Branding yourself as a writer
According to Julie Donner Andersen, author of "The Importance of Branding Yourself in a Niche Market," "Becoming a 'branded' name is quickly becoming as important for writers and authors as it is for sodas, shoes, or movie theater chains.
So where do you begin?
First, always put your writing before your "brand." Authors need to ask themsleves this question:
What is it about my work that readers love, that they simply cannot get anywhere else?
An author becomes known for this unique point of difference.
What else?
So where do you begin?
First, always put your writing before your "brand." Authors need to ask themsleves this question:
What is it about my work that readers love, that they simply cannot get anywhere else?
An author becomes known for this unique point of difference.
What else?
- Create a niche.
- Choose titles for writing carefully-- consider audience needs and desires. Consider a byline to draw in more keyword searches.
- Name change? Consider a pen name. Remember... even Edgar Allan Poe was once named Edgar Perry. Natalie Portman was Natalie Hershlag... Audrey Hepburn was born Audrey Kathleen Ruston.
- Connect with your intended audience via social media (build your platform).
- Talk about and share your writing. Go to writer's conferences and conventions. Network the old fashioned way.
- Read and share your work as much as you can with as many people as you can.
Possibilities for professional networking
Twitter-- a writerly identity separate from your personal identity
- Academia.edu
- Writer's Network
- Writer's Cafe
- Writer's Bloq: they are after the following three things:
- Editing and serious feedback on their work.
- Marketing.
- Validation.
- Suite101-- place for online journalists, freelancers and experts on various topics. Writers can get paid for posting original content, and the site offers a vast peer network.
- Book-in-a-week
- Writer's Cafe
- DeviantArt: "Their Literature section is host to user-written prose, poetry, scripts, and more. And just like other social sites, you can connect to others and share your work between friends and fans."
- Writertopia
- Scribd: "the best place on the web to share your work with others, and it’s incredibly simple to use, allowing you to upload PDFs, Word docs, or even PowerPoint presentations into online documents that anyone can read. Once you’ve connected with friends there, you can share your work with them, or discover great works by others and share that with your readers, too."