The Case of the Missing Brand Identity

It was a dark and stormy night.

Wait…that’s not right.

Once upon a time, there was a writer who…

Nope. I’m not a mystery writer, y’all. But here’s what I am: an indie author who has spent hundreds of dollars and countless hours in workshops and seminars and courses learning about branding and marketing and all that jazz. I know all the principles by now, but nothing has really clicked for me.

After a discussion with a fellow indie author, I realized that I still don’t have a solid brand identity or brand authority. Oh, sure, I’ve done all the exercises to try and find this enlightenment. I just…don’t have it.

One thing I know for sure is that I am the Writing Pirate. I’ve talked before about what this means. I’m pro-self-publishing, break genre conventions, and write about topics people like to dance around. But, uh, that doesn’t help me much with my marketing strategy and brand identity.

What am I an authority on? Well, I’m on my way to being a solid authority on pirates. I write a lot about writing, grammar, and the English language. I’m, like, really great at Harry Potter and Disney trivia.

I asked some of my writing friends what they thought an overarching theme of my authority and identity is. They know me personally and they know my books. The answer was: feminist, sex-positive fiction.

I like this. I can lean into this. I definitely don’t run out of things to say about feminism, intersectionalism, and sex positivity. But…how does that translate into my actual marketing without feeling scripted and forced?

Another friend of mine is a marketing guru. She pointed out that I’m an authority on lots of things: my health and mental health issues, my pregnancy, my dogs and rats. And when I do post about personal stuff, people seem to enjoy it.

I ran some polls in my stories recently to see what people wanted to see more of. The two top things were more about my writing process and personal stuff, like fibromyalgia and eating disorder recovery. Writing memes were a popular choice, too, and book reviews were also liked by most people.

Now I’m not so worried about running out of stuff to post about. I think it will be easy for my feminist self to shine through authentically through these topics. I think.

I’m not sure this mystery has a conclusion yet. I’m four years into the author life, and I’ve come a long way. Still, I’m heading into 2021 with a, if not a roadmap or a GPS, some printed-out Mapquest directions. We’ll see where I end up.

~Krystal