Blogger: Wendy Lawton
Standing out is perhaps one of the most most important things for an author to do in a crowded field. You often hear words like distinctive, unique and memorable being applied to an author or his work. We know why it’s important to stand out but do we know how to achieve that distinction. Let’s Explore. . .
Why is standing out important?
- We need to become memorable. The market is more and more crowded every day and the publishing spots and readers are harder to nail down. If we are forgettable we don’t stand a chance.
- We need to connect with a jaded audience. Whether our audience is an agent (for the unpublished) or readers (for the published), both have a plethora of superb choices these days. Only the distinctive will rise above the crowd.
- We need to have a “handle” to help generate word of mouth. It helps to define what makes us unique and work it into a memorable “brand”— an easily recalled hook.
- We need to stand out to eventually stand a chance of becoming that go-to person for a particular subject or genre. Once you become the go-to person— the one whose name first comes to mind for that particular subject— your career is set.
How can we stand out?
- Our background— Perhaps you have a background that makes you memorable. I’m reminded of Tessa Afshar who grew up in Iran and walked the very roads she writes about with her biblical fiction.
- Our personal story— Sometimes a memorable story is what makes a writer stand out. Debbie Macomber was dyslexic. She didn’t even learn to read until fifth grade. When she confessed to a teacher that her dream was to be a writer that teacher replied in a knee-jerk fashion, “Debbie, you can’t be a writer. You can’t even spell.” Now that’s a great story for an author with over 100 million books sold to tell.
- Our place in a particular field— Mega pastors usually stand out because of this. They’ve already risen to prominence in their field. If you watched the last Republican primary debate you hear Dr. Ben Carson stand out from among seventeen candidates when he joked, “I’m the only candidate who has separated Siamese twins, done brain surgery on a baby still in the womb and removed half a brain. . .” It made him memorable.
- Our writing— An author who carves out a spot for himself because of unforgettable writing is in an enviable position. The tough thing is that readers have to pick up the book to experience the writing. And that’s the rub. But once we love your storytelling or your writing, you’re standing out.
- Our voice— Think of Anne Voskamp. Her first book was all it took for people to fall in love with her voice. It’s rare, but it happens.
- Our skills— What you do could make you a stand out. You may be an outstanding, well-known counselor, a gifted organizer, a top chef. Those skills make you memorable
- Our audience— If you regularly blog to an audience of tens of thousands, you are unique. If you have a television career or a huge loyal following, that’s a distinction that will have you standing out. Building a strong audience will differentiate you from the masses.
How can we begin to discover our own distinctiveness?
- Ask others— it always helps to ask your friends (your posse) how they see you. Write down what they say so you can chew on it later.
- Listen— Listen to how people talk about you. Very often they will hit on the very things that make you unique.
- Ask some questions:
- When people introduce me they mention ______________.
- Which details of my bio do people comment on?
- In my online communication, what comments, blogs, subjects or posts get the biggest response?
- People remember me because ______________.
- When I tell my own story people respond to ______________.
- When I read reviews of my work the same thing that comes up over and over is ______________.
- People always come to me for ______________.
That’s just the tip of the iceberg, of course. A few suggestions. Take it from here. What other things can an author do to stand out from the crowd?
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This is so affirming! As a non-fiction, memoir-ish writer, I’m working on solidifying my brand before submitting my first proposal and these are the exact questions I’ve been asking.
How well branded do you expect someone to be when you accept their book?
It all depends on your specialty and your subject. Branding is important but platform is also what publishers seek these days– so a combination.
What has God called you to do? Are you doing it?
Walking in obedience to God stands out in the crowd.
And the truth is, God is the one who makes things happen. . . or not.
The great commission is more about being a witness or a living sample of the unseen Christ, rather than a rhetorical preacher of the gospel. That implies a life that is a light in a dark place, a letter read and known by all as the living evidence of the change we all need. If that is where it should be, then like moths to a light, others will follow and inquire into our story, whether that story is expressed in ink or in a life well lived. Very well expressed Wendy and very inspiring.
