Thoughtful Thursdays ~ Blog Tour: Social Media Marketing for Writers by Edie Melson

I'm thrilled to kick off the blog tour for Social Media Marketing for Writers. Edie Melson is one of my favorite people. She has taken me under her wing and carved time out of her schedule to mentor me as I navigate the winding path to publication.

Here are a few things you should know about Edie:

1. She is the busiest woman alive. I have 3 young children so I know what busy looks like. Edie’s workload terrifies me!

2. One reason Edie is so busy is because she’s so incredibly good at what she does and has more job offers than she can handle.

3. The other reason she’s so busy is because she has such a heart for others that it’s hard for her to say no. (Our writing group is going to have to stage an intervention if she keeps saying yes).

4. Edie also has a heart for teaching writers. She wants to see them succeed, wants to see them improve and wants to spare them from making newbie mistakes.

5. Edie is a social media guru. At writers conferences across the nation, she teaches classes on establishing your web presence, writing for the web and social media.



Edie Melson

 Now, she’s taken the material that she presents at conferences and on the many blogs she contributes to and compiled all of it into an e-book, Social Media Marketing for Writers and it's available for download to your Kindle or Nook. If you don't have a Kindle or a Nook, both offer free applications for your PC or Mac.

Here’s the review I wrote for Amazon and Barnes and Noble:

Whether you're an aspiring writer building your platform, a newly published author marketing your first book or an established novelist striving to connect with your readers, Social Media Marketing for Writers will give you all the tools you need to establish your virtual presence—and keep your sanity while you do it.

Navigating social media can be overwhelming, but this guide gives step by step instructions for everything from setting up your first blog to structuring your daily on-line activities so you still have time to do what writers do best—write.

If you want to maximize your successes while streamlining your efforts, Social Media Marketing for Writers is the best place to start.

What I didn’t say is that while this book is written for writers, it's also an invaluable resource for musicians, artists, small business owners or anyone in direct sales.

If you have a product and need a platform, you will benefit from this book.

The other thing I didn’t say is that I had the privilege of sitting down with Edie a few weeks before this book came out and she gave me many of the strategies she presents in this book. I’ve only just begun implementing them, but a quick check of my blog stats and Twitter followers indicates that her methods are already working for me.

I’m sure they’ll work for you, too! If you haven’t yet, what are you waiting for?

Download Social Media Marketing for Writers now!

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Nooks and Kindles and E-readers - Oh my!

Bibliophile - a person who collects or has a great love of books.

If you’ve been following me for any length of time, then you know that I love to read. What you may not know is how much I love books. I love the weight of a book in my hand, the crisp feel of a new hardback and the musty smell of a hundred year old classic.

I have friends who love to read, but have no attachment to their books. They read them, then sell or donate them.

I don’t get that.

I don’t hold it against them, but secretly (until now), I think it’s weird.

Because I can’t bear to part with my books. I moved recently and now have twenty-one boxes of books waiting for the bookshelf that will become their home. A bookshelf I intend to be large enough to hold many more books as the years go by.

All of this should explain why I’ve been reluctant to jump on the Kindle/Nook bandwagon.

Until recently, my general take on e-readers was that they were fabulous for some people but please, just hand me a book.

I haven’t entirely given up on that notion.

But never one to pass up a good deal, I downloaded the free Kindle/Nook apps to my iTouch and started downloading all the free books that looked interesting.

To my surprise, I’ve grown rather fond of the convenience of reading on my tiny little iTouch. It slides into my purse or diaper bag with ease. It even fits in my pocket.

Of course, I’ve been reading free books. So it’s felt more like a digital trip to the library.

And then Saturday, I crossed over.

I paid $9.99 for a book.

I’m still not exactly sure how it happened. I have plenty of free books to read. But they weren’t what I wanted to read. And it was late. The library was closed. I could have gone to the bookstore, but that would have meant a thirty minute round trip, plus several dollars in gas.

I thought about it off and on for a good hour. What was I thinking? Spending $9.99 on digital media with no book to sit on my shelf?

But…I pay $10 to get into a two-hour movie. Not often, but I’m obviously willing to spend that much for a brief amount of entertainment. It will take me at least twenty hours to read this book.

That’s only fifty cents an hour!

Before I knew it, I had downloaded the book and in the process, I think I figured out how the e-reader fits in my book-loving hand.

My love of books has not diminished. My first choice will always be a book. My second choice will be to download the freebies.

But every now and then, I’ll pay $9.99 for twenty hours of entertainment.

And if the book is good enough, I’ll pay even more later on for it to sit on my shelf.

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