What do you stand for?
My take on (pause for full body cringe) creating an 'author brand.'
A quick note before we begin.
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What do you stand for?
This week I had the privilege of appearing at Fowey Festival in Cornwall, where I talked about The Barbecue at No.9 and also ran a masterclass with Veronica Henry, author of The Invitation on creating an ‘author brand.’
(Here is us glamming it up at Fowey Yacht Club)
It was such an interesting conversation, and the differences between our experiences (Ronnie is the author of 27 novels and was first published around the same number of years ago, to my 2!) and how publishing has changed in its expectations of authors, especially how those expectations have increased, was fascinating.
I should say up front that the very term ‘author brand’ brings me out in hives and gives me flashbacks to the corporate life I have long left behind, so the way I prefer to think about it is as an often-used shorthand for something I think is way more important, which is ‘what do you stand for?’ or maybe even more on the nose ‘what do you want to be known for?’
I can almost hear the often-repeated lament of authors everywhere chorusing I just want to be known for my writing and listen, I hear you. I really do. But the world we operate in currently (for the most part, unless you are Sally Rooney or Donna Tartt) requires a public face and promotional activity that involves you, the author, being ‘seen’ by your readers.
