Do writers need a brand?

BRANDING FOR WRITERS, PART ONE

Marketers have thrown the term brand around for years. But isn’t it a term reserved for global consumer businesses like Nike? They need to be instantly recognizable by a colour, a shape or a tagline if they’re to survive. “But me, I’m a writer. I’m a person, not a product. Can’t I just write great books and develop a reputation on the back of them?” Yes, you can. And you must do your best to write a great book. This is and always will be the first, most important thing.

However, it’s a crowded market. There is more and more content available online, much of it free, and people can publish books more easily than ever. Unless you have the talent, luck or persistence of a Stephen King or a J. K. Rowling, it may take years to even break into the world of publishing, let alone become a household name. Regardless of your aspirations or stage in the publication journey, I’m here to tell you that a clear brand will only strengthen your success as a writer. Let’s look at why.

How can a brand help a writer?

1. A brand helps your readers make a decision. For a writer, a brand communicates where you sit on the shelf, which authors you are similar to, which genre you write. This is why I recommend to emerging writers to pick one genre and stick with it until you see some traction. There’s nothing to say you can’t experiment with poetry and historical fiction and non-fiction and children’s literature, but if you attempt to publish all of those, how do I know as your reader where you sit? If you write about dogs, then cooking, and also relationships, how do I know whether you’re the author for me? Remember readers often make decisions based on comparison. This book is like this one, and a bit like that one. It’s x meets x. It’s what we call positioning in the business. Better to pick one brand, one genre and do it really well, at least to begin with.
2. A consistent brand builds trust with an audience. One of the biggest motivations to choosing to buy one ‘product’ above another is based on how we feel about that product. Whether we feel we share something with it, whether it represents something we aspire to, whether we enjoy our first experience with it. If those things line up with our desires as a consumer, we’ll go back for more. Our readers are investing their time in us, this isn’t just about them parting with money. They will spend hours with our book. So, they expect us to deliver on our promise. I’m not talking about perceived ‘quality’, I’m talking about being consistent with what you post, write, share. I heard a good example of this during a conference last weekend. If readers see you write/share/post about fluffy bunnies, they come to expect that. It’s your thing, it’s your brand. If you suddenly share about skulls and cross bones, they will be shocked. You’ve lost their trust. Again, I’m not saying you can’t branch out. You can keep this clear by using a pen name for a new brand. Or, you can communicate with your readers that your next work will be a departure from previous works. But I’d advise you to first of all establish one brand in one genre before attempting this.
3. A brand helps you make sound business decisions. When you run your own business you get to choose what you do and who you are. This is one of the benefits of being a writer. No one dictates to you how to write, what to write, who to be. However, opportunities are endless and you could run in a million different directions. You could write an article for this e-zine over here, and publish a guest post on this friend’s blog over there, and before you know it you’re all over the place and no closer to your objective of being a stonking-great writer of x. This is why I believe writers need to take some time to think about their goals. Similarly, if you pinpoint what your brand is, you will be able to assess opportunities based on whether they fit with that brand or not. You will be strategic about your resources and you’ll be more successful as a result.

The point is this: having success with our target readers is about building a good relationship with them, not shouting that you have a book out. A crucial first step in that relationship is telling them WHO you are. This is the essence of brand. Which begs the question, how do you figure out what your brand is? I will return to this in PART TWO. Stay tuned!

Would you like help articulating what your brand is or how to communicate it? I’d love to help: drop me a line.