You are not just an author, you are a business.
Authors are natural recluses. Writing isn't a team effort. (Even if you are co-writing, with rare exception, you are not in the same room creating at the same time.) And because we don't like being in the limelight, MANY authors, especially with the advent of insanely easy self-publishing, sometimes forget that we are more than a writer of amazing stories.
You. Are. A. Business. And that means you have a brand to build and protect. I know, by now you're going, please speak English, Julie.
When you decide what website to use, what email, your pen name vs. real name, your author page on Amazon, iBooks, Smashwords, D2D, CreateSpace, bookmarks, business cards... those decisions will affect (and effect) your brand. Are the images of yourself consistent everywhere? Are your colors, fonts, and word choices consistent? Can people recognize it's you--amongst thousands--by your images, words, logo?
That is all part of setting up your brand--how your readers will recognize you anywhere they may find you. But here is the part of branding that few are told, up front, and even fewer understand from day one...once you choose all that, your brand is completely out of your hands. Why? Because you have put your words and images out there, you have absolutely no control over how people are going to react to them. None. Zero. Nada.
Authors are natural recluses. Writing isn't a team effort. (Even if you are co-writing, with rare exception, you are not in the same room creating at the same time.) And because we don't like being in the limelight, MANY authors, especially with the advent of insanely easy self-publishing, sometimes forget that we are more than a writer of amazing stories.
You. Are. A. Business. And that means you have a brand to build and protect. I know, by now you're going, please speak English, Julie.
When you decide what website to use, what email, your pen name vs. real name, your author page on Amazon, iBooks, Smashwords, D2D, CreateSpace, bookmarks, business cards... those decisions will affect (and effect) your brand. Are the images of yourself consistent everywhere? Are your colors, fonts, and word choices consistent? Can people recognize it's you--amongst thousands--by your images, words, logo?
That is all part of setting up your brand--how your readers will recognize you anywhere they may find you. But here is the part of branding that few are told, up front, and even fewer understand from day one...once you choose all that, your brand is completely out of your hands. Why? Because you have put your words and images out there, you have absolutely no control over how people are going to react to them. None. Zero. Nada.