Brand is more than a word

Creating a statement that represents your author brand

Looking back at my first post about branding, I identified the brand for my golden retriever mysteries as “dogs.”

That doesn’t seem enough.

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For my golden retriever mysteries, I often use the tagline “Do you think a dog can solve a mystery? Rochester can!”

But that’s a tagline for that series, not a statement of my author brand.

When I promote the series on dog-friendly sites, I often use the statement, “Do you like dogs and mysteries? If you do, I hope you’ll check out my golden retriever mystery series. Ten books and the dog never gets hurt!”

That’s getting closer. The idea behind that second statement came from a reader, who emailed me to say one thing she loved about my series was that she never had to worry about Rochester getting harmed.

That’s a big thing for readers who love animals—they’re willing to see adults and children killed and maimed, but don’t touch the pets! So I try to emphasize that.

But back to brand. Dogs appear in most of my mystery and adventure books. Rochester is first, of course; he’s the co-star in his series, a lively golden retriever with a nose for crime.

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There’s Roby in the Mahu series, a golden retriever. Roby alerted his family that their house was on fire, allowing them all to escape. 

But they couldn’t take the dog with them to their new temporary housing, so Kimo’s fire investigator partner Mike takes the dog in. 

He’s just a pet, though he serves a valid role in the series. He is the first addition to their household, showing them both that they can love, and eventually opening their hearts to a foster son.

Then there’s Hayam, the lion-faced dog who appears in the first pages of Three Wrong Turns in the Desert, the first of my Have Body, Will Guard series. I don’t know where he came from—he just showed up. 

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Aidan Greene has been kicked to the curb by his long-time partner and fled halfway across the world to Tunis. Hayam showed up, I think, to tell Aidan that he wasn’t really alone in the world.

Hayam is an independent dog, as I imagined he would be, living on the streets of a third-world country. When Aidan returns to Tunis with his new love, Liam, Hayam is waiting for him once again, and Liam christens the dog with her name, which he says means deliriously in love in Arabic.

So these three dogs all serve important purposes in their novels. How can I knit those ideas into a canine-centric brand?

Crime-solving canines only applies to Rochester, not to Hayam or Roby. But that might be a nice line to put onto my golden retriever mysteries website. I like the alliteration, because I think that makes the tagline more memorable.

Crime and courtship with canine companions makes every book sound like romance. And honestly, romance is the one genre where I generally don’t have canine characters.

I’m thinking of Canine companions join the fun in adventure and mystery fiction. What do you think? Any other ideas?

Guest Blog from Marjetta Geerling/Mara Wells

Branding: to Pen Name or not to Pen Name?

Marjetta Geerling is a teaching colleague of mine at Broward College, and when I heard that she had written a romantic comedy set in Miami and featuring dogs, I was all in. I've asked her to give some of the background as to why she chose a different pen name for her debut romantic comedy, when she's already published a YA novel under her real name.

The book, the first in the Fur Haven Dog Park series, is under the name Mara Wells. 



Here's what Marjetta has to say about author branding.

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When I decided to jump genres and enter the world of romantic comedy, I had to decide whether to use my legal name, which I’d used to publish in children’s literature, or a pen name. Ultimately, my agent’s advice struck a chord with me: a romance novel doesn’t belong on the same web page as a kids’ book. She talked to me about the advantages of having what she called a “clean brand,” and in the year and a half since I made the decision to use a pen name, I’ve come to see the wisdom in her advice.

A clean brand means that when readers see an author’s name, they know exactly what they are getting. When readers are confident in the brand, they are more likely to pre-order, and pre-orders are good for authors for all kinds of reasons—book buzz, print runs, and the all-important first week of sales numbers. Pre-orders count as sales on the day the book is released so contribute to the perception of how the book is received in the market. In other words, preorders help the book stand out in a crowded marketplace.

You are probably already thinking of beloved authors who genre hop. Mixed-brand authors do well, too, of course, especially if they have a big name. For me, though, starting out in a new genre with no platform to speak of, I decided that a clean brand was the way to go. The next step: What exactly should that brand be?

My agent and editor had lots of opinions, and after many discussions it boiled down to three key words: romance, dogs, and humor. Unlike my actual life which is complicated by, well, life, my brand identity gets to focus on the things that make me happy: talking about dogs, reading romance novels, and wryly observing the world around me. It’s me, boiled down. And I’m loving the experience.

In many ways, branding has simplified promotion for me. When I’m putting together a gift basket, shopping for conference swag to give-away, or deciding what to post on social media, I have my brand key words to help guide and focus my decisions. I was worried that branding would make me less of who I am, but instead, it’s helped me express myself more clearly and concisely than I otherwise might’ve done. The result? I’m creating relationships with readers based on our shared passions, and that feels real and meaningful to me in a delightful way.

Here's the delightful blurb for Cold Nose, Warm Heart:

A poodle, a black lab and a Chihuahua walk into a dog park...

All Caleb Donovan has to do to redeem his family name is take a rundown Miami Beach apartment building and turn it into luxury condos. Easy, right?

Unfortunately, that would also turn the local dog park into a parking lot and the neighbors aren't having it. Caleb is faced with outright revolt, led by smart, beautiful building manager Riley Carson and her poodle, LouLou.

