How to Build and Develop A Unique Author Brand

Want to know a secret? It’s a secret about half the authors we work with consider good news, and makes the other half panic. 

Ready?

You already have an author brand.

Make no mistake. People already know you’re an author, and about your work. It might not be a lot of people. It might just be your family and writing group. But people know. And that means your writing has a reputation. That’s all a brand is: the reputation you have as an author, both for your personality and for the words and worlds you create. 

You already have an author brand. The question is, how good or bad is it, and how much did you do on purpose. 

Make no mistake. You have an author brand already. The question is, how good or bad is it and how much you did it on purpose. Without purposefully crafting and grooming your brand, you might end up with a brand like one of these:

• Great writer, bad editor
• Bad writer, but good marketer
• Obviously a huge Game of Thrones fan
• Okay writer, but kind of a jerk on social media

Do you want to be known by that sort of brand, or something equally bad or even worse? No. You do not. To avoid that, you need to intentionally, consistently, build the brand you wish you had. 

So, How Do I Build My Unique Author Brand?

Building your brand (or rebuilding it, more exactly) is a journey with six steps. You’re never actually done with it, because even the most well-constructed brand needs constant updating and reaffirmation, but everybody starts in the same place. 

The six steps to build a unique author brand are: