Is Self Publishing Still A Stigma?

Literary Karaoke? Really??

I read the Huffington Post article going around the past couple of days and it made me pause. Sort of dumbfounded really.

It's no secret that I want a traditional publishing contract. It's a dream of mine to be on the shelf at Target. BUT I absolutely LOVE having my indie career. I will NEVER EVER stop self-publishing. So when another author sent me the article, I about choked on my RED HOTS!

I'm assuming I have had my head buried in the sand over the past few months because I was under the assumption that agents (or at least the agents I'm working with) are really embracing the indie author. AND a lot of traditional authors are either publishing both ways or dumping their agents and going indie.
And hearing that some authors have an all out campaign against indie authors, it made me sick.

Indie authors work much, much harder than traditional authors. I'm NO WAY putting down traditional authors, but I know a ton of them and I can tell you that hands down I do WAY more for my career than they do.

1) I attend conferences just like them.
2) I have book marks, tote bags, business cards, author swag just like them.
3) I have print books just like them. And I get the final decision on my COVER, not like them!
4) I have ebooks just like them. Though I get to set my price to the market, not like them!
5) I tweet just like them. Only I'm on several tweet teams to get my name out there!
6) I'm on Goodreads just like them. I connect with my readers on a personal level!
7) I blog just like them. Only I pay it forward without expecting anything in return!
8) I'm on Facebook just like them. Only I'm on Facebook a lot more working on my marketing!
9) I write one word at a time to make a novel just like them. And PUBLISH four-five novels a year $, not like them!
10) I have book signings just like them.

What I have that they don't:
1) A STREET TEAM of readers that would do anything for me!
2) A GREAT group of blog followers.
3) I market way more than them!
4) I promote way more than them!
5) I keep my title!
6) I'm hungry! I want to connect with my readers.
7) I set my own deadlines.
8) I control my career. Plan and simple.

Will all the things I do stop once I have a traditional novel? NO! I know the value of hard work on the marketing and promotional side of this business and will only make me stronger!

At the end of the day, there are so many readers out there and with the world of ereaders, reading has gotten so popular! There is enough for everyone! Oh. . .a little secret. . .readers have NO clue if you are traditional published or self-published. They just want a great book and great prices.

What's your thoughts? Still a stigma?

Discover Your Brand

Discovering Your Brand

Developing your brand can be broken up into three separate stages. 

If you write nonfiction, you probably are your brand. Nonfiction authors build their brand based on their platform and credentials. Margie Lawson has built her brand on Empowering Character Emotion through Deep Edits. Deb Dixon built hers on Goal, Motivation, and Conflict. Their credentials come from their success as fiction writers, but their nonfiction platform sells itself.

·         What is your mission?

·         Who will you serve?

·         What’s your vision for the future?

·         What are your key attributes?

·         What are your personality traits?

·         What are your strengths?

·         What motivates you?

·         What are your goals?

·         What is your definition of success?

·         What do you want to be remembered for?

·         What impact do you want to have on people?

Step 1: Your Story is Important.

Readers love to hear about you, your road to publishing, and what your life is like. It gives them an emotional connection with you. It allows them to see you are human just like them.

Knowing who you are, so that your media image matches the brand you create, is important. Are you sophisticated, like Brenda Novak, and does your image match that tagline? Or are you a country girl, like me, your stories and image blending together to create a complete picture? 

Step Two: Perception and Voice

Everyone knows the saying, “Perception is everything.” Take it to heart because it is the truth.

Unfortunately, people judge each other by first impressions. It’s just like a book cover. A reader will look at a front book cover for less than 8 seconds, flip it over and look at the back for about 15 seconds, read the first sentence—maybe—then decide if they are going to plunk down the money to buy it.

I promise you, side by side, authors’ names covered, if we put an ugly book cover next to a gorgeous one, you’ll pick the gorgeous cover every time. This principle applies to websites and blogs, as well.

