Phyllis Zimbler Miller's Posts - The Book Marketing Network
2024-03-28T20:35:45Z
Phyllis Zimbler Miller
http://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/profile/PhyllisZimblerMiller
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What I Learned About Online Promotion From Cathy Goodwin and Emilie Wapnick
tag:thebookmarketingnetwork.com,2011-10-24:523145:BlogPost:489089
2011-10-24T20:30:00.000Z
Phyllis Zimbler Miller
http://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/profile/PhyllisZimblerMiller
<p>I have an online history with copywriter Cathy Goodwin. When I self-published my novel <a href="http://www.mrslieutenant.com/">“Mrs. Lieutenant”</a> in the spring of 2008, I emailed Cathy, as a “Top 500” Amazon book reviewer, asking if she would review my novel.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I thought she might be more likely to say yes because we both had an M.B.A. from Wharton.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>What she said was no – she didn’t like to review first-time novelists because their books usually weren’t very…</p>
<p>I have an online history with copywriter Cathy Goodwin. When I self-published my novel <a href="http://www.mrslieutenant.com/">“Mrs. Lieutenant”</a> in the spring of 2008, I emailed Cathy, as a “Top 500” Amazon book reviewer, asking if she would review my novel.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I thought she might be more likely to say yes because we both had an M.B.A. from Wharton.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>What she said was no – she didn’t like to review first-time novelists because their books usually weren’t very good. I said I’d take the chance.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The end result? She gave the novel a good review. (You can read it for yourself if you scroll down the novel’s Amazon book page to <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Mrs-Lieutenant-Sharon-Gold-Novel/dp/1419686291/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1319437124&sr=1-1">reviews</a>.)</p>
<p> </p>
<p>After that I learned how good she was as an <a href="http://www.goodcatmarketing.com/">online copywriter</a>, and I have now taken several online copywriting courses with her.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A few days ago I was listening to an online webinar by Cathy about website home page copy. And another webinar participant, looking at the Miller Mosaic website header, said something about knowing she should use social media but not knowing how to start.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>And Cathy pointed out how things have changed:</strong></p>
<br/>
<p><strong>In previous years businesspeople had to be convinced of the value of social media. Now they know about the value but often do not know how to use social media successfully for their own businesses.</strong></p>
<p> </p>
<p>This is when I realized that the Miller Mosaic website header had to be changed (it is changed now) to reflect the shift in the social media business climate.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Almost immediately after this I bought and read the ebook “Renaissance Business” by Emilie Wapnick. I admit I bought the ebook because Yael emailed me that Michael Martine (<a href="http://remarkablogger.com/">Remarkablogger</a>), whom we both respect, recommended it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The ebook provides incredibly valuable information on combining multiple interests into one overall online personality, which truly spoke to me as I have several interests.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Reading the ebook twice (it has step-by-step recommendations), I realized I had overlooked a potentially valuable existing website of mine – <a href="http://www.fictionmarketing.com/">www.FictionMarketing.com</a> (which I am now resuscitating). I had done this in part because I believed I had to keep separate my multiple interests.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>I highly recommend you get the book <a href="https://www.e-junkie.com/ecom/gb.php?cl=155154&c=ib&aff=188674" target="ejejcsingle">“Renaissance Business”</a> for yourself if you want to be challenged to take your interests and “bundle them” into a coherent online whole.</strong> (This link for the ebook is an affiliate link; the other links in this post are not affiliate links.)</p>
<p> </p>
<p>What do Cathy Goodwin and Emilie Wapnick (with whom I don’t yet have an online history) have in common? Two very smart businesswomen who share their insights with others.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>P.S. What do you think of the revised Miller Mosaic website header?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>© 2011 Miller Mosaic LLC</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Phyllis Zimbler Miller (<a href="http://twitter.com/ZimblerMiller">@ZimblerMiller on Twitter</a>) has an M.B.A. from The Wharton School and is the co-founder of the marketing consulting company Miller Mosaic, LLC, which offers “done for you” and “do it yourself” social media services including <a href="http://www.millermosaicllc.com/call-to-action-websites">marketing-focused WordPress websites</a>.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><a href="https://plus.google.com/101796680714190030599/posts">Visit Phyllis’ “about” page on Google Plus.</a></p>
<p> </p>
<p>View information on Phyllis’ books and ebooks at <a href="http://budurl.com/PZMbooks">http://budurl.com/PZMbooks</a></p>
Strategies for Using Twitter Effectively Are the Focus of the September WeTeachWebMarketing.com Program
tag:thebookmarketingnetwork.com,2009-09-01:523145:BlogPost:228075
2009-09-01T04:18:24.000Z
Phyllis Zimbler Miller
http://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/profile/PhyllisZimblerMiller
Miller Mosaic, LLC focuses on strategies for using Twitter effectively in its September monthly WeTeachWebMarketing.com program.<br />
<br />
“We both love Twitter,” Yael K. Miller, partner in Miller Mosaic, LLC, said. “And we want to share our strategies with our program’s members.”<br />
<br />
Miller Mosaic, LLC partner Phyllis Zimbler Miller often writes about Twitter for her National Internet Business Examiner column at www.InternetBizBlogger.com.<br />
<br />
Join now at www.WeTeachWebMarketing.com to learn how to use…
Miller Mosaic, LLC focuses on strategies for using Twitter effectively in its September monthly WeTeachWebMarketing.com program.<br />
<br />
“We both love Twitter,” Yael K. Miller, partner in Miller Mosaic, LLC, said. “And we want to share our strategies with our program’s members.”<br />
<br />
Miller Mosaic, LLC partner Phyllis Zimbler Miller often writes about Twitter for her National Internet Business Examiner column at www.InternetBizBlogger.com.<br />
<br />
Join now at www.WeTeachWebMarketing.com to learn how to use Twitter effectively to promote your brand, book or business. And you’ll be able to submit questions for the follow-up question-and-answer September 14th teleseminar about Twitter.<br />
<br />
WeTeachWebMarketing.com began in July 2009 with an overview of marketing on the Internet. The August program focused on branding. Each month a different topic is the focus in order not to overwhelm Internet marketing newcomers with too much information all at once.<br />
<br />
Miller Mosaic, LLC combines traditional marketing principles with the power of Internet marketing strategies to promote your business more effectively. Customized Twitter workshops are available by teleconferencing – see www.TeachMetoTweetNow.com.
Internet Marketing Training – What Areas of Cyberspace Should You Be Knowledgeable About
tag:thebookmarketingnetwork.com,2009-07-15:523145:BlogPost:216953
2009-07-15T19:08:24.000Z
Phyllis Zimbler Miller
http://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/profile/PhyllisZimblerMiller
Internet marketing training can cover many different aspects of the Internet. And choosing which areas to start learning about can be an overwhelming task in itself.<br />
<br />
<b>Let’s simplify this process by planning a “learning” agenda:</b><br />
<br />
• Social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn can be good places to start because, once understood, these do not need that many hours a week for effective Internet marketing.<br />
<br />
Twitter appears to be the simplest with its 140-character tweet…
Internet marketing training can cover many different aspects of the Internet. And choosing which areas to start learning about can be an overwhelming task in itself.<br />
<br />
<b>Let’s simplify this process by planning a “learning” agenda:</b><br />
<br />
• Social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn can be good places to start because, once understood, these do not need that many hours a week for effective Internet marketing.<br />
<br />
Twitter appears to be the simplest with its 140-character tweet (update) limit, but it is actually deceptively simple. It’s best to read as many blog posts and articles as you can before you start on Twitter. You want to ensure that you start off on the right foot for effective Internet marketing.<br />
<br />
Facebook and LinkedIn offer more privacy controls for people concerned about privacy. But if you are using social media for marketing your brand, book or business, privacy should NOT be one of your main concerns. You want as many people as possible to connect with you.<br />
<br />
While I haven’t found that much interaction opportunities in the Facebook groups, being an active member of groups on LinkedIn can provide networking opportunities if you take the time to answer questions posted in the groups.<br />
<br />
If you have difficulties using these social media platforms successively, there are many people who offer free or fee training programs. Do a Google search and you should find a good list of possibilities.<br />
<br />
• Blogging is an effective Internet marketing strategy if you are willing to devote the time to writing at least three posts a week and also answering any comments left on your posts.<br />
<br />
Here again training can be helpful in choosing which blogging software to use and which applications to put on blogs. (For example, you don’t want to clutter your blogs with distracting elements that interfere with people reading your actual posts.)<br />
<br />
There is also a great deal of useful information to learn about blogging, including how to handle negative comments and how to format your posts for ease of reading.<br />
<br />
• Article marketing – writing articles that are posted on article directories and as guest blog posts – can be extremely effective for online promotion if you know how to write effective headlines, effective first paragraphs, and content that people will find valuable.<br />
<br />
Article directory ezinearticles.com, for example, helps people improve their article marketing by providing numerous information emails.<br />
<br />
• Video marketing – posting to YouTube and other free video-sharing sites – can be another effective Internet marketing strategy.<br />
<br />
While you don’t need a professional camera to make your videos, some basic tips are good to know. It would be a good idea to learn these tips before you start posting marketing videos in cyberspace.<br />
<br />
<b>The bottom line is that, for all your Internet marketing activities, you want to make the most effective use of these activities. Internet marketing training can help fill in the gaps in your knowledge base.</b><br />
___<br />
<br />
Phyllis Zimbler Miller’s company has launched the Miller Mosaic Internet Marketing Program at <a href="http://www.weteachwebmarketing.com" target="_blank">www.WeTeachWebMarketing.com</a> to help people market their brand, book and business online, and she’s a National Internet Business Examiner at <a href="http://www.internetbizblogger.com" target="_blank">www.InternetBizBlogger.com</a> . Follow her on Twitter at <a href="http://twitter.com/ZimblerMiller" target="_blank">http://twitter.com/ZimblerMiller<br />
</a>
How Can Persuasive Selling Help You Sell More Books?
tag:thebookmarketingnetwork.com,2009-07-15:523145:BlogPost:216738
2009-07-15T05:57:59.000Z
Phyllis Zimbler Miller
http://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/profile/PhyllisZimblerMiller
If we’re book authors and we want to sell more books – and who doesn’t – we need to use all the savvy of traditional marketers and Internet marketers to help sell our books.<br />
<br />
In my opinion one of the most overlooked book promotion strategies is what I call “persuasive selling.” It’s putting yourself in the potential buyer’s mind.<br />
<br />
In other words, instead of saying what you want to say about your book, you say what the potential buyer needs to hear to be motivated to buy your book.<br />
<b><br />
Let’s…</b>
If we’re book authors and we want to sell more books – and who doesn’t – we need to use all the savvy of traditional marketers and Internet marketers to help sell our books.<br />
<br />
In my opinion one of the most overlooked book promotion strategies is what I call “persuasive selling.” It’s putting yourself in the potential buyer’s mind.<br />
<br />
In other words, instead of saying what you want to say about your book, you say what the potential buyer needs to hear to be motivated to buy your book.<br />
<b><br />
Let’s imagine this scenario:</b><br />
<br />
I’ve written a fantasy novel complete with fairies and elves. And I meet you in the grocery store and tell you I’ve just had a fantasy novel published. You say: “What’s it about?”<br />
<br />
And I say: “It’s about a whole invisible village of fairies and elves. They have an over-population problem so the town elder calls them to a meeting and they …”<br />
<br />
And you suddenly remember you forgot the sugar four aisles back and you’re out of there.<br />
<br />
<b>Now let’s rewind and try this conversation again.</b><br />
<br />
You say: “What’s it about?”<br />
<br />
And I say: “A 12-year-old boy suddenly learns he has 48 hours to save his village of fairies and elves, and he must do this even though the evil overlord is gunning for him.”<br />
<br />
And you say: “Do you have a card with the book’s website?”<br />
<br />
In reviewing these two scenarios, what’s the difference?<br />
<br />
In the first one I the author want to tell you all about my story even if you could care less about the town’s problems, etc. In the second one I the author tell you what will most likely interest you – a David-and-Goliath story of good against evil.<br />
<br />
If you want to motivate people in person or on your website to buy your book, practice drawing them into your book’s story with a very short and pointed hook – something that will interest them.<br />
<br />
Of course, the same recommendation goes for a nonfiction book. You don’t want to start with describing how many people you interviewed to find the secret to living longer. You want to simply state that the book offers seven secrets to living longer – secrets that are easy to do if you only know how. And your book reveals how.<br />
<br />
With a little practice you should be able to use persuasive selling to help sell more of your books.<br />
___<br />
<br />
Phyllis Zimbler Miller’s company has just launched the Miller Mosaic Internet Marketing Program to help people promote their brand, book or business online at <a href="http://www.weteachwebmarketing.com" target="_blank">www.WeTeachWebMarketing.com</a> and Phyllis is a National Internet Business Examiner at <a href="http://www.internetbizblogger.com" target="_blank">www.InternetBizBlogger.com</a>. Her novel MRS. LIEUTENANT was a 2008 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award semi-finalist (<a href="http://www.mrslieutenant.com" target="_blank">www.MrsLieutenant.com</a>).
