My friend Carolina from Carol's Prints was expressing her wonder in having to do headshots as a published author and if branding is necessary and how she feels all squished inside a mold.This inspired today's post.
At the start of my career, I had mixed feelings about this. Rules. Rules. Rules. We are being molded, beaten and shaped to please editors, agents, publishers, readers and more. (I'm thinking there's no wonder writers are so needy!)
I feel that being an author is one of the bravest things anyone can do because, in so many ways, it takes away our identity. (The rules tell us how to write). No POV changes. No adverbs. No purple prose...
A commenter from Roland's blog had so much about rules and purple prose and how we need to write to please others.
I think that having a brand is important because that's how our fans will know us and find us and love us!
What is your author brand? How did you deal with squeezing yourself into that mold as you started out?
I haven't got one yet, but when I do I hope it will be about my words and not about me.
ReplyDeleteMy degree is in marketing. SO it is interesting to approach authordom from a marketing viewpoint. Because like you said in the post there are rules to writing that must be followed. You have to be with in the lines enough to get accepted but outside the lines enough to be noticed (in a good way). How can you stand out while fitting in. It is a fun process.
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