For Caleb, this project should have been a slam dunk. But even more challenging than the neighborhood resistance is the mutual attraction between him and Riley. It would be so much easier just to stay enemies.

Can Riley and her canine sidekick convince Caleb that what's best for business isn't always best for the heart?

I'm looking forward to reading this book and I hope you all are too!

What's Your Personal Brand?

What do the logos you wear say about you? 

Recently I blogged about author brands. We all have our personal "brand identity" as well. What does that say about you?

I’m not a big fan of wearing company logos on my clothes. I feel like if you want me to advertise your brand for you, you ought to pay me.

My students feel differently. As I walk across the campus I’m assaulted by logos from PINK, Aeropostale, and Hollister, among others.

From my studies in marketing and advertising, I assume it’s because they want to feel associated with the brand and what it stands for.

Sometimes, though, I’m baffled. I have an elderly neighbor who walks religiously up and down our street, and I often run into him when I’m out walking the dogs. One of his T-shirts has a huge K-Mart logo on it.

Really? That’s the brand you want to be associated with?

Then there was the guy I observed while I was waiting for my husband’s cataract follow up appointment. He wore a Versace polo shirt with a bright green underlying the company’s traditional baroque twists and turns of gold. He had a round-faced watch in a matching green, the same color as his webbed belt and the socks sticking out of his white Versace sneakers. He had a hard face, one that had seen trouble and was completely at odds with the bright colors of his outfit. The only thing that wasn’t Versace were his white shorts, with the RL Polo logo perched on his fine ass.

I figured out that he was there with his father, for an eye appointment. He didn’t necessarily look gay, from his face to his short hair to his generally straight presentation. But really, would a straight man coordinate his outfit so carefully, down to matching the face of his watch and his socks?

I’m not saying my clothes are totally brandless. I am an outlet and Marshall’s shopper and if I find a polo shirt that fits well and is a bargain, I won’t care if it has a little polo pony on the breast, or the Margaritaville logo. My jeans come from LL Bean, and my shoes are usually Crocs. My T-shirts are usually dog-related gifts or souvenirs of places I’ve visited, and even the one Armani Exchange T-shirt in my closet was a freebie given out when a new store opened on South Beach.

So I guess you could construct a fictional character based on your observation of me. How about you? Do you wear brands or observe people who do? If you’re a writer, do you use brands to identify your characters?

What's Your Author Brand?

Creating an author identity that readers recognize. 

One of the buzzwords in the author business is “brand.” You should have an identity that lets readers know what to expect from your books. You carry out that brand identity in a bunch of different ways.

1. Establish who you are and what you and your books represent.

2. Use social media, book covers and graphics to reinforce that brand.

I have a problem, because I write different kinds of books, so it’s difficult to put together one brand that encompasses both my cozy golden retriever mysteries (straight hero, no sex or violence on the page) and my gay mystery and romance novels (gay protagonists, with occasional vivid sex scenes that reinforce the plots).

My advice to new writers? Establish different pen names for each genre, and that way you can develop your brand more easily.

But I’m stuck. So what can I do?

First, I’ve divided my mailing list into two groups. When I write to the list that is interested in my golden mysteries, I focus on DOGS as my brand. I include photos of my own goldens, cute dog memes and so on.

When I write to my gay mystery and romance newsletter group, I focus on the tagline “Gay men in love and danger.” This encompasses my Have Body, Will Guard series, where bodyguards Aidan and Liam travel the world rescuing gay men from danger (as they did in a recent outing to Chechnya).

It also allows me to promote my Mahu series, about an openly gay Honolulu homicide detective, and my Angus Green series, about a young gay FBI agent in Miami finding his way.

I mix my posts to social media. I figure that most people don't even see them, so if a dog fan sees me posting something about Mayor Pete's presidential campaign, he or she will simply move on.

On my author page, I stick to making posts about writing. These copy over automatically to my personal page, so people see them no matter which page they follow. I'll say things about the technical aspects of writing-- looking for repeated words, for example. Also about my progress with what I'm working on, for fans who are eager for the next release in a series.

/>It's a more difficult balancing act because I'm working with two brands simultaneously. Any other authors in this situation? What do you do? And fans, do you care if you see something about the author's "other" brand?

Did you know that I have a new Have Body Will Guard book out? When Aidan Greene's ex calls after ten years with a peremptory demand for bodyguard services, Aidan's tempted to say no, even though he hears real despair in Blake's voice.

After a reminder that the two of them are in their forties, and that personal protection is a young man's game, Aidan and his husband Liam have stepped back, marrying and taking a staycation at their home outside Nice. But Liam misses the adventure, and Aidan is curious about his ex and the man Blake has married, Latin diplomat Ricardo Levy.

Ricardo is recovering from a psychotic break, and sees danger all around him, but he's determined to attend a conference in the Bahamas where he will reveal information that may have profound international ramifications.

Quickly, Aidan and Liam are at a luxury resort on Paradise Island, watching for danger and wondering if the threats are all in Ricardo's head-or if they are very real.

Do we ever lose the bonds that connect us to past loves? Aidan and Blake will come to a reckoning about the events that began the Have Body, Will Guard series-and learn something about the madness of love along the way.

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