Sorry I’m posting so late, but I’m just home from Dallas and the ACFW conference.

So, here are a few Doctor’s Notes!

Branding. How do we brand? What is a brand?

First, let me say for new authors, unpublished or published, branding is not something you need to worry about right away. Certainly look for your unique voice, story, way of writing, but I don’t recommend spending a lot of time trying to come up with some tag line.

The best brand is the author’s name. What do you think of when I say John Grisham or Nora Roberts?

Right.

A brand is something that helps the publisher, retailers and readers describe your work. A summation that fits nice in a sales pitch.

Usually a brand is said in ten words or less. It’s consistant. One great brand is Brandilyn Collins. She writes “Seatbelt Suspense” with a tag of “Don’t forget to breathe.”

Can you guess how she developed these ideas?

Readers! What a great way to determine a brand, who you are as a writer. By listening the readers.

Don’t chase fads. Be true to yourself and your writing. Don’t come up with a great brand idea or tag line then try to develop your writing. Writer first, brand later.

Allen Arnold, fiction publisher for Thomas Nelson says a brand takes time to develop. It has to be planted, take root and grow.

God’s direction trumps a brand. Pray and trust Him to lead you.

Arnold told a story about pulling into a restaurant parking lot. It was filled with white Mercedes. Apparently, a n Arbonne meeting was going on inside.

His challenge in our brand? Are you a white Mercedes in a sea of white Mercedes? How great to be a red Porsche.

Ask yourself, what makes my story unique in my genre? Work on your craft, your voice, whatever you can to make your work uniquely different. The brand will come from who you are.

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