I was pretty tired Monday after doing the teleseminar with Allison Bottke, and my brain fell asleep on me when it came time to blog Monday night. But I’m back now. There are still many questions to answer, so I’ll try to deal with some of them today. In a day or two, we’ll switch gears and talk about the craft of writing for a while.
Donna asked:
I see how branding is done and used when you have something going into print, have an agent and that already, but I’m still a bit confused on how to use a brand/promotion when you’re only still writing that first novel, freshman or maybe sophomore level. I guess what I’m asking is: how can you go about establishing it when you have nothing specific to promote yet?
Randy sez: Please bear in mind that YOU are part of your product. Readers don’t just buy books, they buy authors. Ever been to a movie just because it was a Harrison Ford movie? Or a Mel Gibson movie? Or a Julia Roberts movie? You’re not just seeing a movie, you’re seeing an actor.
Of course you have. Maybe you’ve popped into the bookstore and bought the latest Grisham or Clancy. You’re not just buying a book, you’re buying an author.
So no matter where you are in your career, you should be thinking about what it is about you that your readers are going to be buying someday. This is uncomfortable, unless you are an incurable egotist. But it’s part of branding.
I’ll mention Camy again. Part of her brand is her great big smile. I teased her a bit about the fact that she laughs a lot, but that’s part of her brand. As her editor once said about Camy, she lights up a room. She’s fun to hang out with.
Camille wrote:
My options, as I see them:
1.Toss the current baby out the window and begin fresh with something that reflects my “brand factors.”2.Beef up the baby to include bits of my bf’s, so that it somewhat resembles the style of future stuff
3. Finish current wip all serious as first intended, count it as practice, cross my fingers and send it away. Then have a blast cramming my NEXT novel full of fun, twisted, provoking stuff.
Randy sez: Only you can make that decision, Camille. My advice is to work hard on whatever book you’re working on until the day comes when you decide that this story is never going to work and your heart is no longer in it. Then set it aside and work on something your heart is in 100%. You will know if and when that day comes and you’ll know what you’d rather be working on.
Camy wrote:
It took me all five manuscripts to figure out what I wanted to write. I had tried suspense, and while it was fun, I discovered I liked writing chick lit better. When I came up with my tagline, “Romance with a kick of wasabi,” I purposely made it applicable to both chick lit or suspense, depending on what I wanted to focus on. After I decided to pursue chick lit, I didn’t have to change the tagline. I wrote more chick lit manuscripts after that.
I guess what I’m saying is that it might take you several manuscripts to figure out what your brand is and how you want to focus your writing. You might write 2, 3, or 10 manuscripts before you discover that unique marketing angle that will become your brand.
Randy sez: This is typical, folks! It’s OK to take some time to figure it all out. We don’t all have to succeed instantly at everything we do. It’s common in publishing to say, “Joe took ten years to become an overnight success.”
Success comes and success goes. Pursue your dream, write what your heart is screaming for you to write. Whether you ever make megabucks or not, whether you ever even get published or not, you are doing what many people only TALK about doing. You’re writing a novel. You’re feeding your soul. If you make a few bucks or get famous for your allotted 15 minutes, that’s gravy. Be authentic to the writer you were born to be. When the money’s gone and the spotlights go out, you’ll still be authentic. That’s its own reward.
Val wrote:
I am really intrigued by the concept of branding as a writer and most interested in Camy’s story. I am from South Africa and writing Christian “teaching” books and ebooks on various topics, but especially end times. They are “easy to read” and understand, though full of doctrinal truth. Often devotional. Always challenging.
Randy, do you have some helpful comments? Right now I “brand” myself (if you can call it that) as “www.valwaldeck.com – reaching our generation one book at a time.”
Randy sez: Sounds a little vague to me. That could be about anything. I’ll toss you something off the top of my head. It sounds like you write “Truth For The End Times.” Please remember that these taglines are only a small part of your brand. Your name is part of your brand. Your genre. Your style. Your angle. Maybe your haircut. (Those of you who know Ted Dekker, wouldn’t you say his hair is part of his brand? And for sure, Einstein’s hair was part of his.)