Unfortunately, the same is true behind the scenes. Studies show that a less attractive, confident person attracts attention more than an less confident, pretty person. So always do your best to appear pulled together, act professional, and exude confidence. This includes your behavior, participation, and attitude on your website, blogs, social networks. It also applies when visiting other people’s websites and blogs.

Get a professional picture taken for your author photo. Choose pictures for your Facebook profile that blend with your writer persona. But most of all, radiate confidence! You’ll attract the attention you want and the readers you need.

People will always be looking at how you carry yourself at book signings, conferences, workshops, or wherever else you represent yourself as a writer. It’s important to your brand to always try to look your best and appear professional. Live up to people’s perception of you.

So what does it mean have a persona that blends with who you are as a writer? It comes down to thinking about how you do (or will) portray yourself to the public. Keep in mind your PR personality, you can take my quiz HERE if you don't know your PR personality.

To get you thinking about it, we’ve provided a list of characteristics for you to peruse. Which do you identify with? Pick as many as you feel are applicable to you.

❏ Sophisticated	❏ Country
❏ Suburban	❏ Urban
❏ Sexy	❏ Girl or Boy-Next-Door
❏ Erotic	❏ Matronly
❏ Nurturing	❏ Charming
❏ Responsible	❏ Liberated
❏ Pop-culture	❏ Political
❏ Buttoned-Up	❏ Wacky
❏ Fun	❏ Sassy
❏ Smart	❏ Flirtatious
❏ Zany	❏ Best Friend
❏ Silly	❏ Serious
❏ Dark	❏ Spooky
❏ Mysterious	❏ Studly
❏ Intellectual	❏ Professor-like
❏ Bad Boy	❏ Warrior

     Think about the characteristics you selected. Does your media image match or blend with any of them? Now whittle the list down to the two or three you feel you identify with MOST, and which also blend with your image or how you feel people perceive you. If necessary, think about how you can shift your media image to more closely match how you perceive yourself.

     Sherrilyn Kenyon writes historical under the name Kinley MacGregor, but when she does book signings as Sherrilyn Kenyon, she often dresses the part, living up to reader expectation of her brand, blending her paranormal voice with her look.


     Perception and voice go hand in hand. Voice comes from theme, tone (diction, imagery, syntax), and your perspective on life. It is unique unto you. No one has a voice like you.


     Knowing your voice helps you further define your brand.

Stage Three: Creating your Tagline

Having a tagline will help cement your brand image. Go back to that checklist of characteristics. Think about the image you want to portray to the world, the themes you gravitate toward with your reading selections and your own writing, and other elements of your voice.

Take these elements and blend them together, finessing them into a tagline that represents your writing.

A tagline helps the reader make a connection between the book and what emotions they’ll experience while reading it. Romantic suspense author Brenda Novak’s tagline reads “Sophisticated, evocative romantic suspense.”

Based on the tagline, you know what you’re going to get: a book about sophisticated characters experiencing a little bit of romantic excitement and a whole lot of suspense. When you look and talk to Brenda, you will find she’s a very sophisticated and well-spoken writer. Read her books, and you experience evocative sophistication. Brenda Novak’s tagline embodies her brand.

You’ve got your story, your image, your voice, and your tagline.

So what now? It’s time to put that brand out there for people to see.

Remember, a brand is a product in a market. Think about chocolate…okay, focus here! There are so many types of chocolate to choose from. You might like milk chocolate, but your friend might like dark chocolate. Not everyone has the same taste.

You want to reach the people who like what you write. Your tagline and the brand you create will help you find those readers. Represent your brand on your website, pre-published business cards, blog comments, social networks, interviews or anywhere you may be. It’s important for people to see your name over and over for them to remember you. Seeing a tagline will help readers connect with what you write.

Your brand is as strong as your voice. Embrace it and make the best impression you can the first time out of the gate!

Tell me! What is your brand??

