SUSAN KAYE QUINN

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Author Branding

I’ve been reading Kristen Lamb‘s book Are You There Blog? It’s Me, Writer and thinking a lot about blogging, branding, and author promotion. (I discovered Kristen via Laura Pauling, whose mere mention of her name sent me scrambling for more information. Laura’s just that good.) Kristen’s writing style is fun and goes down easy, and it’s fair to say I devoured the book. Kristen’s got my head whirling about many things, but the starting point for it all is Author Branding.
The concept of an Author Brand is something I’ve struggled with. After all, I’m not corn flakes, or a high energy drink, or a new and improved type of shampoo. I’m just me, a writer who like to conjure stories for kids and teens, like dozens (nay thousands) of other writers out there doing the same thing.
But my heart knows this is wrong.
Often, we tell ourselves lies that we would never breathe to another soul, especially a child. Sometimes, what we say to others is true about ourselves, but we’re not always willing to admit it. (My mom, the psychologist, calls this projection.)
Here’s what I tell the kids: You are unique.
So, if I believe that truth about them (and I do), then I need to believe it about me as well. But what makes me unique? 
Kristen makes the excellent point that all of your blogging/writing/publishing efforts should focus and enhance your Author Brand, because you are not selling books, you are selling you. The Unique You. And your brand needs to grow with you as a writer, because you’re going to write more than one book, right? She has amazingly wonderful tips about how to profile your target audience, and tag your blogs to create your author brand, and craft your blog in a way that serves your readers (seriously, go read her book), but after two years of blogging, I was still overwhelmed with the idea of it all. How could I possibly do all that? 
And then I realized something.
Finding your Author Brand is like finding your Voice.
It’s not so much that you craft your Voice, you discover it. The authentic, UNIQUE YOU comes out in your Voice. Yes, you need to learn the craft as well, so that you can hone and shape and sharpen that Voice. But like Dorothy’s way back home, it was there all along, just waiting for you to discover.
Author Brand is the same way, because your brand is YOU – the authentic, UNIQUE YOU that comes out when you focus on your passions (because you’re blogging about what you’re passionate about, right? If not, fix that first). Yes,  you can use your blog and your writerly skills to hone and shape and sharpen your brand, but first you have to discover it. Once I realized this, I sat down with my notebook and pen and crafted my author brand in less than an hour. 
My Logic Brain wanted data, so I scoured my past blog postings to see what I had already created, where my passions had already taken me. My Creative Brain stormed up a bunch of words associated with those blogs, future tags to describe what I would produce in blogs to come. Then Logic Brain took over again (it’s pushy that way) and created this:

And there it was, staring me in the face. What I’d known all along – that I’m a geek at heart who loves kids and books and all the ways those things intersect. Any one of those circles (writing books, finding gadgets, talking to kids) will get me excited. Two circles combined (getting kids to read, putting books on e-readers) will fire me up. But put the three together (my younger son reading my older son’s self-pubbed book on the Nook?) and I’m on a thrill ride to the moon.

I’ll no doubt be putting many of Kristen’s suggestions into practice. I’ve already changed my blog name to MY name –  my author brand. I was sad (very sad) to see Ink Spells depart, but I realized that the tag line still fit perfectly (Conjuring Tales for Young Minds = kids, books, and a little bit of brainiac flavor). Even before I started blogging, I already had that brand tucked inside, because it is who I am.

Thank you, Kristen, for helping me find the wizard (and the way home)!

And fellow author-blogger friends, I encourage you to tell yourself the truth: You Are Unique. 

Now go find yourself. 🙂

Comments

  1. Susan! Excellent post. My agent talks about this a lot. If I took your handy dandy circles, all I would have to do is replace your "Tech" circle with "Hockey". Pretty much all of my stories include some hockey element in them. When my agent called me about a potential project she wanted me to write, she said, "And, you gotta have hockey in there because that's who you are." She gets it. And, I do too (much to the chagrin of my youngest son who vehemently dislikes hockey because we spend so much time at the rink with older son). So, I'm off to get that wonderful book you've been talking about. I think if we can discover and understand who we are as authors, we'll have a much better time convincing others that we ARE authors!

  2. @Kris Exactly! Understanding who we are as authors helps us to own it and act like professionals – which is the surest way to convince someone that we are serious about writing!

  3. Great post, Susan! I find it tough to have an author brand because I write for children of all ages (picture books through young adult). But I always stay very true to myself on my blog. How you see me on my blog is exactly how I am in real life. I'm not afraid to laugh at myself or have others laugh at/with me.

  5. Awesome! I've never read her book, but am a follower of her blog, and she's fantastic! Love this post! I'm working on the same thing for myself now. It's so hard. Being shy (not about talking and projecting who I am, or even talking to others about their books) but being shy to just let other know ME, is very difficult. I often stay at my author blog and curse it out. Book blogging is way easier. and fun. But I don't want to be known as only a book blogger. Great, great post! Will be looking into getting her book soon =) Oh, and love your blog BTW!

  7. and then there are the industry professionals that think there is no such thing as branding. 🙂 I think there is but I don't think we should stress about it too much. I'm still processing Kristen's advice and haven't decided what I think. Though I do agree that reaching our target audience is important. And yes, things like having our name on our blog…etc makes sense.