The tagline can be useful, but it’s just a piece of it. Personally, I think authors spend too much time angsting over taglines and not enough thinking about consistency in their genre. I’ve certainly fallen down on that score, and I’m hearing a number of you who also want to write 3 and 4 different genres. Remember what Allison said Monday: A brand requires Quality, Uniqueness, and Consistency.
Mary wrote:
I don’t know if what I’m writing now could have such a specific brand. What about a tagline like, “Seeking to Satisfy the Searching Heart” or is that too vague.
Randy sez: It’s vague. Now I’ve got a question for everyone: What is Stephen King’s tagline? Quick, no cheating! No looking at his web site. Does anyone know?
Honestly, I have no clue if Stephen King even has a tagline. I don’t think his sales are suffering for it. Stephen King is the best in the world at writing horror fiction. And he’s a master character creator. Those are the things he’s known for. Not his tagline, if he even has one.
Bonne wrote:
Clearly I should spend more time on it, but I got a rough draft of the WHAT you do, WHO you are and WHY you do it settled down. Next was the nefarious tagline (Brand Identity Statement).
I came up with two that I actually like (room for improvement I’m sure) but now face a dilemma. One tagline expresses WHO and WHAT, the other deals with WHY and the target audience. As an unpublished writer, should I focus more on selling myself and my style or demonstrating who the publisher would sell it to?
Randy sez: Good question. Tell us what genre you write and a bit about yourself and then run your taglines past us and we can vote on it.
Crystal wrote:
This is a great series, Randy. I wish I could’ve done the teleseminar. Will you offer this in a downloadable format for later? Or offer it again?
Randy sez: It takes a lot of time and energy to put together a teleseminar. So we record them and never repeat them. By the way, the recording is already available. The engineers sent me the recording today, so I’ve posted it on the same page with the three handouts. If you missed the teleseminar, you can still get it here.
Lizzie wrote:
What about, like, a very strong theme/pattern that crosses genres, like, “Friendships tested in the face of terror” or something? That could be suspense, fantasy . . . It sort of narrows it down to a thriller-type thing, but could involve many different elements.
I’m still quite the freshman, but looking at my passions and tendencies, I enjoy writing about strong relationships with bouts of action. Perhaps it should be “Relationships tested by terror” or something. What do y’all think?
Randy sez: This sounds like a good start. My one concern is to be sure that you know what genre you’re writing for. Crossing genres is all fine, but every book needs to have one main genre. A gothic romantic mystery western spy novel sounds cool in principle, but which shelf do they put it on??? So specify your genre first!
Jenness wrote:
Okay, Randy. You’ve got me actually thinking about maybe narrowing down my nine genres. LOL. My question is, WHAT am I supposed to do with all these story ideas that keep popping into my head?! Think we could set up some kind of story idea exchange forum where I could dump all these other genius ideas that don’t fit into my genre of choice? (Whichever that one turns out to be.)
And what if the genres are close? Like, romantic suspense, cozy-mystery w/ romance elements, and contemporary romance? Would that be narrowing it down enough?
Randy sez: LOL, like I was just saying . . . pick a genre, any genre. (I’m preaching to myself here. Those of you who’ve read my books know I’ve worked in about 3 different genres.)
Here’s what you do with those extra story ideas: Write ’em down. I have a thick file full of story ideas, some several years old. When I need a story idea, I go riffle through that file. The first novel I published sat in that story idea file for probably five or six years while I worked on other things. Then one day, after getting some comments back from an editor on yet another rejected manuscript, something she said made me go to my file and pull out that story and start writing.
Randy said: Those of you who know Ted Dekker, wouldn’t you say his hair is part of his brand?
I’d say no. His hair never crossed my mind when I thought of buying a new book. But when he shaved off his goatee a few months back, it did cause a bit of a stir on his site forum. It didn’t bother me either way, but I did question how it would affect the sales of the T-shirts and mugs featuring his face. :-O
I already have things planned. On march the 14th, 2009 I’ll be an overnight success.
I was having withdrawal symptoms from not reading the blog.
Brandilyn Collins’ blog yesterday had an interesting article on branding with colors. It’s helpful if you are making up business cards.
