![]() That, for me, is what voice-and “branding”-is all about.” ![]() “The key for me is that, when I seek a book by an author, I want that book to be a book nobody but that author could’ve written. ![]() It’s everything you do, and the way that you do it–as well as how it’s perceived and interpreted by your audience. It is also much less about genre, and much more about what readers come to expect in your books. the size of your social media following.It’s your style, your unique voice, and the combination of recurrent themes, character types, settings, and ideas that make up the familiar elements characteristic to your writing. Many authors hold the mistaken belief that the selling experience must be an aggressive, mercantile and sordid affair that strips their writing of any real meaning and reduces it to a “product” rather than the imaginative, well-crafted work that it is.Īnd a brand is the fake front that you hide behind to do so.īranding isn’t nearly as corporate or commercial as it’s believed to be. If you balk at the idea of “branding” yourself or your work, writing specifically for a well-defined, well-targeted group of readers, or employing other strategies to reach, connect and engage with an audience, you’re not alone. The problem, however, is that “specialization” (or sticking to one genre or category) can really be a creative style-cramper. You don’t bring much of your readership with you when you cross from one genre to another, and most authors see lower sales figures when publishing outside of their best-know specialty. Staying within genre boundaries is just smart marketing. What makes perfect sense from a marketing “ease of sale” perspective, gets a little muddied when trying to apply it to more artistic endeavours. The question then is: how does writing in multiple genres affect your ability to build your author brand, engage your readers and grow your writing career?įeature Download: Download a free worksheet to help you decide if writing in multiple genres is the right path for you ( click here to download). your writer platform), if you want your books to sell. Regardless of whether you decide to self-publish or traditionally publish, you need a way to consistently and efficiently get your work in front of the right eyeballs (a.k.a. Sure, you’re able to write whatever moves you, but self-publishing only guarantees you have the opportunity to write and publish your work–NOT that it gets noticed or read. So, is “Indie” the way to go if you want to write in multiple genres? Prior to the more mainstream self-publishing options currently available for authors, the direction your writing took was often dictated (at least in part) by the marketing departments of publishers.Īnd publishing in several genres via the traditional route, often meant publishing with more than one publisher. Without an agent or publisher, you’re free to write anything you want–and not be pigeon-holed into one specific genre. On the surface, self-publishing seems like a good solution for those authors prone to genre-hopping. Self-Published Authors: Does it Make a Difference? As an author, neither can you.”īut does that advice still apply in today’s publishing world?Īnd more to the point, does that advice apply if you’re choosing to self-publish? Traditional vs. “You need to specialize, because a publisher can’t afford to try and reach a whole new audience with every single book. There has been a persistent sentiment over the years among agents and publishers in the traditional publishing world: stick to one genre. Audience Expectations: What Do Your Readers Want?.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |