Authors: What’s Your Brand?

 

 

Books are products and authors are companies. Every product and company has a brand. What is yours?

 

A brand is the thing we think of when we hear a company or product name. If I say Nike, you think of “Just do it.” That is their slogan and you remember it because you relate the sneakers to the NBA legend, Michael Jordan.

 

You don’t have to be a Fortune 500 company or a wildly popular product to have a brand. Authors have a brand that consists of several things:

 

·         The success of their books ie bestselling

·         Third-party validation ie award-winning, critically-acclaimed

·         Genre and theme of their books

·         Writing style quality

·         Their persona, look, and sound of their voice

·         Catchphrases in their books

·         Controversial actions, statements, or background

 

One way or another you will have a brand – whether you create one or if it gets chosen for you. Perhaps it is a blend of the two. So, what is your brand?

 

Here are a few things that can impact your brand:

 

·         What customer and professional reviews say about your books

·         Sales history for your books

·         Your level of news media coverage received

·         Your stated opinions and beliefs

·         The charities that you support

·         The company that you keep or associate with

·         How your site looks or even if you have one

·         Your social media content and frequency of posting

·         Your politics, sexuality, religion, race, gender, location, schooling, career

·         What you look and sound like, and how you dress

·         Your logo, tagline, and mission/vision statements

·         Your cover design/book title

·         What you say in your ads

·         How you tell a story

·         Your personality

·         Testimonials, awards, or other recognition

·         How you compare to competing authors in your genre

 

You want to deliver a brand that makes you seem memorable, unique, or better than others. You can’t sound like everyone else, but you also can’t claim to be what you are not. From your emails and videos to the feel of your business card and the look of your web site, you can take control of your marketing real estate and birth a brand that helps you sell more books.

 

Do You Need Book Marketing Help?

Brian Feinblum, the founder of this award-winning blog, with over four million page views, can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com  He is available to help authors like you to promote your story, sell your book, and grow your brand. He has over 30 years of experience in successfully helping thousands of authors in all genres. Let him be your advocate, teacher, and motivator!

 

About Brian Feinblum

This award-winning blog has generated over 5,000,000 pageviews. With 5,400+ posts over the past 14 years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs  by BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs  and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.”  Copyright 2025.

 

For the past three decades, Brian Feinblum has helped thousands of authors. He formed his own book publicity firm in 2020. Prior to that, for 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and as the director of publicity at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler.

 

His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/whats-needed-to-promote-a-book-successfully). He was recently interviewed by the IBPA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0BhO9m8jbs

 

He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. He served as a judge for the 2024 IBPA Book Awards.

 

His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. His first published book was The Florida Homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook.  It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.

 

Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog.

 

You can connect with him at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum/ or https://www.facebook.com/brian.feinblum