cj Sez: If you saw a new book and the author was Stephen
King, you’d expect to read a work of horror/psychological fiction from this
prolific storyteller. How about if the author was Dame Agatha Christie?
You’d expect something 180 degrees from King’s genre: cozy crime mysteries.
What you’ve just done is recognized these two authors’
unique brands.
If I said, “Murder on the Orient Express,” you’d
automatically think cozy mystery written by Agatha Christie. If I said, “She’s been nominated for the
Agatha Award,” you’d know I meant Agatha Christie and you’d know what kind of
story is being considered for the award.
Stephen King + Misery (Or Cujo or Carrie or The Shining, et
al.) = Stephen King Brand: horror/psychological fiction.
When readers recognize your name, they’ve recognized your
brand.
Building your author brand needs to be one of the first
things you do, even if you are yet to be published. Start with a Facebook page.
It’s free.
Set up a blog site, and make sure the theme, style and author voice
of the two are consistent. Use similar colors and fonts in signage, swag,
banners for book signings, and business cards. You want your readers to
identify you and your name by your ideas and concepts.
Now you can develop a brand summary by defining who “you”
are or what your books are about.
To reinforce my author image, I wear my squash
blossom necklace to every writerly event I attend (some social events as well).
§§
Tomorrow’s full moon (Monday, Nov. 27 at 4:16 a.m. EST) is known as the Beaver Moon. According to The Old Farmer's
Almanac, which lists monthly full moon names from Native American, Colonial
American and European folklore, the Beaver Moon's name refers to the time of
the year in which beavers take shelter in their lodges to prepare for winter,
and also the time in which beaver fur traps would be historically set up in
North America.
§§
Writer Tips (cj sez: Good stuff.)
Benjamin
Franklin once wrote to the Royal Society of London: “I have already
made this paper too long, for which I must crave pardon, not having now time to
make it shorter.” Jane Friedman’s guest
post by author Amy L.
Bernstein is a keeper.
§§
Author/editor/professor Brenda Copeland has a guest post on
Career Authors site identifying POV and goes into wonderful examples of close
third person POV. Extremely illustrative. I’m keeping a copy of this teaching
moment for future reference.
§§
Okay, that’s it for today. You-all guys keep on keeping on,
and I’ll try to do the same. Raising prayers for a happy and safe you and yours.
cj
Now some words from my sponsors:
Books are always great suggestions for gifts. They don't need water, they're not fattening; and they're easy to wrap. And Christmas
is THE gift-giving holiday of the year.
I have stories in several anthologies
with Christmas as the theme. Here are two to put on your shopping list:
FINALLY HOME brings you eight Christmas stories all about our four-legged friends and the special people who rescue them. From funny, to sad, to romantic, there’s something here to tug at everyone’s heart strings. My short story, "Puppy Love," is included.
This anthology has 70 stories written by adults recounting
their extraordinary childhood Christmas memories.
My story, written under my
maiden name of Marilyn Olsein, is titled “Dancing with Daddy,” and relates how
six-year-old me reconnected with my Swedish father after a major upheaval in
our lives.
The anthology is free on Kindle. Buy Now
My novels THE DAWGSTAR and DEATH ON THE YAMPA are
fast-paced, thriller/suspense stories with sassy banter and a smidgen of
romance. The books are available on Amazon or through your favorite eTailer and
bookstore. Got a library card? You can read the ebooks free from Hoopla.
Little note: Angela Trigg, the RITA Award-winning author and
owner of The Haunted Book Shop has a few signed copies of my books in stock. TO
ORDER, contact: https://www.thehauntedbookshopmobile.com/contact-us If she happens to be sold out, shoot me an
email. I have a small stash (with a discounted price plus shipping).
➜ Follow me on . . .
➜ Amazon: Amazon
Central Author Page
➜ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CjPettersonAuthor
➜ BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/cj-petterson
➜ Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3fcN3h6
No comments:
Post a Comment
Your turn! Got a question or comment? The author would love to hear it. (Comments are moderated to reflect the Lyrical Pens brand, so please keep it clean, else it gets dumped into that little chamber pot in the sky.)