And we need to be attuned to that personal story, right? To see what God is doing in our lives and how that connects to where he wants us to go.
Wow, you’ve given me a lot to think about.
Customers come to me for one thing, and friends and family come to me for other things. It sounds like I need to look for similarities and see where I’m distinctive.
Thanks for a great post!
But it’s not just what people come to you for, it’s how they see you. What they remember about you long after you’ve gone.
Great post, Wendy. I’ve been thinking about this. It seems like it takes time for us to figure out how we stand out in the crowd. As I read your title, I was thinking about all kinds of dramatic things that must happen before I stand out. But instead, maybe we stand out by purposely living out the giftings and strengths we have.
* I think one other thing that makes us stand out is how we treat others. If we are looking out for their needs before our own? We are going to stand out in a world that is watching out for their own selves first.
* I’m off to think more about these questions. Thanks, Wendy!
Jeanne, “how we treat others” is something I’ve noticed you stand out at. It’s writers & agents like you (waves at Wendy) who have helped me become engaged in this online community. There’s a warm welcome here, and at your blog too.
Thank you, Wendy. I’m enjoying getting to know you and enjoying your blog as well.
Yes, treating others sweetly is what Jeanne does well. She reached out to me when I first came here … 🙂
Perfect answer, Jeanne! People remember us for how we treat them. And it’s the same with our writing. Is it all about us as the “famed author” or are we intent on meeting the needs of our readers? It shows.
Wendy,
Thanks for the reminder that a writer needs to look on his writing as a way to serve others, not to be served.
So meeting their needs with good stories, and responding to them if they reach out to us whether in person, mail, or online.
I love trying to say or do something when I talk to nurses and patients on the phone to make them smile. I can hear it in the tone of their voice when they smile.
I hope one day my stories can make a reader smile, and I hope to treat them with love and respect.
This has been a great post today! Thanks.
For me, what makes a writer – or a person – stand out are voice and unambiguity of values.
* Voice, because that’s the essential medium of communication. ANyone can write an expository sentence, but few truly have the ability to bring it to life with a distinctive (and non-egocentric) panache.
* Consistent and clear values are surprisingly rare; there have been authors who talked the talk in their books, but did’t walk the walk the walk in what was known of their personal lives (and that was true before the Internet, when information was more limited).
* I do not want to be an author that my readers would prefer not to meet, because they heard that the values established in my books are possibly not those to which I subscribe; I don’t want my brand to be the Potemkin village of my soul.
Expository paragraph, not sentence. The hamster’s not fully awake, and his wheel needs oiling.
Your thoughts invite an interesting reflection. Writing can be an ideal: a detached reflection of life that largely reflects social expectations (so it will sell). Alternatively, it is an outcome: the product of a life immersed into a reality, often at the margin or on a road less traveled. The former writes from the head, the latter from the heart, the former entertains, the latter rivets. In Hebrews 5, a priest had to be drawn from men and relate to their human context, to qualify for the priesthood – that may be as relevant to writing. In a world of superficiality, authenticity is priceless. Collectors in the know will search for and pay a premium for a genuine artifact, just as the soul in earnest search of truth will know authenticity when they find it.
Yes, Andrew. Living what you write is a key thing we are seeking. Authenticity is the cry of readers today. It’s no wonder. We’ve waded through so much blah, blah, blah that when we find an author whose life if in line with his work, it is refreshing.
A writer stands out when she becomes a mirror in which a lonely and heartbroken reader can see herself standing in Christ’s presence.
lovely
That is beautiful. May I qoute you on facebook?
I’d be honoured, Shauna. Thank you!
Beautiful, Andrew.
I love your quote, Andrew.
What a mission statement, Andrew.
