Author Brand Crash Course

Personal brand is a big factor for writers today. Do you have one? If so, what is it? And how do you, through your brand, portray yourself to the world? These are some questions to ask if you’re newer to this thing called writing or simply focusing on your platform for the first time.

First things first: Do you have a brand?

I put brand into two categories, active brand and passive brand. Passive brand is the brand you don’t think about. It’s what you wear to buy groceries, the posts you share without considering your writing platform, the people you follow because you just like seeing their posts. Active brand is much different. It’s what you choose to wear to the writers conference, it’s the blog you work on for a week before sharing on Twitter, it’s the people you follow on Instagram so you can work on your platform.

Whether you realize it or not, everything you say, share, do, wear (the list goes on) communicates something to your followers. When considering your brand, focus on a few key areas.

I can’t tell you what areas those should be for you, that’s up to you as the writer, but here are some bullet points to get you thinking:

• Social Media — Are you always consuming or do you engage and give away good content? Neither is right or wrong, but one establishes you as more of a student in the industry while the other establishes you as an expert in your field.
• Style — When people meet you for the first time, what does what you wear tell them about who you are? Are you a casual person? A professional? Again, neither is right or wrong but it is important to be aware of how you come across.
• Website — Is your website about you or your reader? Are you inviting your target audience to read about the topics you enjoy, or are you bringing fresh content that will help them in whatever niche you’ve chosen to write in?
• Writing — If people follow you on social media or subscribe to your site and then go read your books, they expect it to align with the rest of your brand. Ask, does my writing align with who I’m showing the world I am? (Imagine if Stephen King had a blog strictly focused on cat memes. As amazing as that would be, it would be rather confusing for the reader.)

If this feels like a lot, don’t be discouraged. Start small and grow from there. The good thing about a personal brand is it grows and changes as you do. Enjoy the journey of discovery and connecting with your readers along the way. If you’re a writer, you’re here for the long game. Personal brand is part of the process. And if you can write a book from scratch, you can definitely build your brand from what’s already started. You got this!

Sarah Rexford is a Marketing Content Creator and writer. She helps authors build their platform through branding and copywriting. With a BA in Strategic Communications, Sarah equips writers to learn how to communicate their message through personal branding. She writes fiction and nonfiction and offers writers behind-the-scenes tips on the publishing industry through her blog itssarahrexford.com. She is represented by the C.Y.L.E Young Agency.

Instagram: @sarahjrexford
Twitter: @sarahjrexford
Web: itssarahrexford.com