Blogger: Janet Kobobel Grant
Location: Books & Such main office, Santa Rosa, Calif.
We’ve been looking this week at the elements that make a book successful. And we’d be remiss if we didn’t talk about the importance of the author’s brand. Today we’re going to take a look at how that brand drives sales by checking out the author Sarah Vowell.
But first, what do I mean by the “author’s brand”? An author develops a brand when the reader expects a certain, distinct experience each time that person reads an author’s book. John Grisham has an author brand, as does Stephen King, as does Karen Kingsbury. And as does Sarah Vowell.I first “met” Sarah Vowell when I saw a couple of interviews with her on Jon Stewart’s “The Daily Show.” I had a hard time figuring out what her books were about (but then, Jon Stewart isn’t noted for drawing out the details of an author’s book; it’s all about being entertaining). Still, I came away with the impression that Vowell was intelligent, insightful and quirky in how she saw topics.
So, when my book club decided to read Sarah Vowell’s Assassination Vacation, I was pleased to take a look at her work. You might well ask what a book entitled Assassination Vacation would be about. Vowell visited the sites of all three of our presidents’ assassinations, as well as examining who the assassin was and who the president was, the affect the assassination had on the country, etc. It’s a downright macabre subject. But in Vowell’s hands, its told in a droll style that entertains and instructs. Even reading about Lincoln’s assassination was fascinating. I learned tons–and smiled a lot as I visited the sites with this history expert.
But the real surprise of reading Vowell’s book is that I unearthed a community of Vowell fans. Sarah has managed to create a significant cadre of loyal followers who have come to expect an unusual look at history, an intelligent and subtle humor, and a reading experience that gives insight into Americans’ responses to their country’s history.
My first encounter with how well Vowell had become branded was when I boarded a plane and settled in to read more Assassination Vacation. I observed a passenger make her way to the restroom and then wander back to her seat, but she stopped along the way to talk to a stranger who happened to be reading a Vowell book. Both were Vowell fans. They chatted at some length about how much they adored her books, each recounting their favorite aspects of her writing. I knew that I could join their “club” just by showing my Sarah Vowell novel, sort of like a password to a secret club. Hmm, I’d never seen anything like that happen before.
I might have dismissed that as happenstance except one week later I was getting my hair cut. My stylist and I love to talk about books since we’re both avid readers. I started to tell her about Assassination Vacation when the woman in the chair next to me interrupted our conversation with, “Oh, my gosh, don’t you love Sarah Vowell?!” Then she riffed on how fabulous every one of Vowell’s books were–she’d read all of them.
I mentioned that Vowell had a book that had released within the month, and the partially-coiffed woman was out of her chair and scrounging for a piece of paper to write down the title.
My conclusion, based totally on subjective observation, is that Sarah Vowell has so consistently written in a certain style about American history as to become a brand with a loyal following.
How does a writer develop such a following?
- Consistency. You can’t develop a brand by being all over the map. Choose a place to “live” and settle in. I mean, really settle in. Work to develop a consistent, strong voice and write in the same genre time after time.
- Give yourself time. Few writers build a brand with one book. If often takes many books before enough readers find you and form expectations of what you’ll write.
- Don’t disappoint your readers. It doesn’t matter how bored you might be with your brand, find ways to go deeper within it rather than looking for other ways to write that would surprise and disappoint your readers.
Who is one of your favorite authors? What do you expect to experience when you read one of that person’s books? Do you think he or she was intentional about developing a brand, or was he or she branded by what the readers wanted and responded to?
Debbie Macomber! She’s an absolute fave of mine, Janet! I read Debbie as a newlywed many years ago. She followed me to the hospital (in her books) for years during our child’s chronic illness. Without even knowing, she kept me reaching for the stars as I searched the will of Who hung them.
As far as being “intentional” in brand, I think in my own writing, it may be just a coincidence. I never really thought much about brand until I really analyzed HOW I write. I’m unpretentious, down-to-earth, and a lover of Jesus. It’s so much of who I am, I believe it comes out without me even trying! The balancing act comes in when, as authors, we feel we have to change the essence of who we really are in order to appease. To me, it’s not so much about pandering to the market, it’s playing upon our strengths and honing those skills to improve our craft. (And when authors master that, we know we’ve come full circle. 1/2 voice + 1/2 brand = 1 big piece of marektable pie. And that can’t help but be delicious!)
Wow! I’m devouring your words this week! : )
Well Janet, it looks like I’ll have to add this book to my growing list of books. I checked this book out on Amazon and I see she writes about the Garfield and McKinely’s libraries and grave sites which both by the way are not too far from me.
As to one of my favorite authors, Paula D’Arcy, I come to expect her to write about grief, the overcoming of grief whether by her or by others, and people’s relationship to God. I have not read her book “Red Fire / A Quest for Awakening” mainly because it is fiction and not nonfiction which is what I expect from her. From what I can tell, from what little I’ve seen of the book, this appears to be her attempt at Paulo Coelho’s “The Alchemist”. “Red Fire” did win Best Spiritual Books of 2001, by Spirituality and Health but I think I will pass on it.
However, I do think Paula was intentional in developing a brand in her wrtings. She has said that grief is the “work of her life” and the books and lectures I’ve listen to reflect that.
Cynthia, don’t you just know the kind of experience you’ll have when you read one of Debbie’s books? She has an innate sense of the tone her readers have come to expect from her, and she consistently delivers it.
Lori, you’ve touched on so many aspects of branding when you talked about how Paula has created a distinctive brand. When she strayed from it by writing Red Fire, you didn’t choose to go along on that path with her. It’s not that Paula can never write her fiction, but her fiction needs to deliver an experience akin to what her readers knew they would get from her nonfiction.
