For book/ebook authors, publishers, & self-publishers

Phyllis Zimbler Miller's Blog (67)

What I Learned About Online Promotion From Cathy Goodwin and Emilie Wapnick

I have an online history with copywriter Cathy Goodwin. When I self-published my novel “Mrs. Lieutenant” in the spring of 2008, I emailed Cathy, as a “Top 500” Amazon book reviewer, asking if she would review my novel.

I thought she might be more likely to say yes because we both had an M.B.A. from Wharton.

What she said was no – she didn’t like to review first-time novelists because their books usually weren’t very…

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Added by Phyllis Zimbler Miller on October 24, 2011 at 2:30pm — No Comments

Strategies for Using Twitter Effectively Are the Focus of the September WeTeachWebMarketing.com Program

Miller Mosaic, LLC focuses on strategies for using Twitter effectively in its September monthly WeTeachWebMarketing.com program.

“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.”

Miller Mosaic, LLC partner Phyllis Zimbler Miller often writes about Twitter for her National Internet Business Examiner column at www.InternetBizBlogger.com.

Join now at… Continue

Added by Phyllis Zimbler Miller on August 31, 2009 at 10:18pm — No Comments

Internet Marketing Training – What Areas of Cyberspace Should You Be Knowledgeable About

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.

Let’s simplify this process by planning a “learning” agenda:

• 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.

Twitter appears to be the simplest with… Continue

Added by Phyllis Zimbler Miller on July 15, 2009 at 1:08pm — 1 Comment

How Can Persuasive Selling Help You Sell More Books?

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.

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.

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… Continue

Added by Phyllis Zimbler Miller on July 14, 2009 at 11:57pm — No Comments

How to Explain to Your Mother, Husband, Best Friend That Twitter Is Not a Waste of Time

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.

In reply, I’ve decided to come up with a list of answers for when someone asks you this question:

1. Getting news updates before the news media

2. Asking technical software/hardware questions and getting answers

3. Asking for referrals for a plumber… Continue

Added by Phyllis Zimbler Miller on July 7, 2009 at 2:39pm — No Comments

5 Tips for Joining Your First Social Media Site Such as Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn

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?

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.

Let’s imagine you already use email, search for information… Continue

Added by Phyllis Zimbler Miller on July 2, 2009 at 5:58pm — No Comments

10 Ways for a Book Author to Share Free Content on the Internet

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.

Why is this?

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,… Continue

Added by Phyllis Zimbler Miller on June 30, 2009 at 11:14pm — No Comments

How to Maximize Your Author Website

In the last two days I’ve looked at two new book author sites of people on Twitter. In both cases I had no

idea whether the book was currently available for sale.

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… Continue

Added by Phyllis Zimbler Miller on June 28, 2009 at 2:05pm — No Comments

Your Book Is Judged by Its Cover — 7 Tips for Effective Internet Book Selling

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.

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.

And on the Internet, especially on Amazon, the book cover is a tiny thing. And, yes, many books on Amazon… Continue

Added by Phyllis Zimbler Miller on June 23, 2009 at 9:43am — No Comments

How Authors Can Use Their Books as the Basis for an Internet Business

Whether you have a fiction or nonfiction book, there’s a lot more gold in that tome than you may realize.

Let me show you what I mean:

We’ll start with a nonfiction book we’ll call 15 WAYS TO START AN ONLINE BUSINESS. And we’ll agree that:

• The book has been published (whether from a traditional publisher or self-published doesn’t matter).

• Each of the 15 ways has an individual chapter.

• You have a website for your book.

Now… Continue

Added by Phyllis Zimbler Miller on June 23, 2009 at 9:23am — 1 Comment

Preparing to launch an online information product: Day 1 of the pre-launch

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.

(FYI: An information “product” can be an ebook, a webinar series, a teleseminar series, a membership program – whatever uses the Internet to provide information.)

The Miller Mosaic program will launch July 1st, and I’m going to take the… Continue

Added by Phyllis Zimbler Miller on June 16, 2009 at 12:18am — No Comments

Special Twitter Event on Tuesday, March 31, from 6-7 pm PACIFIC on Writing Book Proposals

Carolyn Howard-Johnson (@FrugalBookPromo) and Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller) are hosting a tweetchat for everyone interested in learning how to write a book proposal.

Use the hashtag #bkpro to join the conversation.

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… Continue

Added by Phyllis Zimbler Miller on March 30, 2009 at 9:26am — No Comments

SPECIAL EVENT ON TWITTER ON TUESDAY, MARCH 10, FROM 6 TO 7 P.M. PACIFIC FOR FICTION BOOK AUTHORS, AGENTS AND PUBLISHERS

Carolyn Howard-Johnson (@FrugalBookPromo) and I (@ZimblerMiller) are hosting a tweetchat for Twitter fiction book authors, agents and publishers 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.

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… Continue

Added by Phyllis Zimbler Miller on March 8, 2009 at 6:52pm — No Comments

Mrs. Lieutenant: Thanks for a Year of Learning and Sharing

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 MRS. LIEUTENANT.

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… Continue

Added by Phyllis Zimbler Miller on December 25, 2008 at 5:30pm — No Comments

This Is Phyllis Zimbler Miller Signing Off

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.

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 www.estateplanningforyou.com.

Suddenly I’ve been… Continue

Added by Phyllis Zimbler Miller on August 26, 2008 at 3:36pm — No Comments

Your Husband was in a Helicopter Crash in the Bering Sea

The “Tell-Your-Own-Story” military spouse contest sponsored by www.YourMilitary.com 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 www.YourMilitaryBlog.com.

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… Continue

Added by Phyllis Zimbler Miller on August 7, 2008 at 12:49pm — No Comments

YourMilitary.com Announces Military Spouse Contest Winners

YourMilitary.com 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 www.YourMilitaryBlog.com and www.YourMilitarySpace.com.

Story submissions of not more than 500… Continue

Added by Phyllis Zimbler Miller on August 5, 2008 at 3:08pm — No Comments

Memories From the Daughter of a Vietnam War Veteran

I asked Anna Horner, who blogs at www.diaryofaneccentric.blogspot.com, 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 (http://tinyurl.com/6z9cn6). I particularly appreciated her description of visiting the Vietnam Veterans Memorial because Sharon Gold visits this memorial… Continue

Added by Phyllis Zimbler Miller on August 5, 2008 at 3:07pm — No Comments

Do Our Troops Need Cosmetics? A Unique Way to Show Our Gratitude

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 http://nancymkqueen.wordpress.com.)

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…

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Added by Phyllis Zimbler Miller on August 4, 2008 at 1:01pm — No Comments

Expiation for Killing: Young Soldiers Are Taught How to Kill But Not Taught That Killing in Combat Is Okay CONTINUED

In my July 27th post (http://tinyurl.com/55zq2z), National Guardsman Big Tobacco (www.big-tobacco.blogspot.com) currently deployed in Iraq provided his response to my July 20th post about post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in military personnel (http://tinyurl.com/6eu789). In that same July 27th post I put forth an insight from my husband Mitch about biblical… Continue

Added by Phyllis Zimbler Miller on August 1, 2008 at 5:30pm — No Comments