How to Explain to Your Mother, Husband, Best Friend That Twitter Is Not a Waste of Time
tag:thebookmarketingnetwork.com,2009-07-07:523145:BlogPost:215056
2009-07-07T20:39:27.000Z
Phyllis Zimbler Miller
http://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/profile/PhyllisZimblerMiller
A good friend said to me: “Why would anyone be on Twitter?” Mind you, he’s never been on Twitter and he doesn’t know a thing about it. But he’s a successful lawyer and thinks he knows what’s what.<br />
<b><br />
In reply, I’ve decided to come up with a list of answers for when someone asks you this question:</b><br />
<br />
1. Getting news updates before the news media<br />
<br />
2. Asking technical software/hardware questions and getting answers<br />
<br />
3. Asking for referrals for a plumber in your hometown area<br />
<br />
4. Getting book…
A good friend said to me: “Why would anyone be on Twitter?” Mind you, he’s never been on Twitter and he doesn’t know a thing about it. But he’s a successful lawyer and thinks he knows what’s what.<br />
<b><br />
In reply, I’ve decided to come up with a list of answers for when someone asks you this question:</b><br />
<br />
1. Getting news updates before the news media<br />
<br />
2. Asking technical software/hardware questions and getting answers<br />
<br />
3. Asking for referrals for a plumber in your hometown area<br />
<br />
4. Getting book recommendations in 140 characters instead of rambling book reviews<br />
<br />
5. Connecting with people you’ve met on LinkedIn or Facebook and want a quicker way to message them<br />
<br />
6. Getting links to specific industry news<br />
<br />
7. Sharing valuable blog posts<br />
<br />
8. Sharing information about your own projects<br />
<br />
9. Giving testimonials<br />
<br />
10. Getting tips in all kinds of subjects<br />
<br />
11. Getting help when you have a problem with, for example, your Sprint account<br />
<br />
12. Connecting with higher-level people than you could through other communication channels<br />
<br />
Perhaps the reason I like best is that I use my Twitter contacts as information filters. I certainly don’t have time to read everything I’d like to read. Thus when someone whose opinion I really trust tweets that this is a good article and includes the link, I’ll click through to take a quick look. More often than not, I’m glad I was alerted to the information.<br />
<br />
Of course, it’s important when being on Twitter to be a giver and not just a taker. In other words, you have to share good info also – and not just info that you’ve written. For example, when I’ve read a particularly informative article in that day’s Wall Street Journal, I’ll tweet the link if there’s a public link available for that story.<br />
<br />
Also, Twitter offers the ability to widen your own world – and to do this from the convenience of your computer. Most of us tend to stick to the people we know. But on Twitter we can have conversations with people all over the country (and globe if they tweet in English) – people we would never otherwise have the opportunity to meet.<br />
<br />
For my part, I’m going to come up with a good “put down” line for when people say: “Why would anyone be on Twitter?” Something like: “You don’t know what you’re missing.” Or: “Try it, you’ll like.” Or finally: “If you try it and become a Twitter addict, don’t blame me.”<br />
<br />
<b>Phyllis Zimbler Miller’s company MillerMosaicLLC.com has an Internet marketing program that can help people promote their brand, book or business through Twitter and other online strategies. See http://budurl.com/marketingonweb for program information. She is also a National Internet Business Examiner at http://www.InternetBizBlogger.com.<br />
</b>
5 Tips for Joining Your First Social Media Site Such as Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn
tag:thebookmarketingnetwork.com,2009-07-02:523145:BlogPost:214307
2009-07-02T23:58:32.000Z
Phyllis Zimbler Miller
http://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/profile/PhyllisZimblerMiller
Getting started on social media can often be deceptively simple – What’s the big deal? You sign up. – or intimidating – Why am I being asked for my date of birth? – or overwhelming – How do I find people to friend or follow?<br />
<br />
The truth is that this is a world of official and unofficial rules. It is easier if you start out knowing what’s what, and this is probably especially important if you’re more of an introvert.<br />
<br />
Let’s imagine you already use email, search for information on Google, and read…
Getting started on social media can often be deceptively simple – What’s the big deal? You sign up. – or intimidating – Why am I being asked for my date of birth? – or overwhelming – How do I find people to friend or follow?<br />
<br />
The truth is that this is a world of official and unofficial rules. It is easier if you start out knowing what’s what, and this is probably especially important if you’re more of an introvert.<br />
<br />
Let’s imagine you already use email, search for information on Google, and read blog posts. But you’ve never joined any social media sites. How do you start?<br />
<br />
<b>1. Decide how comfortable you are sharing information about yourself.</b> And the corollary to this – how wide a sharing of this information are you willing to do.<br />
<br />
If you’re a book author and want people to buy your book, it’s a good idea to decide that you will share personal (although not private) information to as wide an audience as possible. If you only want to connect online with former high school friends, your target audience is much smaller.<br />
<br />
If sharing information makes you somewhat nervous, think about what it means to be personal as opposed to private. Personal is a good marketing book you just read that you can recommend to help others; private is a fight you had with your business partner over implementing the marketing steps recommended in the book.<b><br />
<br />
2. Ask online savvy friends which popular site they would recommend you start with based on your goal.</b> (And do start with just one while getting your feet wet in this brave new world.)<br />
<br />
• If your goal, for example, is to have a wide audience, then Twitter may be the best choice because of its “open to everyone” format.<br />
<br />
• If you only want to search for high school friends, then Facebook may be the best choice as you can confine your information to a very small circle and can search by name for those long-long friends.<br />
<br />
• If you want to make connections to help with a future job search, then LinkedIn, whose format is set up for such a process, may be the best choice for you.<br />
<br />
<b>3. Once you have chosen the site you’ll start on, do a Google search for information on effectively using that site.</b> That’s right, before you ever sign up, read some blog posts that provide guidance on effectively using the site.<br />
<br />
Now this isn’t a research project that serves as an excuse for postponing actually joining the site. Just learn a few of the basic “rules.” And if you do this step, you’ll be way ahead of most other people who start on social media without first doing any research.<br />
<br />
And why not learn this on the site itself? Because most of these sites have inadequate information for newcomers or an abundance of information that overwhelms newcomers.<br />
<br />
Plus, to encourage you to sign up, the site’s home page says something like: To join now just do this. And it’s only after you’ve provided your name, email, password, etc. that you’re left wondering “What do I do next?”<br />
<b><br />
4. If you’re starting on a site that doesn’t require your real name, choose a username carefully.</b> You want to think about seeing this name used all across cyberspace as lots of social media sites pull information from other social media sites (with your permission, of course).<br />
<br />
You may initially think, for example, of choosing the name of your first book. But what happens when you write a second book? Or perhaps using the name of the book won’t work well for a site that is focused on a non-book arena.<br />
<br />
Remember that what you do on the internet theoretically lives forever. So this choice of a username should be considered carefully and for continued use in the long-run. (Once you’ve established a good online reputation with one username you don’t want to start at square one again with a new username.)<br />
<br />
<b>5. Immediately post a photo of yourself – a headshot in which sunglasses and a baseball cap are not blocking people from totally seeing your eyes.</b> (This does not have to be professional-photographer quality but should not be blurry.)<br />
<br />
This photo should be one that will also work on social media sites you will join in the future because you want consistency across these sites. You want consistency to help people recognize and connect with you on more than one site. (The same for your username.)<br />
<br />
Keep in mind that the photos for Twitter are quite small. And even if you’re starting on Facebook, only include a headshot of yourself. Do not include other people and preferably not animals and other props.<br />
<br />
By posting a good headshot of yourself you’re signaling that you’re interested in connecting with people – real people such as yourself – and you’ll be off to a good start on your first social media site.<br />
<br />
Now that you’ve read these five tips for starting on your first social media site, what are you waiting for? Join the cyberspace social media community today.<br />
___<br />
<b><br />
Phyllis Zimbler Miller's company Miller Mosaic LLC has just launched the <a href="http://www.millermosaicllc.com/miller-mosaic-internet-marketing-program" target="_blank">Miller Mosaic Internet Marketing Program</a> to help people promote their brand, book or business. She is also a <a href="http://www.internetbizblogger.com" target="_blank">National Internet Business Examiner</a>.</b>
10 Ways for a Book Author to Share Free Content on the Internet
tag:thebookmarketingnetwork.com,2009-07-01:523145:BlogPost:214013
2009-07-01T05:14:14.000Z
Phyllis Zimbler Miller
http://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/profile/PhyllisZimblerMiller
Book authors sell their books -- the fruits of their writing labor. Thus it may seem counterintuitive to recommend that, for online book marketing success, book authors must be willing to share abundant free content.<br />
<br />
Why is this?<br />
<br />
On the Internet people are usually looking for relationships (connections) before buying something. Even if the book author has an effective website – one that makes it immediately clear what’s on offer and provides an easily visible BUY button, this effective…
Book authors sell their books -- the fruits of their writing labor. Thus it may seem counterintuitive to recommend that, for online book marketing success, book authors must be willing to share abundant free content.<br />
<br />
Why is this?<br />
<br />
On the Internet people are usually looking for relationships (connections) before buying something. Even if the book author has an effective website – one that makes it immediately clear what’s on offer and provides an easily visible BUY button, this effective website is often not enough by itself to motivate buying the author’s book.<br />
<br />
<b>Let’s look at 10 ways that fiction and nonfiction authors can share free content:<br />
</b><br />
1. Offer a free sample chapter on their websites and on other sites around the Internet.<br />
<br />
2. Write a blog with information based on their book or on another interest.<br />
<br />
3. Provide book group discussion questions.<br />
<br />
4. Leave thoughtful comments on other people’s blog posts.<br />
<br />
5. Participate in conversations on Twitter.<br />
<br />
6. Write articles and upload these to article directories such as Ezinearticles.com.<br />
<br />
7. Participate in groups on Facebook and LinkedIn.<br />
<br />
8. Write book reviews on Amazon.<br />
<br />
9. Write brief book review comments on Glue.com.<br />
<br />
10. Upload several chapters or the entire book to fReado.com.<br />
<br />
<b>Now let’s discuss what all this free content sharing does:</b><br />
<br />
• Perhaps most importantly, it demonstrates that you can indeed write well – that your book is probably well-written.<br />
<br />
• It also demonstrates that you’re not just out to sell your books. You’re interested in engaging with readers. In fact, readers can contact you directly at social media sites such as Twitter.<br />
<br />
• Third benefit? You may have just written enough new material to compile into an ebook that you can sell off your website.<br />
<br />
• And, finally, it does help you sell your books because people are reminded of you and your book at different places around the Web. How many times have you decided to buy something and then forgotten to buy it? With your name and writing examples all over cyberspace you’ve provided potential fans with subtle reminders about your book.<br />
<br />
Some writers are concerned that others will “steal” their material if that material is so easily accessible. I believe you have to be willing to take this slight risk in order to reap the greater probability of having people become interested in your writing.<br />
<br />
Although some writers are happy to write only for themselves, most writers would like as large a reading public as possible. Being willing to share free content on the Web can help book authors attract a wider fan base.<br />
<br />
<b><i>Phyllis Zimbler Miller's company Miller Mosaic, LLC just launched the Miller Mosaic Internet Marketing Program with a focus on book marketing. Learn more now at http://budurl.com/marketingonweb</i></b>
How to Maximize Your Author Website
tag:thebookmarketingnetwork.com,2009-06-28:523145:BlogPost:213608
2009-06-28T20:05:20.000Z
Phyllis Zimbler Miller
http://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/profile/PhyllisZimblerMiller
In the last two days I’ve looked at two new book author sites of people on Twitter. In both cases I had no<p style="text-align: left;"><img alt="" height="69" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2997435604?profile=original" width="226"></img></p>
idea whether the book was currently available for sale.<br />
<br></br>In each case I tweeted the question to the book author. One author replied with a list of all the places his book was for sale, and I kindly suggested that this information could be obvious on his site. The other author replied no, his book still awaited professional editing. And I…
In the last two days I’ve looked at two new book author sites of people on Twitter. In both cases I had no<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2997435604?profile=original" alt="" width="226" height="69"/></p>
idea whether the book was currently available for sale.<br />
<br/>In each case I tweeted the question to the book author. One author replied with a list of all the places his book was for sale, and I kindly suggested that this information could be obvious on his site. The other author replied no, his book still awaited professional editing. And I replied kindly that I strongly believe in professional editing.
<br />
<br/>And then I said to my exercise partner Susan Chodakiewitz, the author of the new children’s picture book “<a href="http://www.toomanyvisitorsforonelittlehouse.com" target="_blank">Too Many Visitors for One Little House</a>”: How difficult is it to figure out that on the one site there needs to be a big BUY THIS BOOK NOW and on the other there needs to be a big COMING SOON?
