On Saturday, I'll be in London chairing a debate on authors, branding and publicity at the Society of Authors. It's an issue that bedevils writers now, but wasn't an issue twenty years ago. Brand? Isn't that applicable to soap and sausages rather than authors?
We're all used to the idea of 'brand' in retail. A brand is identified by a logo, it is a recognisable characterisation that manages our expectations. We know what 'Marks and Spencer' stands for, how that brand is different from, say, Aldi or Tesco. Do we want to apply it to authors? Many authors do write the same type of book, and readers know what to expect. Jacqueline Wilson had a 'brand' long before it was a thing. But do we really want to cultivate a brand?
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Branding irons - heat them up in a fire, use
them to brand your author |
I have to say, I'm not 100% comfortable with the term 'branding'. Originally, a brand was a mark of identification and ownership burned into an animal or, more horrifically, a slave. These days, freeze-branding is a near-painless way of marking an animal. But still. Ownership? Cattle? Slaves? *shudder*
Nowadays publishers are keen on authors 'building their brand', preferably through social media, blogging, events, and so on. A cynical view of this would be that it saves the publisher some marketing effort. If the author writes only for one publisher, the two are in league and it's fine. Promoting the brand serves both equally. But what if the author has several or many publishers? The brand is then the author's own, it is not tied to a publisher. The publisher loses enthusiasm for the brand aspect of the author and wants you to build a brand for the series/book. (I'm the ultimate publisher-harlot and some of them don't care for my brand at all.)
Brand, of course, is an artificial construct. It's not the author's real personality, but the bit that's allowed out in public. When it was just created by our books, it didn't really need managing, but now we are on display in other ways, too - from Facebook to TV and radio, from blogs to Pinterest and Instagram - we need to keep a grip on it. It can be hard to imagine how our particular, personal 'brand' is seen from the outside. Building a brand, thoughtfully rather than by default, requires deciding who you are, who you want to be seen to be, and then creating that public image. To do it successfully, you have to do it consciously and deliberately. For many writers, that seems too calculating and perhaps even directly counter to the emotional honesty and openness that good writing demands. Building your brand is to ask Who do you think you are? And Who do you want people to think you are? Answer with caution. "
We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be," as Kurt Vonnegut said.While a 'brand' might make your books more immediately recognisable, does it make it harder to step outside the brand and try something new? If as an author you always write (say) upbeat friendship novels for 8-11s but then want to try your hand at a gritty, hard-hitting teen novel, does your brand stand in your way? Is it a way of stifling your freedom to make life easy for the publisher? Or a way of making your life easier, too, by setting boundaries to what you will do and demand of yourself? Is it safe or constraining?
And what does brand mean to the people at the other end of the transaction - the readers, librarians, teachers and parents? If you have come to expect upbeat friendship novels from Fifi Ambergris, what do you think of her writing a gritty teen novel? Is it confusing, misleading, dangerous? Would you rather she changed her name to Amber Fifigris for those books to leave her brand intact with younger readers?
What do you think, as author, reader, librarian, publisher or whatever you are in the publishing-reading transaction?
Anne Rooneyaka Stroppy Author Most recent publication: 'The Colours of the Day' in Daughters of Time, edited Mary Hoffman, Templar Publishing, 2014
By Rob Eagar
Logos, brands, taglines, slogans…what’s the difference? Some authors think that having a logo means they have a brand. But, these are separate entities. Your brand is a phrase that communicates the value of your books. You could also call it a tagline or slogan. In contrast, a logo is artwork that you use to make your name and brand look aesthetically-pleasing in public. Do you need both? Not necessarily. It’s more important that readers know your value than seeing fancy graphics that look nice. Thus, a brand is essential while a logo is optional.
However, the image that you present to the world greatly affects your credibility and appeal. If your marketing materials look homemade, some people will question your reputation and bypass your books. It’s okay to be homemade as long as you don’t look homemade.
If you want a nice-looking logo to complement your brand, hire a professional graphic artist to do it right. By shopping around, you can usually find a qualified designer to fit any budget. Just be sure to review their portfolio, contact a few references, and verify the quality of their work.
When you choose a graphic artist, explain your brand and the results that you create for your readers. Tell the designer that you want the artwork to integrate the value of your brand. List the various tools where your logo will appear, such as business cards, website headers, newsletters, bookmarks, postcards, book covers, etc.
Ask your graphic artist to design a logo and use text fonts that communicate your value in a positive manner and matches your personality. The end result should be artwork that looks appealing, boosts your credibility, and creates a seamless connection when used with all of your marketing materials. A logo is not a brand. But, a brand can be enhanced with a professional logo.
** If you’re struggling to create a powerful author brand, read Chapter 3 in my new book, Sell Your Book Like Wildfire.
Reminder:
Rob Eagar’s new book from Writer’s Digest, Sell Your Book Like Wildfire, is now available in print and e-book formats. This is the bible of book marketing for authors and publishers. Get 288 pages packed with advanced information, real-life examples, and tips to start selling more books immediately. There are specific chapters on social media, word-of-mouth tools, Amazon, and a chapter dedicated to best practices for marketing fiction. In addition, get over 30 pages of free bonus updates online. Get your copy today at:
http://www.writersdigestshop.com/sell-your-book-like-wildfire or http://www.BookWildfire.com
About the Author
Rob Eagar is the founder of WildFire Marketing, a consulting practice that helps authors and publishers sell more books and spread their message like wildfire. He has assisted numerous New York Times bestselling authors and is author of the new book, Sell Your Book Like Wildfire. Find out more about Rob’s advice, products, and coaching services for authors at: www.startawildfire.com
After my post yesterday about Search Me, a few people commented or emailed me, trying to figure out the whole Categories thing, usually why they didn't have any.
As best I can tell, here's the deal. If you aren't on enough Internet pages, or if the Internet pages you're on are incredibly varied in topic and context, your page will say Category: Everything. I think that just means there wasn't enough raw data to break down your online presence into clearly definable categories. If your name is mentioned in lots of places online, and enough of the pages are similar enough to group them together, Search Me will split your pages into Categories. Mine were Children's Books, Poetry, and Shopping. Bonny Becker had Auctions as her third one. That doesn't mean we personally shop or bid a lot. It means our names are listed on lots of pages where people can buy or bid on books (like amazon.com, bn.com, abebooks.com, and ebay.com). If you click on one of your categories, it will show you ONLY the pages that fall into that category. So if you're just interested in seeing what kind of stuff there is online that identifies you as having to do with Children's Books, you would click on that category and look at the resulting pages that stay on your screen.
This isn't what Search Me was designed for. It's a search engine, like Google. But a different, visually-based search engine. But by searching on your name, you can get an idea of what your online brand is, as Anastasia Suen mentioned in her post that introduced me to Search Me. If you don't have Children's Books as a category, or some other area that's really important to you, this might be an indication that you'd benefit from a greater online presence in that specific area.
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