Creating a successful career as an indie author begins with a foundation of strong branding. As Instalove VIP author, Mia Brody once said, “Our brand is the only thing 100% in our control.” We’ve all experienced low sales due to Facebook changes or Amazon redoing their entire algorithm based on organic traffic vs. keywords. We can’t control the powers that be, but we can control how we present our books & our brand.
An author brand is much more than just a catchy name; it is about creating an identity that meets reader expectations while allowing you to stand out from the competition. To start, I always tell my coaching clients to identify three to five core elements that readers can expect from every single one of your books, such as “Instalove,” “curvy heroines,” or “small-town settings”.
Image from Grown with Hart University! Classes are still available, including 2 freebies!
Branding is divided into three primary categories: visual, content, and marketing.
Your visual brand includes your logo, book covers, website, and social media presence. Consistency in these areas ensures that readers recognize your work instantly as they scroll through retailers or social feeds. A lot of authors settle on a color palette for covers & social media graphics, or use the same unique font for their author name on every book.
(Slightly off-topic rant): A common problem I see with a lot of covers these days is the font(s) in the title. Usually, the issue is the font being too curly, specialized, or too thin. Just as problematic is when the background is too busy, which makes the title hard to read. Think about your book cover not just up close or blown up on your computer screen, but also as a tiny little rectangle people scroll past while on their phone. Your title may look clear in high-res, 5×8” or 6×9”, but how does it look when shrunk down to a handful of pixels? *Puts soap box away to continue the rest of this post*
Anyway, back to what falls under branding… The content side of branding focuses on the experience of the story itself. This means maintaining a consistent steam level, similar word counts across a series, and utilizing recognizable tropes and hooks in your blurbs. If you train your readers to expect a specific type of story, they are far more likely to become loyal fans who “one-click” your future releases.
Finally, your marketing must align with your established brand. When booking paid promotions, author newsletter swaps, or joining author collaborations, ensure they are specific to your niche. For example, if you write sweet small-town romance, joining a dark fantasy collaboration will likely put your brand in front of the wrong audience, leading to poor conversion and wasted effort.
Image from Author Branding class
One simple but effective way to reinforce your brand is to add a summary paragraph to the end of your book blurbs. Phrases like, “What to expect from a [Your Name] book: high-heat, curvy heroine, OTT alpha, and a sweet HEA,” immediately signal to the reader whether the book is right for them. Finding the right readers is equally as important as warding off the wrong readers! We don’t want a small town, instalove, cinnamon roll hero book to have a black and purple cover with a man in a suit on the front. If I saw that cover, I would immediately think dark romance, probably billionaire romance, maybe office/forbidden romance, etc. This is how a lot of bad reviews happen – it’s not the writing they didn’t like, the book just wasn’t what they were promised by all of the outside markers.
On the note of reviews and getting the right readers via branding…
Be careful when reading your reviews!! Everyone gets 1 star reviews from time to time. Don’t read them. Why? Because you’re not writing for the person who hated your book – you’re writing for the 4 & 5 star reviews who already love what you’re doing. Plus, whoever wrote that 1 star review likely isn’t going to buy any more of your books, so why change your content for someone who will never even know you did it?
Instead, lean into what’s working. One of the mile markers in our author careers is when we start seeing reviews and/or social media posts saying, “As with all Author Name books, this couple had an adorable meet-cute that turned into a steamy story I couldn’t put down!” or, “Another incredible couple, written in only the way Author Name can!” Basically, when readers start recognizing your voice, your characters, what to expect, AND having that expectation met.
Grown with Hart offers branding packages starting at $50 and pre-made covers + 3 promo graphics for $45 ($35 for continuing covers in a series). If you’d like to chat with me one-on-one, I’m available for coaching calls!
