If you’ve attended a writing conference you’ve probably heard the term “author brand.” What is author branding? And why does it matter to authors? Let’s answer these questions.
What is an author brand?
Simply put, an author brand is your unique collection of fonts, colors, words, and imagery that are consistently applied to your platform tools to authentically convey your message to your readers.
After you’ve read that definition, I can pretty much guarantee you want to run off and pick fonts and colors (don’t!). Let’s first dive into what traditional branding is and isn’t.
What is author branding?
The old cattle brand, the uniquely-shaped iron rod used to identify the cows owned by a rancher, started the whole concept of branding. As marketing folks got a hold of the idea, we began to deepen what branding is, so it’s no longer just a logo. (You can read more about whether you need an author logo here.) Today, branding is about the feeling your customers get when they think about you and your products.
Why does an author brand matter?
For an author, your brand should remind readers about why/what you write, deepen their connection to you via their senses and encourage them to subscribe to your newsletter or order more books from you as you continue to publish.
Think of a brand you love… let’s pick one that has nothing to do with publishing. Chewy! Chewy sells products and food for pets. They have a chew-toy looking logo. The blue and yellow icon is on their site and all over their boxes. They have fun, playful verbiage on their materials. Adorable pet photos. Even their tone is as friendly as a cuddly yellow Lab—when a customer service rep emails me, they tell me, “Pet Leo for us!” All the marketing pieces (platform tools) they create and all the ways I interact with them (through my five senses) work together to make me do three things. It makes me remember them. It deepens how I feel about Chewy. It makes me want to act—I willingly order more stuff Leo does not need.
So, to sum up, a good brand will do three things to your customers: ignite memory, feeling, and action.
Examples of author brands that ignite?
If you visit the sites of authors Austin Kleon or Bradley Harper, very quickly you’ll get a sense of how different these two authors are. You’ll learn who they are, what they write, and they both give you a way to stay connected so you hear more about them. Meg Medina, Latina author, also has a solid brand, and her blog posts continue to deepen the reader’s connections to her making you want to learn more about her bold Newbery award-winning books.
But how can you ensure your author brand will ignite memory, feeling, and action in your readers? To do so, it must have three attributes.
Every author brand must be unique, consistent, and authentic.
An author brand is unique. Now that you’ve seen Austin’s website, if you are an author that does similar creative-drawing-focused books, you can’t mimic him. Why? You aren’t him.
As an example, let’s look at Southern fiction novelists. Don’t they all write fiction set in the south? Yep. However, if we examine just one, like author Leah Weiss, there are aspects about Leah that are inherently her. She was born and stayed in the south. She first published late in life, after retirement. She writes gritty southern fiction set in Appalachia. Very few southern authors own all three aspects at once. When you combine them with Leah’s colorful sense of style and grace, you get a brand that is unique to Leah alone.
An author brand is consistent. If Leah’s website looked as it does, but her Facebook page and bookmarks looked entirely different, you would think something was off. That “off” feeling is what happens when a brand isn’t consistently applied across all the materials your readers see or touch or experience. Consistency is what ignites and solidifies your reader’s memory.
An author brand is authentic. It must be said… your brand cannot be faked. If Lea’s author photos on her website and Facebook pages show how colorful and stylish she is, but she starts showing up to author presentations in a grey t-shirt and faded jeans… inauthentic. If the verbiage on your author site is all cheery and you are really morose or grouchy, it won’t jive. Politicians are experts at being inauthentic, and in today’s transparent world it’s increasingly hard to get away with saying one thing and doing another. (I’m looking at you Boris Johnson—bye-bye).
So, how do you achieve a unique, consistent, and authentic author brand?
Now that you know the answer to “what is author branding,” you’re probably wondering how to create a brand truly all your own.
First, you need a plan. Not one that is willy or nilly. You need a logical brand plan that is written down so you can follow it. There are three ways to get a written author brand plan. Muddle your way through (the worst way). Hire a brand designer (not always the most affordable). Or learn via writing conferences and workbooks. Lucky you… I have the book for you!
I’ve distilled my experience as a branding expert working with authors into a step-by-step workbook to help people structure their own written author brand plan. If that interests you, hop on over to my Brand the Author (Note the Book) page and learn more. Or subscribe to my blog (top, right column of this page) or to my author newsletter.