It’s hard to make a change when you don’t have consistency. Or at least that’s what I told myself about my author brand and platform. And then came 2018 and its Word:
The truth is, I’ve been walking around rather apologetically since I started this professional author gig. Well, except for a few months around the time of this release:
“What do you write?” People would ask.
“All sorts of things.” And then my eyes would dart to the side. “Most of my published stuff is romance, but I have one YA Fantasy and a women’s fiction novel.”
I’m guilty. I was ashamed to admit that I wrote romance. Many of my author friends are angry and revolted as they read this.
Because romance writing isn’t anything to be embarrassed about. Is it what I “dreamed” of writing? Nope.
But it IS what I’ve been able to market to publishers, and where most of my readers come from.
This is the year I embrace that identity. With one caveat, of course.
My Brand: Before
I’m not even sure I had a brand before this. Check out the things I used for continuity across every social media platform.
If you saw those things, what would you guess I wrote?
What? It doesn’t scream any genre at you?
That would be because I wrote so many genres I feared embracing anything that might look distinctively romance or fantasy or nonfiction or Christian.
Is it any wonder I haven’t been able to build an audience? No one can figure out what it is I’m selling here.
My Brand: After
One thing I’ve heard over and over is: “As an author, YOU are your brand.”
But what does that really mean? What does that LOOK like in logos and colors and fonts?
I am a person who loves to read many genres and has too many ideas to contain in a single writing category. So do I brand multiple personalities? How?
This is what I learned from a quick quiz from Kaye Putnam and her Brand Personality Quiz:
1. I have elements of several personalities in my brand
2. The ones that appeal to me most are Hero and Magician
3. To settle on ONE or know how to properly combine these, I needed to discover what I want my ideal clients (readers) to FEEL
Light bulb moment.
I knew the answer to this. So I took some time considering it more deeply.
I want my readers to feel understood and hopeful and encouraged. I want them to be empowered to chase (and capture) their own dreams.
Yes, I want to offer them escape, but more than that I wanted them to see themselves between the pages and know they are not alone. Someone relates to how they’re feeling and what their lives are throwing at them right now.
Then I outlined all of that and shipped it off to a designer. Perry Elisabeth is a freelancer I met through a Facebook Group. I’d been admiring her cover designs for months and I’d succumbed to the magnetism of her WriteMind Planner.
And this is what she came up with.
There was a transformation here, right? I can build a platform with this distinctive symbol.
Based on that, what genre would you guess I wrote?
And if you say “romance” or “women’s fiction” I won’t cringe. Because in 2018 I’m going to publish three (or more) Christian romances with women’s fiction themes and motifs.
More on that later.
What do you think of the new look? What/how does it make you feel?
It does have a bit of a romance vibe (I think it’s the pinkness) but it would work in other areas too (it’s got strong enough lines that you could change the colour and it would still be recognizable). I’m also picking up a bit of a handwork vibe, but maybe that’s just because I see a line of dashes and I think “aha! running stitch!”
I have trouble with forming a cohesive brand identity myself – so many interests, so little time – but for the visual aspect of my website I went with warm, rich colours: images which appealed to me and clear, slightly old-fashioned type.
Thanks for the link to the Brand Quiz – I’ll have to give that a go!
It was good to look at my brand as its own “personality.” That helped. As always, I love your comments.
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