Branding Your Author Platform: The 5 Things You Need to Do
It’s no secret the book publishing industry is tough. Getting a coveted book deal is harder than ever, and the self-publishing boom means a higher saturation of other people’s books with less face-time for your own.
Competition is even fiercer when you’ve got your eye on one of the Big 5 publishers. It’s not enough to have a beautifully written book; as companies themselves, publishers judge manuscripts by their business prospects.
“Think of publishers like venture capitalists but for ideas,” said author Jenny Blake, in the Pivot Podcast. “What they really want to see is a business plan: who are you? Why this book? Why are you the one to write it? And why now? They want to see a whole section on platform and marketing: how far is your reach? Who is in your audience? How can you demonstrate that this is going to be a good investment for the publishing house?”
So what does this mean, authors? Time to roll up your sleeves and get business savvy. Because the most successful authors out there know that they’ve got to work those sales, marketing, and platform-building muscles.
And the key to all of this? Having a multi-channel brand that lives beyond the book.
The heart of your business — and identity — may be a book, but focusing on an all-encompassing brand will help you visually communicate your authority, inspire further engagement with your platform, and create a meaningful experience at each touchpoint of your business.
We’re proud to have helped Jenny Blake bring the brand platform around her new book PIVOT to life. And, with our first co-created book with famous satirical artist Saint Hoax in the works, we’re learning exactly what authors need to thrive in their thought leadership.
Branding Your Author Platform: The 5 Things You Need to Do
1. Find the absolute core of your message.
We call this the “Creative Brand Idea.” It provides the visual and linguistic guide to your brand — the attitude and tone you will take moving forward. As the lowest common denominator across all aspects of your platform, the Creative Brand Idea is the punchy statement that can be unpacked when positioning the brand, and it influences all design direction touch points. This is the North Star that creative looks to when bridging the voice, identity and experience of the brand.
After researching her existing brand and work, we held multiple workshops with Jenny Blake to immerse ourselves in the Pivot methodology and her vision. This close client collaboration was key to exploring potential Creative Brand Ideas like “Flow Through Change” and “Mindset of Agile Flow.” We finally landed on the one that perfectly captures Pivot’s message: “Map What’s Next.”
2. Design a logo with meaning.
Your logo is the visual DNA of the brand: the repository of meaning that can be woven into other brand design, communication, and elements. As the visual counterpart to your Creative Brand Idea, your icon is the first order of business when it comes to diving into design.
For Jenny Blake’s logo, we sought to subtly the very idea of a pivot into the design. The logo set a meaningful foundation for other elements of the book art, including diagrams and infographics. With your brand being the number one spokesperson of your company, your logo should also take its rightful place on the cover of your book.
3. Map out your current platform elements and how they relate to each other.
Your author business strategy zeroes in on the content you create and the interactions you engage in beyond your book: speaking gigs, podcasts, blog writing, consulting, and more. Take some time to understand your own platform elements, and how they all orchestrate together. With the “arms” of your brand in mind, you can now align them all with your Creative Brand Idea and the design direction from your logo.
For the Pivot brand, we were sure to keep in mind Jenny Blake’s business model, which included multiple websites, a podcast, coaching, and speaking.
4. Make sure your brand is adaptable to any medium.
These days, it’s all about building a versatile brand for a flawless audience experience. Though it depends on your author business model, your brand will likely have to translate across different mediums.
For Jenny Blake’s book brand, a big focus was to make it highly functional and seamlessly integrated across the web, social media, and print.
5. Create a brand style guide.
So, you’ve just built your brand. You have a solid foundation of who you are, what you do, your design strategy, communication style, and more. Everything is topped off with beautiful visuals and and a crystal clear message.
Now it’s time to compile that all into a brand style guide. Your style guide is your go-to place to make sure everything you do and everything you create is on-brand. When your platform grows, you’ll be ready to get started, so the new aspects of your business can embody your brand from the very beginning.
Pivot: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One by Jenny Blake is in stores now.
ABC Design Lab
ABC helps businesses evolve through strategic branding, communications, and digital design. We believe the most powerful brands engage with the connected era: resonating with their audiences emotionally, intellectually, and intuitively. View our work.
