Branding – Not a Four-Letter Word

Branding myself always sounds a bit intimidating. So, what does branding even mean for an author? Are we cattle, waiting anxiously as a cowboy heats up a metal iron and applies it to my flesh? I certainly hope not. But whether we realize it, we brand ourselves. David Loy said, “Why not do it intentionally?” Great question, and one we, as authors, need to consider.

Improving Branding

I recently listened to an interesting podcast with Thomas Umstattd and David Loy on the subject of building an author brand. With every book you write, you build your brand. Hopefully, you don’t have a brand that screams eclectic and unfocused. Without intentional branding, though, that may be exactly what you do by default.

Whether or not you want to think about branding, consider the two most important questions any writer can ask himself or herself. 1) Why do you write? 2) Who do you consider as your target audience? Until we answer these two questions, our writing may very well cross multiple genres and groups of people, leaving us wondering why we don’t have a better following (aka buyers and readers of our work).

Go Deeper with Why

Why do I write? For me, I can’t not write. As entrenched in my life as air I breathe, something inside drives me. While that may placate some, I must go deeper. If you visit www.bylisabell.com, you see a tagline “walking in freedom and passion for living.” If my writing and speaking doesn’t support that tagline, how authentic am I? I have Thomas to thank for helping me create that tagline and personas of those I want to reach. Because it helped me focus my writing, when I lose sight of why I write, I go back to that tagline. By refocusing on my intended audience and the type of books I desire to produce, I become more authentic. And readers like honesty from an author. They want to receive what they expect when reading the same author.

Branding. It happened, and now, I need to hold true to the brand I chose (or God chose for me).

Your Turn

Have you thought about branding? If not, give it a try, and share how your build your brand.