    And thank you for your kind words! 🙂

  8. I started reading the book, but got distracted. But that was after I figured out my brand. I love books with danger and romance (both for reading and writing). It's even on my blog (LOL I had to quickly peek to see if it was). Okay, not that I've blogged much to reflect this brand (other than today's post, maybe). I guess that's the next step. Hmmm. Maybe I could throw myself into some dangerous situations and blog about them. *rushes off to sign up for sky-diving lessons*

  9. Glad you found your brand, Susan. I just try to do what I'm doing and hope it resonates with people. If/when I land an agent and book deal, maybe the pressure will change. If people like my blog voice, I hope they'll want to buy, enjoy, and spread the word about my book.

  10. @Kelly That's what I thought too, because I write so many genres (MG, YA, SF, Fantasy, paranormal, love stories), but I think that just points to how important it is to have your brand reflect you, not your books.

    @Samantha I'm glad you've found yourself! 😉 It's easy to get lost in this business.

    @Trisha Thanks so much! And I'm looking forward to that guest post! 🙂

  11. @Catherine I hope you enjoy it!

    @Laura There are industry professionals with just as many different opinions as regular people (Ha!). And you were ahead of the pack with having your name on your blog! Kristen's book hit when I was in the middle of thinking these things through anyway. I would trust your instincts – they're pretty good! 🙂

    @Stina Yikes! Don't sky-dive on my account!! LOL If you've already got your brand figured out, then you're just that much further ahead! For some people, it's more natural than others.

  12. @Theresa Don't stress over it. I wouldn't have been ready to hear this message even 6 mos ago. You are doing the right thing by blogging, being true to your voice and writing. Those are the important things!

  13. I'm gonna call my blog Peek Freans Cookies. Mmmmmmm…

    Wait… that's what you meant by branding, right?

    Mmmmm… those chocolate cookies in the assorted package? My inner taste bud is calling.

  14. Great post! And something we all need to be thinking about. I've always thought that an author's brand is a culmination of different things: our work, the subject we write about, and what we give to our readers. I also think that it's an ongoing process but something we need to be constantly aware of, and building.

  16. Very timely Susan, as I was just reading about branding in WordWorks, a mag produced by a writing organization in my local area.

    So, between your post and that article, I will be starting to think about this today (I'll need it later this year).

    Will check out your recommendation. Thanks for the info.

  17. Hi Susan .. excellent ideas – thanks for letting us into Kristen's secret area ..

    Love everyone's comments too – the concept of author branding just makes so much sense ..

    Thanks – I'll look into Kristen's book .. cheers Hilary

  19. I meant to add that I've been following Kristen on Twitter and her blog and it is very helpful. I haven't read the BLOG book yet, but did read the We Are Not Alone book, which was a big overall help.

  20. @Bryan I'm not sure what a Freans is, but now I'm hungry.

    @DU I think you are right – this is all a Work-In-Progress. 🙂

    @Tricia Making people think…I think I want to make that my motto, because every time it happens I get a little happy feeling inside. 🙂

    @DG So glad it helped! 🙂

  21. @Hilary I hope it helps!

    @Arthur Hey! Thanks for popping by! I'm a recent fan of Kristen's, but her WANA book is on my Nook for some follow-up reading. Best of luck with your books! 🙂

  24. Wonderful post, Susan! I think I'll look at my blog posts and look for patterns on what I post about too. I wonder if I'm as random as I think I am. 🙂

  25. This is an awesome post, Susan. It really has me thinking. And now my fingers are itching to head over to Amazon to check out her book.
    Thanks a million for this info!

  27. @Sharon It will be interesting to see what you discover there!

    @Susan Thanks! I hope you enjoy the book!

    @Jennifer *cheers!*

  28. Hi Susan–thanks for dropping by my blog today.

    I've been thinking a lot about author branding as well, thanks to MS Lamb. I'm impressed with the tag line you came up with. Mine is still boring author, but I'll have to fix that someday.

  29. @Elle Thanks for stopping by! I loved that indie interview – I should have left a comment (I almost always do, but the day was escaping me…had to write!)! I think we shouldn't stress to much about tag lines and branding…until we're ready to do it. When you are, hopefully this will help a bit! 🙂

  30. ooo… interesting concept. I know Kristin Lamb from Laura as well, but I haven't picked up her book yet… I like this idea, especially in view of what I just read on Laura's blog about diminishing shelf space and the rise of epublishing. These are all related, yes? :o) <3

  32. Excellent post. Blogging has (is) something that I struggle with. I can't help but think, will anyone care, and I need to get past that. You helped to put it into perspective. Now to go get that book!

    Thanks for sharing!

  34. Thank you, Susan. This post is exactly what I needed to read. I've abandoned my blog for the last couple of months due to a spurt of illness but lost my blogging mojo in the process, and I think it's because I don't know how I want to be branded. I became lost as to what I wanted to write about. I even quit reading other blogs because I didn't want to risk using someone else's blog idea for my own. Now I know to write about what I love…about things that make me who I am.

  35. Great post! As you know, I've been reading some of Kristen Lamb's advice on her blog and I really should pick up her book. I've been thinking about this a lot lately and trying to make steps to establish my brand. I recently changed my header to my name as well, which is a smart thing to do!

About Susan

Susan Kaye Quinn is PhD Environmental Engineer turned spec fic author who writes hopeful climate fiction & solarpunk.
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