Building Your Author Brand


I’m relatively new in the writing world. I’ve only been published just over a year. But one thing I spent a lot of time on, and continue to spend time on, is building my brand. What is a brand? Well, it’s you, basically. Who you are as a person and a professional. What’s your voice? What are you all about?

Though the answer somewhat relates to the genre you’re writing, it’s more than just that. For instance, I write paranormal romance. But I’m also a mother of two children (one with special needs), I’m sarcastic and irreverent, I make jokes about zombies, and I love to post pictures of hot guys. Fans know this about me. They see it all the time in my social media posts and it comes out in my writing as well. Readers start to think of me as a real person, with a personality, who’s relatable and interesting. And maybe even has some common interests.

Once you’ve established who you are and what you want to represent, it’s time to build around that. This requires consistency. Find images that represent your brand – an icon, a stock photo of a model that gives a good feel of your books, your name in a special font. Reuse it across the board on all your material, written and digital. That way people come to recognize you by more than just your name. Names are forgettable, pictures last longer in people’s memory. One of my icons is a picture of an open book with a blue light shining from it. When people see that, hopefully they think of me and my fantasy stories.

The next step is to pick several words or phrases that represent your writing. For me, it’s alpha heroes, kick-ass heroines, magic, steamy sex, blood, darkness… things like that. Yes, they represent paranormal romance as a whole, but they’re words I use consistently in my materials – blog, website, bios, interviews, etc. So now you’re not only putting pictures in reader’s minds but words that represent an idea too. A book with blue light equals fantasy, a unique font for my name, and several words that have meaning all come together to form my brand.

A tagline can be helpful too. This can fluctuate a bit depending on what you’re writing at the time. A tagline is a short phrase that gives a creative picture of what you’re about. Some great taglines I’ve seen are : “Romance with a bite,” by author Carrie Ann Ryan. “Magically seductive romance,” by author Lia Davis. Mine is “love stories with a supernatural twist.” This is a quick way to give someone a piece of yourself without bogging them down with a lot of words they may or may not read. This is something you should use on your blog header and Twitter profile to entice people to want to learn more.

To sum up: a brand is what you want readers to think of when they see your name. It should include images, words, and a bit of your personality.

Guest post by Leia Shaw. 
Website: www.leiashaw.com
Blog: www.leiashaw.blogspot.com
Twitter: @LeiaShaw
Facebook: www.facebook.com/leiashaw
Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/leiashaw


The author will award a backlist eBook, and $25 Amazon or BN GC to one randomly drawn commenter during the tour and to the host with the most comments (excluding Leia's and the hosts).

 So I encourage you to follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning. The tour dates can be found here: http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2012/04/virtual-book-tour-destiny-bewitched-by.html

20 Comments

  1. Leia Shaw4 July 2012 at 13:58

    Thanks so much for having me today! I hope readers find this article a little bit useful and informative.

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  2. Leah4 July 2012 at 14:28

    Useful article! Hopefully I'll get to apply these tips soon!! :)

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    1. Leia Shaw4 July 2012 at 19:30

      thanks! i don't usually do educational posts but this one worked out well. lol. glad you got something from it :)

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  3. Catherine Lee4 July 2012 at 15:53

    I don't think many writers know early on/in the beginning about building their "brand." It's something they think of later...but it's nice if they can start building right from the start. I especially like taglines. Sometimes I'll remember those before I necessarily remember an author's name...but if it's all part of an author's "package" then it's good that I'm remembering something familiar and positive about an author. If it's not their name, then the tagline or their image/logo.
    Happy July 4th...
    catherinelee100 at gmail dot com

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    1. Leia Shaw4 July 2012 at 19:31

      yes, those who brand themselves before they even publish tend to have more success so i always say to start as early as you can. as long as you know what you're about.

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  4. Jo Linsdell4 July 2012 at 16:30

    I agree. a lot of writers wait until they're published to start building their brand but starting earlier makes the launch so much easier.

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    1. Leia Shaw4 July 2012 at 19:32

      yup. but i understand the difficulty in writing and starting your brand. it's a tough balance.

      Delete
  5. Anonymous4 July 2012 at 18:51

    Very useful post. It does seem like the marketing is the hard part nowadays...

    vitajex(at)aol(dot)com

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    1. Leia Shaw4 July 2012 at 19:33

      very hard and difficult to balance. thanks for coming by!

      Delete
  6. k4 July 2012 at 19:22

    Thanks Leia. Great post and very helpful. The one thing I use for my logo just about everywhere is the photo of my purple iris. So hopefully when people see that they know it's me! :-))

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    1. Leia Shaw4 July 2012 at 19:34

      yup. just keep it up and it'll catch on! thanks for coming by!

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  7. Unknown4 July 2012 at 19:31

    Great post with useful info. Thanks so much for sharing.

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  8. MomJane4 July 2012 at 21:51

    Stories with a supernatural twist would get me every time. I love this kind of stories.

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  9. Mary Preston5 July 2012 at 10:45

    I agree. When you post & your personality shines through I can relate. I remember who you are. Terribly important. It's fabulous that you recognize this need to promote your Author Brand.

    marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com

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    1. Leia Shaw5 July 2012 at 16:18

      thank you! so happy to hear all this encouragement and I'm glad others recognize the need for a brand.

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  10. bonzoi6 July 2012 at 11:07

    Hey you can think of publishing book using the help of online book publishing.

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  11. pc7 July 2012 at 08:01

    Thank you so much for the great advice and info on building your brand! Definitely a must know for newbie writers...it gives us a direction to start!

    ivegotmail8889@yahoo.com

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  12. Carin12 July 2012 at 16:29

    Leia great article, I love the advice given it is very useful.
    Carin mawmom(at)gmail(dot)com

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