Full disclaimer #2: My "method" isn't scientific or even proven. But it is what I see lots of successful romance authors doing and why re-invent the wheel?
Full disclaimer #3: Even if you don't embrace #TeaserTuesday, branding your book launch doesn't seem like a bad idea?
I have a new book coming out October 11. Yay! It's called A BRIT COMPLICATED and it's the third book in my rom com series. I have high hopes for this book because I have such a crush on the hero, you guys. (Weird, but you get it, right?) But, I'll be honest, I'm also way more nervous about this release than I was about book two. A lot of series tend to fizzle -- and/or intentionally end -- at book three, and I'm not ready to stop living in this rom com world.
So, I've been thinking about branding. A lot. My series covers are branded really well and the third one fits in perfectly with these two:
(I can't show you yet, but my cover designer is on it, trust me.) So, opportunity #1 for branding -- that box is checked.
Then there's the whole #TeaserTuesday thing, another opportunity to brand my book launch pre-release. I realized pretty quickly I'd done a crap job with my past two releases. As in the branding and consistency in my graphics was nonexistent. I started branding the teasers of my last release, A BRIT UNEXPECTED, but when they didn't gain traction, I switched it up. Now when I look at my teasers collectively, you wouldn't even realize they were for the same book.
Bleh, right? Where's the branding? Let me answer that one. Aside from the book title, is none.
Seven weeks out from my next launch, I know I need to do things differently. So, I started looking at some of the best sellers in my genre. And guess what they do really well? They brand their teasers on their website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram! They all match!
Look at Emma Chase's teasers for ROYALLY ENDOWED, her latest release:
You only need to glance at them to know they're for the same book. They all have the same white background, red writing and the book cover.
Lauren Layne also does this well. Look at her teasers for READY TO RUN, her book that came out this week:
She does one better -- all of her teasers have one of two backgrounds. Only the blocked text changes! How cool -- and effective -- is that?
As I said in the beginning of this post, I'm not trying to reinvent the wheel, so I'm focusing on consistent branding with my upcoming launch. I spent last Friday night making picture teasers and ALL of them are similar to this:
Same fonts, same colors, same logo (which I'll switch to the book cover after my reveal). When I look in my Google Drive and see all the images side by side, I see consistency. I see the same look and feel, and the same font combination, which hopefully will help readers associate with my upcoming book.
Will it make a difference in sales? That's still TBD. But it can't hurt, right? I'll report back post-release and let you know. In the meantime, I'd love to know more about your branding in the comments. Is this something you think a lot about? How do you brand your book launch?
6 comments:
I'm buying this book. I loved Brit on the Side and I've been jonesing for something from across the pond. I'm terrible at branding a book launch and I need to absorb all of this as I am launching a book in the fall. I can't wait for your results.
Great post!! I've been attempting to brand some of my posts for my upcoming release... of course, I have about 6 different templates so I don't know how much that actually counts hahaha
Great post, Brenda! Branding is so important, and these are great tips!
Oh, can't wait to see your new release! And yes, branding is such an obvious thing, but SO HARD!
I've seen a bunch of your posts and they look branded to me. I think having the same templates and colors is a big part of it.
Thank you!
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