How (and Why) To Define a Strong Author Brand
by Jenny Hansen
My day job involves helping businesses clearly define their brand, so they can turn their stories into money and clients. And do you want to know the most common request people approach me with? "Can you help with my marketing?" *shakes head* This is a common thread among businesspeople AND authors.
Branding and marketing are two very different things, and yet I see people mix them up all the time. Even worse, they try to put the least important of the two at the front of the line.
Before we dive into the "what, how, and why" of a strong author brand, here's a quick overview of the difference between branding and marketing.
Branding vs Marketing in a Nutshell
Branding is the foundation of your entire author platform, and marketing is the series of actions you take to express that brand. Let's break that down.
- Branding is the Why
- Marketing is the How
- Branding = Perception and Connection
- Marketing = Visibility and Conversion
The biggest takeaway for this post...
Until you clearly define your brand, your marketing won't work.
Why? Because your branding is "Who you are." Your marketing is just how you show up (e.g. social media or your newsletter). Your brand is the emotional imprint you leave on your readers. It is your identity. It's your VIBE.
Besides your actual writing, building a strong brand is the most important thing you can do for yourself as an author.
Branding is the foundation of everything else. Everything. Without a strong brand, your marketing will just sound like a bunch of noise with no purpose except "please please please buy my book."
Branding includes:
- Your voice and tone
- Your values and mission
- Your visual identity (logo, colors, design)
- Your personal story
- The emotional promise you make to your audience (aka readers)
Branding answers the question: “What do you want people to think, feel, and say about you and your books?”
The greatest strategic creative in America
The greatest strategic creative of our time (IMHO) is Dolly Parton. She's not just a singer, she's an icon. Her fans have followed her across musical genres, watched her movies, stayed in her hotels, and visited her theme park. And do you know why? She is a strategic branding guru with a clearly defined philosophy, which is...
"Find out who you are, and do it on purpose."
That's her superpower in a nutshell. Across all of her endeavors, Dolly is true to both herself and her brand.
Dolly Parton's brand:
- Her voice and tone: country, unpretentious, kind, resilient
- Her values and mission: she cares...about Tennessee (she and Dollywood donated close to $3M for Hurricane Helene victims/cleanup), about reading (she founded the Imagination Library in 1995), about health (she donated $1M to Covid research at Vanderbilt University)
- Her visual identity: big hair, bold colors (especially pink), confident femininity, glamor, sparkle, and country charm
- Her personal story: she grew up in a big Tennessee mountain family in deep poverty, before building her career in Nashville and beyond
- The emotional promise she makes to her audience: You can shine bright, lead with kindness, and rise above life's challenges with grace and grit.
Here's a timeline of Dolly Parton's good deeds, if you're interested. (Clearly, I'm a fan.)
Figuring Out Your Own Brand is a Process
Have you ever heard the following African proverb?
"If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together."
This applies to branding in a major way, because most of us can't see ourselves clearly. An example we've probably all experienced:
You know how your author friends can sell your stories effortlessly? Someone asks what you write, and your brain freezes for a moment. Typically, your friend will slide right into describing the best parts of you and your story. Meanwhile, you might be fumbling around for that elevator pitch you imprinted on your memory, so you'd be ready for this exact moment.
We can all define someone else far more easily than we can ourselves. This applies to so many authorly things: bios, blurbs, and (you guessed it!) branding.
Below are a few "how to's" to help you dive into the heart of your own brand.
Step 1: Enlist some help!
Before you give yourself anxiety trying to do all this branding business yourself, plan to enlist some help. Below are a few exercises for you to try out with other people.
If you're already established:
Established Authors, your best resource is your superfans. There are reasons why people are buying your books, joining your street team, or adding you to their auto-buy list. Find out what those reasons are!
Here's how you do it:
- Go to your Facebook group, newsletter, or wherever you connect with your fans.
- Tell them you are doing some research about your author brand, and you need their help. Ask any who are interested to send you a direct personal message.
- Schedule a phone or video call with them (20-30 minutes should be more than enough time).
- I highly recommend you offer them a free book after they've answered the bulleted questions below.
Your questions:
- Why do you like my books?
