If you think branding is a business marketing term and doesn’t apply to authors, it’s time to change your mind!
The internet is made up of many tiny niches and websites, blogs and books relate to those markets. People find those sites by searching for specific words and phrases based on what they are interested in. Your author website, or your book, can be found in this way too.
Branding is important because it enables people to find you, and when they find you, they might just buy your book. So who are you online? Which niche do you fit into? How do people find you?
Creating an author platform is vital for a new author’s success, and creating a brand is the basis for the platform. You need to know what you are creating before you start!
Deciding On Your Brand
To decide on your brand, answer the following questions:
- How do you want to be known? What words do you want people to associate with you?
- What are your goals for the next 3 years? What words are associated with that?
- Will your books be in a particular genre?
- Who do you admire and want to emulate in writing and also as a brand? Find their websites and keep screenprints of what you like and don’t like. Use them as a model (but obviously no plagiarism!)
- If you have a website already, enter it into Google Keyword tool. Are you happy with the keywords associated with your site? Do you need to change your focus?
- What images do you want associated with you and your brand?
You also need to know what you want for your future, because if you can’t see the brand extending over multiple books you have hard work ahead! I made this mistake after my first book “How To Enjoy Your Job” when I branded myself with “career change” and a business image. I quickly realised that I didn’t want to speak or write on this topic anymore and started The Creative Penn, a new brand, from scratch. I brainstormed ideas and settled on using my own name and the image of a pen with creativity. You can still keep more than 1 niche/brand, but be aware of the effort involved!
Having a brand doesn’t mean you need an expensive logo or unique design (although you can do these things). It means you have an image and words associated with you in people’s minds. You resonate with something to your fans and customers. People will form these opinions themselves, but you can control this if you build a brand.
Building Your Brand
Once you have decided what you want your brand to be, then you need to ensure you stay on message, and make sure people don’t get confused when they arrive at your site. For example, if you write a horror book, people will not expect pink teddy bears and smiley faces on your site. If you write romance, have a site that reflects that.
* Blog and network on topic and within your brand niche. For example, on this blog I will not talk about my day job, I won’t give you cooking or family advice. I also won’t review a sci-fi book. I will stay within the bounds of The Creative Penn brand because that is what you expect (and want) from this blog. I will also only tweet the same topics as it fits with my brand.
* Be consistent. Try using the same photo across multiple social networks so people recognise you. Put your picture on your key material because you want people to connect with you personally, not just your book. Try not to jump around too much with your brand ideas. Think about it, then focus your energy on developing that brand consistently. The internet compounds your efforts, so the longer you are in the game, the more effective you will be.
* Find others in your brand niche. Connect with likeminded people and follow similar blogs. Get to know who makes an impact in your area and read what they are doing. Connect with them on Twitter if you can. Perhaps interview them for a podcast? Google them and see where they have been posting or appearing. Do they have video or audio? Which social networks do they use? Where do they sell books? From there you will also find people you can network with and who may start following your blog.
For an interesting book on this topic, try “Me 2.0″ from Dan Schawbel. This is more of a career related book but it has some excellent points about personal branding. Dan also has a lot of information on his Personal Branding blog.
Image: Flickr Creative Commons Eleaf Questioned Proposal
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{ 21 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks so much for your prolific and practical wisdom! I have been following you on Twitter for a while now, and wanted to stop and say thanks. I don’t know if/when I’ll ever get the time and energy to devote all-out to getting published, but for now I am taking bits and pieces of your advice and letting it take hold, over time.
Keep it up!
Joanna
Great information in helping me prepare to launch my book.
Namaste,
Linda
Thanks Bradley and Linda, I appreciate your comments!