Hmmm…I am a very average person. Almost 5’5″ the average for the American female, dish-water blonde hair, and my size of jeans is always gone because everyone else wears them too. I had a friend who was size 1 and she told me with a smile “My size is always on sale.” Very true. But there are unique things about all of us. I go to one little local conference every year with my sister-in-law, the first year we went she introduced us as sisters. I thought about it, yes, yes we are, even though we look absolutely nothing alike. She is tall and willowy with dark hair, I am short and curvy with light hair. And every year we go, we spend about six months picking our outfits. I live in jeans, she milks goats every day, but at the conference it is 4″ heels, nylons, and lace jackets with gloves. We feel like spies, traveling incognito in our fancy frocks. And now those people at the conference that we only see once a year call us “The Sisters” and ask what we are wearing this year. So fun and unique to us. The country girls out on the town for our once-a-year get away.
I love that, Kristen.
Brilliant, Kristen! Memorable.
This is a very difficult assignment for many of us as followers of Jesus. While I’ve learned that it is considered essential to develop a large personal following to even gain entry to traditional publishing or to succeed as an indie author, it goes against my natural inclination. Even though I keep hearing I must, I don’t like spending my time focusing on what I can do to make myself stand out. In my science career, it happened naturally as a result of work well done, service to the professional community, and contribution to the success of others. This constant emphasis on platform and promotion feels so much like jumping up and down and shouting “Look at me!” Where is the line between sharing myself with proper Christian humility and self-aggrandizement that feeds vanity? I can learn to play the game by the current rules, and I will because I know that getting my books out is part of the ministry God has called me to right now. I even have specific plans for building a web presence that should help with this. I recognize the spiritual hazard if I don’t stay focused on what the real purpose is, and that gives some protection. Still, I wish all this self-promotion wasn’t necessary.
I hear you Carol, but it can be done in line with humility. Really. It is not jumping up and down. Look at Francine Rivers. She is quiet, shy even, but it was her work (and her authentic life) that made her memorable.
Even look above at Kristen’s comment. When she and her “sister” go to a writers conference they have fun with clothes that stand out and are memorable. But it’s fun– not just “look at me.”
I guess the key is not what you do but the spirit in which you do it.
Thanks for the encouragement, Wendy.
I love Francine River’s books with their rich characters and organic presentation of how Jesus heals damaged lives as people hostile to the Gospel become believers. She is one of my main authorial role models, but she built her following before all this fixation on platform before product. It seems to me that it would be so much harder for a shy person today to get that first book published, even for a stellar writer like her.
No one would ever describe me as shy. I’m a hard-core extrovert who can walk into a room of strangers and come out energized from getting to know few of them, but that is so different from deliberate self-marketing. I love getting to know new people and integrating them into my own network of colleagues, but that isn’t platform. Being an extrovert makes the one-on-one easy, but that doesn’t build email lists and Facebook followers and a market for books that aren’t yet for sale. I’ve been listening to lots of relevant webinars, and somehow I’ll figure it all out. I do appreciate the help I’ve received with some of it from your agency’s blog. I especially appreciate how you all take the time to reply to the comments we all submit. It feels good to know a real person cares enough to do that.
I love your list of questions to consider … because we don’t always see what others see in us. I’m going to be thinking on these and praying over them.
Shelli,
I see a woman of God that I hope to meet in person someday. I always look for your comments here and at the other agency blog I monitor daily. Your own blog is so deep. Everyone looking here today should click on your name to see the latest.
Carol, that means so much to me. So much. God used you to encourage me today, and I needed encouragement. I’m attending my first conference this week … and just the unknown, the lack of confidence … can take you to your knees. But that’s a good place to be. I’m just about ready to zip up my suitcase … I ironed out a few clothing items and didn’t burn anything … came in here to check the blog … and saw the sweetness that you wrote. I pray God blesses you for it, Carol.
Professional conferences are really a lot of fun. I haven’t been to any writers’ conferences yet, but I’ve been to dozens of technical ones. It’s so energizing to meet and talk with other people who share the same interests. You’ll have a blast.
