Blogger: Mary Keeley
Location: Books & Such Midwest Office, IL
Magazine publishing is different from book publishing in many ways but similar in others. The Evangelical Press Association (EPA) 2011 Convention focuses primarily on magazine publishing, but I came away with some fresh perspectives that I’ve adapted for book publishing.
At the convention Mark Dreistadt, President and CEO of Infinity Concepts and a pro at branding, offered some valuable perspectives and tips on managing a brand that are worth repeating. Following are pointers from his workshop.
First, a brand is NOT a logo, a graphic look, or your products. The purpose of these elements is to communicate quick recognition of the brand.
A brand IS:
- the unique essence of you, the author.
- the collection of functional and emotional values, benefits, and experiences.
- an author’s ultimate asset.
In developing your brand, you should consider four aspects:
- Brand services. What values do you provide?
- Brand personality. What are the human qualities that describe you, the author?
- Brand essence. What do you do, offer, provide, etc., that sets you apart as “best at”? You must communicate that.
- Brand benefits. What benefits do people experience as a result of reading your books?
Do you recall when Starbucks changed its logo from green to brown? Historically, Starbucks had been especially savvy and successful in maintaining its “not just great coffee but a great experience” brand. When they changed the color of the logo, the perception among their customer base was that everything about Starbucks was deviating from its core. The beans weren’t being roasted or ground in the stores anymore, so the wonderful coffee aroma no longer permeated the atmosphere. What else would change? Sales went down. Well, brown didn’t last long, and the company has made great efforts to re-establish their original brand. (I wonder how much it cost them in dollars and customers to correct that mistake.)
The lesson from the Starbucks experience is that your brand requires consistency and frequency over an extended period of time. Consistency in that you need clarify the uniqueness of you and your writing early in your career. It’s your agent’s job to help you in this important process and to help you maintain your brand in the long term. Frequency in that you need to be working on the next book as you’re marketing the first. If there is too much time between them, you’ll lose your audience.
The fruits of these labors are a loyal, growing audience.
Have you identified your unique brand? What about brands in this blog helped you or reminded you of how to maintain your brand?
Cheryl Malandrinos
In the beginning, I didn’t really think much about branding. I had my ideas and I wanted to write them. I’ve been considering it more because I realized that the feedback from my first book was very important to me.
One comment I receive often about Little Shepherd is that readers haven’t really seen the Christmas story told from a child shepherd’s POV. They like that Obed was unsure if he should leave his flock to see the newborn King and must step out in faith to leave them unattended.
Many of the picture book ideas I have put together since then have taken Biblical events and viewed them through a child’s POV. My books for older children, though, are totally fictional with faith playing a significant role. I don’t know how that works into my brand as a whole.
Overall, I think I want that brand to be “inspiring kids through faith.” Is that too vague?
Thanks for the great post. I’m eager to hear what the others have to say too.
Lynn Dean
Thanks for a much-needed post! I suspect that I already HAVE a brand and may be the last person to realize it. Maybe since a brand is, as you say, linked to our personality–our essence–it takes a bit of bravery to stare it in the face and analyze it. I’m trying to zero in on my brand by isolating the terms others most often use to describe me or my work. The encapsulated trial version is: Telling HIStory.
Joanne Sher
This was a VERY helpful blog post. I really need, especially, to think about the essence of my brand – though all could use a bit of fixing up. Thanks so much for this, Mary.
Kate Barker
For a long time now, I’ve studied the the whole “brand” issue. Especially when I owned a tea room. It’s difficult sometimes to capture the essence of a “brand” without experiencing a product or in the case of writing, knowing the author.
I like to think of it in terms of the original meaning…a mark on an animal that signifies ownership. But that “mark” carries more meaning than just ownership…it declares reputation: the owner and employees of this ranch brand are trustworthy, honest, hardworking, respectful of fences and other property, willing to help a neighbor, work to be good stewards of land and animals, etc. And yet, another ranch brand could suggest a sloppiness with animals, neighbors, the land and equipment…in other words, don’t lend them your hay baler, it’ll probably be returned in need of repair.
I agree we should carefully consider and craft our unique brand….and then we need to be sure we live up to it!
Sarah Forgrave
After test-driving different genres and writing styles, I’m finally settling into my brand. That said, if an agent or editor felt it needed redirection, I wouldn’t let an alternate route scare me off the road.
And interesting about Starbucks. I’d forgotten about their misstep. I guess all those caramel macchiatos and passionfruit lemonades clouded my memory. 🙂
Thanks for this post, Mary. Very helpful!
Tanya Cunningham
Another great, thought provoking post. Thanks, Mary. I’ll
definitely be putting some serious brain power into this. 🙂
Donna Pyle
GREAT and very valuable post. Thanks!
Marcy Kennedy
Randy Ingermanson describes brand as a promise that you’re making to your reader about the category and quality of your work. For example, when people see Brandilyn Collins’ name on a cover, they expect suspense and they expect a certain voice and execution of craft. She used to write contemporary women’s lit as well until her publishers came to her and suggested that she brand herself because splitting herself was hurting her sales.
Looking at brand this way really helped me understand what it was about. If I pick up a book expecting one thing and get something else, it won’t matter how good that other thing is if it’s not what I wanted and expected.
