Branding? Really?

Branding. Most people hear this word and immediately think of cows and hot metal iron. Unless you're in the marketing field. It used to be an author wrote the story, turned it over to an editor who wanted corrections and sent it back, the author corrected those issues and it was sent to the printer. The author then went on to the next story. Nowadays, not even close.

As authors we have to be aware of everything that goes on behind the scenes. And of course in order to sell you have to market yourself to your audience. I've learned this last year that branding for an author can be difficult and time consuming, but you don't have to go at it all at once. Here are just a few tips to help you understand what branding is and how it can be done.

1.) Find something that hits close to your heart. For me it's the Steampunk world, which includes the clothing. Now, since I'm just a beginner in the sewing world, I don't have much. What I do have I've worn to the conventions and to book signings. One of my best noticed pieces are my tiny hats. Everyone always comments on them. My best idea for my branding is to wear one of those mini hats to the events I want to be recognized at. Now that I own a corset you'll see me in it a lot as well.

2.) Get your name out there. Put together a website, blog and produce. Though I had been writing for a long time it wasn't until 2011 that I started to blog with this lovely group. Slowly my name started making the rounds. Then in 2012 I started to write free reads for our sister blog. My name and my work started to get noticed. I've now gotten complete strangers endorsing my fiction and short stories in LinkedIn. 

4.) Get involved, either in a writing chapter or a small bookstore or book club. Once people recognize your efforts your name will get passed around. Attend conventions, both writing and within your genre.



 As a reader what are your thoughts to give an author you've read? What do you think about when the word, "Branding" is brought up?

Suspense, Paranormals and Steampunks, Oh My!

I tried to stick to writing in one romance sub-genre from the very beginning. 

Really, I did. 

I told myself I didn’t have time to develop multiple platforms and author brands, so I’d better stick to one. But whereas my first novel is a romantic suspense story, the second insisted on morphing into a paranormal romantic suspense. And the third…Oh god, let’s not even go there yet!

I told myself I was experimenting with different subgenres in order to discover The One, that magical arena wherein my stories would germinate, grow and blossom like well-fertilized morning glories. Surely when I determined my one true subgenre I would joyfully cast aside all other subgenres and write happily forever after.

Ha.

Classes and workshops taught me more about the craft of writing, but didn’t help me settle into a comfortable niche. I did find my core story (the theme that unfolds in every book I write, no matter the genre.) Mine is you have to decide who you really are.

 

Irony; gotta love it.

Contest judges loved my ‘light, breezy comedic voice.’ A famous writing instructor told me I write dark romantic comedy. 

What the heck??? 

While struggling through my identity crisis, I researched and outlined two more paranormal romantic suspense stories. Was I on to something? Was this blended genre The One?

Then something happened to me that had never happened before. Out of nowhere, the phrase the fixer-upper boyfriend popped into my head as if someone had spoken the words aloud. I stopped in my tracks halfway through the living room on the way to the dirty clothes hamper. 

Great book title, I thought. Reeks of teenaged angst.

My monkey mind was off and running with a YA story. I wrote a rough outline of the book and the characters. Loved them! Who wouldn’t love writing about a mad-scientist mother, zombie boyfriends, a frustrated medium, a tragic accident with a time machine, and a runaway teen protagonist on a quest for absolution?

Other than the fact that this story was not a paranormal romantic suspense, the plot holes were problematic—until I took a Steampunk class online and found the story a perfect home in an alternate Victorian Age.

Me, write a Steampunk YA? Ack!

In desperation, I brainstormed commonalities among my stories. This is what I came up with:

•  Identity issues
•  Secrets
• Underdog protagonists
• Family
• At least one canine character whose actions affect the plot and/or character arc
• Second chances
• A comedic voice
•  Paranormal elements (That first story? The RS? Originally, I wanted the protagonist to have a psychic ability, but I talked myself out of it.

I decided to build my platform around these commonalities. Publishers need to know where to shelve my books, so I’ll brand myself as a paranormal romance author. Overall, I’ve found paranormal romance readers to be flexible and adventurous readers. I don’t think mixing it up a little will put them off, whether they are adult or young adult readers.

What do you think?