You definitely need some time and energy if you want to sort your book out, but it can be done these days – which is inspirational
I’m adding this great post from Joe Wikert re authors having their own iPhone app to the conversation – once it becomes more affordable I will definitely sort this one out!
http://jwikert.typepad.com/the_average_joe/2009/08/you-the-iphone-app.html
I’ve never enjoyed the notion of branding, in part because I’ve always tended to be a bit of an iconoclast and in part because it always seemed vague and confusing. This is the best presentation on branding that I’ve yet to see. Thank you for bringing the whole concept back to the basics and laying it out step by step.
Thank you for sharing this information. It’s been very useful and timely!
Thanks, Joanna. A nice, clear post. Even though I think I’m across branding, this is a great checklist to compare my materials against.
When I decided to focus on publication (as opposed to writing) about 15 months ago, I made some branding decisions; my name would be my main brand ID, I would focus squarely in a single genre, and so on. I set up a blog, website, twitter addres, etc., all with this branding. I also focused very narrowly on markets and networking opportunities directly related to what I was trying to achieve. It seems to have made a big difference. Until that time I had not published a single piece of fiction. Since then, I have published about ten short stories and have just signed my first book deal.
Hi Graham, Wow! That is a great story of a branding decision that made a huge difference. I think it helps that you have a less common name as well. (Storrs)
Deciding on a single genre is definitely a good brand decision, but I think some people also want to write in multiple genres (including me!) I am recommending creating multiple online brands at least for this, so you can segregate online audiences!
Thanks so much, Joanna
I really enjoyed this. I will have to look for ways to tweek on my branding and this helps. Thanks!
Hi Joanna,
A nice, to the point, post. I was following your advice before I read it, I found you in an attempt to “Find others in your brand niche” and I’m really glad I did. Thanks!
Thanks for sharing your advice on author branding. This is something I’m trying my hand on in the children’s genre. Will keep visiting for more info.
funny, after growing up in Wyoming, and being on hand for several branding sessions, I could imagine myself hog-tied and bawling as I’m drug to the firepit to be branded with somebody else’s idea of what I am. Your idea of deciding your own brand and controlling it is much calmer, more powerful, and more like designing a personal tattoo of an image that means everything to you.
When i look back at what I write, there are unifying themes and a voice that tells me I am branding myself even though I would have claimed to be more diverse than that – So if I’m doing it unaware, i better get aware and do it mindfully.
Thanks,
Dixie Goode
http://echo-echosvoice.blogspot.com/2011/01/blooms-i-have-loved.html
I like the idea of a personal tattoo Dixie, branding is just like that – a personal expression. As you say, it’s best to control how others see you in the world.
Excellent post Joanna . This is the best post I ‘ve seen to date on the topic of building an author brand, very practical and succinct. Thank you!
Thanks Kathleen. I have really embraced branding and marketing concepts! I actually enjoy it all these days after being scared of it for years.
Joanna…
Just dropping a quick note to say that following the Creative Penn on Twitter is one of the best things I’ve done in the last week. Keep churning out great stuff!
Thanks Matt! I’m glad you like the linky goodness!
Great post.
For novelists, branding can be challenging, especially if you write in more than one genre. But your name can be your brand. So it’s important for novelists to use their published name everywhere, instead of choosing cute nicknames for Twitter and other networking forums. Yet I see novelists using multiple identities that are hard to connect.
Great point LJ. I need to sort out a JoannaPenn .com separate site – at the moment, JoannaPenn.com points here. I find the whole pen-name thing hard though – how do authors manage to promote across multiple names?
By identities, I meant things like “thrillergirl” and “spunkymonkey” instead of the name under which a reader can find the author’s stories.
Pen names, on top of that, make the branding issue more difficult. But I think the insistence on pen names for different genres comes mostly from publishers/marketers. As more and more authors self-publish and marketing shifts almost exclusively to online, I think the use of pen names will decline. I’ll certainly never use one. Readers are smart enough to read the book description and decide if it suits them.
Thank you for posting those six steps, Joanne; I just blogged my way through them.
Still mulling over the answers; I reckon they deserve a blog post of their own!
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