By Cindy R. Williams
I read a post from QueryTracker.net this week. If you're serious about your writing, you may want to Google them and sign up for their free on-line Newsletter. I’m finding a wealth of information there.
The topic was "Branding" and they didn't mean cattle. It is branding as in surrounding your writing with your own personal brand. It made me think of having my own personal logo.
Examples were given such as most things Harry Potter. From the style of art for the book covers to the many characters. The lighting scar, the round glasses, a Quiddich scarf of maroon and gold, the wands of different woods and shapes, even the names themselves such as Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, Hagrid, Dumbledore. Snape . . . the list goes on and they all ooze Harry Potter.
Another example; Twighlight t-shirts and jewelry. The branding is so univeral that often strangers ask each other if they are team Edward or team Jacob.
Your brand helps people identify with you or your works. The post suggested we choose the genre we are best at then make our name there before we branch out. It used the example of a fashion designer. Once a designer makes a splash in say, swimsuits, then their name means something to the design world, and they can go onto designing other things such as dresses, pant suits, shoes, purses and so forth.
The post mentioned that your brand must be unique to you. It has to promote something that is different about your work or book, so that when your readers comes across it, they will know it is you. Beautiful pink roses work well for romance books, but they're generic. You have to find something unusual. Brainstorm about what makes you and/or your book stand out from the crowd.
Websites and blogs are a good place to build your brand. If you keep you websites up to date and blog often, you're also building your platform. which is a whole other topic for another day.
Please leave a comment about what your brand is, or what you would like it to be. You are welcome to show us your brand with tags to your blogs or webs. Who knows, you may create a bit of your own buzz and build your platform while your at it.
Interesting. I've heard the term but haven't looked into that part of writing yet (because I've been looking into the 1000's of other things), but this will be great to mull over as I come closer to publication. I guess I can already see a "style" I lean towards. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHere's another great article on author branding by Theresa Meyers, President of Blue Moon Communications:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bluemooncommunications.com/white_papers/author_branding.htm
I've really only begun to tackle the first couple of steps in the process she outlines at the end of the article. After writing the best I can, I've developed a tagline--"Fiction that bridges cultures"--and a certain look to my website and blog. But I have a lot further to go, obviously.
Thanks for all the great food for thought!
My link above didn't paste entirely. This is the full URL address:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bluemooncommunications.com/white_papers/author_branding.htm
(And if I knew HTML, I could have put it in code so all you needed to do is click on it. Oh, well...I'm afraid you'll have to copy and paste. Sorry.)
This will work
ReplyDeleteA big show-off :-)
I have played with the idea of using the tagline "Truth well taught" to help improve my overall branding. Part of the problem is that the publishers and their cover designs do not always ask or utilize an author's branding strategies and tactics.
ReplyDeleteI've only toyed with the concept of branding my writing, my blogging and my product line. I did finally "hit upon" a logo and a motto for my line of greeting cards. It is from a peacock photo that I took and it suits the name of my first line of cards "Your Husband's Deepest Desire" (http://www.zazzle.com/heartensoul4u*) and the motto is "Give him a card he'll keep forever".
ReplyDeleteMy blog does not have a branding though I am fond of the image I chose. My blog is a melting pot of all the stuff that I do, so I call it "By These Fruits" (http://bythesefruits.blogspot.com)
After reading your post I can clearly see how chaotic and haphazard my efforts must appear. I'm going to subscribe to QueryTracker's newsletter. I think I need it.
I have a ways till I am ready for publication. I have other tag line ideas but have been using: "Life is Magical" and I would like a Phoenix and a spiral. I can draw a spiral. The Phx I have found art I like but not felt I was to the point to hire an artist.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all your comments. We can certainly learn from each other here.
ReplyDelete