- Why do you like them really? (The use of "really" provokes a more thoughtful response.)
- Which of my books do you like the best, and why?
- What made you join my (fill in the blank for whatever they opted into)?
- What has made you stay in my (fill in the blank)?
- Is there anything you'd love me to do more of?
Some people really DON'T feel they can do the interview. While I recommend that you DO, it's counterproductive to force things. Just ask a variation of the questions above (only one, so people are more likely to answer), as a Facebook post. You won't get the value you'd get with the process I recommend above, but you'll at least get a tiny sliver of it.
If you're trying to become established:
You will have to research differently than someone who's already well-established. In many ways, you have the advantage here because you're doing this research before you publish.
Here's what I recommend:
- Find established authors who are similar to you in multiple ways (ex: genre, story themes, personality, settings, background).
- Pick two or more authors and study their brand. Minutely! (Websites, social profiles/conversations, Amazon pages, book covers, articles...all fair game.)
- Define each author's brand using the bullet points in the "biggest takeaway" section above.
- List how you and that author are most alike and most un-alike.
- Pick and choose elements of each author's branding that "feel like you" and re-write them for yourself. Make a few versions of this.
- Give those versions to several different kinds of people who know you well. (ex: family, colleague, friend, fellow writer)
- Ask them to list up to 5 adjectives/qualities that describe you.
- Ask them which bullet point list sounds closest to describing you.
- Ask them to tell you which individual points "don't sound a thing like you" (and why).
- Ask them whether there is something they feel you should add or take away from the lists you compiled (and why).
Step 2: Make several drafts.
No matter which of the above categories you're in, you've just done a heck of a lot of detective work trying to figure out your brand. It's a bit overwhelming to do all that research on yourself. Take a minute to sit with it before you do anything with what you've learned.
Note: The majority of authors are introverts. If that describes you, then all that people-ing has earned you an intermission!
Maybe go put your feet up, and sip on the beverage of your choice.
When you're ready...
Sift through everyone's answers for the things you didn't expect, or comments that don't fit how you thought about yourself. Those are some of your biggest clues on where to focus your brand strategy. Because, again, we rarely see ourselves clearly. Those people you interviewed didn't just give you their time, they gave you the gift of insight.
Remember: "Branding is what people say about you when you're not in the room." It's almost impossible to figure out your strongest author brand without some help.
The Why of Your Author Brand
We've talked a bit about how to figure out your author brand, and what defines that brand. But why is it so important for us to do this?
Your brand is what builds recognition, loyalty, and trust.
Without those three emotions, no one will be moved to spend time or money on your stories. Marketing is largely a waste of your time and money if you don't build it around a strong, consistent author brand.
Taking the time and energy to build that brand thoughtfully is a love letter to your readers.
Put the best of you in your branding.
Your brand needs to reflect YOU.
For example, if you love sewing, small towns, animals, military, libraries, scuba diving, gardening, the beach, or something else, that thing you love will absolutely be in your books. The more specific the thing you love, the more "your kind of people" will be drawn to you (and your books).
Don't be afraid to be specific.
You don't need a gajillion fans to earn a living. A thousand or more will make a significant impact on your bank account. Start by building a brand that attracts the first hundred, and expand from there.
Why must you include what you love in your branding?
Including what you love will make you happier as an author. Don't brand with "what you think will get you readers," brand with a vibe that is pure you. Plus, branding with the things you love means that there are tax write-offs for the smart authorpreneur. Those things you love become "research" and "marketing expenses."
Some examples:
I know an author who loves chocolate and travel, and has incorporated both into her newsletter and giveaways. Plus, she holds a few travel events every year. Just imagine being paid to travel by taking some superfans along!
Another author loves small towns and cooking. She makes videos of herself cooking and creating recipes. She also gives recipes away in her newsletter. Guess what is a write-off for her? Her newsletter software, any ingredients or cooking supplies she uses in her videos, and any branding elements she created as background for those videos.
Still another author friend is into all things gothic. She really adores black, purple, moonlight, and wine. Her books are paranormal romance (vampires), and her Amazon pages and book covers are very distinct with those four elements. She is her brand, and her brand is her.
