Author Branding - My New Logo

My first book, The Weaver, was published in December of 2010. Almost five years later I'm finally revealing my logo. What took so long? Author branding is harder than it looks.

Well maybe just for me. But I've been struggling to find a brand that would cover the variety of books I have published, while leaving room for whatever might come. Though my current works are all fiction, they span readers' ages from five to eighty-five (honestly I don't know the top age for young adult readers.) So it can't be too juvenile or too mature. My books can be categorized as speculative fiction, fantasy, contemporary, romance, and suspense. I couldn't think of anything that represented fiction beyond a book or a quill and I didn't want either of those.

One thought I kept coming back to is the emotion I try to put into my writing. Regardless of the age of the target audience I try to tap into the emotions the characters feel due to whatever their circumstances are in the book. I love emotion. I always have and I needed to use that in my brand.

Inspiration strikes at the strangest times. I'm not sure why it took me five years to think of this admittedly simple design. Maybe it's because five years ago my daughter wouldn't have been able to help me like she did. All I know is that when it finally struck me (ha ha, that's kind of a pun) I went to her and asked if she could create the image. It was embarrassingly easy for her. When I tried to draw a digital version it looked horrific. I asked her to change the bolt, the color scheme, add a feature and she did it all with ease. I'm really, really grateful. I call it the 'shot to the heart' design.

I created three different concepts of the logo. With something slightly different on each one. Then I turned to my newsletter subscribers and my street team for their votes. As with all votes I have with my readers, the winning design won by ONE vote. The funny thing is, it isn't the design that my daughter and I liked better. So your vote truly does matter. I thank each and every one of you who took the time to consider the options and cast a vote. I also got some great extra input.

At long last - five years and twelve books later - I present to you my logo:


You'll start seeing it pop up as a header on my social media pages and maybe I'll even give away some swag to my email subscribers since they were kind enough to help me choose the design.

Thanks everybody for your help in making this finally come together. I'm super happy with it and quite relieved to have something to work with. 

Cheers!

Comments

  1. Nice!

    Hmm, I never thought about having a logo.... I'm really not good at the whole marketing angle. Sigh.

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  2. Awesome!! I think branding is super important -- you gotta hit consumers with a variety of ways to remember you. Name, logo, catch phrase. You nailed it.

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  3. A very good choice. I love your logo, with its simple message. "I write. You read." And it goes right to the heart. That covers it all.

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    Replies
    1. I'm pleased with it. Maybe a bit biased since it's mine, but it's important that I like it, too. Right? ;)

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