Time to put your brand through its paces by asking the hard questions. Use many dazzling verbs and few modifiers. Get as granular and concrete as possible.

• What makes you and your writing unforgettable? (On your best day, how would a stranger remember you?)
• What is your brand story? (Summarize your history and your work in fifty to seventy-five memorable words.)
• What benefit does your writing offer to readers, publishers, vendors, and pop culture? (List your work’s unique and indelible qualities.)
• Describe your perfect audience. (Stipulate age, gender, region, habits, education, etc.)
• Identify your best allies. (Who are the colleagues and leading genre voices who might help?)
• What are your prohibitions? (List four to six things that categorically, instinctively do not fit your brand.)
•  Predict your ideal future. (How will your books change the world over the next few years?)
• Spitball some ideas for a unifying brand metaphor. (List thematic/symbolic slants applicable to your brand.)

Take time to answer these honestly and precisely. And when you’ve finished, store a copy somewhere. You’ll come back to these answers as your brand evolves, and they will prove illuminating in the long game.

© 2016 Damon Suede & Heidi Cullinan, All Rights Reserved