Ich lerne Deustch jetzt. Warum? Because I’m a geek, that why. And if you think this is at all related to Der Glöckner von Notre Dame, then you would be absolutely correct. Also, because I want to be able to end conversations with tchüß! and auf wiedersehn! without sounding pretentious or like I’m putting on airs.
Just do it.
But my desire for polyglotism aside, an interesting topic came up in today’s editorial meeting that sort of sparked a blog post. And, knowing me, it will run on for 1000 words or more, but I think it’s pretty important: branding.
In publishing, the craft and artistry of a “novel” as a concept often overshadows the notion of a “book” as a product. We are in the business of selling books, which includes specific “brands”, i.e. the author. In particular, we were discussing a really talented author who had some decent sales but was hard to “pin down”, so to speak.
Said author wrote a few novels in one genre, then another, was published in trade paperback original, then single title hardcover, etc. Author’s previous publishing house didn’t effectively “brand” the writer and our challenge (should we take this person on) was to figure out a way to, well, “sell the brand”.
There are lot of interesting psychological studies on “branding”, but I want to discuss this tricky idea of an author brand.
I think debut authors have less difficulty with this than most because brands do develop over time. Most bestselling authors have honed their brand to the point where you instantly understand what you’d get with a “Nora Roberts” book (or a “J.D. Robb” book), a “Neil Gaiman” book, a “Michael Chabon” book, a “Robin McKinley” book, a “Haruki Murakami” book, or a “Tracy Chevalier” book.
But what goes into a brand? Voice certainly does comprise a large part of it, but voices can evolve or even change a little from title to title. It’s not necessarily plot or story or even genre. But those of you who have favourite writers can probably find some sort of commonality between everything he or she has produced, be it character trope, recurring themes, or something else entirely.
For instance, I can probably expect a willful, resourceful and most-likely dark-eyed and blonde young woman in Philip Pullman’s novels. I can probably also expect a slightly old-fashioned voice and contemplation (subtle or not) of religion. Robin McKinley writes lush fantastic settings, Neil Gaiman has a wonderfully gothic atmosphere in many of his works, and Murakami is delightfully surreal.
Of course, what brands these authors for me may not be what brands these authors for other people. That is what is difficult about it.
Nevertheless, it is extremely important in selling books. When buyers at chain bookstores look to purchase stock, a well-branded author will definitely stand out more effectively than an author who is all over the place and willy-nilly–that is, forgettable.
However, authors brands can evolve and change. Michael Chabon’s most recent novel is vastly different from his debut, yet there is a certain cohesiveness to his writing. His debut was a sort of roman à clef-cum-bildungsroman while his more recent works have grown more fantastic and genre-like. Yet, he pretty much always explores themes about being Jewish, about family, about bisexuality and homosexuality–these are the elements that brand him as an author for me.
What do you guys think? Do you think brand is as important as I say it is? What do you think comprises an author brand?
An author’s brand is important, but it depends on the genre. When it comes to educational books, the brand is more important than the author, for example “For Dummies” books and “O’Reilly”. In those cases, the brand dictates that the authors for that individual book are good.
Another exception would also be romance. While a romance author’s name may carry weight, I would say the publisher or the series carries more weight in the buying decision – that and the steamy covers/back-cover descriptions.
Marketing dollars play a big role in how well an author will sell, but if you take the case of James Patterson (where its rumored that most of his books are ghost-written and he just slaps his name on it) then that would be an extremely strong case where author is important.
To your last point about what mucks up an author’s name – I would say that has to do with character. If a children’s author was caught in a sex scanadal, that may negatively effect that author. One or two bad books rarely will mess things up, but a steady stream of them would.
-Nick
Your blog reminded me of a line from the Scorsese movie THE COLOR OF MONEY: “Success is about becoming someone.”
I’ve found that even when a writer’s subjects vary, certain qualities come through that brand the work as his/her own. Writers can’t help branding themselves. But some brands always will sell more briskly than others.