The Importance of Branding, by Wendy H. Jones

The dictionary describes branding as being a mark or identifier. Something which identifies an object as belonging to a certain person or group. It is a design scheme which allows instant recognition. If I say the words Nike or Apple, what image immediately comes to mind. The name and the image are indelibly linked. As writers, this is what we are trying to achieve with our work.

We can do this in numerous different ways, however, the first two things a reader sees about our books are

1. The Title

2. The cover

I now have three series out and they are all branded in different ways. Taking my Fergus and Flora Books as an example, the titles are:

1. The Dagger's Curse

2. The Haunted Broch (released 28th September 2018)

3. The Warrior's Revenge (due for release 2019)

The titles are all branded together and instantly recognisable as a series. The covers are likewise branded. The Haunted Broch is above and The Dagger's Curse is as above

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I have done a smiler thing with my adult series. The titles of the DI Shona McKenzie Mysteries all start with KIller's. The covers follow a similar pattern and theme. The top half is an image from the book. The bottom half is an image of Dundee.

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This was done deliberately right from the start of the first series so that my books were instantly recognisable. I took the branding one step further by ensuring the colours stood out. I have had numerous people talk to me at Book Signings saying they came over because they loved my book covers together. 

For my third series I have already planned the branding long before book 1 came out. The first is called Antiques and Alibis, the second Blood and Bones, the third a Cluster of Corpses, the fourth Dance of Death. I am sure you get the picture. Book 2 will be out in November 2018.

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My plea to you today is to think about your branding. I know several well known  authors who have changed their branding completely and done new covers for every book in a very large series. This demonstrates the importance of branding and how it can change over time. Major publishers pay a lot of attention to branding and spend time and money ensuring they get it right. It pays an author to look carefully at this and to be involved in the branding of their books. This carries through to the insides of the book of course, but that's next month's blog.

About the Author 

Wendy H Jones is the Amazon Number 1 best-selling author of the award winning DI Shona McKenzie Mysteries. Her Young Adult Mystery, The Dagger’s Curse was a finalist in the Woman Alive Readers Choice Award. She is also The President of the Scottish Association of Writers, an international public speaker, and runs conferences and workshops on writing, motivation and marketing. Wendy is the founder of Crime at the Castle, Scotland’s newest Crime Festival. She has edited a Lent Book, published by the Association of Christian Writers

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