Hey All!!!
Recently I've been delving into learning the marketing and branding side of the business of writing. Turns out that you have to do more than just write an amazing tale with relatable characters to make it in this business...much more. In addition to writing and editing, you have to have your brand fully developed, a platform established, and a hefty presence on social media and the like. It's serious business to say the least.
Instead of getting properly overwhelmed, which is my normal M.O., I decided to take this whole marketing and branding piece of writing one sliver of work at a time and dissect it like we used to do in A&P in high school. First up, my author branding!
An author's brand is his or her core philosophy when it comes to writing. What is the message that you'd like to share with the world? And why? What drives your passion for putting in the blood, sweat, tears, and pulled out hair that this process takes? There are a lot of resources out there that can help you to develop a brand. The website I looked into can be found here. You just have to apply the plethora of information out there to you.
As far as my brand, here goes nothing:
I am a writer of color who writes diverse paranormal fiction. What makes my writing different from the slew of books already out there is the fact that mine features a diverse cast of characters. We live in a world where you find a proverbial rainbow of folks in every high school, college, and office - and I'm not just talking race here. We have different cultural backgrounds and sexual orientations, different socioeconomic groups. So why do we not see this same type of diversity in the books on our shelves? Especially the books out there for young folks.
There are so many different kinds of people out there who love paranormal fiction. I want to give all lovers of paranormal fiction a voice, as well as to build worlds in my books that reflect the world around us, in all its glorious diversity!
So that's my brand. Maybe I'll post a chapter or two of my writing here...hopefully you all like it.
Happy reading and writing!!!
Brand looks good. I can get behind diversity. ^_^
ReplyDeleteThanks, Barb!!! It's what drives me to keep on writing, even when it feels like no one will ever see my greatness =).
DeleteGreat post! And it's very good to know your brand. It will help you find your audience and know how to market to them. I usually have pretty diverse casts as well. I actually have an unreleased PNR that features a black heroine and a white hero. They are part of a secret society of super humans. The world is very diverse, and it's great to show many different experiences :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Victoria! I agree that we have to start getting more diverse books out there. And I can't wait to see your new PNR. Diverse PNR with super humans...yes, please!
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