10 Steps to Author Branding

 It’s how you are seen by others – by industry professionals,
by other writers, and by readers.
 It is your responsibility to manage this brand so it reflects the
professional writer ‘you’.
 What image are you projecting?
 More importantly, what image do you want to project?
 Write down 3-5 words that encapsulate your brand values
 See:
o http://www.thebookdesigner.com/2010/08/author-branding-the-you-
that-is-everywhere/
o Firepole Marketing http://www.firepolemarketing.com/21st-century-

 Two sides, separate but related:
 How you interact with readers
o Soft sell (pull strategy)
o Focus on attracting those who will enjoy your book
 How you network with authors and other
industry professionals
o Be professional
o Be an author they want to work with

Product Marketing
 4 P’s of Marketing
o Product
o Price
o Place
o Promotion
 Tangible
 Specific to one book or
series
 Tactical
Brand Marketing
 “a name, term, design,
symbol or any other feature
that identifies one seller’s
good or service as distinct
from those of other sellers”
o American Marketing
Association
 Your customer promise
 Intangible
 Generic across all books
 Strategic

1. Author name
2. Genre
3. Author Photo
4. Author tagline
5. Author bio
6. Website
7. Blog
8. Social Media
9. Reader Communities
10. Retail Sites

 Aim: Name recognition
 Readers buy books written by authors they ‘know’
 Build a positive connection that goes beyond one book
 why websites are based on author name, not book title
 Clear spelling
 Consistent across website, social media, reader community
and retail sites
 Plan for the future. Don’t brand yourself into a rut you don’t
want to be in long-term.
 See:
o Joanna Penn at http://www.thecreativepenn.com/2009/08/03/how-
to-discover-and-build-your-author-brand/
o Sarah Wendell at http://www.digitalbookworld.com/2011/author-
branding-make-it-memorable/

 Who is your target audience?
o Clue: it's not everyone from 8 to 80!
o Think narrow: audience of one
o Gender, age, location, job, hobbies
 Target marketing to that reader
o What are they expecting to see?
 The brand of a romance writer should look and feel different
to that of a thriller or horror writer
 Where do you find them?
o Twitter or Instagram?
o LinkedIn, Facebook or Google+?
o Pinterest or Tumbler?
o Goodreads, BookLikes, Riffle, Shelfari, NovelCrossing or WattPad?

 Consistent with brand
 Make it look professional (even if your bff took it)
o No selfies
 Use it consistently (website, social media, business cards,
book cover, online retailers)
 Use a photo of yourself, not a stock photo. It could
get embarrassing
 See:
o http://www.thecreativepenn.com/2012/05/28/author-headshot/
o http://www.authormedia.com/how-to-take-portraits-for-an-author-
website/
o http://www.authormedia.com/how-to-do-a-reverse-image-search/
o http://www.hyhanna.com/2014/06/author-photo/

 Equivalent to a logo
 The phrase that exemplifies your writing – your promise
to your readers
o Seatbelt suspense
o Romance with a kick of wasabi
 Doesn't need to be public
o A bad tagline is worse than no tagline
 A tagline should flow out of how readers see your work
 Listen:
o Brandilyn Collins via http://www.novelmarketing.com/26/

 Book
o Written in third person
o One-two sentence version for book cover
o One paragraph version for retail sites
o Longer version for website ‘About Me’ page and media kit
 Social Media
o Written in first person
o One sentence version for social media accounts
o One paragraph version for reader communities
o Longer version for website 'About Me’ page
 See:
o http://benzackheim.com/how-to-write-an-author-bio-that-sells-books/
o http://www.authormedia.com/is-your-author-about-me-page-boring-your-
readers-to-death/

 Use your own domain name
o Not WordPress or Blogger address
o Looks more professional
 Include a blog
 Design to attract your target reader
 Include all your standard information
o Photo
o Bio
o Book information
o Contact details
 See:
o http://goo.gl/dfZfbS

 Part of author website
 Post regularly (schedule posts in advance to reduce stress)
 Write to your target audience (not other writers)
o Consistent with your brand
o Consistent theme or type of post
 Avoid
o Unedited novel excerpts
o Complaining
o Writing tips
 Be real (but be the ‘you‘ readers want to know about)
 Read:
o http://www.authormedia.com/5-things-visitors-dont-want-from-your-author-
blog/
 Listen:
o James Rubart and Thomas Umstaddt at http://goo.gl/pZq6ll

 Use your author photo and standard bio on all your social media
accounts
o Facebook Page
o Twitter
o Others that support your brand (Pinterest, Google+, Instagram, Tumblr …)
 Consider what information you post on each platform
o Related to the ‘life‘ of each post (seconds on Twitter; days on a blog comment)
 Always be consistent with your brand image
o In time, people will recognise your name and image
o Google Authorship to show your image on your blog posts
o Gravatar shows your image on blog comments
 See:
o http://www.authormedia.com/how-to-use-google-authorship-to-boost-seo-and-
reduce-piracy/
o http://www.authormedia.com/how-to-get-your-avatar-to-show-up-everywhere/
o http://www.copyblogger.com/wordpress-google-authorship/

 Examples:
o BookLikes, Goodreads, LibraryThing, Riffle, Shelfari
 Key word: reader
 Participate as a reader
o Add books, rate books, review books, join discussions, add
books to lists
o Lurk and learn the rules before you post
o Don't spam, shill or sock puppet
o Don't insult readers (or reviewers)
 If you don't read, you don't have the tools to write
o (Stephen King)

 Main sites
o Apple
o Amazon
o Smashwords (or set up separate profiles on each site)
 Use consistently on each site
o Author bio
o Author photo
o Link to website and social media

 Words, images, genre, blog posts etc. should all be
consistent and reinforce how you want people to see you
o i.e. your brand
 See:
o Joanna Penn http://www.thecreativepenn.com/2009/08/03/how-
to-discover-and-build-your-author-brand/
o Free online training 12-13 June: http://goo.gl/dEXkev

I specialise in adult and young adult Christian fiction, and can be contacted at
igoulton@christianediting.co.nz. You can also find me at:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/ChristianReads and http://www.facebook.com/#!/christianediting
www.christianreads.blogspot.com and www.christianediting.co.nz
I offer the following services:
Manuscript Assessment:
A manuscript assessment is an appraisal and critique of your novel, providing feedback on the
strengths and weaknesses of your plot, scenes, characters, dialogue, interior monologue,
narrative, point of view, style, pace, language, Christian themes and overall consistency. This
will highlight your strengths and provide you with specific areas on which to focus the revision
of your manuscript. This is most appropriate when you have finished revising the first draft.
While a manuscript assessment does not include line-by-line copy editing or proofreading, I will
provide general feedback to help you decide whether your revised novel will need further
content editing or copy editing before you reach the proofreading stage.

10 Steps to Author Branding

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