We talked about branding in tonight’s #kidlitchat, or more specifically, we talked about whether the authors and illustrators there think much about it (and whether it’s always a bad word).
Once again, it became clear that using business-world terminology and applying it to individual artists makes many (most?) uncomfortable… and that defining what an author’s “brand” is gets confusing even without the distaste.
Last week, I tried to get rid of “brand” and talk about the concept of Zing. I still like that idea, as it gets rid of the emotional arguments and lets the conversation be about defining something we all know exists but can’t quite place.
Brand or Zing or whatever you call it isn’t just about the voice of your books. It’s not about the genre you write or the age group you write for. Those are pieces of it – in fact, at one point in time that was close to all of it – but now it encompasses so much more.
That can be a bad thing – art and commerce aren’t happy mixing – or it can just be something we start to accept as fact. We can also view it as an opportunity: we have more ability than ever before to help sell our own books.
Of course, having a presence and platform doesn’t mean you’reselling all the time. Instead, it means you’re connected. It means when you speak, you have a reasonable expectation that some people are listening and will answer a call to action on those rare times you make one.
It means that you’re taking a step to help further your overall career, not just the sales of one book. It’s about taking control, rather than being controlled. It’s still optional. And it needn’t be slimy in any way.
But saying it’s not out there… not possible… not worth thinking about? That doesn’t seem like a good idea to me.
Check out tonight’s #kidlitchat transcript to see a whole bunch of smart talk on the subject from a lot of different voices.
Personally, I hope we can come up with definitions that keep the focus on the potential positives. Any thoughts you might have about how to do that – or how wrong I am – are certainly welcome!
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
You and I have “talked” about this A LOT, but one thing I keep coming back to is the oddness of thinking about branding at all. You can write books and be a writer or illustrate and be an illustrator and for sure make contacts, speak all over, do signings, tours (internet or physical), etc. Is that branding? Seems like it’s just meeting your readers which is always a good thing. Branding seems to working hard at packaging yourself and that is going to creep into the creative aspect. I’m not talking about getting paid for your work but trying to sell yourself as a concept (isn’t that the idea of branding?) rather than just selling your work.
This is why branding for writers, etc. seems confusing to me.
Colleen´s last [type] ..The Truth About Flying
I’d say to you that personal brand means something different than branding for a corporation, so we’re in part debating based on the baggage that one word carries with it. It’s shorthand that’s causing issues. You wouldn’t have an issue if someone said an author needs to “think strategically about their career,” would you? Think of branding more like that – but it’s bigger than just going out to meet your readers as authors used to do.
The reality is that authors/illustrators now have more opportunities than ever before to get their name out there, to build a reputation, to be known outside of their books and to be accessible. Not only that, but publishers are urging (if not yet expecting) authors to do more and more of this promotional/marketing/whatever we call it activity.
In fact, I’d argue that the game has changed and will continue to change. Sure, great manuscripts will still prevail and some careers will be built based only on boffo books. But we now have the opportunity not to leave all control up to “fate” and our publishers. Whether that means we’re branding, connecting, thinking strategically or something else isn’t the point, I don’t think. I don’t want the baggage-ridden terminology to prevent people from seizing opportunity.
Greg Pincus´s last [type] ..A Social Network Users’ Bill of Rights?
{ 1 trackback }