Once I am closer to finishing it, I aim to publicize my in-progress DH project, “Moses Dresser Phillips and His World,” in a variety of social media platforms. Phillips, the prominent Antebellum publisher who founded The Atlantic Monthly, was the topic of my dissertation at The College of William and Mary, and this DH project is based on my dissertation and the work that I have done on Phillips since then.
My target audiences for my social media strategy are:
1) Family, Friends, Colleagues, and Former Students
I plan to reach this audience through Facebook, since most of them are there. Many of these individuals know about my research on Moses Dresser Phillips, and several of them may be willing to be involved with crowdsourcing for this project. Phillips had over one hundred authors in his stable, and the firm, Phillips, Sampson and Company published more than eight hundred books. I’d appreciate help from people who would be willing to work on parts of the project which interest them. I’d like to get them excited about this man from my local area, the people he associated with, and the books he published. I plan to post to describe the project and link to it. Hopefully, they will share the post and link with their friends. I will reach out to those who are active on other social media platforms and ask that they mention the site on those sites.
2)The DH community
While I’m not currently on Twitter, I plan to join to reach this audience that way. I see how many DH people are active on Twitter, and I hope to get their attention by highlighting that information about and links to this important publishing firm’s authors and books are now available in one place. I will send a message to people I know in the field and hope that they will Retweet. I also plan to update my profile on the THATCamp page and to add a link to the site. I’ll also update this blog.
3)The History of the Book Community
I will reach some members of the History of the Book Community through my Facebook message to family and friends, and I hope that they spread the word. I also plan to reach some of these individuals through LinkedIn by adding the link to my project to my profile. I have a Pinterest page and will make that public to reach any History of the Book individuals involved with Pinterest. Mentioning books such as English Traits, by Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Dred, by Harriet Beecher Stowe, that were published by Phillips, Sampson and Company, as well as noting that this man founded The Atlantic Monthly, might interest people in the field who do not yet know about Phillips.
After all of the work that I have put into my research on Moses Dresser Phillips and his firm, Phillips, Sampson and Company, I am pleased to have this site to share. I will reach out to my three audiences through social media so that they, too, will learn about and come to admire this remarkable man.