A thriller author who contributes here at WITS has done police ride-alongs and courses on all sorts of badassery that she uses in her novels. Every bit of that is a tax write-off and it is all incorporated in her brand.
Note: Bestselling authors usually have someone branding for them. For our purposes, they don't count. We are looking for ways that newer or midlist authors can use branding to build strong brands that can grow with them and make them happy.
Final Thought
I'll say it once again: Branding is not marketing.
Branding is what authorpreneurs need to do BEFORE they start marketing. Like historical authors whose research informs the direction of their story, branding will point you to the marketing efforts are a great fit for you.
If you've never put thought into this, then today is a great day to start. Conversely, if you've branded something that doesn't feel authentic to you, today is a great day to begin giving your current brand a glow-up.
The more thought you put into your brand, the farther it will take you, and the more your marketing efforts will build into sales.
Have you worked on your author brand? If not, what's stopping you? Are you willing to share your brand, and why you chose it, down in the comments? I'm happy to brainstorm and talk branding with you!
* * * * * *
About Jenny
By day, Jenny Hansen provides brand storytelling, LinkedIn coaching, and copywriting for accountants and financial services firms. By night, she writes humor, memoir, women’s fiction, and short stories. After 20+ years as a corporate trainer, she’s delighted to sit down while she works.
Find Jenny here at Writers In the Storm, or online on Facebook or Instagram.
Top photo created in Canva. Dolly Parton photo from Flickr, CC License 2.0.
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36 comments on “How (and Why) To Define a Strong Author Brand”
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Thanks, Jenny, for such a comprehensive reminder that author branding is the key to reaching six and seven figures. As I often say, writing a great story is just the foundation—true success lies in how the story is presented–same with branding. I’ve built my mystery suspense brand around the Southern vibe, with Savannah at the heart of it. It may not be a “small town” by definition, but it carries that intimate, atmospheric feel. I’d love to connect and chat more about branding—I'll be in touch soon.
Veronica, I love it. You focused on brand AND put it into your books. It might have worked the other way (and it often does), where your brand comes from your stories.
But usually, your brand is you, and that is always worth exploring. 🙂
I think I might be your POSTER CHILD for getting branding and marketing mixed....and wrong. =)
For decades I've tried to figure this out, and it has been 'hit or miss' at best. Yet when things get too hard or confusing, and I have even the slightest inkling to throw in the towel, my wife always says, "Sweetheart, just be you."
Only when I stop thinking and over-planning, and settle back into my own personality, to love on my readers, do I succeed.
That's when everything seems to flow.
And when I choose to do something on purpose for my 'brand', its usually because I would have done it anyway.
...it's who I am.
Thank you for this handful of gold, Jenny.
Appreciate it deeply.
You are so welcome, Jaime. And your wife is SMART. "Just be you" is at the heart of every successful individual brand.
Oh, thank you, Jenny. I can't believe that this very topic has been on my mind for the last month and now, wow, this post arrives.
I'm the epitome of a branding mess. When I started my blog ten years ago, I thought I had one. Not so much, as it turns out. Now, I've published my first book and realize that truth. It's kind of the woman in a strange city who knows no one and realizes she'd been robbed.
In other words, I'm sitting on the curb in shock while people walk past. It's that inflection point between thinking you were in control and realizing you never were.
It's never too late, Christina! You now have enough experience to know what you're passionate about, and enough experience to put that into your branding. Pick the things that you know you can easily offer, and that you love to talk about.
Think about Janet Evanovich and her Stephanie Plum series: She loves alpha men. Her heroine is a hot mess. She focuses on Trenton, NJ...great snacks...friends...and family. All of that goes into her branding, and all of it shows up in every book of the series. Her branding elements are very clear.
"...that thing you love will absolutely be in your books."
So sex? How? And I'm serious!
Tax write-offs? If I fly to meet a lover and then write about our tryst (and this has actually happened--see last book in link below for that novella) I can write off that flight, hotel, dinner? I never knew! 🤯
Thank you for wonderful ideas! 👏👏
https://ruminations.blog/2024/12/20/my-fiction/
Hahahaha! I have a writing friend (August McLaughlin) who built her entire brand and platform around a particular aspect of sex. All sorts of branding elements have been done successfully. You just need to find yours, and put those elements into everything you do.
