Authors must brand their stories

ENOLE DITSHEKO | Friday February 4, 2011 00:00

Now authors must identify their unique selling points and recommend that to the publisher as part of the marketing strategy for the book to succeed.

When authors receive quarterly payout in royalties; it means that they have done more than leaving a good manuscript in the hands of the publisher.

When officially opening the 2011 Writer's Digest conference last Friday, publisher and literary agent, Richard Curtis said the e-book in particular, has led authors and traditional publishers to go the route of marketing communication because the newer business industry is fast growing at alarming rates to threaten the survival of the book publishing, if it remained in its old-fashioned mode of operation. 'Part of the paradigm shift in today's book business is the relationship between author and publisher.

There is no question that the burden of financing the book project is borne and felt by the author, something that never used to be the case,' explained Curtis.

Authors today must in addition to having their books published by a major house, invest in marketing themselves through websites, blogs and other ways to maximize sales and grab the attention of the curious reader.

'We all are in the media race -- writers, agents and publishers and we must add value to the relationship if books must remain relevant and succeed against e-book.

Much as most writers hate literary agents -- these are very useful marketing specialists who know what the book industry needs in order to thrive; they can help authors with promotional campaigns including exploiting social media of twitter, facebook, linkedin and others that we never had to worry about before,' Curtis emphasized. 

Today's publishing landscape, which continues to experience competition posed by the diverse and innovative technologies of putting out book content in savvy means in both interactive and portable electronic book (e-book) formats such as kindle, ipad and ipod -- the author is expected to come up with a robust marketing and book promotion plan to complement the publisher's.

The fashionable expression is 'brand yourself as a writer' in this increasingly competitive industry.

'No matter what you write, you're writing for a community of readers -- a group of people bound together by a common interest, passion or value.

Many of us are crafting work that we believe will appeal to community members, but are falling woefully short in getting their attention once the work is done.

Succeeding in that particular endeavour takes an understanding of both what that community really wants as well as how to make them aware of your own personal brand and what it means for them,' Dan Blank of Demand Media, pointed out blankly. 

Blank reminded writers that their brand is their stories, and they must be told in the most gripping manner that they engage the world, a sure way to connect with mass audiences. Brand always defines purpose and it certainly communicates value in a clear and consistent manner that one's story is recognized from the rest in the same way photos of individuals cannot be confused for someone else. 

Today's publishers and authors must worry even about how to securely protect their end-products from being invaded by 'e-thugs', who can tap into sources made possibly accessible by the internet and pirate huge volumes of intellectual property to circulate at exorbitant fees, when the author and publisher do not even know of it.

The e-book industry is estimated to worth $100 million with printing houses for self-published authors raking a greater portion of the loot, while traditional publishers are in their slumber.

Writers were reminded to always bear in mind that in branding stories to bolster their reputational image -- it is relevant always to assess one's experience across the writing spectrum and fairly place oneself, where truly you belong.

'For instance, the longer you've been writing the more experienced you might be and thus likely to build a more believable credibility,' he stated.