EDIE MELSON AND DiANN MILLS
Marketing for
Writers
by Doyne Phillips
E
die Melson and DiAnn Mills are co-directors of the
Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference.
In their commitment to raise up the next generation
of writers, they have established Mountainside Marketing
Conference. This hands-on conference is for writers who are
serious about learning and applying marketing, promotion,
and branding to their careers through social media and
blogging.
How did this come about?
Over the past fifteen years, writers have experienced
tremendous changes in the publishing industry. But
with all the upheaval, the emphasis on producing quality
manuscripts while marketing and promoting has become
a balancing act, often sending writers into overwhelmed
mode. One essential remains constant—writers must
connect with readers.
With the advent of social media, blogging, and the rise of
online retailers, platform building has moved into the digital
realm. The means to accomplish this digital
connection continues to adjust with new
platforms and innovations while the goal of
reaching out to those who trust our writing is
still the fuel to our efforts.
As the world has shifted, writers have lost
sight of that first love. We’ve forgotten the
why behind our drive to write. Instead we’ve
drifted into a more self-centered focus. We
build online platforms to benefit ourselves.
It’s past time to step out of that upside-down
realm and return to the why—the dream of
making the world a better place.
By making online connections and
using that process to impact the world in a
positive way, we’re removing the focus on
self and replacing it with a focus on others.
The shift can be subtle, but it’s powerful.
And our audience will notice it almost
immediately.
8 Southern Writers
Along with this change in direction, we will also find
online connections are the perfect way to begin impacting the
world in a positive way—even before we’ve written and sold a
single book.
What is the purpose of Mountainside Marketing?
To instruct writers that social media is not about us; it’s about
the reader. Most writers are afraid of building a platform.
They believe it’s all about numbers and are concerned their
efforts will be futile. The foundation is relationships and
establishing community.
There is a lot of misinformation about building an author
platform. The first is the existence of a magic number that
guarantees entry into the publishing success realm. Having
a solid platform isn’t number-dependent.
We could have numbers in the thousands, but if we’re
not engaged with that faceless audience, we very likely
won’t generate the sales needed to stay afloat in today’s
market.