If you're in the process of moving from being someone who writes only for their own pleasure to being someone who puts their work out in the world for other people to consume (and hopefully pay for), you're going to need a brand.
Unless this is your first visit to my blog and you skipped my home page, you know that I recently published my first book The Talented on Amazon. And those of you who plan ahead might assume that before publishing, I gave real consideration to how I would brand myself. What would my "thing" be. My niche. How would I distinguish myself from the world around me, and how would I let readers know what to expect from my work?
Good question. And to the dismay of the planners of the world, it isn't one that I spent a lot of time thinking about. Of course, I had a foggy notion of my brand. I always write fantasy, primarily epic fantasy. I always have strong female characters, primarily as my main characters. My stories always take place pre-gun and pre-industrialization. I always write in 3rd person limited, although the actual limits may vary. There are other similarities between my works as well because, well, they're mine. I have a certain style.
But I didn't think of all this as a brand. That sounds so official and planned. And I didn't plan it. I've never gone into a book saying "Okay, this book need a strong female character who's good with a bow and arrow since there aren't any guns, because that is what my brand promises." That might be how my stories end up going, but I don't set out for them to be that way. It just happens.
So I let the fog drift around in my brain, not thinking about brand too much, just going about my life, pushing publish like little things like brands don't matter, until I decided to order some promotional bookmarks to go with The Talented. Being thorough, I started researching what promotional bookmarks look like, and saw over and over again mentions of things like brands and taglines.
What is a tagline, you ask?
Basically, a tagline is a catchphrase. A slogan. Something that ties back to and is particular to a brand or product. Nike has "Just do it." State Farm has "Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there." And I had a foggy brain.
And for the first time I realized that, before I could print any bookmarks, I needed to figure out my brand and/or tagline.
Cue the panic.
I made a list much like the one above, listing what my books had in common. And I tried out some different sayings:
The first one I disliked because it made my stories seem like "girl" stories. I love my main characters, and I don't agree with the concept of "guy stories" and "girl stories" (with the possible exception of romance), but I know that a lot of people view things like that, and that men especially can be hesitant to pick up a book that they perceive to be geared toward women. So the last thing I wanted from my tagline was to run the risk of turning away half of my potential market when my books aren't actually written with women or female empowerment in mind.
The second one just sounds bad, plus "action-packed" isn't the best descriptor of my work.
The third and fourth ones I kind of liked. They weren't perfect, and they weren't everything, but they were close. So I mulled. And I brainstormed. And I drank some wine. And then I got it.
Epic Fantasy. Secret Missions. High Stakes.
Everything I've ever written has had those components to one degree or another. It's short and descriptive, without being overly detailed or clunky.
I like the sound of it, and it fits.
My brand, which I am beginning to define more and more now that I've accepted the fact that pushing it off until "some day" doesn't make sense when you already have one book on the virtual shelves, is slowly evolving and solidifying into something clearly definable, and until then, I have my tagline to fall back on.
Epic Fantasy. Secret Missions. High Stakes.
If people don't know anything about my work, they should have some idea based on that.
Do any of you have a tagline? What is the tagline or brand of your favorite author?
Unless this is your first visit to my blog and you skipped my home page, you know that I recently published my first book The Talented on Amazon. And those of you who plan ahead might assume that before publishing, I gave real consideration to how I would brand myself. What would my "thing" be. My niche. How would I distinguish myself from the world around me, and how would I let readers know what to expect from my work?
Good question. And to the dismay of the planners of the world, it isn't one that I spent a lot of time thinking about. Of course, I had a foggy notion of my brand. I always write fantasy, primarily epic fantasy. I always have strong female characters, primarily as my main characters. My stories always take place pre-gun and pre-industrialization. I always write in 3rd person limited, although the actual limits may vary. There are other similarities between my works as well because, well, they're mine. I have a certain style.
But I didn't think of all this as a brand. That sounds so official and planned. And I didn't plan it. I've never gone into a book saying "Okay, this book need a strong female character who's good with a bow and arrow since there aren't any guns, because that is what my brand promises." That might be how my stories end up going, but I don't set out for them to be that way. It just happens.
So I let the fog drift around in my brain, not thinking about brand too much, just going about my life, pushing publish like little things like brands don't matter, until I decided to order some promotional bookmarks to go with The Talented. Being thorough, I started researching what promotional bookmarks look like, and saw over and over again mentions of things like brands and taglines.
What is a tagline, you ask?
Basically, a tagline is a catchphrase. A slogan. Something that ties back to and is particular to a brand or product. Nike has "Just do it." State Farm has "Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there." And I had a foggy brain.
And for the first time I realized that, before I could print any bookmarks, I needed to figure out my brand and/or tagline.
Cue the panic.
I made a list much like the one above, listing what my books had in common. And I tried out some different sayings:
- Fantasy novels with strong female characters.
- Action-packed fantasy with interesting characters and intense conflicts.
- Epic fantasy, fantastic tales.
- High fantasy, high stakes.
The first one I disliked because it made my stories seem like "girl" stories. I love my main characters, and I don't agree with the concept of "guy stories" and "girl stories" (with the possible exception of romance), but I know that a lot of people view things like that, and that men especially can be hesitant to pick up a book that they perceive to be geared toward women. So the last thing I wanted from my tagline was to run the risk of turning away half of my potential market when my books aren't actually written with women or female empowerment in mind.
The second one just sounds bad, plus "action-packed" isn't the best descriptor of my work.
The third and fourth ones I kind of liked. They weren't perfect, and they weren't everything, but they were close. So I mulled. And I brainstormed. And I drank some wine. And then I got it.
Epic Fantasy. Secret Missions. High Stakes.
Everything I've ever written has had those components to one degree or another. It's short and descriptive, without being overly detailed or clunky.
I like the sound of it, and it fits.
My brand, which I am beginning to define more and more now that I've accepted the fact that pushing it off until "some day" doesn't make sense when you already have one book on the virtual shelves, is slowly evolving and solidifying into something clearly definable, and until then, I have my tagline to fall back on.
Epic Fantasy. Secret Missions. High Stakes.
If people don't know anything about my work, they should have some idea based on that.
Do any of you have a tagline? What is the tagline or brand of your favorite author?
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