My wonderful husband is currently studying Dreamweaver so he can build me a new website.
This is one of the photos I’ve chosen for it. I want to incorporate both Celtic and Roman-British images, since my first two historicals take place in those cultures.
Another thing I’ve been thinking of is my “brand”. I hear this constantly in the world of publishing. What is your brand? How are you going to market yourself? How many people do you have ready to go out and buy your book when it’s published? Will they talk about it it? Will you Twitter?
So, in between working with my wonderful crit partner Melissa to get my Genesis novel revised yet once again, I am trying to come up with a brand or a tag line for myself that characterizes my writing and my books. And it’s hard!
I’m a member of several online writer forums and some of these authors have the coolest brands. Some of my favorites:
Kathleen Y’Barbro – “Fiction With a Southern Accent” – www.kathleenybarbro.com
Marcy G. Dyer – “Roller Coaster Suspense” – www.rollercoastersuspense.com
Janice Hanna Thompson – “Love, Laughter, and Happily Ever Afters” – www.janicethompson.com
Rachel Wilder – “Romance With Old World Charm” – www.rachelwilder.net
Ane Mulligan – “Southern Fried Fiction” – www.anemulligan.com
and my personal favorite: Camy Tang – “Romance With a Kick of Wasabi” – www.camytang.com
I’ve come up with a couple ideas but nothing that grabs you like these tag lines I’ve mentioned. I’ve thought of History Unveiled. But that seems rather dull. How about Sword and Spirit? Nah, not quite right. See? It’s hard.
Maybe somebody out there could come up with a bright idea for me?
No bright ideas here. My bulb is on the fritz. Your photo selection is an excellent choice. It fills me with curiosity and gets my imagination revved up.
I am confident you will come up with the perfect brand. Let me know if you jump on board the Twitter train.
Kim
Thank you for the mention. Rose McCauley pinned my brand on me, and it perfectly described what I write! Don't be too quick to brand yourself. I'd been writing for about 5 or 6 years, and on my 4th manuscript before being branded. And Southern-fried fiction was the common denominator in all of them. You want to be sure it's YOU, and be sure it describes your writing. And you want it to be unique. But you're thinking along the right path with Sword & Spirit. 🙂
Thanks for the mention, Renee. I'm so glad you like my tagline.
I just did this! I've actually been thinking about it for over a year.
I was nursing Marshall a few weeks ago(wonderful thinking time when you can't do anything but stare at a cute baby) and I realized what was the same about all my stories (I have 4 written so far and tons in my head)– My characters do not believe they are worthy of love. I've also been told be 2 others that I have emotionally intense romances, and I now know what I want to get across with every story, and why I write them.
SOOOO armed with all that, I decided I was going to find my tagline with these thoughts. I brainstormed (and used the thesaurus a lot!) with 2 friends over several days (they decided to figure out their tag lines with me) and we shot emails back and forth.
Mine is "Reviving Romantic Hope" –and I just "plotted" out the sequels to the book you are reading and whaddaya know, they both fit. I know I've got the right one.
So what is the common denominator in EVERY story you've written AND want to write. But Ane is right, don't be too quick. Throw around stuff. Think about it for awhile. When that 3 word phrase came to my mind it was just an "aha, finally, that is absolutely it" BUT then I threw it out to the 2 people I was brainstorming with without any comment and the reaction from them was "That is IT!" If you don't come up with something that says "That's IT!" then just sit on what you have so far and let the "boys in the basement" work on it.
If you can't come up with something, definitely don't worry at all about it. Don't tag youself unless you know it will work forever for you. It's better to be untagged until you know your writing well enough.
But I highly recommend brainstorming with a few people. Are there others that have read your work that also want to find their tags? The three of us each described in long form what we believed we wrote, we'd all read each other's work, and tossed out our ideas, but I know I wouldn't have done it so fast or as easily without them throwing tag lines at me, for me and me shaking my head going–that's not it, I don't like it for this reason. So, I'd tell them that, and we'd play around again.
Great ideas, Melissa. I'll be thinking. And I think yours is perfect! Nice alliteration and flow. 🙂