I’m working on a YA tradional type fantasy. The theme is: man has no greater love than this: that he should lay his life down for his friends.
The other fantasy I’ve done is middle grade and is a computer fantasy, but fantasy nonetheless. It’s also inspirational, quirky and, I hope, fun.
I’m wondering if my brand could be something like “inspirational fantasy” or “fantasy with heart” but I think they’re weak. Sigh. Well, I’ll keep working on it.
oops ~ I meant to leave Brandilyn’s blog address:
http://www.forensicsandfaith.blogspot.com/
Randy sez: Success comes and success goes. Pursue your dream, write what your heart is screaming for you to write. Whether you ever make megabucks or not, whether you ever even get published or not, you are doing what many people only TALK about doing. You’re writing a novel. You’re feeding your soul. If you make a few bucks or get famous for your allotted 15 minutes, that’s gravy. Be authentic to the writer you were born to be. When the money’s gone and the spotlights go out, you’ll still be authentic. That’s its own reward.
I sez: Thank you! I actually breathed a small sigh of release to read that, thinking that my brand’s not something I have to have right away but something that will come as I do what I love: writing. I know you’ve said it before, but this just sort of clicked.
I didn’t make the teleseminar but am going through the script. There’s a lot to think about, mainly personally. I think deep down in my psychie that I could be like Lemony Snicket where his average reader knows nothing of the true author other than the made-up persona he puts up. A unique brand, I must say.
Edit: small sigh of relief, not release. Guess that’s what I get for typing without enough caffeine.
Hey thanks for asking.
My genre is (somewhat) literary mythic fantasy, geared to teen girls. I am a dancer and performer of many genres, and the common thread in what I do is personal expression (and worship) through beauty.
I want my stories to a) be a glorious escape from the cruelties of daily life b) stir their hearts to consider their own cosmic significance, that there is more to this world than what we see,and they are more important than they’ve ever dared to hope.
I can’t guarantee that b) will happen, but I do my best to tell a great story and pray it strikes a chord.
The two incarnations of the first tagline are:
Making words and worlds dance.
Choreographer of words and worlds.
The second tagline is:
Reflecting the greatness in girls.
Possible substitutes for “reflecting”: awakening, kindling
Have at ‘er!
I am looking forward to the craft of writing. I am very new to this thing called writing, and am having difficulty putting a string of words together. I am really excited to be going on the cruise. I can’t wait to met you, Randy and everyone else. I have learned so much from everything that I have read, I am looking forward to learning much, much more.
I just met a writer that is closer to my stage. And we plan on getting together and reading each other’s stuff and commenting on it. She wrote such a beautiful little book to her grandchild. I was able to make some constructive comments with all the things that I have learned from you and your fellow blogers.
Everyday that I read what you all have to write, I learn more. I sometimes feel like a sponge, I just hope that I don’t get squeezed to hard. HAHA
What I would like to know, is from step one and beyond. How to write, who to find as an Agent, and how to get published. I have taken creative writing course from my local high school and my teacher is an agent, and he is willing to work with me too.
I feel like I need to learn to write better, before I find an agent, and way before I find a publisher, so I am looking forward to the “craft of writing”.
From what I can tell, branding yourself is a good thing, but it is tantamount to running, and I need to learn to take my first steps then brand myself.
I am looking foward to learning more about writing.
Carly
bonne: Maybe combine the two?
Awakening greatness in the hearts of girls through worlds that dance.
I know it’s not a finished product, but maybe a start?
Excellent goal for your stories, I hope you let us all know when you’re published. I’d love to read it, even if I’m not a teen any longer. 🙂
:::Taking deep breath and diving in because I’ve learned that if I make myself vulnerable to criticism I become a better writer:::
The only ideas I’ve had for myself are:
“Biker Chick Lit” (because I ride a motorcycle and I could include bikers in my stories but that’s never been my emphasis)
OR
Something to do with being a Pastor’s Wife such as
“Help! Our Pastor’s Wife’s a Biker Chick”
or
“True Confessions (or Secrets) of a Pastor’s Wife” and have the Pastor’s wife be the main character in each of my novels, where she finds herself in sticky, mysterious, even criminal situations.
