Effective Book Marketing Step 1: How to Build an Author Brand Readers Recognize

Why do you need to brand yourself as an author? What is the importance of that?

Think about how you find new reads. Where do you go to first? Your favorite author? Your favorite genres? Have you ever been able to decipher who a writer is by their tone and the words they use?

It's kinda cool when you can tell who a writer is by their writing. It's also pretty fun when you make those little connections buried in the words that others less familiar with the work or the writer may not get. It's like your own little secret.

This is the kind of relationship you want to nurture between you and your reader. Readers need to recognize you. Not just your genre, but your work specifically.

This is why it's important to be authentic in your brand writing. You want readers to know who you are.

In the meantime when they're still learning who you are, it's important to be consistent.

A few things to look at:

1. The colors associated with your brand.

2. The images associated with your brand.

3. The font associated with your brand.

4. The tone associated with your brand.

These are the general things for your website and social media presence. Something easily recognizable across all facets of your platform.

But... When choosing these, keep your genre in mind.

For instance, Thrillers are a very different vibe than Romance novels and you definitely want to differentiate which you write and create the correct feeling around your brand.

And speaking of genre, most authors first garner attention in their specific genre before growing bigger. Think about J.K. Rowling and what she's known for. What about Stephen King? Louis L'amour? Nicholas Sparks? What comes to mind when you think of them?

That's branding.

So, along with being consistent in your platform, you should be consistent with your genre. The reason people 'niche' down is so that instead of being a small fish in a big pond, we become a small fish in a small pond. It becomes much easier to find readers within your niche, and it becomes easier for them to find you.

Consider style as well.

How do Louis L'amour books usually go? A hard tough man makes a choice to fight for right and usually gets the girl in the end. Not all westerns go this way, but almost all of Louis L'amour's books do.

What about Nicholas Sparks? He's known for Romances where two people meet and slowly uncover a drama that's festering sometimes leading to someone's death.

In the mood for something much darker? Try Stephen King.

Consistent product release also constitutes good branding. (Seeing the pattern here with Consistency? ;) ) When your fans can anticipate your next release it allows them to get excited for your work and await it's coming, like how we get excited for the next episode of our favorite show.

Whether it's a new installment of your fanfic, a blog post, or book, putting out new material in a constant timely manner provides a brand that readers can put their trust in because you'll be around producing content when they need/want it.

Trust is a huge part of the reader/writer relationship. Consistency is how you build that trust when you can't have a one-on-one conversation with your readers. Letting them know that you care about your work and take it seriously by showing consistency is important.

This is how you build an Author Brand that connects with readers so that they recognize your mark and come back for your new material.