<b><br />
<br/>Your website visitors are not mind readers. And even if they were, they have better things to do than figure out what you want them to do in connection with your book.</b>
<br />
<br/>If your book is for sale, make it easy for your website visitors to click a link and immediately buy your book. For an example of this, see my book site <a href="http://www.mrslieutenant.com" target="_blank">www.MrsLieutenant.com</a>. The Amazon widget to buy the book is “above the fold” and on every page of the site.
<br />
<br/>And even if your book isn’t out yet, it is a good idea to have a website to start attracting interest. BUT – and this is an important but – let website visitors immediately know the book is not yet out so they don’t get frustrated trying to find the BUY button and click away. And at the same time do try to capture the email addresses of the website visitors so that you can notify people when the book is available.
<br />
<br/>One good way to interest people in following the progress of your upcoming book is to include a blog on your website. Then, of course, the challenge is writing blog posts that your target market finds of value. If you want ideas for blogging to promote your books (and especially fiction), see the free blogging report I wrote with Carolyn Howard-Johnson at <a href="http://www.fictionmarketing.com" target="_blank">www.FictionMarketing.com</a>.
<br />
<br/>Now that we’ve covered this most important book author website element, let’s briefly look at some other essential elements.
<br />
<br/>On the home page “above the fold” – let people know what your book is about. Don’t make people guess whether it is fiction or nonfiction if the title doesn’t make this clear.
<br />
<br/>Don’t use, for example, dark blue type against a light blue background. Or at least don’t use this if you want people to actually read what your book is about. Preferably use black type (of a large-enough size) on a white background for ease of reading.
<br />
<br/>Do include book discussion guidelines to encourage reading groups to consider your book.
<br />
<br/>Do include basic search engine optimization – see my Examiner.com blog post <a href="http://budurl.com/metatagsexplained" target="_blank">http://budurl.com/metatagsexplained</a> for information about this.
<br />
<br/>Do make it very clear how someone can get in touch with you or learn more about you: Include your Twitter username, Facebook profile, etc. as well as email address.
<br />
<br/>And do include a photo of yourself on your website – readers like to know what the author of a book looks like.
<br />
<br/>One final recommendation: If your book is still in the planning stage, make sure that the cover of the book “reads” well reduced to the size of a book displayed on Amazon. If you have a great cover that only makes an impact full-size, re-consider that design. You want a book cover that can make an impact in a much smaller size.
___<br />
<br />
Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of the novel <a href="http://www.mrslieutenant.com" target="_blank">www.MrsLieutenant.com</a> and a National Internet Business Examiner at <a href="http://www.internetbizblogger.com" target="_blank">www.InternetBizBlogger.com</a>. She is also the head of <a href="http://www.millermosaicllc.com" target="_blank">www.MillerMosaicLLC.com</a>, an internet marketing company that helps people promote their brand, book or business. <b>On July 1st the company will launch the Miller Mosaic Internet Marketing Program.</b>
Your Book Is Judged by Its Cover — 7 Tips for Effective Internet Book Selling
tag:thebookmarketingnetwork.com,2009-06-23:523145:BlogPost:213004
2009-06-23T15:43:05.000Z
Phyllis Zimbler Miller
http://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/profile/PhyllisZimblerMiller
Books have always been judged by their covers. In a bookstore you look at the cover first, then turn over the book to read the back cover. Or maybe you next read the inside front and back flap covers of a hardcover book.<br />
<br />
Now, though, many of us judge a book by first seeing it on the Internet — even if we ultimately buy the book in a bookstore using a 30% off coupon.<br />
<br />
And on the Internet, especially on Amazon, the book cover is a tiny thing. And, yes, many books on Amazon have the LOOK INSIDE…
Books have always been judged by their covers. In a bookstore you look at the cover first, then turn over the book to read the back cover. Or maybe you next read the inside front and back flap covers of a hardcover book.<br />
<br />
Now, though, many of us judge a book by first seeing it on the Internet — even if we ultimately buy the book in a bookstore using a 30% off coupon.<br />
<br />
And on the Internet, especially on Amazon, the book cover is a tiny thing. And, yes, many books on Amazon have the LOOK INSIDE feature. Still, your book cover has nanoseconds to connect with a potential buyer before that person clicks away to another book.<br />
<br />
<b>Here are seven tips for a book cover that gets people interested in your book:<br />
</b><br />
1. Decide on your book cover design by looking at it the exact size it will appear on Amazon. Yes. many books on Amazon have LOOK INSIDE. Still, your book cover has nanoseconds to convince someone to stay around and learn more.<br />
<br />
2. Make sure your book cover clearly conveys what the book is about - is it a novel, a how-to book, a memoir? Yes, the title has the heavy lifting duty here, but our brains process pictures faster than words. Use the design cover to speak to our brains.<br />
<br />
3. Make sure the title and your name can be clearly read against the cover art. Some books might, for example, use light blue type against a dark blue background. This is not the easiest to read, especially when reduced to a tiny photo.<br />
<br />
4. Make sure the size of the title and your name are large enough to be read when reduced to a tiny photo. A great title does no good if it can’t be read when reduced in size.<br />
<br />
5. Choose simplicity over complexity. You want the eye to be drawn to the title and a photo that makes an impact on the brain. You don’t want a cover with so many competing elements that the eye doesn’t know where to look first — so the person simply clicks away rather than suffer the confusion.<br />
<br />
6. Graphic artists are not necessarily the best people to hire to design your book cover. There are specialists in book cover design who know the additional details that should be considered when designing a book cover.<br />
<br />
7. Make sure the cover doesn’t mislead the potential buyer. No nude women on the cover of a how-to about growing roses in your garden. On the other hand, you don’t necessarily have to have a rose on that book’s cover. But the book’s cover should have the look and feel that is complementary with the tone of the book.<br />
<br />
<b>Bonus tip:</b> No matter how good the cover is, if your book is filled with grammatical errors, incorrect punctuation and spell-check errors (such as their for there), people will be disappointed with your book. If you’re self-publishing, hire a professional copyeditor before you publish the book. Your reading public will thank you.<br />
___<br />
<br />
Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of the novel www.MrsLieutenant.com and a National Internet Business Examiner at www.InternetBizBlogger.com. She is also the head of www.MillerMosaicLLC.com, an internet marketing company that helps people promote their brand, book or business. On July 1st the company will launch the Miller Mosaic Internet Marketing Program.
How Authors Can Use Their Books as the Basis for an Internet Business
tag:thebookmarketingnetwork.com,2009-06-23:523145:BlogPost:213003
2009-06-23T15:23:01.000Z
Phyllis Zimbler Miller
http://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/profile/PhyllisZimblerMiller
Whether you have a fiction or nonfiction book, there’s a lot more gold in that tome than you may realize.<br />
<br />
Let me show you what I mean:<br />
<br />
We’ll start with a nonfiction book we’ll call 15 WAYS TO START AN ONLINE BUSINESS. And we’ll agree that:<br />
<br />
• The book has been published (whether from a traditional publisher or self-published doesn’t matter).<br />
<br />
• Each of the 15 ways has an individual chapter.<br />
<br />
• You have a website for your book.<br />
<br />
Now you take those 15 chapters – and you plan and record a…
Whether you have a fiction or nonfiction book, there’s a lot more gold in that tome than you may realize.<br />
<br />
Let me show you what I mean:<br />
<br />
We’ll start with a nonfiction book we’ll call 15 WAYS TO START AN ONLINE BUSINESS. And we’ll agree that:<br />
<br />
• The book has been published (whether from a traditional publisher or self-published doesn’t matter).<br />
<br />
• Each of the 15 ways has an individual chapter.<br />
<br />
• You have a website for your book.<br />
<br />
Now you take those 15 chapters – and you plan and record a one-hour teleseminar around each one. Voila! You now have 15 teleseminars that you can sell off your website. And as easy as this you now have an internet business.<br />
<br />
Of course, as your mindset focuses on having an internet business based on your nonfiction book, you’ll begin to see other opportunities. Perhaps there’s an expert in a related area who you would like to interview and then sell that interview. Or perhaps you’d like to offer one-on-one coaching through the internet or telephone.<br />
<br />
Once you’ve done all the heavy lifting of creating a good book, don’t stop there. Keep looking for how you can build on that basis.<br />
<br />
And what if you have a fiction book? Yes, it isn’t quite as easy as a nonfiction book to use as a basis for an online business, but we’re writers – let’s use our imagination to think of a possible scenario for this endeavor:<br />
<br />
Let’s say your novel, like my novel MRS. LIEUTENANT, takes place during the Vietnam War. There are many people alive today who are too young to have any knowledge about this war. What if you wrote ebooks about the war from the point of view of the people in the different countries involved in the fighting?<br />
<br />
You could do research and write an ebook about the United States’ role in the Vietnam War and include the U.S. military point of view as well as that of the U.S. war protestors’ point of view. And then you could do research and write an ebook about Australia’s role in the Vietnam War and include the Australians’ opposing viewpoints.<br />
<br />
Okay, maybe this isn’t an exciting example. How about – if you’ve written a romance novel – doing research and writing ebooks about dating relationships?<br />
<br />
One ebook might be “The 7 Ways You Can Blow a Relationship in Only 10 Minutes.” Would people buy that ebook? I think so. And I also think people might buy a series of teleseminars that you host with different dating experts.<br />
<br />
Now does this romance/dating example get your thinking cap fired up? It does mine – if only I could write a good romance novel ….<br />
<br />
Step back from being the author of your published book and instead think about how you can develop your book’s “brand” into an online business. You’ll probably be surprised how many good ideas you can come up with.<br />
<br />
___<br />
<br />
Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of the novel www.MrsLieutenant.com and a National Internet Business Examiner at www.InternetBizBlogger.com. She is also the head of www.MillerMosaicLLC.com, an internet marketing company that helps people promote their brand, book or business. On July 1st the company will launch the Miller Mosaic Internet Marketing Program.
Preparing to launch an online information product: Day 1 of the pre-launch
tag:thebookmarketingnetwork.com,2009-06-16:523145:BlogPost:207630
2009-06-16T06:18:40.000Z
Phyllis Zimbler Miller
http://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/profile/PhyllisZimblerMiller
<p style="text-align: left;"><img alt="" height="282" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2997435530?profile=original" width="425"></img></p>
I’ve been studying online information product launches for a year now, and I’m finally ready to launch my own online information product – the Miller Mosaic Internet Marketing Program.<br />
<br />
(FYI: An information “product” can be an ebook, a webinar series, a teleseminar series, a membership program – whatever uses the Internet to provide information.)<br />
<br />
<b>The Miller Mosaic program will launch July 1st</b>, and I’m going to take the readers of this blog…
<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2997435530?profile=original" alt="" width="425" height="282"/></p>
I’ve been studying online information product launches for a year now, and I’m finally ready to launch my own online information product – the Miller Mosaic Internet Marketing Program.<br />
<br />
(FYI: An information “product” can be an ebook, a webinar series, a teleseminar series, a membership program – whatever uses the Internet to provide information.)<br />
<br />
<b>The Miller Mosaic program will launch July 1st</b>, and I’m going to take the readers of this blog along with me starting today, June 1st, as I do pre-launch activities.<br />
<br />
I’m hoping that these almost-daily posts will provide a step-by-step manual for you if you want to launch your own information product or simply provide you with valuable information for your own internet marketing.<br />
<br />
And at the end of the month I plan to put all the posts into an ebook, which will be a bonus free gift to people who join the Miller Mosaic Internet Marketing Program and will be sold on my website for people who don’t join the program.<br />
<b><br />
What is the Miller Mosaic Internet Marketing Program?</b><br />
<br />
It’s a monthly membership program for only $19.95 that will share with newbies as well as more advanced internet marketers the valuable information I’ve amassed over a year of intense study.<br />
<b><br />
During the past year I’ve spent hundreds and hundreds of hours and dollars</b> listening to teleseminars, taking webinars, reading book after book purchased from Amazon and ebook after ebook bought or gotten for free online, plus reading as many tweets and blog posts as I could squeeze into my day and still find time to sleep.<br />
<br />
Now I’m taking all the information and material, digesting it, and providing it in this very affordable program to any Internet marketer who wants to save 1) time, 2) money, and 3) aggravation.<br />
<br />
In tomorrow’s post I’ll tell you more about the actual program. Today I want to start you on the path I’m taking for this pre-launch month.<br />
<br />
<b>Here’s what I’ve done in the past few hours:<br />
</b><br />
• Sent an email about this month of pre-launch blog posts to some of my online contacts asking if they’ll post the feed to the blog on their website or blog.<br />
<br />
• Gone through my client list on my <a href="http://snipurl.com/cartaffiliate">shopping cart vendor</a> and “cleaned up” the list – removed all my test entries, capitalized where people didn’t capitalize the first initial of their name, etc.<br />
• Then sent an email blast to my Miller Mosaic, LLC list announcing the start of the month of special blog posts.<br />
<br />
• Emailed the eight original special reports I’ve just written for the membership program to an online community strategist for her input on these reports.<br />
<br />
• Put a link on <a href="http://www.millermosaicllc.com">MillerMosaicLLC.com</a> announcing the blog series and linking to the blog.<br />
<br />
• And of course I’ve written this blog post.<br />
<br />
What else am I hoping to achieve before I write the next blog post? My business partner Yael Miller is checking with the <a href="http://member.wishlistproducts.com/wlp.php?af=993102">membership software company</a> we’ve chosen after much research to use for our membership program.<br />
<br />
We want to know: Can we have a different page header on the membership program even though it will be on the MillerMosaicLLC.com site? Or do we have to use the header from that site on the membership section?<br />
<br />
To make sure you don’t miss a post in this month-long series, you can put the feed of this blog into your feed reader -- http://www.examiner.com/RSS-8114-Internet-Business-Examiner<br />
<br />
And to see my list of recommended internet business resources -- including John Kremer's 10 million eyeballs marketing -- scroll down the right-hand side of the blog's home page at http://budurl.com/internetbusiness<br />
<br />
© 2009 Miller Mosaic, LLC
Special Twitter Event on Tuesday, March 31, from 6-7 pm PACIFIC on Writing Book Proposals
tag:thebookmarketingnetwork.com,2009-03-30:523145:BlogPost:189668
2009-03-30T15:26:36.000Z
Phyllis Zimbler Miller
http://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/profile/PhyllisZimblerMiller
Carolyn Howard-Johnson (@FrugalBookPromo) and Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller) are hosting a tweetchat for everyone interested in learning how to write a book proposal.<br />
Use the hashtag #bkpro to join the conversation.<br />
<br />
The easiest way to participate in this conversation is to go to www.tweetchat.com at 6 p.m. Pacific and enter your Twitter username and password. Then in the room prompt enter #fbkpro. And that’s it. And when you tweet from inside this “room,” the hashtag #bkpro will be…
Carolyn Howard-Johnson (@FrugalBookPromo) and Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller) are hosting a tweetchat for everyone interested in learning how to write a book proposal.<br />
Use the hashtag #bkpro to join the conversation.<br />
<br />
The easiest way to participate in this conversation is to go to www.tweetchat.com at 6 p.m. Pacific and enter your Twitter username and password. Then in the room prompt enter #fbkpro. And that’s it. And when you tweet from inside this “room,” the hashtag #bkpro will be automatically added to your tweet. Only if you are outside the room and participating do you need to add #bkpro to your tweets so they will show up in the tweetchat room.
