#TeaserTuesday: Branding Your Book Launch

Full disclaimer #1: I don't know if other genres do the whole #TeaserTuesday thing on social media like the romance genre does. I read mostly romance and write romance exclusively, so that's where my main focus lies.

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?

First Impressions

It’s been said that you only have 7 seconds to make a strong first impression.  In this digital age of purchasing books, that means your cover has to do its job—because 7 seconds (or less) is about how long it will take a reader to decide if they are going to click through to your book description or if they will scroll on past.

Your cover has to effectively represent not only your author brand, but your story’s brand as well.

Research Other Covers

It’s easy to be tempted to skip this step, or at the least to do just a partial search. At first it’s fun to look at page after page of covers. Then it starts to get a little daunting, kind of boring, and next thing you know you stop after only looking at the top 100 books on the Amazon list. Don’t get me wrong—that’s a good place to start, however you’ll find some great information by looking a little further. You don’t want to spend days doing this kind of research, but make sure you have a really good feel for not only the general trend of covers in your genre, but also what you like and don’t like.

Decide Your Path

If you’ve done your due diligence in the research part, then you should have a pretty good idea of any trends for your genre. You then need to decide if it’s best for you to follow that same trend, or to blaze a new trail. There’s really no right or wrong answer here—just what works best for you and best represents your brand. For example, some say that romance covers need to have people on them (preferably half-naked, thank you very much). But there are some very successful romance novels that don’t follow this ‘standard’.  You can be successful with either path.

DIY or Professional

Another consideration you will have to make is if you want to design the cover yourself or pay someone to do it. Again, there is no right or wrong answer to this. I will say that if you design your own cover and it screams DIY, then you might want to consider hiring a professional if your intention is to sell a lot of books. Bottom line, if you are considering designing your own covers then you need to do your homework on what works and what doesn't. I'd recommend spending some time over on The Book Designer before you get started. If you go professional, again you need to do your research. Look at several designers (both in and out of your price range), check out their portfolio, and take the time to select the designer that's right for you (and your budget).

A Couple Watch-outs

When it comes to covers, there are two areas where I suggest you think before doing. I mean really think. And possibly ask some opinions of trusted fellow authors in your network, and possibly even some trusted readers.

One is ‘borrowing’ the brand of a popular author—or as I call it the bait and hook. One that comes to mind is Nicholas Sparks. His covers all have the same formula (unless it’s the movie tie-in): his name and book title in a box on an image. This is easy to replicate, and I’ve seen a lot of other authors do just that. The strategy is that on first glance, readers will think it’s a Nicholas Sparks book, so they will click on it to check it out and half your battle is over. I’m sure this works really well. The challenge is that it may irk some people and you could lose readers in the process. Some people don’t like to be deceived and they don’t like copycats. However, you might gain readers using this technique. My advice is to think about your brand, and decide if using a 'bait and hook' strategy will help or hinder the overall message you are trying to establish.

The other watch-out is using a popular image for your cover. I know it’s near impossible these days to ensure that no other book will use the same image you chose for your cover. And as with the previous watch-out, it’s clear that there are some instances where authors intentionally use an image (or the same models) as a popular book in their genre. The challenge is that it could be distracting for readers. Take the three covers below. When I saw the second book with that image I thought, “Wait, didn’t that book have a different title?” I searched and discovered it was two different books. Then when I saw the third cover with the image, it basically didn’t grab my attention other than a passing thought of, “Oh, it’s that image again.”

Now I want to end this post with what I consider a positive example—my fellow Across the Board author, Amy Jarecki. There are two primary reasons for this:

1) She does a good job of representing her brand in her covers (and in her promotions)

AND

2) Today is the release day for her latest book, A HighlandKnight’s Desire, and we want to celebrate!

If you don’t already know, Amy writes Scottish historical romance novels. With this genre, Amy’s covers actually have to represent four specific brand messages:

• Author Brand
• Romance
• Scottish Historical
• Series Brand

I’ve copied below the first book in each of Amy’s novel series. You can see that while her name changes slightly for each series, it’s still has the same ‘feel’ to keep consistent with her brand. The font of the novel title for each series is also unique, yet they still complement each other. And of course, there is the bare-chested model in a kilt. This tells me in no uncertain terms that I’m looking at a Scottish historical romance cover! It’s not to say that all of Amy’s covers will have to follow this formula, but it’s clear she knows the importance of her covers representing her brand.

If you’re wondering why we didn’t have the same kind of party for Amy as we did for my release yesterday, well the answer is because Amy already has a fantastic party planned! If you want to see how amazing she is at carrying her brand through to her social media presence, RSVP to her A Highland Knight’s Desire Release Party! Really, you should check it out. She inspires me!

Congrats on your latest release, Amy!!

