Branding Decisions (My Life in Books)
If you’ve read My Life Out of Books in this month’s Creative Worlds newsletter, you know I’m recovering from being hacked. Finding my feet again will take a little time, but in June I expect to make progress on the long-awaited Story Circle podcast.
Despite the difficulties in April and May, I did manage to teach at the NCWA Renewal Conference, and afterwards went on a week-long writing retreat at the ocean for a much-needed working holiday.
In May I finally made peace with myself over being an eclectic artists. In a publishing world that would rather cram a writer into a genre-sized hole, being eclectic just naturally creates angst. But while I admire authors who can fit into a single mode, I am not among their number.
Storyteller is the term that best describes me. It’s a time-honored tradition that I suspect will survive the current restrictions on creativity. The stories that come to me always include elements of adventure, suspense, romance, history, and whimsy. The way these elements mesh in a story determines its genre. I do align my stories to genres, because I’d like to be read, and that is the way we search for books.
The personal style I prefer is classic Bohemian, which is kind of funny since I am actually of Bohemian descent. The term ‘Bohemian’ has been hijacked to mean all sorts of things, but it first came into use to designate a lifestyle more than a country when starving artists moved into Romani (Gypsy) neighborhoods with a low cost of living. These artists came to be referred to as Bohemians because Bohemia had a large population of Romani at the time (and still does). And yes, my family is investigating whether we are also of Romani descent.
Living a classic Bohemian lifestyle means embracing creativity more than convention, expressing your art in an eclectic manner, and traveling off the beaten path. Think literary gypsy and you’ll have the concept. With my literary wayfarer travel and eclectic focuses, I’ve been trending this direction for a long time now. And while I would really like to adhere to convention, the stories that come to me simply don’t.
So it’s official. I’ll be taking my professional image along Bohemian lines. I’m not entirely sure how that will pan out, but I suspect it won’t be a big jump. This should be fun. One thing I’ve learned over time about my audience is that you tend to be as eclectic and adventurous as I am., so this change will let us be literary gypsies together.
The hardest part about determining your branding is that you have to decide what you are not. I resisted at first but am finally comfortable with taking my professional image the same direction my personal one is headed. I’d rather brand as who I am than as someone I’m not.
How about you? I’d love to know the personal style you most embrace.