Next week we will work on creating your tagline!

What Is A Brand And Why You Need It

"Personal Branding simply stated: your personal brand is what others think of when they think of you and your work. It's a simple set of phrases, images and impressions that help form a definition of a given person." Branding expert Jenn Stark, Jennstark.com

When working on my upcoming non-fiction novel, Tricked Out Toolbox, I decided to have quotes from all different authors in all different genres and publishing forms. Brand is a big chapter in TOT!

Ask five people what branding is and you’ll get five similar answers. People understand the basic concept of branding. When a customer hears your name or picks up a product, they have an immediate and strong impression of what they’re going to get. Read a John Grisham book and you’re in for a legal thriller with a smidgeon of romance. Pick up an Olivia Davis Mystery and you’ll get a smart and humorous mystery read with enough drama to make it interesting and enough spice to give a little thrill and anticipation.

Let’s be clear, branding is NOT about a tagline; branding is about reader expectation. That’s not to say that a tagline isn’t important, but ultimately, branding is about what a reader is going to experience while reading your books. Author Angi Morgan says it’s like buying Campbell’s Soup or Pepsi. You know you can count on the product living up to your expectation.

In the writing world, I've created my brand as "the high class hillbilly."

I know it sounds silly, but it's funny and easy to remember. My readers remember me for my bubbly personality, swag give aways, and quirky writing style. Your brand is what you want your readers to remember. It's the heart of your writing image.

When you think about Janet Evanovich, you immediately think about Stephanie Plum. Stephanie Plum has become Janet's brand. You know when you pick up her book you are going to be getting quirky and fun, plus the mystery isn't bad either;)

If you pick up a Tonya Kappes (me) novel, you know you are getting a story about quirky families, humor, laugh-out-loud moments, and some tears.

I had pleasure of connecting with Jennifer Fusco, a branding expert. She has a new non-fiction novel, Market Or Die. I was lucky enough for Jennifer to send me a copy!

And it's well worth it. Many authors overlook branding when they begin their careers. You don't realize it, but you've already been branded by your readers. If you haven't published your book, you need to think about building your brand NOW!

Her “Market or Die” Book Tells How to Develop a Brand That Sells “Branding is the other half of the battle to get your books out there, whether you write fiction, non-fiction, self-help or any other kind of book,” says Fusco.

“First you have to write a good book – it is impossible to build a brand if you don’t have a good product. Where the majority of first-time authors fail is not typically in the writing, but in the marketing of the book.”

“While I have been a writer for most of my life, it has been my experiences in corporate America that have enabled me to look through the marketing prism as it applies to books and authors,” says Fusco. “As with a new product or service, you have to have a strategy, a good understanding of your audience and what that audience is seeking or might need, and you have to execute the strategy with action steps that bring the book and author forward into the marketplace.”

Fusco says that today easily 60 to 70 percent of new books are self-published by independent and books-on-demand publishers. Whether the author is independently or traditionally published doesn’t matter; the same marketing and branding principles apply. New authors often believe that when they finish writing their book and have it published the hard work is over.

“But the real heavy lifting is just about to start,” she says. With “Market or Die” Jennifer Fusco is practicing what she preaches, and the result has been rapidly growing sales via Amazon of her book, both in print and e-book. She says what is most puzzling to her is that with all the social media available today, she doesn’t see new authors taking advantage of it enough.

“Very inexpensively you can market your book today using the techniques of social media. FACEBOOK and Twitter are just two of the channels you can use. There are many blogs on the Internet that may pertain to your topic as well, and they can be used to publicize your book and build your brand name whether you write romance novels or want to teach people how they can build a house by being their own general contractor.” Fusco says personal websites are another good way to market book and author. 


The long and short of it is that branding is the heart of your writing image.

What is your brand? What do you want the readers to think about your writing?


Coming on Friday, I'm going to help you discover your brand! Stay tuned!!