A Few More Thoughts on Branding...

Oprah has done it. And so has Martha Stewart, Rachael Ray and even Tori Spelling. In fact, when you think of these women, a certain quality instantly springs to mind because they've done a fantastic job of branding themselves.

Oprah is the wise, personable Earth mother you'd almost feel comfortable telling all your deepest, darkest secrets to. And yes, she also has that powerful book club endorsement that every novelist would love to have.

Meanwhile, Martha Stewart is the East Coast, Type-A perfectionist who could probably frost a cake with a simple toothpick if she had to. Then on the polar opposite end of the spectrum, Rachael Ray is the perky, folksy queen of the 30-Minute meal, and Tori Spelling is the flaky, high-maintenance Hollywood mom/mogul with the annoying wish-he-was-famous hubby that she always fights with on their reality show (yes, I've seen a few clips on The Soup...I'm pretty sure I couldn't sit through an entire show without ripping my hair out).

Just in case you wonder where I'm going with all of this, I'm mentioning this because like the other Chicks have mentioned this week, branding is important—very important. After all, there's a reason why I shop at Target rather than Wal-Mart and sip Starbucks rather than Dunn Bros., a local Minneapolis-St.Paul chain, and that's because there's something enticing about the way these commodities are marketed (not to mention that I flat-out prefer one over the other).

And people inevitably feel the same way about the books they buy and why they ultimately choose one over another. A few months before my first novel released, a friend suggested that I read Lovemarks: The Future Beyond Brands, and it really got me thinking about an aspect of the publishing business I hadn't really thought about—exactly who I wanted to be and how I'd (not just my writing, mind you) be perceived by my readers.

The book says that basically if we don't create a brand for ourselves, our audience will do it for us. And trust me, I'm thinking that's something you'd rather be in control of.

So what is it that makes you unique? What do you bring to the proverbial table that someone else doesn't? What expertise can you offer? What particular flair does your writing have? How about the look of your books, your marketing materials (i.e. your website, bookmarks, Twitter account, the pics you feature on Facebook), what does those say about you?

These questions are all important in figuring out how to market yourself.

Since I write chick lit (or as I prefer to call them romantic comedies in book form), there's a certain girly quality about me, but since I consider sarcasm a spiritual gift of mine, that definitely comes forth in my writing (and therefore, my branding, too). Since a good chunk of my professional writing is about entertainment (movies, music, et. al) for magazines, I'm also known for my take on pop culture, so that's incorporated in the branding mix as well.

So when you say (insert your name here), what do you want people to think of? Definitely something to consider as you work on your WIP.