I have a blog called “Jesus Loves Biker Chicks, Too.” http://jesuslovesbikerchickstoo.blogspot.com/
I thought about even writing a nonfiction book about that, but since I’ve only ridden a motorcycle for about a year and a half, I don’t really have that much to share! (But it did shock the congregation when I started to ride and that has been GREAT FUN!)
As far as genre, I really like writing ancient history fiction, or biographical fiction, but I also like writing about relationships.
But since I’ve yet to be published in fiction, I’m going to take Randy’s advice and write what is true in my heart and maybe along the way God will reveal my brand and genre to me.
Also, it seems to me that you do need a good idea of your self-image to brand yourself effectively. As I see myself as a loud, unconventional, country bumpkin pastor’s wife, I wonder if that’s how I should market myself? Then I ask myself: branding is to attract readers, so who wants to hear from a country bumpkin pastor’s wife?
I am such an honest, can’t-play-games-your-will-always-know-how-I-feel kind of person that it would be very difficult for me to play a brand I’m really not. (And I don’t think we are being taught that we should.)
I have been more a teacher of theology and apologetics and history than I have of women’s ministries, but I do like writing about outrageous characters and especially women.
I also run a cottage school for children with disabilities (http://libertyscholars.com) and I have three kids still at home with disabilities (I have two more grown children and three grandchildren.) So then I wonder — do I do a disability emphasis somewhere — or just include these things in my books?
I’m strange and very spread out. I am greedy about life. I want to experience ALL of it. Motorcycles, dogs, ancient fiction, pastor’s wife, theology, and kids with disabilities. (I’m also tired.)
Is it hopeless? (What about “Stranger than Fiction” as my tagline?)
Can’t I just write under another name and pretend I have the glamour of Danielle Steele? 😉
Anyone have any ideas?
Keeping story ideas in a file is a great idea. For several years I’ve kept a binder full of all the random ideas I come up with. As I’ve come to realize from reading Randy’s blog (wow that’s a lot of alliteration, unintentional though), revisiting unused ideas may also be a great way to help you figure out your brand, or at least which genre you are most likely to write. I just finished cataloguing all my unused story ideas and was surprised to find so many that I had completely forgotten about. I’m hoping that studying my catalog will help me determine my niche, since I’ve been feeling sort of lost. Maybe those of you who also write down story ideas could try this?
KrisB ~ Thanks for your thoughts.
I thought of combining but then it seemed too long, maybe more like a mission statement than a tag.
It will be interesting to see Randy’s comments.
Christophe ~ I wonder what you’re planning?
Yeah, I’m with you Karla. I wouldn’t know what brand to use for myself. I have twin sons with disabilities but I resigned from my job as therapy assistant for people with disabilities yesterday. I decided I needed to get right away from the caring industry due to some burn out. So, if I was going on character, that has changed anyway as I used to be a carer in both my life with my sons and with my profession. Now, I am wondering what to do about a change of profession as well as wondering what brand to use. Its a bit of a double dilemna.
I suppose I could use, ‘dealing with double dilemna.’
Debra,
That dilemma won’t last. One day – hopefully soon – you’ll figure out what to do with your professional life as well as your brand.
What do you want to write about specifically. And if you were to describe yourself, or your writing style, in 2 or 3 words, what would they be?
Thanks for your reply, Christophe. You’ve certainly given me something to think about. What I am writing now is a novel that is drama. When I think about what other longer works I have written, a screenplay the first chapter of another novel and a 5000 words short story that I was told would be a good novel aimed at teenagers. All are in the genre of drama and are very much written as realism. However, my short stories are surreal and usually magic realism. So I may need a brand for my novels and another brand and perhaps another name for my short stories.
To describe myself in 2 or 3 words, I could say Aussie Battler or Determined Debra and for my writing style, Real and rough – though its not always rough. There is real life in my stories which can be tragic but is also humorous at points along the way. I’m not sure if that is going to be a brand but its closer than I was before so thanks for that Chrisophe.
I’ve decided to get a job that doesn’t take too much of my creativity like my last one did. That way I have it all for my writing. Basically, I will have a job and not a career.