Turning pages in the US market
Kiwi Author and Columnist Emma Mildon has the US self help industry talking!
New Zealand’s own, Emma Mildon, is being hailed as the next big teen Author to hit the literary scene. The 25 year old A
uthor of License to Love, a book currently being groomed to penetrate the American, European and Australasian market.
The next big read, License to Love , is being called “the ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ for the tweens of today” (teens and twenties
audience) from Editor Julie Clayton. California based Clayton has worked on a list of renowned self help books including
the recent must read 'The Secret' which has gone on to be an International Best Seller as well as hit movie.
Mildon graduated from Auckland University of Technology with a Bachelor of Communications program and went on to work in
the Public Relations sector. Working for Trends Publishing International, an Ellerslie based publishing house which took
on the world with its home design and renovation magazines, Mildon became motivated after working with David Johnson.
Johnson had successfully managed to infiltrate Trends Magazine into the New Zealand, Australian, Asian, American and
more recently United Arab Emirates market.
Combining this exposure to the publishing market with her love for writing Mildon quickly began to build a portfolio of
columns for the tween audience. Writing for 247girl.co.nz an online hub with rich and more importantly real content for teenagers who needed advice and guidance for being a
teenager in today’s world. As her list of columns began to stack up, from “surviving long distance long”, “admit it, you
were never into him”, “how to know when to call it quits” Mildon realised that the teens of today needed a bible which
they could relate to. An 'Eat,Pray,Love' for teens, written by someone who could share all of their experiences so
others could laugh and learn with her. License to Love successfully tells her story of challenges she confronted all
lives hardships with a light hearted hint of sarcasm.
“ When I was a teen I lost my mother and I could have done with a book which gave me down to earth no nonsense advice that
I could relate to. License to Love isn't about the 'how to' of life, it cuts out all the how to...slim, snog, sex and
just talks about the real life crap all of us actually need help with, but don't know how to ask,” shares Mildon.
Loosing her mother to Cancer at seventeen, Mildon dealt with the illness, grief, depression all while trying to be a
'normal' teen and test relationships, first loves and first heart aches. This combo resulted in her coming off the
rails, and soul searching in an effort to get her life back on track.
Mildon explains, “The book walks the reader through my journey as I travel through foreign lands, meeting an array of characters. Each chapter has a lesson of love
explained in antidotes so the reader can make their own mind up about the lovers, takers and breakers who past my road
along the way.”
“ This isn't a book readers just read, this is a book they experience.”
Mildon is eager to get License to Love on the New Zealand shelf. Statistics show that from puberty onward, women are twice as more likely to experience
depression than men and that depression and anxiety often have their onset in the teenage years. Depression is a common
illness. Around 160,000 young people aged 16 to 24 live with depression each year (according the youthbeyondblue.com). License to Love is a book which seeks to help people in times of blue.
“ Some call it depression, others a 'bad space', it could be prompted by a break up, relationships, or just life in
general – but I prefer to label it a chance to re-valuate and reinvent yourself.”
Mildon is currently in discussions with publishers and distributors in Europe and can be contacted directly through the
License to Love website, www.licensetolove.co she is keen to talk to other New Zealanders who want to make a difference to the 'great depression' sweeping teens of
today. Her ultimate goal is to help teens world wide.
Mildons contacts are as follows: