We know what genre we write but do you know your brand as a writer/author?
Recently, as friend and I had a rather lively discussion about this over drinks. Honestly, I hadn’t thought as much about what my brand was or even what a brand was, other than in general terms as applied to marketing.
So what is an author’s brand? The author's brand is his or her work. They’re known for writing certain types of books. Think Stephen King, Christine Feehan, Nora Roberts, Jayne Ann Krentz, or even Dan Brown. You know when you pick up one of their books exactly what you’re going to get. For the most part, we pick up books largely based on the authors’ brand.
Established authors do see themselves as a brand. They work to protect that brand and some even have trademarks attached to their names. Their brand represents a certain standard or identity readers recognize. In many ways every author is a brand, though they may not see it that way.
From a marketing standpoint, having a brand is important. If someone says, Johnson & Johnson, Harlequin, Disney, Campbells, Revlon, Wilson, or Black & Decker you know exactly what the products are. So it’s not surprising that Publishers are actively cultivating the trend of authors as a brand. Publishers are the first to acknowledge that branding is becoming a more conscious marketing activity.
Lynne Brown, Dorling Kindersley's brand manager, made an interesting observation. “In recent years in an ever more crowded market, the consumer has come more and more to rely on brand identity as an indicator for purchase. We believe this is now true in all industries and no less so within publishing… this will continue to be a strong ongoing trend…”
I have a brand as Sia McKye Over Coffee. I have a logo and a tag line. I play up my Celtic roots. Judi Fennell, author of In Over Her Head, has a brand, Fairy Tales with a Twist. Whether she writes about Mers or Genies, you know her books are going to fit into that brand. While she incorporates darker threads within her stories, she never loses sight of her brand. They’re light, fun, and humorous.
What are your thoughts on branding?
What’s your brand? How do you present you and your work?
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Comments: 316
You're a good friend, Sia!
*although one reviewer did call me the above even though he thought my books were groovy and freaky fresh he assumed they would only be entertained by "angy penis hating lesbians, like the author"
even though I'm none of that~truly~ ;)
I would also suggest that an author's voice is a brand. If they are consistent a reader knows what voice she will be reading just as I know the quality of the food at a good restaurant chain.
Years ago, Disney realized that they had unused movie making resources (writers, producers, directors, studios, etc and signed Danny DeVito, Bette Midler and others to multi-picture contracts (which relaunched their careers) producing such films as Ruthless People and Down and Out in Beverly Hills.
As the Disney brand was so valuable, and these movies were not PG, they came up with a clever solution and distributed the movies under a new brand — Touchstone films.
In July I was having lunch with Jon Carroll, well-known San Francisco columnist. I told him I was surprised that sometimes his columns were humorous, sometimes political etc. In other words, he did not have a consistent brand/voice and I thought that was important in this business. He said it is but you bend the rules when you have a deadline every day!
Nora Roberts isn't the only author that does that either. Jayne Anne Krentz, aka Jayne Castle (futuristic), Amanda Quick (historicals), and Pat can tell you her two other alias. Several other authors do it too--I can't recall others just off the top of my head. That's why authors choose pseudonyms. That public name is their brand.
Now I'm off to a school function - catch you all later!
sliding a bottle of wine. THe hell with the cocoa.
Humor. Romance and mysteries with humor. That's all I got for branding at the moment...
I do, however, have my latest Inara LaVey brand book coming out THursday on Ravenous Romance! So...erotic romance with humor!
I need help with this branding thing.
Brand? I don't want a brand. 'Cause then I can't do the variety of writing I want to do.
But, as Disney did, I can (and plan to) use different names, so I guess I can do the multi-brand thing. I mean, yes, I want to be known for something, but I'd like the ability to branch out without readers getting upset. Can Grisham write anything else without readers and critics wondering what he's doing? Could DB write sci-fi and be accepted? Could either of them write romance and be published under their own names?
The branding is good, in its way. But limiting for a well-known writer who wants to write in different genre. For those unpublished, like me, I guess the concern is like putting the cart before that wonderful horse. Who knows what the brand will be when I'm actually published?
Pat, it's after five. Bourbon is okay now. I wasn't smiling when I read your comment over on John's thread. Nope, not smiling. (Don't worry so much about adverbs. Romance is the one genre where they're expected and welcome. It's just the overuse that's bad. Or when they're used to prot up weak verbs and actions.)
I'd offer you one of the brownies soon to come out of the oven, but they're definitely chocolate. I'm sure you'd prefer something else, but that's all I made. Got a friend coming over for dinner and needed dessert.