SPECIAL EVENT ON TWITTER ON TUESDAY, MARCH 10, FROM 6 TO 7 P.M. PACIFIC FOR FICTION BOOK AUTHORS, AGENTS AND PUBLISHERS
tag:thebookmarketingnetwork.com,2009-03-09:523145:BlogPost:179272
2009-03-09T00:52:13.000Z
Phyllis Zimbler Miller
http://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/profile/PhyllisZimblerMiller
Carolyn Howard-Johnson (@FrugalBookPromo) and I (@ZimblerMiller) are hosting a <b>tweetchat for Twitter fiction book authors, agents and publishers</b> on Tuesday, March 10, from 6 to 7 p.m. Pacific to share fiction book marketing ideas. Use the hashtag #ficbkmkt to join the conversation.<br />
<br />
The easiest way to participate in this conversation is to go to www.tweetchat.com at 6 p.m. Pacific and enter your Twitter username and password. Then in the room prompt enter #ficbkmkt. And that’s it. And…
Carolyn Howard-Johnson (@FrugalBookPromo) and I (@ZimblerMiller) are hosting a <b>tweetchat for Twitter fiction book authors, agents and publishers</b> on Tuesday, March 10, from 6 to 7 p.m. Pacific to share fiction book marketing ideas. Use the hashtag #ficbkmkt to join the conversation.<br />
<br />
The easiest way to participate in this conversation is to go to www.tweetchat.com at 6 p.m. Pacific and enter your Twitter username and password. Then in the room prompt enter #ficbkmkt. And that’s it. And when you tweet from inside this “room,” the hashtag #ficbkmkt will be automatically added to your tweet. Only if you are outside the room and participating do you need to add #fictbkmkt to your tweets so they will show up in the tweetchat room.
Mrs. Lieutenant: Thanks for a Year of Learning and Sharing
tag:thebookmarketingnetwork.com,2008-12-26:523145:BlogPost:157723
2008-12-26T00:30:14.000Z
Phyllis Zimbler Miller
http://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/profile/PhyllisZimblerMiller
Almost exactly a year ago at the end of December 2007 I had the epiphany that I didn’t need to wait any longer for someone to say yes to me. I signed up for BookSurge – Amazon’s print-on-demand publisher – to publish my novel <a href="http://www.mrslieutenant.com">MRS. LIEUTENANT</a>.<br />
<br />
In January I learned that MRS. LIEUTENANT had been chosen as a semi-finalist in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award (an occurrence totally separate from the BookSurge decision). Amazon gave each of us…
Almost exactly a year ago at the end of December 2007 I had the epiphany that I didn’t need to wait any longer for someone to say yes to me. I signed up for BookSurge – Amazon’s print-on-demand publisher – to publish my novel <a href="http://www.mrslieutenant.com">MRS. LIEUTENANT</a>.<br />
<br />
In January I learned that MRS. LIEUTENANT had been chosen as a semi-finalist in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award (an occurrence totally separate from the BookSurge decision). Amazon gave each of us semi-finalists an online page for people to review the beginning of our novel. And that was the moment I stumbled upon blogging, social media, and all the other things I started learning.<br />
<br />
In March I began my Mrs. Lieutenant <a href="http://www.mrslieutenant.blogspot.com">blog</a> and in April my novel was published (and my older daughter Rachel threw a surprise birthday/book launching party).<br />
<br />
In June I took a virtual book tour and “met” some terrific book bloggers. That same month I also co-sponsored a military spouse contest with Nancy Brown of <a href="http://www.yourmilitary.com">YourMilitary.com</a>. And later in the summer I helped fundraise online for Operation Soldier Care with Trish Forant of <a href="http://www.emailourmilitary.com">eMailOurMilitary.com</a> and Nancy Sutherland of <a href="http://www.directsalesmarketingqueen.com">DirectSalesMarketingQueen.com</a>.<br />
<br />
Nancy Brown, Trish Forant and Nancy Sutherland are three of the people I most want to thank. Working with them to support our military personnel and their families has been an amazing experience. And one benefit of working with these women is that in November Nancy Brown asked me to be her co-host on a new BlogTalkRadio show <a href="http://www.yourmilitarylife.com">Your Military Life</a> – and we’ve already interviewed both Trish Forant and Nancy Sutherland on the show.<br />
<br />
I’m grateful for the opportunity to “meet” military bloggers such as <a href="http://www.sargeasmic.com">Big Tobacco</a>, whose R-rated reports from somewhere in Iraq lend an immediacy to the news of U.S. troop fighting. (And through email I’ve advised him on a novel he’s writing when off duty.)<br />
<br />
All my intense learning about marketing on the internet led to my establishing <a href="http://www.millermosaic.com">Miller Mosaic, LLC</a> and hiring my younger daughter Yael to work with me. We now have the site <a href="http://www.queensofbookmarketing.com">QueensOfBookMarketing.com</a> and are offering website package solutions for book authors and small businesses to quickly and easily get a website presence. Plus in the new year we plan to offer training workshops for using social media such as Twitter and Facebook to market books, films, tv and other such projects.<br />
<br />
One of the first websites Yael built was <a href="http://www.molliesanders.com">MollieSanders.com</a>, a showcase for a proposed graphic novel series my husband Mitch and I want to write about a lieutenant commander in the Navy. (The first website Yael built was <a href="http://www.alzimcomedy.com">AlZimComedy.com</a> to help my 84-year-old father get senior improv gigs on cruise ships.)<br />
<br />
Yael’s newest site is for her sister Rachel – <a href="http://www.showmethescreenplay.com">ShowMeTheScreenplay.com</a>, which is launching now.<br />
<br />
And thanks to learning about the <a href="http://www.militarywriters.com">Military Writers Society of America</a> from book author Carolyn Howard-Johnson of <a href="http://www.howtodoitfrugally.com">HowToDoItFrugally.com</a>, I now have a journalist who has been embedded in Iraq and Afghanistan as a weekly contributor to this blog – <a href="http://www.andrewlubin.com">Andrew Lubin</a>. (And this Mrs. Lieutenant blog feeds into the blog section of <a href="http://www.mwsamembertalk.blogspot.com">MilitaryWriters.com</a>.)<br />
<br />
And Carolyn and I – who met on Twitter due to a shared interest in supporting our deployed troops – are busy writing a proposal for a non-fiction book on fiction marketing. (Yael is building us a website for this project.)<br />
<br />
I look forward in 2009 to continuing to provide information on organizations and people supporting the troops – both here on this blog and on the BlogTalkRadio show.<br />
<br />
And thanks again to all of the above people as well as the wonderful others I’ve met along the way this year and to those I look forward to meeting in the future.
This Is Phyllis Zimbler Miller Signing Off
tag:thebookmarketingnetwork.com,2008-08-26:523145:BlogPost:120053
2008-08-26T21:36:52.000Z
Phyllis Zimbler Miller
http://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/profile/PhyllisZimblerMiller
I started blogging in March with two blogs and added a third blog in June. During those months I posted my blog here because I wanted to share my information with other online people.<br />
<br />
And then the Web 2.0 bug bit me: I’ve just started an online company – Miller Mosaic, LLC – to provide online information to make people’s lives easier. The first website is now live at <a href="http://www.estateplanningforyou.com">www.estateplanningforyou.com</a>.<br />
<br />
Suddenly I’ve been inundated with internet…
I started blogging in March with two blogs and added a third blog in June. During those months I posted my blog here because I wanted to share my information with other online people.<br />
<br />
And then the Web 2.0 bug bit me: I’ve just started an online company – Miller Mosaic, LLC – to provide online information to make people’s lives easier. The first website is now live at <a href="http://www.estateplanningforyou.com">www.estateplanningforyou.com</a>.<br />
<br />
Suddenly I’ve been inundated with internet marketing strategies, keeping up on social media sites, looking for joint venture partners, and all the other responsibilities of an online business. And posting to this site has had to fall by the wayside.<br />
<br />
I hope you’ll continue to read my blog posts on the original blog sites – <a href="http://www.flippingburgersandbeyond.blogspot.com">www.flippingburgersandbeyond.blogspot.com</a>, <a href="http://www.mrslieutenant.blogspot.com">www.mrslieutenant.blogspot.com</a>, and <a href="http://www.dogooderscrooge.blogspot.com">www.dogooderscrooge.blogspot.com</a>.<br />
<br />
And “friend” me on Facebook or LinkedIn (under Phyllis Zimbler Miller) or on Twitter (under ZimblerMiller). Be sure to tell me from where I know you.<br />
<br />
And thanks for reading my blog posts!