I see myself as a supporter of others. It's why I advocate for people with disabilities, LGBTQ people, fellow authors. I do a weekly BlueSky post that's just a push on someone else's book, a quote post of their good news. At some point I will build on this more, but I don't have a book deal yet and I don't have a ton of time. The time it takes is whole 'nother matter.
Time is always a sticking point. For everyone! It's why I always encourage people to focus on what they're most passionate about when they're building a brand, so they don't mind spending the time. If you love to advocate, build it into your brand. Even when your own book comes out, you can still do that "inspiration corner" in every newsletter you send out.
If it makes you more comfortable, tell those stories that inspire you and then have a callout box with your own details. Visually, that will send the message that your focus is on others, but if you want to read my books, look over in that box to the right. Best of luck on your journey, Debbie!
How wonderful to see your smile again and be inspired by your thoughts. I can hear your voice in your words! My corporate career focused on branding AND marketing. So when it came time to capture my brand before I debuted my first romantic historical-fiction novel, I leaned on what I did in my day job. I created a statement of purpose that's in the top banner on my website and in the first paragraph of my bio: Love Changes Everything...which is quickly followed by my mission to tell stories about Outcasts Overcoming Obstacles.
My readers have come to rely on me to:
--Base my novels on personal experiences and locations I've visited...and that they can visit.
--Focus my social media posts about my passions: my wife and our love story, my family, curating antiques, traveling and escaping to Disney theme parks (used to work at Disneyland, and happy faces and happy endings attached themselves to my DNA).
--Warm their hearts, as well as break them.
--Be a reliable reminder that kindness and curiosity make the world a better place.
I'm about to embark into the TikTok world and couldn't be more excited to learn and grow...and for new readers to discover my stories. I'll be leveraging my established brand, ensuring that it resonates with that channel and audience.
PS: I'm in talks with Dolly Parton's people about a contemporary romance/women's fiction novel. As you pointed out, she is a master brander...and storyteller!
Chris! Thanks so much for weighing in. It's super exciting to see you too. 🙂
I've always loved how clear your branding is. And it really helps you, because your book settings and topics vary. I'll cross my fingers for you and Dolly Parton's people!!!
And best of luck with TikTok. I have seen it absolutely mega-boost a ton of authors. Look into the TikTok shop for your existing books too.
Jenny, what a great discussion of branding. I realize more and more each day how important branding is. Totally necessary, and if I may be so bold to suggest, I think a solid brand initiates a natural marketing! Love it!
You should absolutely suggest, because it's true. A solid brand simplifies the marketing...and gives it a far greater chance of upward trajectory. 🙂
Jenny, I love this clear explanation with examples of what brand is. I've struggled with this for a long time. As you said, it's hard to describe oneself. But I've slowly realized I care about educating and supporting people to become their authentic creative selves, about encouraging reading and the freedom to read whatever one pleases, and about encouraging and demonstrating perseverence, transformation, and personal growth through blog posts and stories I write.
Thanks, Lynette, and GOOD FOR YOU. You've already defined a core basis for your brand that I'd love to see you turn into a tagline for your website and branding: perseverence, transformation, and personal growth.
Incidentally, for people uncomfortable with branding (read: 80%+ of authors), this is the kind of thing ChatGPT rocks at. I recommend you go in there and say:
Please write 15 taglines that express the following as a brand statement, "I care about educating and supporting people to become their authentic creative selves, about encouraging reading and the freedom to read whatever one pleases, and about encouraging and demonstrating perseverence, transformation, and personal growth through blog posts and stories I write."
I guarantee you that what it spits out will be useful to you, even if it is just a stepping stone to your end product.
Just a thought.
I know ChatGPT is the Big Bad Villain when it comes to creating fiction, but that doesn't mean it can't save our bacon for administrative tasks that flummox us as authorpreneurs. I just had ChatGPT create a one-pager for corporate speaking engagements with everything I fed into about me in my day job...because I just didn't want to have to learn it all. I edited what it gave me and it took me 20 minutes...instead of untold hours.
