{"id":5707,"date":"2011-08-08T12:00:34","date_gmt":"2011-08-08T06:30:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bookbuzzr.com\/blog\/?p=5707"},"modified":"2014-12-23T16:18:29","modified_gmt":"2014-12-23T10:48:29","slug":"whats-an-author-brand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bookbuzzr.com\/blog\/whats-an-author-brand\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s an Author Brand?"},"content":{"rendered":"

(& Do You Need One)<\/strong>
\nGuest Expert: Laurel Marshfield<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"Brands are those vague but persuasive associations we conjure up whenever we think of any well-known product. Mac<\/strong> computers. TIDE<\/strong> laundry detergent. Nike<\/strong> running shoes.<\/p>\n

Brands are also the far more complex associations that come to mind whenever we think of well-known authors. Often, they\u2019re a flash of images mixed with a dominant feeling, or a scene from a particular book montaged with memory fragments.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a small demonstration. Does the name Stephen King conjure something different for you than the name J.K. Rowling? What about Dan Brown, Elizabeth Gilbert, Jodi Picoult? Or Malcolm Gladwell, Joan Didion, Seth Godin? What association appears for a second or so when you first see each name?<\/p>\n

People Aren\u2019t Products <\/strong><\/p>\n

Whatever that instant of recognition is composed of, it\u2019s there because that author\u2019s brand put it there. Each association is complex and meaningful — unlike the association you\u2019d experience for a brand of laundry detergent.<\/p>\n

In fact, it\u2019s that much-ado-about-nothingness which characterizes many product brands that makes it easy to imagine authors rejecting the B word as too schlocky, too commercial, too huckster-esque. So let\u2019s substitute the word \u201cstory,\u201d instead.<\/p>\n

Your Brand Is Your Author Story<\/strong><\/p>\n

The author story (aka brand) refers to the complex messages authors put out into the world about themselves and their books — which we then absorb and retain in a highly individual way.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Michael Cunningham<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Suppose that you, like author Michael Cunningham, were interviewed by Terry Gross on NPR\u2019s \u201cFresh Air.\u201d You talked about your struggles with writing, as well as your then-recent book, The Hours<\/strong><\/em> (later made into a movie starring Meryl Streep). You were articulate, charming, fascinating — someone any listener would want to know more about, because what you had to say was vivid and substantive.<\/p>\n

So, you think, is that Cunningham\u2019s brand<\/em>?<\/p>\n

Not exactly. What any given listener will remember of that \u201cFresh Air\u201d interview is very little. Instead, there will be a vague feeling, a positive association, a sense of being charmed and entertained. The specifics of what was said will fade over time to almost nothing. And what is left will contribute<\/em> to Cunningham\u2019s brand, but it won\u2019t be<\/em> his brand.<\/p>\n

That intangible entity exists like an earth-orbiting satellite, constantly receiving and broadcasting new data \u2013 a new book, a new interview, a new movie. Over time, its signal stabilizes into something more defined, but it\u2019s still subject to change. Just not as much as it is in the beginning.<\/p>\n

How You Can Get One, Too<\/strong><\/p>\n

You may be thinking, All very interesting, but what about me, how can I do this, too?<\/em><\/p>\n

To send out your own earth-orbiting satellite — where it will pick up and broadcast your author brand — you need to consciously make use of the intersection between your personal life story and the story your books tell. And then<\/em>, you need to use that intersection to dialogue with interested readers.<\/p>\n

How One Author Creates a Reader Dialogue<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Jodi Picoult<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Take a look at author Jodi Picoult\u2019s website: http:\/\/www.jodipicoult.com<\/a>. Here\u2019s a novelist who eagerly dialogues <\/em>with her readers. In other words, her satellite both broadcasts and responds.<\/p>\n

Broadcast<\/strong><\/span>
\nShe shares: family videos and author-interview videos; podcasts about her books and what it takes to be a writer; and posts revealing where the subjects of her novels and her personal life are connected.<\/p>\n

Response<\/span><\/strong>
\nPicoult hosts an active message board, allowing readers to ask questions and get answers, which makes them feel as if this author is really listening to them. She provides a static Q&A page with info on subjects she\u2019s often asked to comment upon. Finally, she posts a confiding note in the border of her site explaining that it wasn\u2019t her choice to wait six months to release the eBook version of her latest novel. Her publisher made the decision, and she\u2019s angry about it, too. In other words, she\u2019s on their<\/em> side.<\/p>\n

You can\u2019t spend any time on Picoult\u2019s site without knowing who she is, how she lives, what she cares about, what she\u2019s accomplished, and where she\u2019s going as an author. You also can\u2019t help but feel welcomed. There\u2019s no schlocky sales pitch, but the welcome mat is out. In short, Picoult\u2019s site builds her brand — her author story — consciously and abundantly. But it doesn\u2019t constitute her brand.<\/p>\n

That complex flash of association only resides, dear reader, within the softly lit privacy of your mind. Much the way that reading a novel does.<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"Laurel Marshfield<\/strong> is a professional writer, developmental editor (aka \u201cbook doctor\u201d), and ghostwriter who helps authors shape, develop, and refine their book manuscripts for publication. She offers manuscript evaluation, developmental editing, co-writing, collaboration, ghostwriting, book coaching, and consultation for authors.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Her blog publishes inspiration and advice for the author\u2019s journey: Blue Horizon Communications<\/a> And her free eBook, available for newsletter signup (see the upper right-hand corner of her homepage) is titled: I Need to Be a Bestselling Author \u2013 Is That True?: The Five-Destination Roadmap to Authorship<\/strong>.
\nOn Twitter, you can find her at: @BookEditorLM<\/a>
\n<\/em>
\nPhoto Credits: David Shankbone<\/a> and Chrissypan<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(& Do You Need One) Guest Expert: Laurel Marshfield Brands are those vague but persuasive associations we conjure up whenever we think of any well-known product. Mac computers. TIDE laundry detergent. Nike running shoes. Brands are also the far more complex associations that come to mind whenever we think of well-known authors. Often, they\u2019re a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":5711,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[353,3],"tags":[539,540,9,3,18,369,538],"class_list":["post-5707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bbmtc","category-book-marketing","tag-author-brand","tag-author-story","tag-authors","tag-book-marketing","tag-book-promotion","tag-brand","tag-brands"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookbuzzr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5707","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookbuzzr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookbuzzr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookbuzzr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookbuzzr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5707"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bookbuzzr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5707\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookbuzzr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5711"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookbuzzr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookbuzzr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookbuzzr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}