OK—I know I’m a slacker, but hey! My backyard looks so much
better!
Now it’s time for one of my least favorite topics:
Branding. Yep, you’re a commodity. I, as an editor and supposed artist, hate
it.
To be successful for an extended
period of time, you have to have a brand.
You have to write the same genre at a consistent level of quality over
time. Authors who are good at branding can build up a following and put out
substandard quality. Sucks. Like vampires. Anne Rice is a brand. You probably know her brand without me saying
it. People don’t read Anne Rice for the
Vampire Jesus Christ. They read her for
the Vampire Lestat. Though the Vampire
Jesus Christ would be an interesting concept if she hadn’t already tackled
it. Her fans want Lestat goes to Paris, Lestat goes to New Orleans, Lestat goes to New York, Lestat goes to Wal-Mart.
Have you read J.K. Rowling’s book, The Casual Vacancy. Yeah, me neither. It’s not Harry Potter. I found one or two flaws with at least one Harry Potter book, but these were ignored by her fans. Now she’s left her brand. So she’s probably still selling very well
(relatively speaking), but only with hard-core fans.
The Harry Potter fans will forgive almost anything in the Harry Potter
universe. Step outside of the universe,
suddenly, every flaw is visible.
Very few authors have it in them to
be a brand. Goes against the art of
being a writer. Most writers write a
little bit of everything. I write a
little speculative fiction, a little erotica, a little coming of age, a little
. . . you get the picture. And I’m not
the exception. Unfortunately, the first
question most authors are asked is, “What do you write?” A professional in the industry will respond
much better to an author who has a ready answer than a novice who dabbles in
multiple genres.
OK, so how does one, who is actually
crazy enough to want to, create a brand?
ONE (going simple this time): Pick
ONE genre. Really, the most important
part. “I write quality fiction” is not
an answer. It’s
too broad. (And you’re probably
wrong, it’s probably NOT quality.) If your inner artist is
screaming over this, slap duct tape over his mouth.
You’re not sure what genre you
write? Look at your characters and
plot. You’ll start to see
similarities. Consistently writing from
the POV of a bitchy woman in her 30’s?
Women’s literature or feminist literature. Vampires?
Used to mean horror, but now it means urban fantasy. Unless it’s set in 1800’s Germany, then it’s historical or period fantasy. And if you
don’t know what genre or it’s not obvious, the writing had better be
FANTASTIC!!!! Because that's the only way it will get noticed in this media climate.
Second part of branding: consistent
level of quality. This is not what
editors are for, but it feels like it. It’s
yet another part that depresses me. I’m
frequently doing an author’s job, getting their manuscript up to the quality it
needs to be (or telling them they need to do it), because
the author is in a mad dash to make a deadline.
I slack off too (see first sentence of blog), so I get it. Still, when I know an author has it in them
to put out quality material and I see evil words everywhere, it’s frustrating. Honest, I don’t like saying, “Fix this, that
and really, they let you play with matches?”
Third part: Continually doing
it. This is kind of a hard one to figure
out. This would be setting a pace that
you as an author can write decent quality and original stories, but still keep
the fans’ interest. Set the pace too
fast, you burn out and/or put out slacker quality work. Too slow, you lose fans. George R.R. Martin and J.K. Rowling are both
the exceptions. Most fans want a novel
once a year. And unfortunately, if you’re
working for a publishing company, you probably aren’t going to get to set your
own pace.
So, to review: Why do you want to be a professional writer?
Brand:
1.
Pick a genre.
2.
Write quality
consistently
3.
Do it for a long time
Picture
of Emun Elliott, to make me happy.
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