This document outlines a presentation on defining a writing career in today's market. It discusses key concepts like branding, marketing, and using digital distribution channels. The presentation encourages writers to think about how to communicate their promise to readers, establish an online identity, deliver content effectively, and build influence with their audience. The goal is to help writers strategically develop their career in the current publishing renaissance.

1. The
Brand
Called
You:
Defining
Your
Writer’s
Career
in
Today’s
Market
Interna<onal
Women’s
Wri<ng
Guild
Big
Apple
Conference,
April
26,
2015
Melissa
A.
Rosa<,
CPCC
Tweets:
@melissarosa<
#iwwg

2. Introduc<ons
• Name
• Your
goal
for
this
session
• Name
an
author
you
admire
and
give
one
reason
why
• YOU
HAVE
15
SECONDS!

3. Learning
Objec<ves
• The
meaning
of
“Publishing
Renaissance”
• Iden<fy
opportuni<es
for
your
career
• Consumer
behavior
using
digital
distribu<on
channels
• Marke<ng
and
branding
defined
• How
branding
differs
from
plaYorm
• Commit
to
one
step
that
will
make
the
biggest
contribu<on
to
your
career
goals

4. Key
Concepts
• Marke<ng
communicates
your
promise
to
the
reader.
• Branding
is
who
you
are
online
and
offline
and
how
you
behave.
• Distribu<on
is
how
you
deliver
content
to
your
customer.
• PlaYorm
is
your
visibility
and
your
influence
with
your
audience.

5. Warm-­‐up
Exercise
• How
do
you
feel
about
the
author
you
admire?
• I
will
give
you
three
words,
one
word
at
a
<me.
• You
will
write
for
two
minutes
on
each
word
as
it
relates
to
your
feelings
about
the
author
you
admire.

6. The
Elements
of
Disrup<ve
Change
Cultural
Technological
Economic

7. The
Birth
of
Publishing
Johannes
Gutenberg
1398
–
February
3,
1468
Aldus
ManuIus
Died
1515,
Founder
of
Aldine
Press
Image
based
on
a
19th
century
steel
engraving,
Wikimedia
Commons.

8. The
Rebirth
of
Publishing
Jeff
Bezos
(January
12,
1964
–
present)
Steve
Jobs
(February
24,
1955
to
October
5,
2011)

9. Hot
Renaissance
Authors
Dante
Alighieri
(June
1,
1265
–
September
14,
1321)
Dan
Brown
(June
22,
1964
–
present)

10. Where
Are
We?
Judydouglass.com

11. Speculate
or
Invent
Your
Future

12. Digital
Distribu<on
Facts
• People
spend
over
1
billion
hours
per
month
on
NeYlix
(subscrip<on
service)
• 890
million
daily
ac<ve
users
on
Facebook
• 12
new
books
are
added
to
Amazon
every
hour
• As
of
September
2013,
Apple
sold
700
million
devices
with
its
opera<ng
system.
hkp://expandedramblings.com/

13. Digital
Distribu<on

14. The
Digital
Retailers
Are
Search
Engines
• Amazon
• Kobo
• iBooks
• Barnes
&
Noble

15. Internet
Live
Stats
in
One
Second
• Email
=
2,382,751
sent
emails
• YouTube
=
98,285
videos
viewed
• Tweets
=
8,870
sent
tweets
• Instagram
=
1,910
photos
uploaded
• Google
=
48,156
searches
Source:
Internet
Live
Stats
at
5:03
a.m..,
New
York
City,
March
28,
2015

16. Where’s
Your
Book?

17. Language
Drives
Search
• Make
a
list
of
the
most
important
three-­‐word
phrases
related
to
your
book.
Then,
two-­‐word.
Then,
one-­‐word.
• What
kind
of
searches
do
you
use
when
you
are
looking
for
something.
Keep
a
list
for
one
week.
Then,
think
about
where
you
want
to
be
found.
• What
words
will
readers
use
to
find
my
book?

18. Types
of
Keywords
• Your
Keyword
Values
• Genre
Keywords
• Subject
Keywords
• Audience
Keywords
• Emo<on
and
tone
keywords

19. Branding
• Who
are
you?
• What
do
you
want
to
be
known
for?
• Who
is
your
audience?
• How
do
you
prove
it?

20. Best
Ways
to
Establish
Your
Brand
• Find
Your
Voice
• Be
consistent
in
your
wri<ng
• Professional
Edi<ng
• Professional
Design
• Smart
Use
of
Social
Media

21. Exercise:
Start
with
100
Words
• Reviews
• Endorsements
• LinkedIn
recommenda<ons
• Lekers/emails
• Do
a
social
media
audit
of
your
web
presence
• Work
with
your
values

22. Example
of
5
Content
Criteria
for
Red
Lotus
Studio
Press
• Inspires
Awe
• Reminds
people
to
be
grateful,
love
jus<ce,
and
walk
humbly
with
God
• Stands
for
something
greater/bigger
than
ourselves
• Asks
a
big
ques<on
or
illuminates
a
big
risk
• Speaks
to
the
transcendent
func<on
of
wri<ng
and
the
arts

23. Types
of
Content
to
Express
Brand
Criteria
• Quotes
• Text
• Images
• Video
• Audio
• Links
• Anima<on

24. Elements
of
Your
Business
Plan
• Set
goals
and
write
them
down
• Review
your
goals
every
quarter
• Invest
in
your
marke<ng
educa<on
• Set
money
aside
for
research
and
development
• Be
open
to
all
outcomes
for
success

25. Visualiza<on
Exercise

26. Summary
• Be
who
you
are
• Be
known
for
your
exper<se
• Be
present
with
your
audience
• Be
consistent
in
language
and
visuals
• Give
value
• Add
value
• Always
be
learning
• Celebrate
your
successes!

27. How
to
Stay
in
Touch
w/Melissa
• Phone:
917-­‐628-­‐4547
• LinkedIn:
/in/melissarosa<
• Facebook:
facebook.com/melissarosa<
• Twiker:
@melissarosa<
• Blog:
www.theredlotusstudiopress.com
• Blog:
www.redlotusstudiopress.com

28. About
Melissa
A.
Rosa<,
CPCC
An
Award-­‐winning
publisher,
Melissa
A.
Rosa<
has
15+
years
of
experience
in
content
acquisi<ons,
new
product
development,
and
leading
teams
for
publishers
in
New
York
and
London.
In
2015,
she
founded
Red
Lotus
Studio
Press,
an
imprint
of
Melissa’s
Coaching
Studio,
LLC,
her
private
coaching
and
consul<ng
prac<ce.
As
part
of
Pace
University’s
Interna<onal
Publishing
Ins<tute,
she
co-­‐facilitated
execu<ve
leadership
seminars
for
the
senior
execu<ves
of
China’s
premier
media
conglomerates,
including
China
Publishing
Group
Corpora<on,
Phoenix
Publishing
and
Media
Group,
and
Hunan
Publishing.
In
the
Master
of
Science
in
Publishing
degree
program,
she
taught
graduate
courses
in
Book
Sales
&
Distribu<on
Methods,
Marke<ng,
and
General
Interest
Books.
A
frequent
speaker
on
publishing
business
strategies,
Melissa
has
led
workshops
and
facilitated
panels
held
at
Yale
University,
Skidmore
College,
the
University
of
Maryland,
and
the
Geneva
Writers’
Conference
in
Switzerland.