Today’s book marketplace is full of other people trying to sell their work. You’re competing with traditionally published books, vanity presses and independently published tomes. If you want to rise above the noise, you must develop a personal brand that speaks to the target audience for your stories.
Why Consistency Matters in Author Branding
Creating an author image is a constant balancing act between writing whatever your heart dictates and ensuring your fans know what to expect from each book you produce. Many writers turn to pen names to try their hand at new genres.
For example, romance author Nora Roberts also writes suspense as J.D. Robb. Dean Koontz used pen names early in his career to differentiate between genres without losing loyal fans. Some of the names he wrote under include Deanna Dwyer for gothic tales and Leigh Nichols for romantic suspense.
How consumers feel about an author’s brand influences their decision to buy a book. You have an opportunity to build a connection and show your authentic self. Sticking to the same visual elements builds familiarity over time and drives home what you stand for as a writer.
Places to Craft Visual Consistency
Start by creating a style guide for your author career. Determine what colors reflect your writing genre and select a font that sets the tone your books convey. Create a logo and basic themes to go with it. For example, a mystery writer might always have an owl somewhere in their books and could include it in every visual to tie everything together.
Here are the ways you can weave in elements to keep your designs across different mediums consistent.
Author Website
A website is often the first impression a reader gets of your work. It needs to tell a story through visuals and text. Visual cues should tie everything together, whether people visit your site, pop onto your social media page or see your book at an online retailer.
Create a logo and list it in the upper left-hand corner of your website on every page. The background color should tie back to your palette. Even the font you use should reappear on book covers, on your website, and in memes and graphics you share.
Create a template for images so everything you post on your site ties back to a basic style that matches your brand personality.
Social Media
Many authors embrace the power of social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and TikTok to reach new readers. About 60% of U.S. shoppers buy products they see on social media. You can build brand awareness by sharing videos and images on various sites.
Make sure you match the tone to the personality of the platform. For example, if you want to promote your books on TikTok, you’ll need to perfect your video editing skills and learn to tap into trending topics to gain the most attention possible. Spend time on each place you have a presence to get a feel for what others post and how audiences respond.
Appearances and Signings
New authors can get the word out about their work by partnering with a local store and attending book signings. The shop’s customers may buy your books and get them signed. You can tie the visual theme of your social media page and website into your display for in-person events.
Use the same colors, images and fonts as you use for digital branding efforts. The more often a reader sees the same things, the more likely they’ll recognize it when they run into the visuals again.
Book Covers
Readers bought around 767.36 million print books in 2023, with even higher numbers of digital copies trading hands. The numbers fluctuate a bit from year to year, but the sheer amount of authors publishing on Amazon and other online retailers is mind-boggling. If you want to grab readers’ attention and remind them how great your stories are, you must have covers that pop off the page.
Your cover is another opportunity to tie in those visual elements you added to your style guide to build your brand image. Utilization of consistent design is most often seen across book series.
An Example of Bringing It All Together
The Vanished book series by B.B. Griffith uses similar colors and title font, places the author’s name in the same place and features crows in some form on every cover. Sometimes, the crow is front and center, and at other times, he peeks past the title. In one, a murder of crows fills the sky.
The images on Griffith’s website tie back to the book covers, using the same visuals and crows. The web design is minimalistic, but the fonts used and the covers pull it all together. Repeating those pictures on the contact page and a few other places on the site provides a sense of continuity.
The theme of crows and colors and covers repeats on Facebook. Studying how popular authors create a memorable online presence can spur ideas for how you can, too.
Build Your Author Brand One Image at a Time
It can take years of consistent effort to gain brand recognition. Understanding the places and elements needed to create a strong impression is the first step toward becoming a successful author readers recognize no matter where they encounter their presence. Remain consistent, and your book sales should increase over time.