Your Husband was in a Helicopter Crash in the Bering Sea
tag:thebookmarketingnetwork.com,2008-08-07:523145:BlogPost:113561
2008-08-07T18:49:10.000Z
Phyllis Zimbler Miller
http://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/profile/PhyllisZimblerMiller
<i>The “Tell-Your-Own-Story” military spouse contest sponsored by <a href="http://www.YourMilitary.com">www.YourMilitary.com</a> in connection with Lifetime TV’s Season 2 of ARMY WIVES has announced the contest winners. Their names and the winning essays can be read at <a href="http://www.YourMilitaryBlog.com">www.YourMilitaryBlog.com</a>.<br />
<br />
Some contest essays are especially compelling. And for that reason I want to share some of these essays with my blog readers. The essays that I’ll be…</i>
<i>The “Tell-Your-Own-Story” military spouse contest sponsored by <a href="http://www.YourMilitary.com">www.YourMilitary.com</a> in connection with Lifetime TV’s Season 2 of ARMY WIVES has announced the contest winners. Their names and the winning essays can be read at <a href="http://www.YourMilitaryBlog.com">www.YourMilitaryBlog.com</a>.<br />
<br />
Some contest essays are especially compelling. And for that reason I want to share some of these essays with my blog readers. The essays that I’ll be featuring are reprinted here with permission from <a href="http://YourMilitary.com">YourMilitary.com</a>.<br />
<br />
Here’s an essay by Rose, one of the five grand prize winners:</i><br />
<br />
On Wednesday, 8 December 2004, my eight-month-old son was enrolled in the Kodiak, A.K.USCG day care, where I worked. My 10-year-old daughter had Nutcracker play practice every day that week.<br />
<br />
Nights come early in December and it felt much later than 7 p.m. when we finally walked in the door after a full day. We were living on base and knew all the neighbors. Five of the six wives in our little cul-de sac of three duplexes were married to helicopter pilots.<br />
<br />
On this night, my husband was the only one in our little fish bowl that was deployed. Most of the husbands had come home for dinner that night and rushed right back to work. We were so close to the air station that we could hear the Search and Rescue (SAR) alarm when it went off at all hours.<br />
<br />
On this night, no alarms went off, but the air station was buzzing well after the usual quitting time. Everyone wanted to find out the fate of the crew. For a change, no one was calling to tell me the day's gossip.<br />
<br />
We were so busy I didn't notice that I hadn't spoken to the other wives. I just knew that my husband was deployed for the week and I had to hold down the fort. He was scheduled to be gone and would miss our daughter's play.<br />
<br />
We rushed in the door eager to get the baby in bed before he had a meltdown. The phone rang just after we got settled. The first words I heard were, "Hi! I am calling to let you know that David is up and walking around."<br />
<br />
I think the operations officer was calling to relieve my worried mind. Everyone knew that there had been a helicopter crash at Dutch Harbor. Everyone but me!<br />
<br />
I responded with something like, "I am assuming there is more to this story." He told me that David's helicopter was in the water, but the crew was fine. Then he asked me if I wanted to talk to a priest. To which I replied, "You just told me that he is fine. You tell me. Do I need to speak to a priest?" Nothing made sense.<br />
<br />
David's helicopter had gone down in the Bering Sea. He and the crew were fished out of the water. Six had died. The details were sketchy but it sounded pretty serious. David called an hour later and in a very calm voice said, "Hi, Honey. I hope you didn't cash the check yet." I didn't get it. He meant the SGLI survivor check.<br />
<br />
I still had no clue how close he had come to dying that night.<br />
<br />
He was flown home in the admiral’s plane the next day. Christmas was especially sweet that year. He even got to see Mad in her play.<br />
<br />
You can see the whole story of the crash on the History/Discovery Channel story “Alaska, Dangerous Territory.”<br />
<br />
<b>P.S. Check out the newest post at the official blog for <a href="http://www.eMailOurMilitary.com">www.eMailOurMilitary.com</a> – <a href="http://snurl.com/3ccum">http://snurl.com/3ccum</a>.</b><br />
<br />
Syndicated from <a href="http://www.mrslieutenant.blogspot.com">www.mrslieutenant.blogspot.com</a><br />
<br />
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YourMilitary.com Announces Military Spouse Contest Winners
tag:thebookmarketingnetwork.com,2008-08-05:523145:BlogPost:112589
2008-08-05T21:08:15.000Z
Phyllis Zimbler Miller
http://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/profile/PhyllisZimblerMiller
<p style="text-align: left;"><img alt="" height="99" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2997421947?profile=original" width="273"></img></p>
<a href="http://YourMilitary.com">YourMilitary.com</a> has announced the winners of the “Tell-Your-Own-Story” military spouse contest in connection with Lifetime Television’s series ARMY WIVES. The winners’ names and the winning essays are featured on <a href="http://www.YourMilitaryBlog.com">www.YourMilitaryBlog.com</a> and <a href="http://www.YourMilitarySpace.com">www.YourMilitarySpace.com</a>.<br />
<br />
Story submissions of not more than 500 words featured…
<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2997421947?profile=original" alt="" width="273" height="99"/></p>
<a href="http://YourMilitary.com">YourMilitary.com</a> has announced the winners of the “Tell-Your-Own-Story” military spouse contest in connection with Lifetime Television’s series ARMY WIVES. The winners’ names and the winning essays are featured on <a href="http://www.YourMilitaryBlog.com">www.YourMilitaryBlog.com</a> and <a href="http://www.YourMilitarySpace.com">www.YourMilitarySpace.com</a>.<br />
<br />
Story submissions of not more than 500 words featured the happiest or saddest or most significant moment as a military spouse. The spouses of personnel from all branches were eligible – Army (including Reservists and National Guard), Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard.<br />
<br />
The five grand prize winners will receive, courtesy of Lifetime Television, Season 1 DVD of ARMY WIVES along with ARMY WIVES tote bags. Grand prize winners will also receive $100 American Express gift cards from <a href="http://YourMilitary.com">YourMilitary.com</a>.<br />
<br />
All grand prize winners, 10 2nd place winners, and honorable mentions will receive my book Mrs. Lieutenant: A Sharon Gold Novel. (Yes, I’m signing and mailing out 17 books.)<br />
<br />
And now at <a href="http://www.YourMilitary.com">www.YourMilitary.com</a> there’s a free estate planning special report on why military personnel need a living trust besides a will. The report was prepared by my husband Mitchell R. Miller, attorney at law, of <a href="http://www.estateplanningforyou.com">www.estateplanningforyou.com</a>. (This is a new site – go check it out for a free copy of 4 Important Questions You Should Ask<br />
About a Living Trust.)<br />
<br />
Syndicated from <a href="http://www.mrslieutenant.blogspot.com">www.mrslieutenant.blogspot.com<br />
</a><br />
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Memories From the Daughter of a Vietnam War Veteran
tag:thebookmarketingnetwork.com,2008-08-05:523145:BlogPost:112586
2008-08-05T21:07:04.000Z
Phyllis Zimbler Miller
http://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/profile/PhyllisZimblerMiller
<p style="text-align: left;"><img alt="" height="429" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2997422106?profile=original" width="280"></img></p>
<i>I asked Anna Horner, who blogs at <a href="http://www.diaryofaneccentric.blogspot.com">www.diaryofaneccentric.blogspot.com</a>, to write a guest post after she talked about her father in the review she did of MRS. LIEUTENANT: A SHARON GOLD NOVEL on her blog (<a href="http://tinyurl.com/6z9cn6">http://tinyurl.com/6z9cn6</a>). I particularly appreciated her description of visiting the Vietnam Veterans Memorial because Sharon Gold visits this memorial…</i>
<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2997422106?profile=original" alt="" width="280" height="429"/></p>
<i>I asked Anna Horner, who blogs at <a href="http://www.diaryofaneccentric.blogspot.com">www.diaryofaneccentric.blogspot.com</a>, to write a guest post after she talked about her father in the review she did of MRS. LIEUTENANT: A SHARON GOLD NOVEL on her blog (<a href="http://tinyurl.com/6z9cn6">http://tinyurl.com/6z9cn6</a>). I particularly appreciated her description of visiting the Vietnam Veterans Memorial because Sharon Gold visits this memorial in the epilogue of MRS. LIEUTENANT.</i><br />
<br />
I was seven months pregnant, with swollen ankles, sore feet, and an aching back. I hobbled a mile or so around the city, my soon-to-be husband scolding me for not sitting down to rest. But I was on a mission.<br />
<br />
Thousands of names stretched out before me, etched into the smooth, black wall. They were warm under my fingers, brought to life by the flowers, pictures, notes, and other mementos from the ones who will never forget, who wear the memories heavy around their necks. Come hell or high water, I said, I’m doing this for my father.<br />
<br />
It was late spring 2000. My father, who was an MP in the Air Force during Vietnam, passed away unexpectedly a few months before without fulfilling his dream of visiting the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and paying homage to his friends and all the others who did not survive.<br />
<br />
The war was over by the time he met my mother in late 1975, and even more time had passed by the time I was born in 1977 and my sister in 1979. But it was always there just beneath the surface.<br />
<br />
The war was there every time my sister and I fought to get our father’s attention, having lost his hearing from all the planes, or so he said. And it was there when my mother told us how she woke up with my father’s hands around her neck in the midst of a nightmare.<br />
<br />
My sister and I would stumble across pictures of our father in uniform and ask about the men standing beside him, or we threw out questions about his many tattoos or the tapestry and paintings he purchased overseas. He never said much, and we couldn’t drag out any details.<br />
<br />
One thing he said that stands out in my mind was how war protestors threw dog feces at them when they came home, how he was spit at and called “baby killer” and I’m sure many other things he wouldn’t repeat to us.<br />
<br />
He told me he spent much of his time on base, but I was only a child, so I don’t know how much of what he said was to protect me. I never asked if he killed someone – I didn’t want to know if the man who read us bedtime stories, took us to amusement parks, and bought us Barbie dolls was capable of that. I still don’t want to know.<br />
<br />
My father’s participation in numerous VFW functions served as another constant reminder of the war, and there were many evenings where my father traded stories around the bar while my sister and I watched television or played ping pong.<br />
<br />
Every Memorial Day, we went from cemetery to cemetery replacing flags and putting down geraniums. We handed out poppies to remind people to remember the dead soldiers, and our minivan was covered in stickers insisting that those who were POWs or MIA would never be forgotten.<br />
<br />
When I turned 16, I joined the VFW Ladies Auxiliary, and I marched in numerous parades behind my father, showing gratitude for all the men and women who served our country during wartime.<br />
<br />
My father and I never had a real discussion about the war until I took an English honors seminar in college – Literature of the Vietnam War. I would come home every weekend, hoping my father wouldn’t be off at a VFW function so that I could tell him about the latest book we were reading.<br />
<br />
I remember discussing the politics behind the war with him as I read Fire in the Lake by Francis FitzGerald. And when I pulled out my dog-eared copy of Tim O’Brien’s If I Die in a Combat Zone, Box Me Up and Ship Me Home, my father burst out singing the song that goes along with the book’s title.<br />
<br />
He told me stories about escorting prisoners, one who slit his girlfriend from neck to navel, and another who jumped one of my father’s friends in the shower. He reminisced about a baseball game and how the site was bombed only a few hours after the last pitch was thrown.<br />
<br />
We did most of our talking during trips to the grocery store, and I’m sure he told more stories, though I foolishly didn’t write them down. And I’m sure he took many more stories to the grave. I was only 22 when he died, and I thought I had all the time in the world to ask him more questions.<br />
<br />
As I stood before the Vietnam Wall, watching people rub names on scraps of paper, I wondered what kind of person my father would have been had he not served in Vietnam. But I pushed that thought out of my mind as I walked along, running my fingers over names of people I didn’t know, wondering if by chance I touched upon a friend of my father’s.<br />
<br />
As my swollen feet took me from one end of the wall to the other, I understood that my father had been willing to give up his life for his country. While I felt guilty that I was lucky and didn’t know any of the names on the wall, at the same time I was grateful that my father had lived so I could do the same.<br />
<br />
In memory of Edward Allan Bitgood, 1941-1999<br />
<br />
Syndicated from <a href="http://www.mrslieutenant.blogspot.com">www.mrslieutenant.blogspot.com<br />
<br />
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Do Our Troops Need Cosmetics? A Unique Way to Show Our Gratitude
tag:thebookmarketingnetwork.com,2008-08-04:523145:BlogPost:110422
2008-08-04T19:01:46.000Z
Phyllis Zimbler Miller
http://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/profile/PhyllisZimblerMiller
<p style="text-align: left;"><img alt="" height="150" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2997422129?profile=original" width="200"></img></p>
<p><em>I asked Nancy Sutherland, sales director of Mary Kay, to write a guest post describing an important project that she is promoting. (She has her own blog at <a href="http://nancymkqueen.wordpress.com/">http://nancymkqueen.wordpress.com</a>.</em>)</p>
<p>Imagine it's hot, sandy with a nice breeze but you're not at the beach AND you are wearing up to 100 pounds of gear! You're an American soldier in Iraq or Afghanistan! Today is pretty much like…</p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2997422129?profile=original" alt="" width="200" height="150"/></p>
<p><em>I asked Nancy Sutherland, sales director of Mary Kay, to write a guest post describing an important project that she is promoting. (She has her own blog at <a href="http://nancymkqueen.wordpress.com/">http://nancymkqueen.wordpress.com</a>.</em>)</p>