And thank you for the offer of brownies. Do they make mixes for peanut butter ones? I'll have to look. And hubs, being a bright man, brought home both dinner and a bottle of wine. He has also suggested it's never too late for a nap. I think it was the surliness and snapping that convinced him of this!
And btw, yes they do have brownies you can swirl in ribbons of peanut butter. And if you have a jar of it, do it yourself. Think of it as a giant buckeye, lmao!
And actually, I think there IS a difference between slouched and slouched casually. Goths slouch, but not casually. Now a rake might slouch, but he WOULD do it casually. One is sullen. The other can be sexy.
Alright, I'm rambling here. But it all makes me a little crazy sometimes. The idea of cookie-cutter prose scares me.
You're a terrific writer. Dammit.
I'm having one heck of a busy day and it's not over yet. Back to work with me, for the third time today. Gah!
Tuesdays are the new Mondays.
Brand. I have lots, yet none. If that makes sense. If you've read any sampling of my large variety of genres and voices, it would.
Also heard that this is the first time in 18 years there isn't a tropical depression in the last two weeks in the Atlantic - where JIll's cruise is. Phew!
The Secret of the Generations
Food for Thought
*feels guilty
*starts grading papers with a complete lack of lenience for mistakes
*while crying and feeling sorry for self
* patting Jamie's shoulder, handing her tissue and cup of hot cocoa.
Poor dear.
Spoke with DD. She missed her appointment in leu of speaking with a nurse. Who, sight unseen, said she was fine. I asked about her bp. It's not better. SCREAMMING!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love my daughter, I love my daughter. Is today over? I just want to curl up with DH and pretend today never happened.
Brand? Romance with an edge, I'd have to say. No weak willed, sniveling females or feminized men. Only alphas need apply.
Off to find sustenance.
I've found this works well with older parents as well. I love throwing my mother's words back in her face. Oh, she has a fever and a hacking cough and isn't going to go to the doctor? Really. And if it were me, mom, you'd make me go make sure I don't have bronchitis or pneumonia.
Mom goes calls the dr. everytime.
Tell DD the Wombats DEMAND she go to the doctors and NOT rely on an over the phone diagnosis.
Judi, that would never work with my mother (who has TWO stents and still categorically denies she had a heart attack). She doesn't beleive in doctors. Didn't when we were kids, doesn't now. Which totally explains why hubs is the one with all the happy drugs, and I haven't bothered calling Dr. Feelgood for some of my own!
Now get yourself some pampering.
And YAY for Jill and good sailing weather! And Ken, I popped in on that article to see what Beth was talking about. They really don't know who they tangled with, do they. I was furious beyond words when his link for "libertarian" led to the John Locke thing, instead of the actual party link. Dicks.
Yes, I've had a nap. The wine is chilling and the mood is improving.
OK, brands. If you hadn't guessed, I'm the one Sia was drinking with during the discussion (and a lively one it was!) I've never directly influenced branding campaigns, but I've implemented enough of them to know a thing or two.
I told Sia that based on the colors of her web site, her clan shield, and her cute kilted dude, I would assume she writes Highlanders. Well, her contemporary DOES have a guy with a Celtic background and plays in a pipe band, so that kinda works. A modern Highlander, though to go with the brand she's got going, she might consider playing up that angle.
I pointed out how Judi's web site goes so well with her Fairy Tales brand. Fun colors and fonts, a "Fun Stuff" link, etc. Everything says light, humorous, romantic, fun.
Beth's website is a totally different feel, and a different brand. Straightforward, soothing colors, nothing extraneous. Reserved. A little bit of restrained flair. This would tell me that here's a no-nonsense editor who's also going to be direct and straight with me, a bit playful, without being harsh or intrusive. It's a great branding feel.
Lisa doesn't look like she has her website up yet, but I've seen a beta version. She stole my colors, but in a totally different way. Hers is black and red, but with a sort of sunray background. I would expect from that to find her books have a much harder edge than Judi's--the colors and setup would tell me that. Red/yellow/black = thriller set in China. Blue and floaty = fairy tale romance.
OK, now to pick on Jamie. Er, Olivia Cunning. I really like the lilies, and the font, and it's wonderful for an erotic writer. IF that writer was writing Victoria's Secret type erotica. Corsets and petticoats type stuff. But rock star erotica? Nope. Sorry, Jamie, but the brand is out of synch with your work. It's a beautiful web site. I just don't think it creates a good brand for you.
Think about that black and white photo you have, those hard angles and edges. Now think of that against maybe a purple background. Maybe some acid green. The first series (because I know you'll have many more!) is SINNERS on tour. Sinners and lilies don't match (unless you're me, but that's a different sort of Lily!). Your target audience is going to skew younger. Harder-edged. Lilies can be a good logo (brand) for you, but think Tiger lilies instead of oriental lilies. Something wild and uncultivated and untamed. The pastels just aren't saying "SINNERS ON TOUR!!!"