If the writing in your book is anything like the quality of your blog, you have something wonderful to offer. I’ll be praying that you find the right people to see the truth of that.
Carol, thank you for praying for me. 🙂
I second Carol’s motion to read your blog, Shelli. You inspire readers to seek intimacy with our Author.
Wendy, thank you. And you are so much more than ordinary. xo
And don’t be shy about asking people what they perceive.
I’d like to point out a couple of examples of Standing Out, if I may. Two are from this community, and one is from a different field altogether
* Cathy West writes an engaging and heartfelt blog about the writer’s journey. She’s literate, precise, and incredibly brave as she shares her hopes, passions, and fears. The honesty, part humour and part pathos, reflect the efforts of a woman who is doing her very best. Often it seems she thinks she doesn’t achieve it…but she’s wrong. She’s a giant. Her site is –
https://thisisablogaboutbooks.wordpress.com/
* Jennifer Major is in the podium as well; her passion for the Navajo, about whom she writes with such warmth, respect and loyalty that one thinks she may well be honoured with inclusion into the tribe. She’s gutsy, funny, and you know exactly where she stands. She’s dedicated herself to those who are yet marginalized, and who were tormented by the country that should have welcomed them with open arms.
* And in their company is a German, a pilot of the Luftwaffe in WW2. Hans-Joachim Marseille was a dedicated anti-Nazi, but flew because he thought his country and comrades deserved his best (he was sent to North Africa by his Luftwaffe commanders to get him as far from the Nazi ring of power as possible). he was renowned for his skill, his courage, and his utter decency. Perhaps the last “gentyle, parfit knyght”, Marseille was respected by friend and foe alike, and when he was killed while trying to abandon a stricken aeroplane, his opponents in the royal Air Force dropped a memorial wreath on the airfield from which he flew. His gave in the Libyan desert is marked with a small, pyramidal memorial; he must even have earned the respect of the Arabs, including Ghaddafi, for it remains carefully tended to this day.
I completely agree about Cathy West, her voice is incredible.
As for me, thank you very much.
Great examples, Andrew. Anecdotes illustrate so much more powerfully than mere words.
Wendy, I’m feeling pretty ordinary after reading this post. But I believe in and follow an extraordinary God—and that’s what matters most to me. I’ll be taking notes from this and asking myself the questions. Thank you for motivating us to consider who we really are and what our true gifting is. We need to know what’s in our quiver before we can accurately hit the target.
Blessings ~ Wendy Mac
Exactly. Check our resources and accentuate our strengths.
Oddly enough, what popped into my (cavernously empty) head as I read this was the visual of Ethel Merman singing “There’s No Business Like Show Business” from Annie Get Your Gun.
It has been mentioned on one or two occasions that with me, one knows where one stands, that I tell it like it is, and yet, I’m Canadian about it.
One thing I would say, is BE YOURSELF.
Kids, dogs and elderly relatives can all spot a faker. So can readers.
Be authentic, in season and out.
I have been blessed by several non-Christians who’ve read my work that there’s no smarm, no treacle, no “just believe in Jesus and life will be perfect”.
I cannot bloom in a false environment. Nor will my work.
“Kids, dogs and elderly relatives can all spot a faker. So can readers.”
Love this!
and with you, Jennifer, your humor is your calling card. Everyone loves you for the smiles you bring to our day.
I have a question. I have a pretty well established “brand.” I am often asked to speak at evens and I try to make it to as many as I can. However, my husband is a pastor, so he really needs me home during the weekends, and we have three girls, two of them who have special needs. It makes my availability limited although we both try to make it work as much as possible. How do I work around this? I don’t want that to be what keeps me from expanding my platform, but it is a reality for my family.
Ellen, I know that must be difficult. I remember Beth Moore saying that she’d speak Saturdays but was home for church on Sunday. 🙂 But God gives us all different situations to clasp in our hands … your children. I’ll be praying for God’s guidance in your life and speaking. That you’ll find that balance to help home and others.