The Author as a Brand

Writing in different genre's may be fun for authors. After all, many of us have tons of stories bubbling inside us that we're dying to share. That's why we have to write. But I was a reader long before I became a writer. And as a reader, the I find the author's name links together with their genre as part of their brand.

• Say Steven King and I shiver.
• Hand me a Tess Gerritson and I settle in my chair for a deep, deliberate police procedural.
• Julia Quinn is a name that evokes fun in a Regency setting.
• Frederick Pohl is a synonym for thrilling Sci Fi (I can't help adding him, I was at a presentation with this legend this weekend and meeting this hero from my childhood was a high point)

I know that a lot of authors successfully write in multiple genres. But for this reader, I usually end up preferring an author more in one genre than in others they may write in. The author's name is part of the promise they make to me about what I will find inside the covers or on the eReader screen, just like the cover art and title. I don't get hungry for any old style of book, I get a yen for specific reads on different days and go for an author whose brand fits that need. In a way it's like food. Most fast food chains sell burgers, but when I'm in the mood for a Slider I don't go to the Golden Arches.

My vote is that an author establish a brand by sticking to a genre. Set things up so I know what I'm getting when I search for one of your books. If I'm looking for more than just a "good book," if I want a specific read, the kind of thrill you handed me last time, and this time you hand me something else, it could be a long time before I try that author again in either genre

Now you tell me

Please take a minute to give your thoughts.
I know other's look at things different. Tell me how you pick out your books? Is the genre more important, or the author?  Does branding even matter?

Hit the comment button and let me know how you feel.


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Delilah Marvelle - Cracking The Promotion Code

I have learned quite a bit about promotion since first being published in 2008.  I’ve learned that cracking the promotion code is like trying to find a flea in a haystack.  There simply isn’t any one thing that will guarantee that you will reach your readers.  BUT…I will say this.  If you do nothing to promote yourself, rest assured you won’t get any buzz at all. 

If I can give you four BIG pieces of advice in best promoting yourself, here it is:

1.)  Brand yourself.   You are selling your writing.  You are not selling your dogs, your cats, or your children.  Remember that when you decide to blog.  Most writers make the mistake of creating a blog that serves no purpose but entertaining a select few.  It’s an amazing opportunity that is lost.  Think bigger.  How can you reach more people?  How can you reach people who don’t even know who the hell you are?  An example of how to step outside of the box is what I did with my own blog:A Bit O’Muslin (www.DelilahMarvelle.blogspot.com)  I created a blog on Sex Throughout History which I post to every first of the month.   Why only once a month?  Because that way, I don’t get burned out and neither to my readers.  I want an ongoing relationship without being in their face every day. 
I get several thousand hits a month and I will say that most of the traffic is rather random.  People who Google “The History of the Dildo” will discover that I am actually #1 in the Google search engine.  It took a bit of time to establish myself as number one in the dildo search, lol, but I assure you, it’s strategic.  I’ve had quite a few people who accidentally came across my blog who started not only following me but were curious enough to pick up my books.   My blog reflects my writing, not my life.

2.) Make use of Social Media to do MORE than promote yourself.  Whether you do Twitter or Facebook or whatever other Social Media poison you choose, remember to use it for more than promotion.  Get to know your readers.  Get to know reviewers.  Follow them and converse with them without being annoying.  And only pimp yourself when necessary.  People know when you’re selling and when you’re being genuine.  Be genuine at all times.  Not just some of the time.  

3.) Forget the pens, the mugs and those endless trinkets you buy to pimp yourself.  Here’s what I noticed when going to events and what readers (not writers) pick up.  They pick up signed bookmarks, excerpt booklets and books.  Which makes sense.  They want your writing.  Not your pens.  So put your writing INTO the hands of your readers by doing excerpt booklets or handing out free copies of your books.  Sure, it costs more in the long run, but think about it.  Books will never be thrown in the trash and will make its way around.  Can you say the same for a pen or some of the other promo?  Even bookmarks will eventually find their way into the trash...sadly. And though the excerpt booklet may not last long, if they picked it up, they will most likely READ the chapter booklet.  Which gives you a better chance of getting a sale than any pen.

4.)  Write the best damn book you can.  Your writing is really the ONLY thing you can control in this crazy business.  A good book will continue to find its audience with or without promotion.  Word of mouth, after all, is the greatest promotion of all.