Promotion: Be Your Brand

These last few weeks have been building towards making your brand. What is it about branding that is so special? Well, think about it. The big companies would be doing it if there wasn’t something to it. There’s consistency. There’s promotion recall. There’s reliability. What they provide becomes commonplace - in a very good way.

Consistent - time and time again, they provide you with a product that has repeatability. Let’s think of some manufacturers who have provided this consistency factor. For examples, Thomas’ English Muffins, the same nooks and crannies can be found in each delicious morsel - whether cut with a knife or split traditionally with a fork. Same goes with your favorite author. The reason they are your favorite is the fact that you can pick up any one of their books and get the same great character development, plot structure, etc.

Promotion Recall - I’m sure while watching the Super Bowl there are those commercials that you will just remember forever. Maybe that could be “Make 7 … Up Yours”, or the sexually charged GoDaddy.com girls, “Bud-Wis-Er”, or the car commercials that make everyone desire that one item that would cost a lifetime to pay off like the GT500. Perhaps you don’t remember the entire commercial, line-for-line or scene-for-scene, but you connect that with the entity. This is what you should be striving for in your promotions. I know, you don’t have a team making hundreds-of-thousands of dollars to market and promote, but that shouldn’t stop you! Because of that you should be working harder… I know, simple right? Hardee-har-har.

Our books are unique to us so we have to find our own unique ways of marketing them it. Catalyst, is a WWII spy thriller with an aviation theme, so I have unique opportunities with it that I don’t have with my other books. I have had signings at air shows, gun shows (and yes, regular book stores too!)
I have also made up book markers that have the different WWII aircraft from the book on them along with my website and I have WWII memorabilia on my signing table to attract attention. Marketing along with branding is your own voice out there among the choir of writers. You have to sing your own distinctive song to be heard.
-- Paul Byers, author of Arctic Fire and Catalyst.

Reliability - Don’t confuse this with Consistency, as I suppose it could be taken, but being reliable is important. As stated back in the Social Media post of week two, people want to interact with you on a reliable basis. That could be reading your blog, that could be seeing new books, that could even be as simple as responding to their emails/DM’s. People want to know that if they are putting time into you, that you will reciprocate in part for them when duty calls - nothing short of proper customer service.


Unfortunately I’m beginning to sound like corporate America, but more often than not this is what people rely on. Don’t fret though, the word ‘indie’ is certainly making its presence known. With names like J.A. Konrath and Amanda Hocking, the brand that they are creating has been rocking the boat of the traditional publishing world. Being able to control your market through the branding of your product opens doors to what can be greener pastures. Hey - I buy generic, my local market e-muffins have the same tasty nooks as the ones that are double and triple the price. Just remember: the indie, less commercialized ones aren’t always worse, they’re just the ones least readily seen.

Be consistent. Be recalled. Be reliable. Be your brand.