God wouldn’t give you the privilege and desire to speak and forget your family situation. I imagine there are many women who are navigating those same challenges.
Don’t forget that platoon is just a term– not a place. In this day and age you don’t have to move out of your house to have a mega-platform. Look at Pioneer Woman.
If you love the interaction of speaking in person just schedule for, say, four events a year and make sure they are the ultimate. It’s not quantity but quality. And trust me, the days of active parenting are way too short. Before long you’ll be much less needed on a day to day basis. Our lives are lived in seasons.
I’ve had many wise women remind me of life’s seasons. Managing personal, professional, and familial pursuits is a daily dance with God and I’m always amazed at HIS ability to manage my time when I lay it all before him.
When an author engages with consistency and authenticity I take notice. Other important things that come to mind are filling a unique niche, mentoring authors at earlier stages in the process, and delighting in the successes of others.
Great conversation here today, Wendy! Blessings on your time at the ACFW conference.
True words, Jenni. And thanks. I wish you were coming.
Does long white hair count? Seriously. My long white hair shines (not in my photo ) is uncommon enough that whenever I am in town, people stop me to compliment it or they ask me about it. In a simplistic way, it makes me stand out. Standing out from the crowd makes me think of the book, Purple Cow. Read it, if you haven’t. We tend to downplay our assets and unique qualities. Learning how to let them shine is somewhat confusing, we second guess ourselves.
I believe authenticity is most important of all. It reveals who you REALLY are to your reader. Then we aren’t trying to impress or pretend. Being authentic means we will be vulnerable. For me, the most unique parts of my story are the areas where I am the most vulnerable (losses involving abandonment, mate’s adultery, breakdown, suicide, job loss, infant death, custody battle…) b/c the areas I’ve overcome came at great personal cost and out of a
shattered self…and they involve people I love, another layer of vulnerability. Yet, God has redeemed what the locusts devoured and has made a new me who wants to sing out. Because of this, I cannot be silent. It is the reason I speak. My past and then my healing may be what makes my voice eventually make a noise heard above the din.
I’m grateful for new beginnings.
Lots of good tips in this post. I look forward to exploring the answers to Wendy’s questions.
“I’m grateful for new beginnings” … oh, yes. 🙂
You mention distinctive physical characteristics– that’s a big help actually for us to place people until we get to know them.
Last night I told someone I wrote other people’s stories because mine was not that interesting. I felt a check in my spirit that was not true. I believe if I did not hide that and spoke more freely and honestly my story would set me apart.
I needed this reminder today. Thanks.
Great insight, Penelope.
Sometimes it’s hard to trust others with our stories. Especially if you are a private person.
Penelope, Earlier today I read your comment and it has stayed with me. I want to respond to it, I hope you return here to read it. I know you have interesting parts to your story, and you also have a unique voice, everyone has something to say that only they can say. I want to encourage you to write about the little mysteries in life that come your way. Maybe you already are doing this. I went to two funerals in the last three days. It struck me how ordinary their lives were but how much these two senior saints impacted their family members and friends. Your life impacts others, I know it does. It’s all in the timing. Frankly, I could have done with less drama in my life. But I felt boring and uninteresting as a person and didn’t think I had much to offer. But I was wrong. So, in a way, I can relate to your statement which probably is why I wanted to leave you a comment. GBU
Thank you Norma. Your words are encouraging.
And you are right. I have amazing opportunities, which I try and take advantage of, to encourage some of the most seemingly hopeless. But the riches of blessings
are mine. Thank you again.
Thanks Wendy. You’ve given me lots to think about. I know I need to ‘get out there’.
And of course it doesn’t help that so many of us writers are introverts. 🙂
So true! I envy those writers who can stand in front of a crowd and make them laugh–or cry.
Very helpful. I’m in the process of shaping my brand and there are days when it feels presumptuous. This is a great nudge.