<p>Imagine it's hot, sandy with a nice breeze but you're not at the beach AND you are wearing up to 100 pounds of gear! You're an American soldier in Iraq or Afghanistan! Today is pretty much like yesterday except you are one day closer to coming home to your family.</p>
<p>It's the end of the day and your most anticipated activity is a nice shower and mail call. Your hands are weather-beaten, dry and chapped. Yet there's hope for your hands thanks to Operation Soldier Care.</p>
<p>Our troops frequently get care packages for birthdays and holidays, but what about "just because" we appreciate them now?</p>
<p>What is Operation Soldier Care? How did it come about?</p>
<p>I'll start by giving you an inside look of who these soldiers are who will be the recipients of this campaign and why you want to be part of it.</p>
<p>The U.S. has a total volunteer military so everyone who is serving our country willingly signed up to do so. Some of them are true patriots that come from a family with generations of military service going all the way back to the Revolutionary War.</p>
<p>Many of them are young men and women who come from a large family, small town, low income or other backgrounds that would not offer college as an option. (Enlisting for three to four years can give soldiers a chance for a better life afterwards with a college education.) There are also doctors, lawyers, engineers, accountants and many other professionals who are reservists called up for active duty.</p>
<p>My husband Alex retired from the army in 2003 as a major. That has given me an inside look as to what it is like to serve overseas. Alex celebrated his 40<sup>th</sup> birthday unceremoniously in Bosnia. I put together a care package for him that I had worked on for a month, selecting just the right things that he might enjoy. And as a Mary Kay sales director, I also assemble gifts for many of my clients to send to their loved ones overseas.</p>
<p>At first I thought that providing sunscreens for the troops would be my best option. But as I got creative in adding other personal care items such as body lotions, shower gels, hand creams, shaving cream and other hydrating skin products, the response was overwhelmingly positive.</p>
<p>Here is one of my responses:</p>
<p><em><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'">“</span></em><em>Great idea! Having been a U.S. Army soldier in Kuwait and in Iraq, personal hygiene items and toiletries are such a luxury. To receive a Mary Kay care package would have been a DREAM for me! I highly recommend this because it is really something useful and much appreciated</em> <em>-</em> <em>even for male soldiers</em> <em>-</em> <em>a HUGE morale booster. When I sent my husband who was deployed in the Middle East special items for his skin, he was in heaven and so so happy!!"</em></p>
<p>So Operation Soldier Care was created. I teamed up with eMail Our Military (<a href="http://www.emailourmilitary.com/">www.emailourmilitary.com</a>) for this project because eMOM already had the systems in place to promote this and distribute the gifts. I am matching each donation 100% so your generosity will be maximized!</p>
<p>To learn how you can participate in this project, go to <a href="http://tinyurl.com/57qyjx">http://tinyurl.com/57qyjx</a>. Or order directly at <a href="http://www.marykay.com/nancysutherland">www.marykay.com/nancysutherland</a>.</p>
<p>Syndicated from <a href="http://www.mrslieutenant.blogspot.com/">www.mrslieutenant.blogspot.com</a></p>
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Expiation for Killing: Young Soldiers Are Taught How to Kill But Not Taught That Killing in Combat Is Okay CONTINUED
tag:thebookmarketingnetwork.com,2008-08-01:523145:BlogPost:109469
2008-08-01T23:30:00.000Z
Phyllis Zimbler Miller
http://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/profile/PhyllisZimblerMiller
<i>In my July 27th post (<a href="http://tinyurl.com/55zq2z">http://tinyurl.com/55zq2z</a>), National Guardsman Big Tobacco (<a href="http://www.big-tobacco.blogspot.com">www.big-tobacco.blogspot.com</a>) currently deployed in Iraq provided his response to my July 20th post about post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in military personnel (<a href="http://tinyurl.com/6eu789">http://tinyurl.com/6eu789</a>). In that same July 27th post I put forth an insight from my husband Mitch about biblical…</i>
<i>In my July 27th post (<a href="http://tinyurl.com/55zq2z">http://tinyurl.com/55zq2z</a>), National Guardsman Big Tobacco (<a href="http://www.big-tobacco.blogspot.com">www.big-tobacco.blogspot.com</a>) currently deployed in Iraq provided his response to my July 20th post about post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in military personnel (<a href="http://tinyurl.com/6eu789">http://tinyurl.com/6eu789</a>). In that same July 27th post I put forth an insight from my husband Mitch about biblical public ceremonies of expiation of guilt for killing in battle.<br />
<br />
In my earlier post today (<a href="http://tinyurl.com/6nowpc">http://tinyurl.com/6nowpc</a>) you can read Big Tobacco’s main response to this July 27th post. Below you can read the follow-up email Big Tobacco sent about this subject:</i><br />
<br />
Phyllis,<br />
<br />
I thought more about what I said and I have more.<br />
<br />
I think that it is easier for the officers than the men when it comes to PTSD. They might feel survivors’ guilt but they get over it. How many officers have you seen interviewed about PTSD? Probably none, even if they retired. It's always the Joes.<br />
<br />
I can remember my first deployment when there was a suicide bombing at another checkpoint. My checkpoint went to 100 % security and we were ready to be attacked ourselves.<br />
<br />
I was in a bunker with my machine gunner when he said: "Sergeant, I don't want to kill anyone." So I told him to get off the gun and go relieve our RTO and he would man the gun. In hindsight, this was a bad idea because freezing up on the radio would have been worse than the gun.<br />
<br />
But that was proof right there that fear of killing permeates a soldier's existence, even if he doesn't know it.<br />
<br />
Gotta go. Got a mission<br />
<br />
Syndicated from <a href="http://www.mrslieutenant.blogspot.com">www.mrslieutenant.blogspot.com</a><br />
<br />
<br />
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Expiation for Killing: Young Soldiers Are Taught How to Kill But Not Taught That Killing in Combat Is Okay
tag:thebookmarketingnetwork.com,2008-08-01:523145:BlogPost:109316
2008-08-01T17:47:32.000Z
Phyllis Zimbler Miller
http://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/profile/PhyllisZimblerMiller
<p style="text-align: left;"><img alt="" height="282" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2997422206?profile=original" width="425"></img></p>
<i>In my July 27th post (<a href="http://tinyurl.com/55zq2z">http://tinyurl.com/55zq2z</a>), National Guardsman Big Tobacco (<a href="http://www.big-tobacco.blogspot.com">www.big-tobacco.blogspot.com</a>) currently deployed in Iraq provided his response to my July 20th post about post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in military personnel (<a href="http://tinyurl.com/6eu789">http://tinyurl.com/6eu789</a>). In that same July 27th post I put forth an…</i>
<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2997422206?profile=original" alt="" width="425" height="282"/></p>
<i>In my July 27th post (<a href="http://tinyurl.com/55zq2z">http://tinyurl.com/55zq2z</a>), National Guardsman Big Tobacco (<a href="http://www.big-tobacco.blogspot.com">www.big-tobacco.blogspot.com</a>) currently deployed in Iraq provided his response to my July 20th post about post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in military personnel (<a href="http://tinyurl.com/6eu789">http://tinyurl.com/6eu789</a>). In that same July 27th post I put forth an insight from my husband Mitch about biblical public ceremonies of expiation of guilt for killing in battle.<br />
<br />
Here’s Big Tobacco’s response to this July 27th post:</i><br />
<br />
Actually, I would think that some kind of public display like that would be, in the words of an NCO, "pretty f***in' stupid."<br />
<br />
I'm not saying that you are stupid. It's just that I can already see the looks on the faces of my men, who just want to go home, being forced into some kind of quasi-Christian ritual when all they want to do is get drunk and laid.<br />
<br />
The one thing I hate is acknowledgement of my service. I hate it when I am in uniform and people come up to me and say: "Thank you for protecting us."<br />
<br />
"Yeah, dude. Don't worry, you'll get the bill."<br />
<br />
That kind of ritual would be tacked onto all of the "thank you for protecting us" press conferences and parades. The fact is that people back in World War II DID have post traumatic stress; they just drank themselves to death or destroyed their families. And people didn't talk about it.<br />
<br />
Also don't forget that A LOT more infantrymen died back then, even from simple wounds. By Vietnam, you had fewer casualties and better medical care (i.e., 30-minute medevac) so there were more people left around to be traumatized.<br />
<br />
There is a book by a guy named Dave Grossman, who is a former Ranger and officer who studies "killology." He wrote a book called "On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Leaning to Kill.” In this book he theorizes that PTSD doesn't come from exposure to danger, it comes from the physical act of killing itself.<br />
<br />
Our society teaches that murder is wrong. Yet we take a high-school kid, cram 10 weeks of training down his throat, and call him a "killer." Sure, he might be physically able to kill, but after the target falls, he feels bad about it. Grossman’s website is at <a href="http://www.killology.com">http://www.killology.com</a>.<br />
<br />
Take a look at World War II. A study was done after the war and it was found that only 20% of combat soldiers ever fired their rifles. Why? Because they fired at bull-eyes and a human looks nothing like a bulls-eye. The soldiers were not just afraid to kill, they weren't conditioned to kill.<br />
<br />
So we changed the training. We started to fire at man-shaped targets. By Vietnam, we got the weapons-firing ratio up to 90%. This is operant conditioning. Think of Pavlov's dogs. Bell rings, dogs salivate. Target pops up, soldier shoots. Stimulus, response, positive feedback. Stimulus, response, positive feedback. Now we taught them how to kill, and they react and do kill, but they are still afraid to kill.<br />
<br />
We never teach these kids that killing is OK. So they gear up, go out, and kill. Then their lives are wrecked afterwards. Here's your 30% PTSD disability, kid. Good luck finding a job.<br />
<br />
It's better to deal with the nightmares than go through life like that.<br />
<br />
Syndicated from <a href="http://www.mrslieutenant.blogspot.com">www.mrslieutenant.blogspot.com</a>.<br />
<br />
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Help Needed for Military Spouses – Especially During Deployment Times
tag:thebookmarketingnetwork.com,2008-07-31:523145:BlogPost:109068
2008-07-31T19:43:29.000Z
Phyllis Zimbler Miller
http://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/profile/PhyllisZimblerMiller
<p style="text-align: left;"><img alt="" height="400" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2997423450?profile=original" width="300"></img></p>
This week An Army Wife’s Life blog is having a giveaway contest for MRS. LIEUTENANT: A SHARON GOLD NOVEL (see <a href="http://tinyurl.com/5gay8z">http://tinyurl.com/5gay8z</a>). To be eligible for the giveaway, people must leave a question for me. And after the giveaway is over I will answer some of the questions.<br />
<br />
I’ve been keeping an eye on the comments, most of which fall into the following categories:<br />
<br />
<b>What prompted you to write a book about…</b>
<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2997423450?profile=original" alt="" width="300" height="400"/></p>
This week An Army Wife’s Life blog is having a giveaway contest for MRS. LIEUTENANT: A SHARON GOLD NOVEL (see <a href="http://tinyurl.com/5gay8z">http://tinyurl.com/5gay8z</a>). To be eligible for the giveaway, people must leave a question for me. And after the giveaway is over I will answer some of the questions.<br />
<br />
I’ve been keeping an eye on the comments, most of which fall into the following categories:<br />
<br />
<b>What prompted you to write a book about this era? Was it personal experience?<br />
<br />
Was your info on the four different wives taken from the lives of family and friends or of strangers? Are you portraying yourself in one of the four women?</b><br />
<br />
Yet there’s another category of questions, of which the following is representative:<br />
<br />
<b>My very good friend's husband is in the army and in Iraq at the moment. She is struggling with army housing and medical issues (she is pregnant with her second child and they are at a new base where she knows no one). She is seeking advice and assistance and doesn't want to stress her husband during their limited contact. What is the best way her friends can support her long-distance?</b><br />
<br />
As I have not been a Mrs. Lieutenant since 1972, I have no idea what the answer is to this question. And because I felt this question deserved an answer as soon as possible, I turned to Candace, the blogger of An Army Wife’s Life.<br />
<br />
Here is part of Candace’s response, which I’m including on this blog in case this information can help other military spouses:<br />
<br />
<i>For financial and medical issues, the best thing for her friend to do is to first contact Rear D. Sounds like what she needs primarily is the correct power of attorney forms and, working with legal, they are the only ones that can make that happen during a deployment.<br />
<br />
After the medical and housing issues are straightened out, if she needs financial assistance, Rear D should know about what's available on that specific post. There are a ton of programs at most posts, but not all are service-wide.<br />
<br />
If she doesn't get anywhere with Rear D, then I always recommend Army One Source or Military One Source – they have masters-level consultants answering the phone 24 hours a day to provide free information to military families and should be able to help her develop a plan and figure out who to contact.</i><br />
<br />
Candace also said that two of the sites included on <a href="http://www.mrslieutenant.com">www.mrslieutenant.com</a> in the support military families section would be good:<br />
<br />
· Operation Homefront (<a href="http://www.operationhomefront.net">www.operationhomefront.net</a>)<br />
Provides emergency assistance and morale to U.S. troops, their families, and wounded warriors.<br />
<br />
· CinCHouse.com (<a href="http://www.cinchouse.com">www.cinchouse.com</a>)<br />
Operation Homefront's online community for military wives and women in uniform.<br />
<br />
I hope that this information can help any other military spouse who needs help. And I also hope someone will leave a comment here telling me what Rear D is.<br />
<br />
