OLD POST ALERT! This is an older post and although you might find some useful tips, any technical or publishing information is likely to be out of date. Please click on Start Here on the menu bar above to find links to my most useful articles, videos and podcast. Thanks and happy writing! – Joanna Penn
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.
Dixie Goode says
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
Joanna Penn says
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.
Kathleen Pooler says
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!
Joanna Penn says
Thanks Kathleen. I have really embraced branding and marketing concepts! I actually enjoy it all these days after being scared of it for years.
Matt says
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!
Joanna Penn says
Thanks Matt! I’m glad you like the linky goodness!
L.J. Sellers says
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.
Joanna Penn says
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?
L.J. Sellers says
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. 🙂
Rob F. says
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!
Donald says
J,
I am so glad I found you! When you are ready, the teacher appears…and you may be it! Or one of them. I will post again and stay in touch — and ALSO buy one of your thrillers!
Donald
Heather says
As I have 2 passions (healthy architecture and fiction) I have been pondering time and prioritizing my life. I found this article (http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/2012/09/07/when-do-writers-need-multiple-blogs/) helped me understand how to combine the two (and save me some headaches) but I was wondering what your thoughts were given the whole “branding” topic. Is it possible to have 2 distinct brands with the same platform?
Joanna Penn says
Hi Heather, I think it is difficult to have 2 distinct brand on one site – for example, this is my business site for writers, but my fiction site is at: http://www.JFPenn.com & that has a different brand with different images/ articles etc. There is little overlap.
Also, if you write diverse genres e.g. children’s fiction & thrillers – or non-fiction – or erotica 🙂 you would need a different site.
The best thing you could do is brand on your name and then it can change whatever you do, but for search engine optimization and segmentation, I think it is important to have things separate.
Just my opinion though 🙂
Poh Tiong Ho says
Thanks for your opinions. I am still learning the art of marketing my own books.
Big Shirl says
I’m not too sure who pointed me to your websites, but you have a wealth of information that will be a huge benefit for me. Thank you. I am starting a new series of personal devotional journals called Bible Bites which will make it extremely easy for people to journal and track their prayer requests. I just had my first printing and currently am blogging while learning Facebook and Pinterest. My product is for people who want to develop a closer relationship with God, but are really stressed for time, like working Moms and Dads, college students and grandparents who want to pray for their grandchildren (like me) and everyone else in between. Thanks for your great information and numerous posts! God Bless!
Jackie says
Hi Shirl I would love to follow your blog. It sounds very interesting.
Naomi Fox says
An excellent post on the subject of branding. My author/composer/filmmaker/artist 🙂 husband has always had a battle with branding as he doesn’t easily fit one niche or genre. Had we known these things years ago, at the start of internet popularity when we put up our first (of six or seven—I lost track, lol) web sites, it would have made life, and marketing, a lot easier.
Your blog is wonderful, and the quality of whatever you offer is equally so.
Peter Glassman says
Joanna:
I’m grateful to your branding information. I’ve written 7 medical thrillers and am just now getting into Amazon.com and Facebook for electronic publishing. My Christmas medical thriller THE DUTY CREW was posted for free for 5 days and 213 people are reading it. My next step is to set up a blog.
Peter Glassman MD
Sue Chamblin Frederick says
I’d like to know where you post your book free – on Amazon? I use CreateSpace for publishing as well as Nook Press and Smashwords. I would appreciate any insight you may have.
DENISE says
I would like to co-write a book with someone interested. I haven’t worked on a theme or title but we can brainstorm.
Anjela Renee says
What genre do you write?