Today, writing a book, and then becoming a successful author with that book goes hand in hand with using said book to build an author brand. An author brand is your seal, your style and all of your books rolled together to form a name (or a title of a book, a genre, and/or a profile) which all of your readers will recognize you for. Your brand will help you open new doors and plenty of other opportunities in the writing world as long as you do it right. The initial period of building a brand is the most important period, which is why we’ve gathered below several things you should watch out for. The mistakes below can cripple your writing career if you’re not careful.

1. Focusing on title, instead of brand

Your brand depends not only on your first book, but on the books you plan to write as well. If you are writing a non-fiction book, and plan to write more, you need to think of titles that will show, with ease, that you have the same level of expertise on the subject as you had on your first book. If you’re writing fiction, then you should decide on a genre. For example, if you’re writing coming-of-age YA novels with some romance, then you need to let your readers know that they will get a story with the same quality with every next book. On the other hand, if you’re writing a series, you must choose a name for the series that will be easily recognizable, spike interest in your readers, and most importantly, incorporate the meaning of the series title you will choose into the story.

2. Expect promotions

It goes without saying that if you’re self-publishing your book, you need to take care of everything – from promoting your book, to marketing it, participating in virtual book tours, etc., or at the very least, hire someone who will take care of all of that for you. However, even if you’re publishing your book the traditional way, don’t expect your publishing house to be able to take care of promoting your book in a way that will reach the right people. Instead, you should promote your book, and thus, yourself and the brand you’re building, on every platform where you can connect with readers and your peers in the writing world.

3. Ignoring peers and readers

Your readers will review your book – and with that, they will tell you what they liked and disliked, loved or hated about your book. Heed that advice and focus on making your following books even better than your first book. Additionally, connect with your readers via polls, Q&A sessions (where the readers ask you questions about your books and you answer them), or even organize informal chats where you can connect and have fun. Remember, you must be present online, and every post, every comment, every tweet is important.

4. Expect a lot of profit

Your first book might become a huge success, both in terms of getting excellent reviews and garnering a lot of sales. However, might is the key word here and you shouldn’t expect that. You need to make a realistic plan, not in terms of profit, but in terms of connections. Building your brand is all about building connections, and if you connect with the right people, the right readers, and gather a following, the profit will come later, naturally.

5. Following a trend

Plenty of new authors make the mistake of following a trend, thinking it’s a free ticket to author fame. That’s not true. What is trendy today will not be trendy by the time you finish writing, let alone publishing your book. Sure, some genres seem endless where it appears like there is always room for more, like romance for example, but if you take a closer look, you will realize that each book offers something unique. Stay true to yourself and what you will write will resonate more with the readers than if you jump on a popular trend bandwagon, such as writing about vampires or fallen angels.

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Georgina Roy wants to live in a world filled with magic. As an art student, she’s moonlighting as a writer and is content to fill notebooks and sketchbooks with magical creatures and amazing new worlds. When she is not at school, or scribbling away in a notebook, you can usually find her curled up, reading a good urban fantasy novel, or writing on her laptop, trying to create her own.