Syndicated from <a href="http://www.mrslieutenant.blogspot.com">www.mrslieutenant.blogspot.com</a><br />
<br />
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An Active Duty Military Personnel Describes What PTSD Means to Him
tag:thebookmarketingnetwork.com,2008-07-29:523145:BlogPost:108358
2008-07-29T17:48:22.000Z
Phyllis Zimbler Miller
http://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/profile/PhyllisZimblerMiller
<b>In response to my July 27th post about expiation for combat killing in connection with an ongoing discussion of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) – see <a href="http://tinyurl.com/55zq2z">http://tinyurl.com/55zq2z</a> – I heard from another active duty military personnel:</b><br />
<br />
I spent the mainstay of my early military career as a paratrooper. Mechanized infantry wasn't an option for me, because I hated being closed in, much the same reasons why I avoided life as a submariner.<br />
<br />
What I…
<b>In response to my July 27th post about expiation for combat killing in connection with an ongoing discussion of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) – see <a href="http://tinyurl.com/55zq2z">http://tinyurl.com/55zq2z</a> – I heard from another active duty military personnel:</b><br />
<br />
I spent the mainstay of my early military career as a paratrooper. Mechanized infantry wasn't an option for me, because I hated being closed in, much the same reasons why I avoided life as a submariner.<br />
<br />
What I didn't know was the amount of time I would spend crowded "in the harness" within a plane, one guy on top another.<br />
<br />
Fifteen years later, I still get the willies when my wife sits next to me on the couch and the kids crowd in on the other side. I get short of breath and feel like the walls are closing in on me.<br />
<br />
It's even worse now when we crowd in a Stryker [armored personnel carrier]. If all I had to do was throw some birdies on the altar to shed this claustrophobia ... well, prepare my sin offering! Other experiences may trigger nightmares here and there, but nothing so much as the times spent waiting for that little green light [jump signal] of relief to come on.<br />
<br />
It was the repeated exposure to the same cringe-inducing experience that did me in. I imagine it's much the same with many cases of PTSD.<br />
<br />
The flesh-eating bacteria of impatience coupled with the routine, possibly broken up only by the roadside bomb or occasional sniping, perhaps with the accompanying heartfelt trauma ... and the resumption of impatience with routine and monotony...<br />
<br />
How does one expiate that? Guilt seems like only one-third of the entire spectrum of associated trauma.<br />
<br />
I do know two fellows, both decorated vets of 3rd ID's initial invasion in Iraq [3rd Infantry Division]. Both saw heavy fighting, one even went twice. The first spiraled downhill with heavy drinking, losing rank and jobs, more than likely his family, while the second builds positive relationships and succeeds.<br />
<br />
The first is an avowed atheist, the second a moderately religious man. He had a community to turn to that said "what you have done, what you have been through, means something to us." Perhaps that part is more important, vis-a-vis the parades you mentioned, than the sacrificial device.<br />
<br />
Syndicated from <a href="http://www.mrslieutenant.blogspot.com">www.mrslieutenant.blogspot.com<br />
</a><br />
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Jewish National Guardsman Scheduled to Be Deployed Worries That He Won’t Have Enough Prayer Books to Conduct Services in Iraq
tag:thebookmarketingnetwork.com,2008-07-28:523145:BlogPost:107865
2008-07-28T19:57:49.000Z
Phyllis Zimbler Miller
http://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/profile/PhyllisZimblerMiller
<p style="text-align: left;"><img alt="" height="268" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2997423305?profile=original" width="447"></img></p>
My July 23rd blog post “U.S. Military Personnel Trained as Jewish Lay Leaders in Iraq” discussed a July 10th article in the Jewish Daily Forward that I had spotted on <a href="http://www.jewsingreen.com">www.jewsingreen.com</a>. (See my blog post at <a href="http://tinyurl.com/5pk8zu">http://tinyurl.com/5pk8zu</a>.)<br />
<br />
The Forward article describes how Rabbi Jon Cutler, currently one of three Jewish chaplains in Iraq, had brought together seven Jewish…
<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2997423305?profile=original" alt="" width="447" height="268"/></p>
My July 23rd blog post “U.S. Military Personnel Trained as Jewish Lay Leaders in Iraq” discussed a July 10th article in the Jewish Daily Forward that I had spotted on <a href="http://www.jewsingreen.com">www.jewsingreen.com</a>. (See my blog post at <a href="http://tinyurl.com/5pk8zu">http://tinyurl.com/5pk8zu</a>.)<br />
<br />
The Forward article describes how Rabbi Jon Cutler, currently one of three Jewish chaplains in Iraq, had brought together seven Jewish servicemen and women from across Iraq to train as lay leaders to conduct Jewish services for other soldiers.<br />
<br />
The Forward article included this quote: “There are relatively few rabbis, a third of the number we had a generation ago,” said Harold L. Robinson, director of the Jewish Welfare Board Jewish Chaplains Council, which is responsible for finding Jewish chaplains. “The need for rabbis is as great as it ever was.”<br />
<br />
In response to this blog post I got an email from an observant National Guardsman who will be deploying to Iraq in a few months. He is officially not allowed to say anything negative about the Jewish Welfare Board. But he allowed me to anonymously post parts of his email:<br />
<br />
<i>It's nice that the Jewish Welfare Board (JWB) has trained lay leaders. But the truth is, the JWB generally leaves lay leaders out there on their own once they've been certified. These lay leaders prove their worth solely through the energy they put to the effort.<br />
<br />
In spite of the San Diego conference almost two years ago and the recent one in Florida, outside of OIF [Operation Iraqi Freedom], CONUS [Continental U.S.] lay leaders are not being developed properly. Neither is this new crop likely to receive follow-on training except at great personal expense.<br />
<br />
I recently went through Aleph Institute for my own endorsement for deployment. Aleph Institute is Chabad-affiliated, which isn't a problem for my wife and me, and they provide a veritable glut of material support. They've perceived the vacuum that's associated with the Jewish Welfare Board these days. Unfortunately, it's a little more difficult to run an egalitarian program with their support.<br />
<br />
And we sure need some rabbis ... just not from the Rabbinical Council of America (RCA) [Orthodox] right now. We honestly need Reform and Conservative rabbis. Precisely for the reason of female service members who deserve equal treatment. We've actually plenty of RCA-approved rabbis<br />
<br />
Some might say the emphasis has been on the wrong syllable with their efforts. All the focus on a new military-ish Tanakh [Bible] seemed misplaced. That the Protestants have a digital camo Bible isn't keeping me awake with envy at night. <b>That I don't know that I'll have enough usable siddurim [prayer books] for a crowd of mixed-observance/ mixed-Hebrew literacy troops does.</b></i><br />
<br />
The boldface of that last sentence is mine. I’m hoping that someone who reads this blog post is in a position to do something about that lack of prayer books. And to possibly fulfill that hope, I plan to forward this post to some Reform and Conservative rabbis that I know. Perhaps they will help.<br />
<br />
Syndicated from <a href="http://www.mrslieutenant.blogspot.com">www.mrslieutenant.blogspot.com</a><br />
<br />
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Biblical Act of Expiation for Killing in Battle Might Have Helped with PTSD
tag:thebookmarketingnetwork.com,2008-07-28:523145:BlogPost:107862
2008-07-28T19:56:59.000Z
Phyllis Zimbler Miller
http://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/profile/PhyllisZimblerMiller
<p style="text-align: left;"><img alt="" height="424" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2997423220?profile=original" width="283"></img></p>
My July 20th blog post talked about post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in military personnel (see <a href="http://tinyurl.com/6eu789">http://tinyurl.com/6eu789</a>). I then asked for an opinion from BT, the National Guard infantryman now serving in Iraq who had a guest post here on July 9th (see <a href="http://tinyurl.com/5nahvc">http://tinyurl.com/5nahvc</a>). Here’s BT’s reply to me:<br />
<br />
<i>I have mixed feeling about the accuracy of PTSD. First…</i>
<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2997423220?profile=original" alt="" width="283" height="424"/></p>
My July 20th blog post talked about post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in military personnel (see <a href="http://tinyurl.com/6eu789">http://tinyurl.com/6eu789</a>). I then asked for an opinion from BT, the National Guard infantryman now serving in Iraq who had a guest post here on July 9th (see <a href="http://tinyurl.com/5nahvc">http://tinyurl.com/5nahvc</a>). Here’s BT’s reply to me:<br />
<br />
<i>I have mixed feeling about the accuracy of PTSD. First off, I think it is way over-diagnosed. Some people get it worse than others.<br />
<br />
I used to scan the sides of the roads when I came back the first time, but I stopped doing that after a week or so.<br />
<br />
By "over-diagnosed" I kind of mean that there really aren't levels of PTSD. Someone can claim PTSD even if it is mild nightmares. My fear, and one of the reasons that I would be reluctant to go to anyone if I thought I had it, is that I would be marked for life. I might not be able to own a gun or hold a certain kind of job.<br />
<br />
I also think that medical units hand out PTSD diagnoses like candy, because it’s easier than treating the problem. So they give them the diagnosis, take two Motrin, wash your hands and move out. When really that soldier just needs three days off, a hot meal and a chance to call his wife.</i><br />
<br />
This topic of PTSD brought forth an interesting idea on the part of my husband Mitch in connection with the Torah portion read at Shabbat morning services yesterday. (Each week Jews read a portion from the Torah – the Five Books of Moses, completing the entire Torah in a year.)<br />
<br />
Yesterday the portion was Mattot (Numbers 30: 2 to 32: 42), which talks in part about the offerings made by the warriors of Israel who have returned from fighting and killing the Midianites. The officers make a special additional offering.<br />
<br />
Mitch put forth the idea that this offering by the fighting men was a ritual that helped to prevent PTSD. By making a public offering of forgiveness for having killed in battle, these warriors could hope to banish some of the mental demons that resulted from their acts of war.<br />
<br />
And – as my husband, a former officer in the U.S. Army, said – of course the officers had to make additional offerings because they would have felt more guilt. They are the ones, my husband pointed out, who ordered their men into battle, saying “Take that hill” and knowing some will die doing so.<br />
<br />
Mitch’s theory has a lot of merit. World War II soldiers returned home to victory parades, which are a public ritual. Vietnam veterans returned home to an ungrateful nation, and many suffer PTSD. We can only hope that the welcomes received by soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan help with alleviating PTSD.<br />
<br />
Perhaps instead of being treated with psychoanalysis and drugs, combat veterans of all wars would be better off if they could participate in a community-wide expiation ritual, admitting their acts of war and being publicly forgiven for those same acts of war.<br />
<br />
I’ll ask BT what he thinks of this idea.<br />
<br />
Syndicated from <a href="http://www.mrslieutenant.blogspot.com">www.mrslieutenant.blogspot.com</a><br />
<br />
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Then (Vietnam War) and Now (Iraq War): Fraternization With the Opposite Sex
tag:thebookmarketingnetwork.com,2008-07-25:523145:BlogPost:107470
2008-07-25T22:39:42.000Z
Phyllis Zimbler Miller
http://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/profile/PhyllisZimblerMiller
<p style="text-align: left;"><img alt="" height="346" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2997423487?profile=original" width="347"></img></p>
An older National Guard soldier due to deploy to Iraq told his wife the following:<br />
<br />
<i>What a huge difference between the fraternization briefings I got when we were shipped to Germany in 1976 (an armored brigade to Fulda on the East-West border) and now.<br />
<br />
The 1976 briefing was four hours of telling us not to fraternize while assuming we would. The motto then: "Sleep NATO."<br />
<br />
The same briefing lasted five minutes this May. Essentially: "If any of you…</i>
<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2997423487?profile=original" alt="" width="347" height="346"/></p>
An older National Guard soldier due to deploy to Iraq told his wife the following:<br />
<br />
<i>What a huge difference between the fraternization briefings I got when we were shipped to Germany in 1976 (an armored brigade to Fulda on the East-West border) and now.<br />
<br />
The 1976 briefing was four hours of telling us not to fraternize while assuming we would. The motto then: "Sleep NATO."<br />
<br />
The same briefing lasted five minutes this May. Essentially: "If any of you is stupid enough to wander outside the wire and become involved with a local woman, there ain't a damn thing we can do. Uncle Achmed is going to chop you into pieces – and your sweetie too. Enough said?"</i><br />
<br />
When I asked the National Guard soldier about fraternization in Iraq with female soldiers – something that was not a problem in Vietnam (forgetting the few nurses), he said:<br />
<br />
<i>On fraternization with female soldiers, a couple of guys my age who have been to Iraq before told me it happens. But there are very few women and lots of men so it becomes an insanely competitive soap opera "that you won't want to get mixed up in." They also, I think ruefully, said that men over 40 are competing with men in their 20s – it can be pretty sad for the old guys.</i><br />
<br />
These comments reminded me of a scene in MRS. LIEUTENANT: A SHARON GOLD NOVEL in which Sharon is thinking about someone she knew from her hometown and with whom she danced at the Ft. Knox Officers Club:<br />
<br />
<i>She wonders whether Mark had a lot of experience dancing quite close to those Vietnamese women she's heard about, their thick black hair hanging straight down their backs, their native costumes – Sharon isn't quite sure what these look like so she pictures the revealing garment worn by the young lieutenant's Polynesian girlfriend in the film version of "South Pacific" – leaving bare shoulders exposed and no undergarments underneath.<br />
