by Edie Melson @EdieMelson Even today—with as many blogs on the Internet as there are—blogging is still a valuable part of building and maintaining an online community. But it’s rare for a blog to take hold and grow, if it’s not a place where comments proliferate. Almost no one likes…

by Edie Melson @EdieMelson Between deadlines, edits and rejections it’s easy to fall out of love with our writing. It can get so bad that we begin to dread sitting down at the keyboard. When that happens to me my mind begins to reprioritize my life. I can suddenly find…

By DiAnn Mills @DiAnnMills and @EdieMelson A writer's social media platform helps brand her in the publishing world. This post is to help you reach your writing and publishing goals through social media. Edie and I want to encourage you to establish and maintain your social media presence regularly. If…

By DiAnn Mills @DiAnnMills At the Blue Ridge Conference, our faculty has a heart for helping writers. These instructors sacrifice time and energy to provide the tools we need to advance in the publishing world. They schedule a time to talk to us one-on-one. They listen to our tripping over…

by Tammy Van Gils @TammyVanGils Take a moment and imagine these iconic scenes. With grey skies above and a slight breeze blowing, they walked near her childhood home. Carrying her shoes in one hand, she walked up the driveway and stopped near the old, dilapidated house. Pain strained her face…

by Lori Roeleveld @LoriSRoeleveld At one conference at Blue Ridge I had a turning point moment that might have derailed my work entirely. As I walked with an editor from dinner to the main evening event, she asked how many writing conferences I’d attended. “This is my third Blue Ridge…