~Carrie

Establishing Your Author Brand

I spent a few years in corporate branding in my last role, so I know how important it is to a company’s success. But did you know that it’s also very important to your success as an author? I’m hoping that you are currently nodding your head—I know I’m not the first to bring up this subject. It’s not a new or novel idea. However, it’s a subject that’s important enough to keep talking about and sharing tips.

In case the concept of branding has somehow escaped your notice, I’ll start with the basic definition. In its most simplest of terms, a brand lets consumers know what to expect from a certain product or service, and how that product or service is different than its competitors.

While I’m relatively new to the author world, I’m not new to the concept of branding. I think this is an element that many new authors either forget about, or avoid because they are intimidated by the process. Therefore, I thought I’d share my thoughts with you on branding, hoping that it will help you with your own branding efforts.

There is so much that goes into branding that I’ve decided to talk about this topic over my next few posts (which here on Across the Board is about once a month). I’m not yet sure how many posts this series will encompass, but it will be more than one.

The critical first step in making your brand effective is to understand what your brand is. Here are four important questions you should ask yourself as you start the branding process.

What kind of books do I want to write?

While branding is critical, it can’t exist without a product. Your first step is to figure out what kind of author you want to be. The brand for a fiction author might be very different than that of a non-fiction author.

For example if you want to publish non-fiction cook books with healthy recipes, then you should want your brand to represent a healthy lifestyle. Your brand might need to inspire motivation. However, if you want to publish fiction novels about werewolves, then you’d want a brand that evokes fantasy and the supernatural. You would want to have a brand that tells readers you will transform them into another world.

If you are an author who plans to write in more than one genre, then you will also need to determine how different they are from each other. If they are on opposite ends of the spectrum—such as romance and children’s books—then you will need two separate brands. However if they are similar—such as women’s fiction and romantic suspense—then you can probably get by with the same brand.

I knew I wanted to write books that are real-to-life fiction. My books may or may not have a traditional HEA (happily ever after) ending, but they will always have endings that inspire hope. I want to write books that my readers can connect to emotionally, on many different levels.

Who is my target audience?

Once you know what kind of author you are going to be, then you need to think about your target audience. It’s not that your brand should change based on your audience, but it’s likely that your message will.

For example, maybe part of your brand message is that your books should be sold with a box of tissues—i.e. your novels will create a strong emotional reaction for your readers. This might be a successful hook for female readers, however if a large part of your target readership is male then you might not draw them in. Your brand might need to be communicated in a way that tells readers your books create real life connections rather than emotional connections. It’s a subtle difference, but it could be important.

Another example is for those of you wishing to write middle grade or children’s books. While your target audience is the child, it’s the adult in that child’s life that has all the purchasing power. If you fail to understand how your brand relates to the adults as well, they may not be willing to buy the books.

I know that my target audience is women—approximately somewhere in the age range of 35-55. This doesn’t mean that men or 25 year old women can’t read and enjoy my books (several have, in fact, read and loved my books), but I understand where the majority of my reading audience falls.

How are the other authors in my genre branded?

Again, part of your author brand should let the reader know how your books are different than your competitor’s. For example, you might be at a disadvantage if you’re an overweight person about to publish a book about living a healthy lifestyle, and all the other authors in this genre are athletically fit. It doesn’t mean that you can’t publish and sell that healthy lifestyle book, but you’ll need to seriously think about what sets you apart from those other authors. You’ll need to find that unique hook that will have the readers trusting in you and your book.

When I was launching my first novel, I visited several websites and social media sites of other authors in my genre. I looked for areas where we were similar, and also areas where we differed. One of the main differences is that my books will not always follow ‘the norms’ of book writing, or a standard blueprint for a women's fiction novel. For example in my third novel, Shattered Angel, I start at chapter 24 and count down. Basically, I’m going to push boundaries and think outside the box.

Do I already have a brand in place?

Once a brand is established, it’s hard to change it. Asking yourself this question will help you determine if you need to use your real name or a pen name. For example if you’re a minister’s wife who’s planning to write erotic romance, then your personal and author brand will likely be in conflict with each other, and you might want to use a pen name.

I spent 17 years in the corporate industry at a global Fortune 500 company before writing my first novel. I have an established brand that works well with my genre and my audience. I wanted to be able to leverage this to my advantage.

When I went through this process, I added up all my answers to these questions and the end result is that I’ve branded myself as a Literary Engineer. My undergraduate degree is in Mechanical Engineering, and I like that this title represents all aspects of who I am. Literary Engineer represents the idea that I don’t want to just write books—I want to engineer reading experiences. I want my readers to feel as if they’ve been on an emotional journey with my characters. It’s also a unique title, representing my desire to think outside the box and try new things in my novels. You never know exactly what you will get with each new book I publish.

In my next post I’ll start talking about how you use your brand throughout the writing process—from your book cover to your blog posts.

So what about you—have you thought about your author brand?

~ Carrie