To Self Publish or Not... Final Factor!

Are you ready to be free of my thought processes? Or are you ready for the factor that is most important to the work you do as an Author? Really, this is the factor that all people, in all sectors, are worried about. This sets the scenery for the image you paint, the image that people remember you by.

I would say that this is something you should be doing, regardless of the publishing route you pursue, and wildly important no matter what. And what I say goes, at least on here, and until some one else proves me wrong. If you've been here for a minute, you now know that I think there are 5 main things to consider when making choices with your work! And I am just one perspective, so as always, I encourage you to look at a lot of different opinions! So what are some of those factors? Cost, Control, the Business-Model, Branding and Timelines!

Who will your reader remember? What is your legacy? What is your statement? Who are you as an author? Why does anyone care about you, over ALL the other authors who have written books? What is your mark on the industry?

Really I could go on and on, but I truly believe that you get it. But just look at the greats, they had a "thing". Dr. Suess rhymed like a goon, Maya Angelou wrote about the civil rights activism, Nike tells you to "Just Do It", ALDI is reasonable priced food and Edgar Allen Poe went crazy cutting his ear off. Not that I would ever encourage you to harm yourself for a brand, but it matters.

Author Brand: This is really about

identifying, describing and creating what type of writer you are and what books your audience can expect of you. Everyone knows that when Jody Picoult writes romance novels with complicated issues addressed in each. For me, I focus on children's books that are fun, palatable, and embedded with potent life lessons. The reason this matters is that it helps to identify your audience, your people and build a following. Then you build on that. All Authors, traditionally or self published should have identified their brand and created an Author's website & Social Media presence to build that audience.

Because you do need to Market your Brand. This is going to look different based on the path you take. So, you'll notice by my page, that I focus on my business brand, more than I focus on a specific Author Brand.

Creating Brand awareness is an intentional practice. Traditionally published authors will be highly-unlikely to have a space to utilize personal branding in the form of a logo, but self-published authors should absolutely consider designing one. This creates a recognizable image that readers can associate with your books.

Putting that brand out there as much as possible is the next thing, which is why it's so important to have your own website, Facebook, Instagram, twitter, Goodreads, and Amazon Author page. You need to share who you are EVERYWHERE!

And in all the things you share, everytime you make a decision, you should be going back to the brand and asking yourself, "does this align with the legacy I want to leave behind?" That's a pretty powerful question to ask yourself.

And the trickiest part of that is asking yourself, "does my publisher align with the legacy I want to leave behind?"

If the answer is no, then you may be on a path similar to me. The day I asked myself that question was the day I began planning Dreambuilt books. My legacy was stunted by their legacy. And selfishly, I want my own legacy.

That is how I branded Dreambuilt Books. Books built on a dream and written with purpose. We are invested in people: people who read, people who write, people who read to people and even people who don't really read but maybe have dream. Pretty soon here, I'm going to break into publishing other people, and on that day, I plan to invest in Authors again, and I cant wait to share how I'll do that!

Some day, my legacy will be strong books from strong authors for strong kids.

So if you made it to the end, props to you. I hope you gained something. And I ask you, who are you as an author? What is your brand? And I dare you, yes, I dare you to share it in the comments for the 2 followers to read!

Even more so, I dare you to evaluate what you want from publishing

and take it.

Follow my stories on FB/IG/TW: @dreambuiltbooks

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