Julie Garwood wrote for years historical romances and then all of a sudden she switched to contemporary suspense romances. Her characters were less cookie cut-outs as her historicals were, but her voice remained the same. I could still expect her humor.
Stormie Omartian!
I believe she figured out what God called her to write about and stuck with it.
Interesting enough, Sarah has no web site, and she has apparently directed her primary domain (www.sarahvowell.com) to a Wikipedia article.
She does have a hopping presence on Facebook, though: http://www.facebook.com/SarahJaneVowell
And on that page, she features a book video trailer that tells the story of Hawaii in… cake.
Memorable and fresh.
I love the classics, and know exactly what I’m going to get whether it is Austen, Dickens, Hawthorne, Cather or Dostoevsky. I adore George MacDonald, and again, when I pick up one of his novels, I know exactly what I’m going to experience.
For that very reason, I rarely choose Thomas Hardy, Steinbeck, or Hemingway. The writing is superb, but I don’t enjoy the hopelessness of most of their plots. I know what I’m going to experience, and choose something else.
I’m hooked on Robin Jones Gunn’s books. She’s brilliant at creating relatable characters and infusing humor with spiritual truth.
And I think she’s built a huge following for herself by carrying familiar characters from one series to another. Even when she transitioned out of young adult and moved to a series in Glenbrooke, Oregon, she brought some of my favorite characters from the Christy Miller series. I love the little tie-ins she made for Christy fans, but they weren’t so distracting that a new reader couldn’t get hooked, too.
One of my favorite authors is Ron Rash. Whether he’s writing a novel, a short story or a poem you can count on vivid descriptions, unique language and an Appalachian vibe. I’m not sure he set out to build a brand, but I think he has such a stand-out vocie that he can’t help building one. If you haven’t read Serena–do. Lady Macbeth by way of an Appalachian timber baron.
I primarily read non-fiction, but I presume that branding applies there as well. Even so, I have no “favorite authors.”
There are many authors for whom I’ve read multiple books, but after a while it seems they have nothing new to offer, so I stop reading them. Sometimes it only takes a couple of books for me to get to that point.
I think CS Lewis is an interesting study when it comes to brand. He wrote across genres and yet, I believe he had a very distinctive voice and worldview that branded him. I read just about everything he wrote when I was first saved, and I felt like I knew him. I was never disappointed, because I wasn’t looking for genre, I was looking for his worldview, and he always gave it to me.
So while I normally think about brand in terms of genre, I think brands can be based on other things.
Do you have any thoughts on that?
I’m guessing, that most writers cannot write in several genres as well as Lewis did.
I wonder why.
Diane Mott Davidson. Love anything she’s written. Her books to me are like eating popcorn. Since all of her books are the same main character, scenario and involves cooking, I’d say yes, she has a brand.
And now I’m a loyal Julie Klassen reader and I was happy that she’s writing full time now. She has to catch up with me as I’m waiting to read her next book now and that rarely happens. Historical romances are my favorites whenever I pick up a book, but if Julie’s name is on it, I’m interested. I like the time periods she’s chosen, the different aspects of the work or culture, and strong women characters she develops. I would say she has set a standard/brand for herself on the type of book she writes.
No one else is sticking out in my mind right now. Interesting thoughts.
I’ve seen some well-branded authors do so many similar books that the newer ones are boringly similar to earlier ones. I used to love reading Piers Anthony, but have given up on him.
How can someone keep a consistent brand without becoming boring?
One of my favorite’s is Brandilyn Collins. Even her first novel, that didn’t have as much suspense, still held her voice. She figured out that suspense was her brand and doesn’t stray from it now. I would know it was her book even without looking at the title just from her sentence structure and word choice.
The lady can write a page turner like nobody’s business.
Right now, I’d have to say Ronie Kendig is my favorite. Another long-time favorite is Brandilyn Collins. Both are authors with a definite brand.
http:/readgreatfiction.wordpress.com
Right now, I’d have to say Ronie Kendig is my favorite. Another long-time favorite is Brandilyn Collins. Both are authors with a definite brand.
http://readgreatfiction.wordpress.com
Branding is a slippery business to figure out. Each of you, as you comment on what you expect from a certain author, is in essence describing what a brand is. Even though C.S. Lewis wrote in many genres (could a person possibly have more writing breadth?), still you have an expectation of what you’ll get when you read a Lewis piece–a certain intelligence, a voice and a style that only add up to Lewis.
So, yes, brand is something bigger than genre. If an author stays with a genre, the brand is much easier to identify.
Then there’s the question about the staleness that can settle into a writer’s work. I think that’s probably a reflection of the author’s boredom. If the author plops down in front of her computer thinking, “I can’t believe I have to write about that ridiculous character I created on a whim 20 years ago,” that’s likely to show up in the writing. But if the author can find ways to stay engaged and surprised by her characters, that too will be reflected in the writing.
Peter, it’s interesting to me that you get bored with nonfiction authors’ work after a few books. I wonder if that’s because so many writers are writing fast. It’s hard to have a message with depth and insight if you’re cranking out books according to a schedule.
Ah, the challenges of publishing.
I liked “The Wordy Shipmates” so much I had to get “Unfamiliar Fishes”. Vowell is very entertaining in an offbeat sort of way.
I think Sarah’s brand is her voice. That inimitable timbre and cadence — little-girlish yet arch — is what I hear when I read her. In fact, I prefer to let her talk to me via an audio book, as I’m doing now for “Unfamiliar Fishes”. As interesting as her subjects and insightful as her views, I doubt if she’d be a brand, had she not introduced herself to us on This American Life, Letterman and Stewart. Like Hemingway, she’s not just a name on a byline — she’s a personality.