This is such a great post, Jenny! I've worked with a couple of brand coaches over the year. There's my strictly writing brand: "Adventures that Enchant the Mind and Liberate the Soul"
And then there's my overall "deleyna" brand: I’m the calm in the chaos. I help writers find clarity—whether that’s in their stories, websites, or publishing path. It’s not about selling. It’s about being someone readers and writers can trust.
That the two different sides of my career overlap and twist together... well, that's just a part of who I am, I guess?
Thanks, Lisa! I absolutely plan to do a talk/class about this...possibly for you.
That "calm in the chaos" is powerful for both sides of your life. I'm so glad you lean into that. It is SO YOU. 🙂 We super-value your calm around WITS.
Thanks for sharing this. It's one of the best explanations I've seen on the difference between branding and marketing.
Thanks so much, Karen!
Oh my gosh, Jenny, what a fantastic blog! I'm going to ask the questions you have of my readers! I know what I think, but is it what they think?
I'll know soon - thanks for this!
Come back and tell me what they say!!!
Thank you very much.
When people said branding, I always thought of Colgate Toothpaste, Hostess Cupcakes, Kleenex, and Johnson's Floor Wax. I had no idea how to translate those images into a personal brand. Or a brand for a product that you couldn't feel, smell, touch, or taste. I think you've let some light in. Now, if I can figure out how people see and think of me, and align that with my values and how they are expressed, then I'll know what I'm marketing, and I may be ready to start learning about how to market.
It's a steep hill, but now it looks like a hill rather than a wall. Thank you!
You can do this, Bob! And think of it this way...
When you are a solopreneur, a lot of the branding is focused on you.
When you get a bit bigger, the branding is likely focused on your books.
But for a business, the branding is focused on the results or experience their product offers their customers.
Branding changes when the one moves to a many.
This is great, Jenny, thank you! Branding can be a puzzle for sure, and I've found mine has evolved over time, while retaining some core elements. Appreciate these tips!
Many thanks, Colleen. You have built a heck of a brand over the years. I can't wait to see the other amazing things you do, now that your fiction is out in the world.
Just had a conversation with my brand-new PR person (via email) because she sent me the first draft of something she's going to send out for me - and I realized the most important thing about my brand will be name recognition.
I have a preferred form of my name. I use it EVERY TIME.
There are reasons - new people tend to come up with the same comments - and "no, I'm not related to Amelia," gets tiresome very quickly.
She picked up on that immediately - it will need to be monitored, because many kind bloggers will not think to use my preferred form, even when I ask from the beginning, and no way am I going to correct someone who is kind enough to review my work, but any PR that uses it needs to.
I have my colors, and my logo, but very little energy, so I won't be able to do all the brand-promoting many writers do. But my name? I'm not going down in history - IRS be darned - with the wrong name.
You always make me smile till my face hurts. Good for you, Alicia! And it's smart to hire somone for branding, marketing and PR...so you can spend your valuable energy on the books.
GREAT information, Jenny! And what a great exercise in describing ourselves, something I think a lot of us don't do easily. So important!!
Sally
Sally, NONE of us know how to describe ourselves clearly. I was at a writer's conference some years back, after a night of talking writing with one of my friends. We got into a conversation with someone "official," who asked us about our writing. My mind went blank. And my friend passionately described me, my writing, and my book in such glowing terms that I've long-wished I'd recorded her. It was a very very illuminating moment.
A great blog posting, Jenny! While I knew the difference between the two, I need to go deeper! And with this new book in a new genre I'm publishing, I get to brand myself deeper from the beginning. This journey is going to be fun! Thanks for the inspiration.
I can't wait to hear where that journey takes you, Diana! What a gorgeous opportunity to rebrand for the new genre. I hope you go all in!
this is something I need to work on.
You're not alone in this, Denise. 🙂
Definitely something to think about. While I have a good idea of the things I like and who I am, I like the idea of including these things in newsletters as a way to connect with my readers. Thank you for sharing.
You are so welcome, Gillian. Your readers want to know you and connect with you. Sharing who you are in your newsletters is a no-stress way of making that happen. Good luck on your branding journey!