What’s Your Brand?

Randy Ingermanson, a physicist and novelist, has a great discussion about branding for writers going on over at Advanced Fiction Writing.

He has a series of posts on branding, and he’s answering a lot of questions raised by his readers. Randy is a successful author – I love his City of God series.

However, he has come to realize that he would be much more successful in his writing career if he had focused on creating a brand for himself as an author. He’s working on his own brand now and trying to help other authors avoid his mistakes.

Now, I’m nowhere near the level of Randy Ingermanson, but I might be a little closer to that level if I had even thought about branding when I started writing. I’ve written fiction – Stroke of Luck (contemporary romance) and Dream or Destiny (romantic suspense coming out later this year). I’ve written nonfiction on plant care, network marketing, and writing, as well as an inspirational true story of the victim of workplace violence. I’ve written press releases, manuals, and assorted other documents for business. So my brand as a writer? There is none.

As an editor, I’m all over the place. I’ve edited academic papers, fiction and nonfiction books, and business documents of all kinds. My focus is narrowing, though, to helping beginning authors write and self-publish their work. Some of my book-editing clients seek traditional publishing, so editing queries and proposals is also part of my services. But my favorite kind of project is working with a great storyteller who needs help telling the story in writing. Seeing my clients succeed brings me joy.

If you have a brand – as a writer, blogger, or entrepreneur, tell us about in comments. Share how branding has helped you succeed. Let us know how you developed your brand – were you wise enough to brand yourself from the beginning or did it evolve over time?

If you don’t have a brand, why not? Do you have too many passions to settle into one specialty? Are you still trying to figure it out?

If you want to know more about branding, read Randy’s blog.

[tags]branding, writing, Randy Ingermanson[/tags]