Melissa K Norris
Great post along with the questions to answer in helping you find your brand.
In all my writing, my group blog, my monthly guest posts, Facebook, Twitter, and of course my fiction novel, is to inspire people to take action in their own life. Be it answering a question, commenting, or delving deeper into their relationship with Jesus depending on the avenue.
So my brand is Fiction to Inspire.
Thanks, Mary!
Larry Carney
Thank you for this post, Mary. So often it seems that everyone in this industry associates “brand” with social media and website hits.
There are many people in this industry who have savvy social media strategies and online presence, yet I do not frequent them for the reasons you mentioned:
They have nothing which sets them apart, offer no compelling experiences which mark them as a destination when I hop online, and (perhaps worst of all, for me at least) seem too busy trying to cultivate an ultra-proper image which reveals nothing about what motivates them to do what they do.
As an end-user this means that it is hard to find the sense of community and continuity of intriguing discussion or information which makes me want to contribute or even return to such places.
As a writer, it means that I have second thoughts about networking with someone who seems so impersonal.
As a reader, it bores me. Which is probably not a good thing to do to ones’ audience 🙂
Mary Keeley
Good point, Kate. And you also stated the case for not veering to far from your established brand. It’s not only a matter of maintaining the quality, but also consistently delivering on your brand’s identity.
Cheryl, that combines both, but many children’s authors could use “inspiring kids through faith” as their brand. How can you tweak it to convey what your books are “best at” in inspiring kids through faith?
Cheryl Malandrinos
This is why branding is so tough, Mary. How does one say, “I write stories that show kids stepping out in faith, so that it will inspire your kids to do the same,” in a tagline? You want it short and sweet to appear on a website and/or a business card. Ouch, thinking this hard hurts. LOL!
Thanks for sharing your expertise and insight.
David Todd
Consistency and frequency.
If I understand this correctly, the author, to be commercially successful, must channel their inspiration into the same type of writing and genre, over and over. Where does that leave me, as yet unpublished except for magazine articles and a self-published e-book? I feel inspired to write a wide range of things, for non-overlapping audiences: Christian fiction, mainstream fiction, historical/political non-fiction, poetry, personal essays. Am I supposed to restrict the inspiration I feel so as to have a brand?
DAT
Caroline
I’ve been reading a lot more lately about solidifying your “brand” as a writer. I really like how you broke it down for us into services, personality, essence, and benefits.
I’m still settling into my brand. I’m also still working on a shorter “catch phrase.” My writing serves to encourage others in faith through fellowship together in God’s Word. Seeking God through His Word, and growing with Him to obey and serve. That digging into His Word is a main emphasis. I aim for my tone to remain encouraging, yet real through sharing my failures and shortcomings (and maybe even successes, though any successes are only because of Him).
I feel like my brand continues to evolve, though still within the general topic in which I began. It might be getting more specific, too. Mary, what’s your take on evolving brands? Should they continue to be refined and change?
Mary Keeley
David, it takes a while to build an audience in one genre. If you switch around frequently, the chance of building, much less keeping, a loyal audience diminishes proportionately. Readers who like your Christian fiction will look for your next Christian fiction book. But you may decide to write historical/political nonfiction. Not only will you be starting all over trying to build an audience for this genre, but your Christian fiction readers aren’t going to wait forever for your next Christian fiction book. They’ll move on to another Christian fiction author they like.
Mary Keeley
Caroline, I think the brand remains constant. This is why identifying those four aspects of who you are as an author is so important early on. However, issues you write about evolve with times and circumstances. But your loyal audience will expect those foundational aspects of your brand in your next book. That’s why they keep coming back for more of your books. If you deviate very far from their expectations, they’ll be disappointed.
KC Frantzen
Thank you for an excellent, thought-inspiring post. Time to break out the scratch paper and get to work on this too!
David Todd
Thanks Mary. So the answer is yes, I do have to supress inspiration if I ever hope to be traditionally published.
Mark Dreistadt
Mary –
Thanks for taking such good notes and presenting my branding concepts so well.
There are typically three brand concepts that are difficult for people to truly grasp.
The first concept is that a brand is not a graphic or visual representation like a logo – but that a logo is a visual representation of the deeper brand. The brand on the animal referenced in one of the responses did not just represent ownership. It also represented everything people know about the owner.
The second concept is that the brand is a collection of experiences of over time. A brand cannot be created over night, but only over time. So the brand experience must be repeatable and consistent. For authors, I believe it is important to ask yourself what you want people to experience when they read your work … what do you want them to feel … what do you want them to say about you. Then, pursue it with consistency and diligence.
The third concept is that brand experiences are created wherever you touch the public. Every word you write, every time you speak, your telephone presence, your Facebook entries, etc. all contribute to the brand impression you are making in the hearts and minds of people.
I encourage you to take a branding point inventory. List all the places and ways you touch the public. Review everything to determine what message you have been sending between the lines. If everything is accurate and consistent, congratulations! You are well on your way to building a memorable brand. If not, you may want to be a bit more intentional about the impression your brand leaves behind.
Here is a thought to ponder … Can a single author create a diverse collection of work over time and still maintain a single consistent brand throughout their writing career? What would/could be the characteristics of that brand?