Rebranding the Author Brand: "Let Your Imagination Take Flight"

Last week I blogged about what the author brand is and shared some examples of logos and taglines I found for other authors online. I mentioned that I was trying to figure out the core element of MY brand. Why I write, who I am, what my books are about ... and these were the things that came to mind:

escaping reality 

imagination without limits 

breaking free from real-world constraints 

unforgettable characters

I initially wanted my tagline to be this:

"escaping reality one book at a time"

Essentially, that is EXACTLY why I have always loved stories. Loved reading and writing. Purely to escape reality. But I thought that "escaping reality" might (MIGHT) have a slightly negative connotation. Escaping reality isn't always a healthy thing. That whole ostrich-burying-its-head mentality isn't seen as a good thing! And while getting lost in a good book isn't always about denial, "escaping reality" may sometimes be seen as just that.

So onto the next idea: Imagination. No limits. You open a book and your mind is free to soar across worlds, real or fantastical. So ... I needed an image and a tagline that would fit together and depict this idea. Soaring ... flying ... a bird! Which goes perfectly with:

"let your imagination take flight"

So I started doodling and came up with this bird:

Cool. I liked it. I really liked it. But I wanted it to be in nice, neat vector format. So ... I opened up a program I've owned for more than a year but have never been brave enough to use! Adobe Illustrator. After a few basic tutorials, and several hours (yes, hours. Don't laugh. It was my first time!), I had my bird!

Then I just needed to add my name in a clean, simple non-serif font (and I spent a while looking through various options), plus the tagline in a font slightly more whimsical...

And there we have it :-)

~  ~  ~

GIVEAWAY WINNER

The giveaway for anyone who left a review of The Trouble with Flying ended today,

and the winner, picked at random by Rafflectoper, is Sally!

Congrats, Sally! You've been emailed :-)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Author Brand: What It Is and Some Examples

I've been told about this author branding thing for years. I've even tried to do it. Sort of. I never had my own logo or a tagline, but I've tried various "looks" and then created blog, Facebook, Twitter, Google+ etc headers all based on the same image (like what you can currently see at the top of my blog). But I've never fully liked any of the ideas I've come up with. Basically, I want a neat little logo/tagline combo that can represent my brand anywhere on the internet. Something that's easy to print on business cards or bookmarks or, basically, any swag. Something I can do in different colours for different situations, but that no one can doubt is mine. So ... how do I do this?

It's difficult when you write more than one genre. A fantasy author could go with an image / font / logo that shouts YOU'RE ENTERING THE FANTASY REALM NOW! A chick lit author could go with an image / font / logo that shouts I'M CUTE, I'M ROMANCE, I'M CHICK LIT! But if you write in multiple genres, like me, how do you show that?

So I'm left trying to find a thread common to ALL the books I write, no matter what genre they're in. I'm left looking at ME as an author--who am I and why I write--because, ultimately, for indie authors it's all about creating a brand around YOU, THE AUTHOR rather than around any of your books specifically, right?

So here's what reading and writing are about for me:

escaping reality

imagination without limits

breaking free from real-world constraints
unforgettable characters

I'm still boiling that down to one core "thing" and working on how to represent it, but I've got one idea I really, really like, and I'm sitting on it for a little while to see if I still like it tomorrow, the next day, next week!

For now, here are some cool examples I found online: