Comments on: MARKETING MATTERS: More Blogging About Branding

By: Karen robbins

Karen robbins — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 23:57:30 +0000

I had an interesting conversation with my sister-in-law yesterday who has inherited her father’s collection of Louis L’Amour books. When I said I thought he just wrote Westerns, she began telling me about all the other great books he wrote that aren’t westerns. I would never have picked up a L’Amour book because I don’t like reading westerns. but now I’m interested in seeing what else he wrote. His “brand” has kept me from reading him.

All that to say I think branding can work for you and against you.

By: Steve Laube

Steve Laube — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 15:54:38 +0000

If I may, I would like to clarify my snarky remark made to Andrea about branding. I was referring to a fascinating book by Jonathan Salem Baskin called BRANDING ONLY WORKS FOR CATTLE: The New Way to Get Known (and drive your competitors crazy) – published September 2008. It does not mean that I don’t think branding is important, I just think too much of made of it too early in a writers career.

Kathleen, your last paragraph above, distills the exact meaning of branding. It is something you grow into. I have found that too many writers, with good intentions, begin to worry about this issue too early. They have attended a writers conference and heard the “branding buzz” and then are motivated to find theirs. Truly I think this is energy that could be directed elsewhere.

Steve Laube
The Steve Laube Agency

By: Lynn Rush

Lynn Rush — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 17:26:16 +0000

Hi. I’ve enjoyed your branding posts. Very helpful. As an umpubbed writer I feel like I’ve grown into a brand a little more with each book I’ve written. Thanks for these posts.

By: NikoleHahn

NikoleHahn — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 15:49:54 +0000

My main brand is christian-fantasy. However, I still dally in Christian-romance-suspense from time to time. Bonnie Grove says go with what my passion is, and I have to say my passion is Christian-Fantasy. Eversince reading and watching Narnia and Lord of the Rings, I am entranced at how they hid the message of Christ.

By: Teri D. Smith

Teri D. Smith — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:24:00 +0000

I agree that a brand is something you grow into. Sometimes even certain tools of the craft, as you learn them, may play a role in the road an author takes. Some questions I now ask my characters has nudged my writing to the contemporary romantic suspense genre. A “strong women, desperate times” theme emerged.

By: Michelle Ule

Michelle Ule — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 13:41:19 +0000

After I’d written four (unpublished) novels, I realized themes kept turning up. There’s always music, a pregnant woman, family loss and ironic humor. I also can’t write straight comedy–it always goes deeper. So what sort of “brand” would that make my writing?

Contemporary women’s fiction.

Sometimes after you’ve written a “body” of work, you can look back (just as you can look back and see how God worked in your life) and recognize a pattern. It’s probably helpful to review what you’ve written to see the direction you may be headed in.