Melanie Sheridan is an African American lifestyle blogger writing about fashion, tech, her favorite apps, her newbie photography skills, saving money and couponing, books, social media, the occasional recipe, family and parenting and living in southern California.

She married her high school sweetheart 16 years ago and they share one amazing kid. Melanie is an avid reader, shoe collector, Twitter addict, newbie photographer, coupon clipper, closet gadget girl, wannabe foodie, #HockeyMom and recovering shopaholic.

Melanie has appeared on local television news segments and, in September 2013, was cast in a Walmart commercial that ran in local television, print and digital media. She has attended events for Coca Cola, Disney, General Mills, and TJ Maxx/Marshalls. She has had the honor of attending the invite-only Disney Social Media Moms Conference four times and the Blissdom conference as both attendee and speaker. 


She is an avid reader, shoe slut, Twitter addict, chocolate fiend, newbie photographer, closet gadget girl, wannabe foodie, late iAdopter, recovering shopaholic and a Pinning Fool. Melanie is very active in San Diego's social media community and attends many San Diego events. 

Melanie is currently freelancing and providing social media consulting services for small businesses. Please contact her for consulting rates and sponsored content opportunities.

In addition to Twitter, find Melanie on:
Melanie Sheridan on You Tube
Mel, A Dramatic Mommy on Facebook
Melanie Sheridan on LinkedIn 
Melanie Sheridan on Instagram
Melanie Sheridan on Pinterest (If you really want to get to know Melanie, follow her here. All her hopes, wants, dreams and interests in one place)
 
Events Melanie has co-hosted and co-planned:

*National Mom’s Out in 2009 and 2010 in partnership with BSM Media. Both events had some of San Diego's most influential bloggers in attendance and raised money for charity.

A few of the junkets Melanie has attended:
TJ Maxx/Marshalls corporate headquarters
General Mills blogger Eat and Greet in Minneapolis
Kodak
Disneyland/Disneyworld 
Souplantation/Sweet tomatoes for a local blogger's event
HOP press movie junket
The Lorax press movie junket
International Housewares Show (Chicago, on behalf of Hoover)
Coca Cola 

Past speaking engagements:
2012 speaker in a virtual conference for small business owners, panel topic blogging for business
Blissdom 2010 as a panelist on blog monetization 

Past blog sponsors:
TJ Maxx/Marshalls
Foot Petals
Smart and Final 
National Dairy Association

Awards/Nominations:

*2010 Influence SD nominee 

*2010 recipient of a ToeSox scholarship for the Susan G Komen 3 Day 

Charitable cause Melanie supports: 

*2009 and 2010 Online Ambassador for Susan G Komen 

*Susan G Komen 3Day walker in 2009, 2010 and November 2011 

Memberships:
SD Bloggers
Collective Bias

Melanie in the media:
Interview for Bankrate.com about apps and shopping with smartphones  (May 2012)

Power of Mom Bloggers segment (KNSD June 2011)

CA Non Stop segment on family camping 7/25/11 (KNSD)


CA Non Stop segment on saving money for Back to School 9/7/11 (KNSD)

Melanie and her family were in Redbook Magazine (June 2009) as part of a feature article on finances and were interviewed by the Los Angeles Times in December 2008.


Want to know even more about Melanie? Check out her 100 Things post. Want to get in touch with Melanie? Shoot her a message. Her email address is ADramaticMommy [at] gmail [dot] com.

Links to printable Google Docs:
-About Melanie
-LA Times article
-Redbook article

Updated August 2014

Policies, Procedures and Disclosure

These policies are valid from September 2009 and I reserve the right to revise them at any time.

Advertising: I sell ads. Let's work together to create a package that meets your needs. I accept payment through PayPal and personal check. Please contact me for a rate card, availability and ad sizes. Ads subject to availability.

Sponsored content: If your pitch involves 'sharing information with my readers,' be prepared to receive a response with my rates. Let's work together to create a program for your client/brand. Whether it's one post or an entire campaign across platforms (video, Pinterest, Facebook,Twitter), I want to help create exposure for brands that fit my site. 

Guest posts: I do not accept unsolicited guest posts. 

Affiliates: I do use affiliate links on this site. I will disclose this at the end of the posts. 

Giveaways: Giveaways take time. Depending on the nature of your contest, there may be an additional fee involved if you'd like me to promote beyond the initial post, especially if there are time constraints involved.

Sponsors are responsible for shipping items to the winner(s) unless otherwise noted and/or previously arranged. I find that my readers value giveaways paired with a personal review. Read my review policies and 'holla only if you agree to them.

All giveaways are open to US residents only unless otherwise noted. Winners are responsible for providing accurate contact information within the time allotted (generally 48 hours unless otherwise specified) or an alternate winner will be chosen.

Reviews: I'm scaling back the amount of reviews I do. Basically, your item needs to knock my stilettos off. I like to offer reviews and/or giveaways of products that are of interest to me, my family and/or my readers. I'm very picky about what I will review on my blog. PR people are welcome to send a pitch describing the promotion/giveaway/product/website/what they had for lunch.

I ask that you please follow these rules for submission:

1. Please make sure you know my name and a little bit about me and my blog before you submit. I like people who do their homework. You can read more about me in the 'about me' section and take a gander through the archives or favorite posts.

2. "Brevity is the soul of lingerie" -Dorothy Parker
Please keep your initial contact brief and to the point. If I need more info, I'll get back to you with questions.

3. If you use my comments sections as free advertising you will be on my shit list.

4. This is my space.

5. Remember I'm a mom first!

6. But. I'm also a woman with likes and interests outside my child and my marriage.

7. I reserve the right not to do a review, which generally means I found the product, how shall I say it? Not something I'd spend my husband's hard earned money on.

8. If your pitch is child related, please take note: my almost 12 year old son is into the Detroit Red Wings, Star Wars, Legos, skateboarding, trick scooters and surfing. He's reading books like the Percy Jackson, Divergent, Hunger Games and Harry Potter series; and he has his own iPhone and laptop. He wishes he had an iPad. He plays ice hockey. We have a Playstation 3. If what you're pitching doesn't fall into those areas of interest chances are I'll say, "no thank you" rather than waste your time.

9. I ask that the review and/or giveaway item have a value of $50 or more (exception would be a book, new music or something similar). I'm happy to offer a coupon code along with the review and ask that it be a minimum of 15%. (I may make exceptions to this depending on the product).

10. Please provide logos and/or press releases where applicable.

Submission of a product doesn't guarantee a review, and it doesn't guarantee a positive review. I am honest, sometimes to a fault, but I'm not mean. I can't review something I've not held, smelled, tasted, read, watched, played with or worn. That's not a review, it's a press release.

I don't return samples (half-eaten candy, anyone?) and getting the product to me in enough time to adequately review it, is on your dime. If you're asking for a review of a service or website, please give me enough of a trial period to adequately use it, especially if it's something for my son.

I can't review every product that comes my way. I also can't respond to every pitch I get. I will do my best to respond to your initial request in a timely manner, but do nudge me (gently) if it takes more than a few days for me to let you know I've received your pitch.

Disclosure: This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. The views and opinions on this blog are my own. For questions about this blog, please contact Melanie at ADramaticMommy[at]gmail.com.

This blog accepts forms of cash advertising, sponsorship, paid insertions or other forms of compensation.

This blog abides by word of mouth marketing standards. The owner believes in honesty of relationship, opinion and identity. The compensation received may influence the advertising content, topics or posts made in this blog. That content, advertising space or post will be clearly identified as paid or sponsored content.

The owner of this blog is compensated to provide opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics. Even though the owner of this blog receives compensation for our posts or advertisements, the opinions, findings, beliefs, or experiences on those topics or products is honest. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider or party in question.

This blog does contain content which might present a conflict of interest. This content will always be identified.

To get your own policy, go to http://www.disclosurepolicy.org
Revised August 2014