I don't mean to pick on you. I haven't even established my own brand yet. But I'm betting, from what you know about me and the kind of stuff I write, exactly what my brand would look like and what some of the elements will be!
I also like that Judi has a "tag", a logo that covers all her stories, no matter what they are. Fairy tales with a twist. I'm working on the same kind of thing. I used to use "Sin so hot it sizzles", but that sounded too erotica for me. Now I'm thinking more along the lines of "Out of the dark, into the fire", since all my characters have broken, dark pasts, and are tempered in the fires I put them through.
As Sia and I were reminded when this topic came up at the writer's conference, you can't have books about murder and mayhem on a pink website with kitties!
Great analysis and reasons, btw.
Pat did make me realize my brand for my blog might not work for what I want to write. Made me do some thinking which is in part, why I wrote this article. A filtering, if you will, in my head.
Our house isn't close to the harbor so we're out of danger. But I do worry about all the boats in the harbor, lots of folks making their living from fishing and crabbing around here. I'm keeping a good thought. We'll know more starting about 9 tonight, PDT.
Yes, I'm grading papers. 40 down, 360 to go. groan.....
UCLA STUDY
A study conducted by UCLA's Department of Psychiatry has revealed
that the kind of face a woman finds attractive on a man can differ
depending on where she is in her menstrual cycle.
For example: If she is ovulating, she is attracted to men with
rugged and masculine features.
However, if she is menstruating, or
menopausal, she tends to be more attracted to a man with duct tape
over his mouth and a spear lodged in his chest while he is on fire.
No further studies are expected.
Sorry.
That'll get them worrying.
He'll be 78 when he finishes his first 15 years so 25 more is excessive? WTF? He deserves consideration, why? I had my way with people like this, there would be no life in prison. There would be no life, period. They gave up that right when they set a repeated pattern of abuse. This is a bit of a soapbox for me, incase you can't tell. But I've seen the far reaching damage that one person can visit on many victims. Call me cold hearted, but if a 4 legged rabid predator was destroying lives, I'd put them down in a heartbeat.
*stepping down off my soapbox
Wendy, so sorry to hear about your friend. There are days when we'd just like to rewind the tape.
Sia, branding is important these days and not just for writers. With the web and social networks, we each have an external identity (i.e. brand) which we shape in everything we do that is public and visible. I note that there's a lot of discussion about writers having a platform from which to address their audience. That's one reason I re-cast my blog earlier this year to focus more on writing and travel and split off my business writing over to the company blog.
As Beth noted, it's pretty hard to have a writer's brand without being published, though my brand of writing should be familiar to the wombats by now. I like books that make the reader think and move freely across boundaries. I love travel and like to describe those different places and bring them to life for a reader. My two novels are very different from each other, but probably both fit the eclectic brand I've described.
Time to take a peek at the latest DB entries.
I got my new care late this afternoon! Yay!
Of course I had to take it for a spin, then pulled over to make sure I knew how all the cazillion buttons works. God help me if the computer ever goes down in this car. Lord, I actually have a screen that tells me the pressure in each tire, how old my oil is? Something else warms my seat before I get in the car--who knew?--remotely starts my car, and a whole bunch of things I'm still learning.
Designed by KIT? I'm just waiting for the damn thing to pull out the turbos or guns, send and electrical shock for errant birds or impolite people who lean on the damn thing oh, and washing itself would be a plus. Must investigate the owner's Manuel...I'm sure there's a button somewhere...
Now I need to read up thread to see what I've missed.
Paul, I'd say you have a brand. Your body of work is distinct.
So I'm really working on my WIP. I'm going to do Nano too and by golly this year I'm going to win it!
Thanks for the kind words on my website, Pat. I think it's awesome! It should be going live pretty soon.
Guess I need to read the newest DB entries. I hope everyone is playing. You know that Ken's unveiling is going to have us pulling our hair out. I've been highly entertained so far.
Ladies, trust me when I say I gave DD no quarter for missing that appointment. As I ladled on the guilt with unwavering glare, she flushed red and started to giggle. The giggle she does from being overly nervous. For extra measure I reminded her that she was the center of my universe and she needed to stop shaking my world. Yeah, she's calling them in the morning and then calling me. Cocks a brow. Never mess with a mom!
Tomorrow will be better. Don't say anything, I need to believe that.
Sia woot on the new care, is that like a new car?
Lots of stuff to comment on and I'm exhausted. Beaker good to see your icon. Sherrie! two days in a row, what an honor!
Hugs all around. This too shall pass.