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61 " So I suggest sticking to a single author name, unless you absolutely have to break up your reader base to avoid muddying your brand. "
― Emlyn Chand , Discover Your Brand: A Do-It-Yourself Branding Workbook for Authors (Novel Publicity Guides to Writing & Marketing Fiction 1)
62 " The fantasy genre is best defined by its vivid world-building and larger than life characters. These characters often include non-human races, although this is not a requirement. The practice of magic is also a common component of the genre. "
63 " Similarly, when an author switches back and forth between wildly different genres, she also alienates her readers. "
64 " Doesn’t it feel great to have eight ideas you love written down and spread out on the table before you? I’ll forgive you if you took a quick break from reading to do a little freestyle writing, but we really need to get back to business so you can discover your brand and move on to writing even bigger and better things. "
65 " Adventure novels tend to be larger than life. They involve lots of wham-bam and don’t usually require a lot of extra thinking on the reader’s part the way a mystery or thriller might. "
66 " spiritual in nature or clean and wholesome, but the type of reader who’d enjoy my books about angels, love, and family would very much have these expectations. "
67 " identify those expectations, you must first identify your reader. Let’s do that now. "
68 " Whether brainstormed or borrowed, record each exciting idea onto an index card. You’re welcome to fill the index card up completely, or you can simply write the main hook for each idea, before moving onto the next. "
69 " Reading books in the genre you write is incredibly important when it comes to understanding the rules of your genre and the preferences of your target audience. "
70 " if it’s especially hard to remember or to spell correctly, you may want to create an alias that’s both unique and accessible. "
71 " accommodate your reader? "
72 " Blending genres is okay to an extent, because it helps define what you offer, but taking it to the extreme within a single piece or by writing different genres from book to book, you’re really making a huge—and possibly irreversible—mistake. "
73 " I’ve met so many authors who had professional covers, top-notch editing, and robust author platforms, but still weren’t selling any books. "
74 " I recommend against playing music or television shows in the background. You don’t want to let the way they tell their stories impact how you think about your style or methods. "
75 " Women’s fiction is a subset of the larger genres contemporary or literary fiction—it all depends on how you tell your story, and we’ll discuss style more in the following chapter. On the lighthearted side of this genre, you have “chick lit” like Bridget Jones’s Diary, and on the more serious side, you have the works of Nicholas Sparks and—my personal favorite—Liane Moriarty. "
76 " about your writing: Am I okay with…? Swearing or using foul language? Portraying casual sex? Writing intimate love scenes? Featuring nontraditional sexual fetishes or activities? Writing about infidelity? Writing about murder or suicide? Portraying violence? Describing gory scenes? Portraying abuse or other trauma-inducing situations? Discussing politics or controversial issues? Including or excluding religion or spirituality? Featuring a multicultural cast of characters? Bleak or hopeless endings? Always having to write happily-ever-afters? Restricting your vocabulary for your audience’s age level? Now go through these questions again, this time bearing your target reader in mind. Do your answers match? If not, how do they differ? Are you willing to make exceptions to "
77 " If you clearly define your audience and the experience you offer them, you will be far ahead of the game when it comes to connecting with readers, critics, and book lovers the world over. "
78 " Ten index cards A notebook or several loose sheets of paper A pen or pencil A computer or tablet with an Internet connection And, of course, this book "
79 " Once you’ve made the perfect match, go online and grab a picture of that person or character. Print it out, and stick it to the wall above your desk. Whenever you begin a new writing session or whenever you find yourself stumped, glance up at that picture of your ideal reader. Write the story to him, and it will feel like talking to a friend. This is a simple trick, but it helps keep you on target with your brand. "
80 " If you are self-published, can you adapt your outliers to fit with the main thrust of your new and improved brand? "