<br />
Will Robert be dancing with those sexy Vietnamese women soon?</i><br />
<br />
Syndicated from <a href="http://www.mrslieutenant.blogspot.com">www.mrslieutenant.blogspot.com</a><br />
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U.S. Military Personnel Trained as Jewish Lay Leaders in Iraq
tag:thebookmarketingnetwork.com,2008-07-24:523145:BlogPost:107259
2008-07-24T17:09:27.000Z
Phyllis Zimbler Miller
http://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/profile/PhyllisZimblerMiller
<p style="text-align: left;"><img alt="" height="302" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2997423507?profile=original" width="298"></img></p>
The article about Jewish military personnel in Iraq training as lay leaders caught my eye on <a href="http://www.jewsingreen.com">www.jewsingreen.com</a> – an online resource for Jews in the U.S. military.<br />
<br />
I clicked on the link to the July 10th article in the Jewish Daily Forward by Richard Tenorio titled “American Soldiers in Iraq Enlist in a Different Kind of Service.”<br />
<br />
Here’s the beginning of the article:<br />
<br />
<i>A Jewish chapel at the Al Asad airbase…</i>
<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2997423507?profile=original" alt="" width="298" height="302"/></p>
The article about Jewish military personnel in Iraq training as lay leaders caught my eye on <a href="http://www.jewsingreen.com">www.jewsingreen.com</a> – an online resource for Jews in the U.S. military.<br />
<br />
I clicked on the link to the July 10th article in the Jewish Daily Forward by Richard Tenorio titled “American Soldiers in Iraq Enlist in a Different Kind of Service.”<br />
<br />
Here’s the beginning of the article:<br />
<br />
<i>A Jewish chapel at the Al Asad airbase in western Iraq was the site of an unusual Jewish gathering that began on July 4.<br />
<br />
Seven members of the American military had flown in from across Iraq for a precedent-setting training for Jewish leaders in that country. Iraq does not have much in the way of an indigenous Jewish population anymore, but the American military has brought scores of Jews to the region, most of them with little spiritual guidance.<br />
<br />
To supplement the lack of rabbis in Iraq, one of the few Jewish chaplains in the country, Rabbi Jon Cutler, came up with the idea of training ordinary Jewish servicemen and -women to be lay leaders for other soldiers.</i><br />
<br />
The complete article can be read at <a href="http://www.forward.com/articles/13753/">http://www.forward.com/articles/13753/</a><br />
<br />
And what especially caught my eye was this comment on JewsinGreen.com in connection with this posted article:<br />
<br />
<i>So glad to see organized training like this. Maybe this can spread to other bases, not just in-theater spots.</i><br />
<br />
Why was this article of so much interest to me? Because in May of 1971 my husband Mitch became the lay leader of the U.S. Army Jewish community in Munich, Germany, when the orthodox Jewish rabbi who served as the Jewish chaplain in Munich completed his three-year rotation.<br />
<br />
Mitch had a Reform Judaism upbringing and didn’t, at that point, know very much. He was given no training. But he did have the support of a Department of the Army civilian lawyer, Philip Bernstein (z’l), who had retired in Munich and who was a very knowledgeable Jew with a beautiful singing voice. Many of my letters home to my family describe when either Mr. Bernstein or Mitch led Friday night services.<br />
<br />
The idea of lay leaders actually being trained – Mitch just winged it – is a terrific one. And I hope that, indeed, Jewish lay leader training does “spread to other bases, not just in-theater spots.”<br />
<br />
Syndicated from <a href="http://www.mrslieutenant.blogspot.com">www.mrslieutenant.blogspot.com</a><br />
<br />
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Episode 7 of Lifetime Television’s ARMY WIVES
tag:thebookmarketingnetwork.com,2008-07-22:523145:BlogPost:106632
2008-07-22T00:04:21.000Z
Phyllis Zimbler Miller
http://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/profile/PhyllisZimblerMiller
Episode 7 of the television series ARMY WIVES had nothing outstanding about the episode. Yet it again reminded me of what I perceive as the strengths and weaknesses of the show:<br />
<br />
As always, for me, the parts about the men ring true – Pamela’s husband Chase worried that in combat a team member won’t have his back, Roxy’s husband Trevor insisting it is his duty to return to his unit in Iraq.<br />
<br />
And it’s always the parts about the women that don’t ring true for me. I continue to find it hard to…
Episode 7 of the television series ARMY WIVES had nothing outstanding about the episode. Yet it again reminded me of what I perceive as the strengths and weaknesses of the show:<br />
<br />
As always, for me, the parts about the men ring true – Pamela’s husband Chase worried that in combat a team member won’t have his back, Roxy’s husband Trevor insisting it is his duty to return to his unit in Iraq.<br />
<br />
And it’s always the parts about the women that don’t ring true for me. I continue to find it hard to believe that the wife of the commanding general of the post is such good friends with an enlisted man’s wife.<br />
<br />
If you want to get a different perspective on today’s military forces than that of Lifetime’s ARMY WIVES, you can read blogs by active duty personnel and blogs by their spouses. Go to <a href="http://www.milblogging.com">www.milblogging.com</a> to find these blogs. You can search by top 100, recently updated, by gender, etc.<br />
<br />
At random I clicked on the category recently added, and this blog title caught my eye – “PTSD, A Soldier’s Perspective” (<a href="http://ptsdasoldiersperspective.blogspot.com">http://ptsdasoldiersperspective.blogspot.com</a>). The author of the blog is Scott Lee, who is attending the Kent School of Social Work at the University of Louisville. (How ironic, I thought, as MRS. LIEUTENANT takes place at Ft. Knox, which is south of Louisville.)<br />
<br />
Here’s Lee’s description of his blog: <i>We tell a soldier or veteran of war "welcome home" because the battle never leaves us, as we return from conflict everyday of our lives. This is my story and struggle with PTSD, it affects every aspect of my life. I want people to know what a combat veteran goes through after the media and people forget.</i><br />
<br />
And later in his mission statement he says: <i>It is my hope that by reading my story the general public will begin to understand the situation that our Iraqi and Afghanistan veterans will face in the coming years.</i><br />
<br />
PTSD, of course, is post-traumatic stress disorder, and it can happen not only to combat veterans but to survivors of natural disasters, terrorist attacks, and other traumas. The U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs has a website on this disorder at <a href="http://www.ncptsd.va.gov/ncmain/index.jsp">http://www.ncptsd.va.gov/ncmain/index.jsp</a><br />
<br />
The site includes a guide for military families for when a family member returns from a war zone. Here’s part of the description of this guide:<br />
<br />
<i>Reintegration is an adjustment for all involved. This information aims to make this process as smooth as possible and covers:<br />
<br />
· A description of the common reactions that occur following deployment to a war zone<br />
· How expectations about homecoming may not be the same for service members and family members<br />
· Ways to talk and listen to one another in order to re-establish trust, closeness and openness<br />
· Information about possible problems to watch out for<br />
· How to offer and find assistance for your loved ones<br />
· What help is available and what it involves</i><br />
<br />
Perhaps the writers of ARMY WIVES could read this guide. Then they might write Roxy’s reaction to Trevor more realistically than they are now doing.<br />
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Syndicated from <a href="http://www.mrslieutenant.blogspot.com">www.mrslieutenant.blogspot.com</a><br />
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Soldiers’ Angels Needs Help for Troops in Iraq and Afghanistan
tag:thebookmarketingnetwork.com,2008-07-22:523145:BlogPost:106630
2008-07-22T00:03:50.000Z
Phyllis Zimbler Miller
http://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/profile/PhyllisZimblerMiller
<p style="text-align: left;"><img alt="" height="415" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2997423594?profile=original" width="289"></img></p>
Soldiers’ Angels is an organization benefiting U.S. troops that I have previously blogged about. And on my book’s website at <a href="http://www.mrslieutenant.com">www.mrslieutenant.com</a> – in the section on military organizations that support military families – there’s a listing for Solders’ Angels.<br />
<br />
So when my husband read in one of the milblogs he follows – <a href="http://www.blackfive.net">www.blackfive.net</a> – the blog post with the title…
<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2997423594?profile=original" alt="" width="289" height="415"/></p>
Soldiers’ Angels is an organization benefiting U.S. troops that I have previously blogged about. And on my book’s website at <a href="http://www.mrslieutenant.com">www.mrslieutenant.com</a> – in the section on military organizations that support military families – there’s a listing for Solders’ Angels.<br />
<br />
So when my husband read in one of the milblogs he follows – <a href="http://www.blackfive.net">www.blackfive.net</a> – the blog post with the title “Soldiers’ Angels Could Use Some Help,” I offered to post again about the organization. You can read the actual post at <a href="http://www.blackfive.net/main/2008/07/soldiers-angels.html">www.blackfive.net/soldiers-angels</a>. And at www.soldiersangels.org you can read about what Soldiers’ Angels does to support the troops.<br />
<br />
To me, the most moving tribute to the work of Soldiers’ Angels is the organization’s motto <b>May No Soldier Go Unloved.</b> There are men and women deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan who get NO mail, NO packages, nothing. Put yourself in their shoes and then you’ll know why this is an important organization to support.<br />
<br />
Of course there are many other organization supporting military troops and their families that are very worthwhile. One I recently learned about (and have not yet blogged about) is eMail Our Military. The motto of this organization is <b>Supporting Our Military, One eMail At A Time.</b> Military personnel register and are matched with civilians who have registered to send and show their support.<br />
<br />
Besides supporting Soldiers’ Angels NOW, go check out <a href="http://www.mailourmilitary.com">www.mailourmilitary.com</a>.<br />
<br />
And remember not to throw away your old cell phones. Donate them to <a href="http://www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com">www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com</a>, a project started by two teens.<br />
<br />
And as I always say, supporting the troops is not about whether you are for or against the war in Iraq and the fighting in Afghanistan. This is about showing support for the men and women who have voluntarily joined our military forces to defend us.<br />
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Syndicated from <a href="http://www.mrslieutenant.blogspot.com">www.mrslieutenant.blogspot.com</a><br />
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New Vietnam War Movie Based on Non-Fiction Book Announced by HBO Films
tag:thebookmarketingnetwork.com,2008-07-17:523145:BlogPost:105939
2008-07-17T23:27:10.000Z
Phyllis Zimbler Miller
http://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/profile/PhyllisZimblerMiller
The July 17th Daily Variety announced HBO Films is developing a movie based on former CIA agent Frank Snepp’s 1999 non-fiction book IRREPARABLE HARM: A FIRSTHAND ACCOUNT OF HOW ONE AGENT TOOK ON THE AGENCY IN AN EPIC BATTLER OVER FREE SPEECH.<br />
<br />
This is a follow-up to his 1977 non-fiction book DECENT INTERVAL: AN INSIDER’S ACCCOUNT OF SAIGON’S INDECENT END, TOLD BY THE CIA’S CHIEF STRATEGY ANALYST IN VIETNAM.<br />
<br />
Here’s the IRREPARABLE HARM review by John J. Miller (no relation) on the book’s Amazon…
The July 17th Daily Variety announced HBO Films is developing a movie based on former CIA agent Frank Snepp’s 1999 non-fiction book IRREPARABLE HARM: A FIRSTHAND ACCOUNT OF HOW ONE AGENT TOOK ON THE AGENCY IN AN EPIC BATTLER OVER FREE SPEECH.<br />
<br />
This is a follow-up to his 1977 non-fiction book DECENT INTERVAL: AN INSIDER’S ACCCOUNT OF SAIGON’S INDECENT END, TOLD BY THE CIA’S CHIEF STRATEGY ANALYST IN VIETNAM.<br />
<br />
Here’s the IRREPARABLE HARM review by John J. Miller (no relation) on the book’s Amazon page (boldface mine):<br />
<br />
<i>Former CIA spook Frank Snepp was one of the last Americans lifted off the U.S. embassy in Saigon in 1975, at the tail end of the Vietnam War. In the days leading up to that fateful moment, he complained that the United States needed to do more to protect its <b>intelligence assets</b>, most of whom were left behind.<br />
<br />
"We'd betrayed the Vietnamese who'd depended on us," writes Snepp in Irreparable Harm, "and those who worked most closely with them ... now had blood on our hands, for it was we who in our daily contacts had convinced them to trust us."<br />
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Snepp criticized this turn of events in a 1977 book, Decent Interval, and was promptly sued by the CIA because they had not given him clearance to write about his experiences.<br />
<br />
The resulting court case went all the way to the Supreme Court. Snepp tried to defend himself on First Amendment grounds with the help of a then-unknown Harvard lawyer named Alan Dershowitz.<br />
<br />
He ultimately lost the case, plus his money and the right to publish anything about the CIA without first receiving authorization. Irreparable Harm--which has received CIA clearance--captures all the twists and turns of Snepp's legal fight …</i><br />
<br />
I find it interesting that the HBO movie will be about the legal battle against a large bureaucracy – how many such movies have we seen? – rather than about the actual story: the U.S.’s betrayal of its South Vietnamese <b>intelligence assets.</b><br />
<br />
In intelligence lingo <b>intelligence assets</b> means people – people with families, people who trusted you at great risk to their own lives and the lives of their families. And we left those people behind to face almost-certain death at the hands of the North Vietnamese.<br />
<br />
How many years from now might some former CIA agent write a similar story about leaving behind our <b>intelligence assets</b> in Iraq and Afghanistan – to face almost-certain death?<br />
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Syndicated from <a href="http://www.mrslieutenant.blogspot.com">www.mrslieutenant.blogspot.com</a><br />
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