A common misconception is that branding is just about logos, font colours and the script that is used for a company's name. The reality is that people's perception about a company or an individual are shaped by every interaction that they have with that brand. From an author's perspective, therefore, it is vital to recognize and appreciate that your brand is only as strong as every interaction that you have with a publisher, literary agent or customer.
Once a writer gets to the stage in their development where they are starting to become conscious of the need to promote themselves, there are typically a number of activities that they embark on. These include creation of a writing name, promotion of their work through online and offline media and the targeting of selected publishers or literary agents through whom they wish to make the next step to successful published author. I'll cover these aspects off first, before going on to look at some of the more holistic attributes that underpin our brand.
Creation of a writing pseudonym:
The author may decide to write under their own name. However, alternatively, they may spend hours debating what writing pseudonym to use. There's an advert running on UK TV at the moment which majors on the importance of a good brand name. In the advert, Bruce Willis reveals that his real name is Walter Willis and he suggests that he would not have secured leading roles in Hollywood films if he had stuck with Walter. To be honest, I'm not particularly convinced by this argument and think that writers, in particular, often place too much emphasis upon finding a cool name. The bottom line is that if your writing isn't sufficiently good, then you are unlikely to get a book deal even if you have the coolest name in the universe.
Promotion of your work:
There are lots of budding writers who are convinced that their writing is as good if not better than much of what lines the bookstores on their local high street. However, quite a number of them haven't found the nerve to actually put their work out in the open for critical appraisal. They are either too afraid of receiving criticism or that their idea will be stolen. The bottom line, though, is that an author cannot achieve success unless he or she is prepared to put their writing in front of others and actively promote it.
Part of promoting your work will inevitably include the necessity to send your work to a publisher or a literary agent. However, sending a script cold to a stranger is a pretty haphazard process and many of the writers who end up being successful are people who have somehow established a connection prior to submitting their work. Maybe they know someone who is married to someone who works in the writing industry and have been able to introduce themselves at a party. Or maybe they attended a book signing from a local author and then struck up a conversation in the bar afterwards. Such opportunities won't always be readily available but taking advantage of them if they do occur may be the difference between success and failure.
Building your reputation as a writer, therefore, may include submitting short stories for magazines, or entering competitions or publishing excerpts of your work on websites or blogs. Writers are, however, often uncomfortable with this aspect of their profession. They excel at sitting alone in a room for hours on end, populating words onto pages, but having to shout about their work and develop writing industry contacts are skills that frequently leave them more scared than a teenager in a haunted house horror story.
I stressed at the start of this article that branding is about every contact that a person has with you and your product. Obviously, for a writer, the quality of your writing is going to be a key component of this. Every time that you write an article, short story, novel, etc, the quality of your writing will be conveyed to everyone who reads it. It's important, therefore, that you always strive to produce writing that you can feel proud of.
There are also, however, other attributes that can be almost equally important. Publishers want to work with authors who will meet deadlines and who will turn up for scheduled meetings. They will expect you to be professional and to have ideas and an enthusiasm in relation to your writing career. Things such as the way you look and speak will convey impressions that will inform their view of your brand. To relate this back to a scenario that may be more easily understood, let's think about a brand such as McDonalds.
Whilst not a premium brand, McDonalds has been incredibly successful in positioning itself as the fast food outlet of choice for millions of people across the globe. When we think of McDonalds, however, we don't think just about the food (and some might say that is a good thing!). The other qualities that McDonalds possesses that augments its appeal include the speed of service, the consistency of experience and the fact that there's a high standard of cleanliness. Whether you walk into a McDonalds in Boston or Prague, you can expect the experience to be comparable and this is a great brand strength. Assuming that we like the food, then we have the confidence of knowing that we are going to have a good customer experience every time we visit. Let's contrast this with a local restaurant where the standards of the food and service can fluctuate wildly depending on which chef or front of counter staff are on shift. The chances are that after one bad experience you may not go back even though you had also had a great meal there once too.
Summary:
By all means create business cards and e-mail auto-signatures and publish blogs to raise awareness of your writing and your brand. However, the most important thing that you can do as a writer is to be aware that your brand is about every interaction that another person has with you and with your writing. Focusing on quality and consistency will be vital to your success. You may also need to go beyond your comfort zone by building up a network of contacts and exposing your precious words to critique. Central to all of this, though, will also be a burning desire to achieve your personal ambitions and it is therefore vital that you visualize what you want to achieve and how you are going to achieve it. Hopefully, this will be the first step (perhaps even an epiphany) on a road that will see you achieve your writing goals and ambitions.