Welcome to my series of articles about the life of an (independent) author. Now, I’m sure you are thinking an author just sits in their office (or hut or cave) with a laptop and pounds out word after word of whatever fantastic story is rummaging around in their head. Okay. Yes, that does happen. But not as often or for as long as you might think. There’s more to an author’s life than just words on a screen. There’s a whole business side to it, especially if said author is independent—like me. These articles will enlighten you about what goes on behind the scenes.
One of the first things I learned about the business side of writing is figuring out your brand. My brand? Um. Isn’t that just the genre I write? Christian supernatural science fiction and fantasy.
Nope. Wrong answer. There are other authors who write in those genres. The question that needed to be answered was: what makes my stories different from the others in my genre? Along with that: what will make me stand out in a crowd? To answer those questions, I needed to take a close look at what I write and compare it to others in my field.
1. The Supernatural Cornerstone
The first thing that stood out was the supernatural component. “Supernatural” is a somewhat broad term that encompasses ghosts, poltergeists, demons, witchcraft, and divination. Many of these stories are frightening, if not outright horror-filled, like the works of Frank Peretti and Ted Dekker.
I will have angels and devils in my stories in some form. They are characters with their own personalities and quirks—in fact, one devil is a form of comic relief who is a few fries short of a Happy Meal. However, I won’t get into the other concepts of the supernatural; to me, they don’t belong. My specific version of the supernatural became the first cornerstone of my brand.
2. The Faith Cornerstone
The next component is closely related: God. There are some Christian authors who write clean stories but leave God out entirely. Others will frame God as an allegory and use a mysterious name for Him. I have chosen not to go that route.
In my Canthany stories, God is called the Three-Who-Are-One. This is not some powerful spiritual figure who can merely be alluded to as God; He is actually God. In the Eric D’Tra’val stories, God is God—no name changes. Because of my faith, all my stories will feature an underlying Christian theme, meaning none of them will contain profanity, sex, or graphic violence. This became the faith component of my brand.
3. The Psionics Cornerstone
I’ve had a fascination with telepathy and telekinesis (also known as psionics) since Star Wars came out. (Yes, I made the lightsaber sounds when I played with the cardboard tube left over from Christmas wrapping paper as an adu… er… kid.) When I started playing D&D, the game had a built-in psionics system. I’ve reviewed various psionics systems from many games over the years, and none of them felt quite right, so I started to build my own. This custom system will be used throughout all my stories, serving as my third cornerstone: a unique psionics system.
4. The Action Cornerstone
The final piece came directly from my critique partners. I was told my battle scenes were incredibly exciting and well-crafted. Because of that feedback, you can be sure that whenever you read one of my stories, there will be at least one breathtaking battle. “Action” became the final stone in my brand. If you check out my site, you’ll see these four components right on the homepage, along with links to the reels I shot for Instagram detailing my brand.
There are other elements to overall branding, such as fonts, colors, and even shapes for a logo. But if you don’t have your foundational cornerstones, the rest really won’t matter.
So, what makes your writing, or your business, different from the rest? What can you accentuate for your marketing and media? Figure that out, and you can start to separate yourself from the crowd.
Author Bio:
Kenneth Bliss is an unabashed nerd, having read hundreds of sci-fi/fantasy books and played TTRPGs and MMORPGs for decades. He turned his sights to the written word to express his love of God, sci-fi/fantasy, and psionics. He lives near a small town in Michigan with his two cats.
Links to connect and find Kenneth’s books:
Author website link: https://www.kebauthor.com
Amazon link to the Book- Canthany Rising: https://www.amazon.com/Canthany-Rising-Christian-LitRPG-Adventure-ebook/dp/B0GZ598XPX
Amazon link to the Book- The Accident: https://www.amazon.com/Accident-Story-Faith-Psionics-Supernatural-ebook/dp/B0FSH7NPPF
