Is a personal brand important for an author?

 A buzzword in the business world is that of a personal brand. When we think of a brand, we think of a product that we know and we either trust or don’t trust. Maybe that brand has a unique taste or works really well at what it’s supposed to do compared to others in the same market. Whatever the case, that brand stands out. A personal brand is the same thing. In business a person stands out from others by their work ethic, their ability to make sales, connect with customers or clients, always be early to work, be enthusiastic, or other traits that help the company or fill out that person’s resume. 

For authors, a personal brand is the same thing. There are about 40,000 books published yearly and while a saying goes “don’t judge a book by its cover” for things other than books I’m sure many are sold on the title and imagery alone. However, if an author wants to make a name for themselves, they must stand out from all the others. Yes, this could be accomplished by their work, but audiences like to know the person behind the writing and making a personal connection of some sort will certainly help create a foundation for an interest in readers to wait for your next novel to roll out.

How do you create a personal brand? One thing I want to comment on up front is that a personal brand is not just a website, and it certainly isn’t creating an actual brand for yourself. I’ve seen quite a few authors that spent a lot of time trying to get their followers to pick out a logo for them and I see new authors falling into the same trap. It might seem like a good idea, but to the general reader it might come across as a bit egotistical to create a logo before an actual reputation as an author. A personal brand isn’t a logo, it isn’t a set of colors, a font style, or your website header. A personal brand is all about you as a person.

Another thing that bothers me about authors is that they seem to only want to reach and impress other authors. Yes, authors read more books than most people, but your audience should be the world beyond other writers and those in the field of writing. It’s great to connect to others in the field, but far too often I see authors who seem to just focus on marketing their work to other authors and others in the writing world while they are failing to reach the masses. Your audience should also be specific. It’s tempting to just reach out to everyone, but your best bet is to target your specific audience that you are writing for. If you start specific then you will grow with others, not the other way around. 

Connecting to an audience through your personal brand begins with your target audience. Your target audience are those who you have focused your work to. If you write horror, then you will want to talk about topics in that genre and not romance. It’s also recommended that you stay within the genre as an author to continue to cultivate your audience and grow your brand. Every time you switch genres you will have to reach a new audience. If someone only reads horror, they might not have an interest in that sci-fi crime series you are getting ready to write. Building a personal brand takes time and patience. I can relate this to when I had a paranormal news podcast. Even though I reached thousands of listeners I seemed like I started all over when I switched networks. My audience was specific to those who enjoyed the paranormal and the topics on my show and social media reflected that interest which helped build my brand. The show was an entity, but I gave it the personality and it was my personality that helped promote the show.

Social media is the place to show yourself off and it seems that Instagram is the central place for authors. Since the early days of MySpace people have used social media to tell the world about themselves and display their personalities to the world.

Be careful with social media as while it’s a way to express yourself it’s also the place where others will see how you express yourself. If you want to be a big author personality and only display your Instagram on your website don’t think that no one will find you on X or Facebook. Using those social media platforms in negative or opposite ways of how you promote yourself through other platforms will not be a good look on your personal brand.

I’m not saying you must be professional 24/7/365 on all your social media but remember that people beyond your actual friends and family will judge you on what you post and share. We all judge others so don’t be surprised to find out that others are judging you, especially if you are trying to get your name out to as many people as possible who may have an interest in your writing genre.

“To become more successful, you don’t have to change who you are. You have to become more of who you are. Your personality has a built-in specialty. It’s how you do what you do — and how you do it differently than everyone else. This is your highest value.” 

—Sally Hogshead

Use social media to share information about your upcoming releases, but also other things you are working on, behind the scenes of your writing, what you are reading, and that you are a living human being that has hobbies, vacations, a family, etc. Be you but be a professional you that others will find interesting to follow. As an author it’s easy to get sucked in by perceived success or fame. Don’t try to be a celebrity, just be an authentic self and as long as you are an interesting person with relatable likes to your readers and display yourself as a professional writer you will create a positive brand. By posting consistently your followers will spread the word about you and your work, they will wait and will be more willing to fork out money for your forthcoming release since they feel a connection with you.

Another point to consistency with social media is to tie things together for familiarity. You’ll notice my photo used in my bio on the blog. This is the same photo that appears on my Instagram, personal website, Amazon Author Page, Goodreads Author Page, as well as the back of my books. While this borders more with branding than a personal brand, I feel it’s important to mention since it helps define you from others and will help them recognize you (and it’s certainly better than creating a logo).