• Branding,  Challenge,  publishing

    Accidental Branding…

    Happens to Most Writers… Pretty simple how it happens. You end up with a logo or a certain look or on a series of books. You are doing it because it looks cool and to tie your books together, which is a basic form of branding for sales. All fun and if you let it slip or change it down the road, the brand is gone. But what most writers don’t know or seldom think about is the increased value of their copyright, their trademark, their brand caused by doing something that simple. Granted, most writers worry  bout how many sales they are making month-to-month and nothing about creating value…

  • Branding,  Challenge,  Kickstarter Campaign

    Branding… An Example

    Not Sure Where This Will Fit In the Series of Branding… But I wanted to talk about a branding example at a middle level. Big level is things like Barbie, G.I. Joe, Toy Story, and so on. They grew from small and middle into monsters. The brand has items for sale everywhere in every form imaginable. Small levels are something like a new fantasy series with a small Kickstarter and a growing audience. No web site yet for the series, no Shopify store, no merchandise. Just books in a series branded to look similar. That is the base level. But that middle ground is where all the fun happens. For…

  • Branding,  Challenge,  workshops

    12 HOURS LEFT…

    TWO GREAT WORKSHOPS WILL VANISH… The two special workshops that are in the Ghost of a Chance Kickstarter will never be available anywhere else in 12 hours. And they are both great classes. So only 12 hours left get them (plus you get the five books as well to read.) The Kickstarter ends at 7pm Thursday evening West Coast Time. Here are the two special workshops in the Ghost of a Chance Kickstarter. — FINDING YOUR READER This is about branding. This is a special three-week workshop on how to find the readers for the books you wrote. In essence, what this entire campaign is all about. This class will talk…

  • Branding,  Challenge,  workshops

    2 Days Left To Get Classes

    GHOST OF A CHANCE KICKSTARTER ENDS IN TWO DAYS…. The two special workshops that are in the Kickstarter will never be available anywhere else. And they are both great classes. So only two days to get them (plus you get the five books as well to read.) Here are the two special workshops in the Ghost of a Chance Kickstarter. I am going to have a blast doing these. — FINDING YOUR READER As I have been doing for for nights now on this blog, this is about branding. This is a special three-week workshop on how to find the readers for the books you wrote. In essence, what this entire…

  • Branding,  Challenge

    Fiction Branding… Part 16

    More On Branding To… Four branding posts in a row.  I am sort of focused on it at the moment, more than ever. Great stuff happening coming out of the Licensing Expo last month, so that might be the reason. (grin) Two major areas of branding I did not talk about in the last few posts are “branding to setting” and “branding to character. Both are major items in helping both branding to readers and branding to other businesses. In fact, character can often be a major part of branding deal from business to business. But at the same time, setting and world in other business deals. For example, there…

  • Branding,  Challenge

    Branding… Part 15

    What Do You Brand To?… I got that question a few days back and it took me a while to really think about it. My first reaction was to say you brand to genre or sub-genre. Then I realized that was just one focus of a brand to get readers, so was the answer that you brand to attract readers? Well, yes, sort of, at times, sure, nope, maybe… Turns out the question was a great question. And there is just not one answer to the question, other than… “It depends.” So let me run through just a few of the really, really basic answers. For all indie writers, we…

  • Branding,  Challenge

    A Five Year Problem… Branding Part 14

    Careful on Trademarks… I know this is going to go way, way over most heads here, but I’m having fun so what the hey… I have always warned about registering trademarks unless you have one of a thousand good legal reasons to do it and are willing to pay a lawyer (you must have one who know what they are doing).  My warning is always on the back end, all the filing dates and such you cannot miss with a registered trademark. (Just as with copyright, registering trademark is optional. You don’t need registration to own and control copyright or trademark.) Copyright is the most overlooked area of IP by…

  • Brand,  Branding,  Challenge,  Fun Stuff

    Fiction Branding… Part 13

    Branding Is Fun!! No clue if any of these branding posts go into any kind of order. I will figure that out down the road if I decide to do something with them. At the moment I am just learning and thinking. I realized a while back that branding a series was fun in a bunch of ways. Ways that hit me where I write and live, actually. I realized this when I found myself doing a “chart” of a brand on a series. (More like a rough spreadsheet.) Not anything for public consumption or a sales tool to a licensee. Just sort of me, for fun, keeping track of…