to bake, teach him now! This does not mean he will necessarily be a baker as an adult. But encouraging the following of his passion may lead to the exploration of interesting pathways.
Or if your 14-year-old daughter says she is interested in studying rock formations, figure out how she can study this subject now.
In other words, while teens are preparing for high school and college, following their passions now can be very important for their entire lives as well as for their college application essays.
HOW TO SUCCEED IN HIGH SCHOOL AND PREP FOR COLLEGE has valuable information for students in high school as well as those in college and college graduates. Click here to download the ebook for FREE on December 13 on Kindle.
Don’t have a Kindle? No problem. You can get a FREE Kindle app for your iPhone, iPad, Android, PC or Mac at http://amzn.to/NBoSGU
© 2012 Miller Mosaic LLC
Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of fiction and nonfiction books/ebooks, including the military fiction MRS. LIEUTENANT: A Sharon Gold Novel (2008 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award semifinalist) and the cozy mystery CAST THE FIRST STONE.
Click here to visit her Amazon author page at 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
December 11, 2012
Romantic Suspense Spy Story CIA FALL GUY Free on Dec. 11
A major plot point is based on the actual bombing of the U.S. Army Officers Club in Frankfurt, Germany, in May 1972.
The novel takes place in 1997, a time in which the impact of the Cold War following World War II is still very much in evidence.
Here is the prologue of the novel — Berlin 1997:
The letters shimmered on the plain of the yellowed paper, the moisture in his eyes fogging the squiggles into botches. Letters birthed by an ancient East German typewriter, standard issue.David Ward coughed. The dust in these old East German Stasi — State Security Police — files penetrated his lungs. He was alone in the basement room eight years after the fall of the Berlin Wall had brought down the Stasi.
He had taken precautions not to be recognized.
A black trim wig enclosed his blond longish hair. One of those ridiculous German hats with the little feathers, as if he were about to climb the Zugspitze, held itself up next to the file. A cheap “East German” polyester suit hung loosely on his muscled body.
He had even padded his flat midriff with a cushion of cloth — the typical beer belly. He could be mistaken for a gastarbeiter — foreign worker — or one of those worker drones of the former German Democratic Republic. His clothes concealed his weapons.
He pushed his disguise glasses farther up the bridge of his nose, then rose to return the file. He had people to see.
Read the spy thriller now. Click here to go to its Kindle page.
Don’t have a Kindle? No problem. You can get a FREE Kindle app for your iPhone, iPad, Android, PC or Mac at http://amzn.to/NBoSGU
P.S. Please tell a friend about the free download of CIA FALL GUY today. Click here to tell a friend.
© 2012 Miller Mosaic LLC
Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of fiction and nonfiction books/ebooks, including the military fiction MRS. LIEUTENANT: A Sharon Gold Novel (2008 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award semifinalist) and the cozy mystery CAST THE FIRST STONE.
Click here to visit her Amazon author page at 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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