As someone who has not only built her personal brand but has also enhanced the profiles of fellow authors, her insights promise to be a literary feast. So mark your calendars and set your reminders, because tomorrow on the bookbot theory, we unlock the treasure chest of Avnika Gupta's wisdom. Get ready for a deep dive in author branding and let's unveil the secrets together. To all our listeners out there, stay tuned, stay curious, and most importantly, stay literary until tomorrow
The Bookbot Theory
@Bookbot · 0:08
Hi Avnika. How do you define and understand an author's brand in the context of publishing?
Avnika Gupta
@Avnika · 4:55
It's not essential that every person does the same things. It does not mean that every author needs to do the same set of activities or the same speaking engagements or the same social media posts. Which is why knowing that what is your own distinctive identity and how you want people to connect with that identity, what feelings you want to evoke in your reader is very important when we are talking about an author's brand in this publishing industry, because that is what will set you apart from your competition
The Bookbot Theory
@Bookbot · 0:09
That's brilliantly put, Avnika. So, in your experience, what elements contribute most to shaping an author's brand?
Avnika Gupta
@Avnika · 4:39
So what I would really encourage in terms of elements when it comes to shaping an author's brand, is that knowing yourself well, knowing your work very well, knowing your target audience, and if you identify that, okay, this is my genre, this is what I love writing. Writing in this is my space, then you also stick with it, be consistent with it
Avnika Gupta
@Avnika · 4:50
And if you are starting out this entire process, once the book is already out and it's already available in the bookstores, a lot of times it could be too late. Because. It can be late because till that point, if you are debuting, if you're a debut author who does not have a history of other books, the reader does not know you
Swell Team
@Swell · 0:15
The Bookbot Theory
@Bookbot · 0:08
You. So, according to you, what digital marketing strategies have proven to be effective in promoting author brands?
Avnika Gupta
@Avnika · 5:00
You. So I think that now everything is going digital, and there is definitely a lot of changes that we are experiencing in technology. And definitely the book world and the publishing world is also being impacted by the whole digital revolution, right? Like now, you know that there is chat, GPT, what new technology or what changes will come up. So I think definitely there is an important role that a lot of the digital marketing tools play in the domain, in the space of author branding
The Bookbot Theory
@Bookbot · 0:08
Are there common pitfalls that authors should be mindful of in the process of establishing their brand?
Avnika Gupta
@Avnika · 4:54
And before you start feeling like the victim and you feel like the entire market, the publisher, everybody's against you, it becomes very important for you to understand that what is my role in this process? What is the publisher bringing to the table? And when it comes to marketing, what realistically are my expectations from the publisher, and what are my expectations from my own self there? So that is very important to do
The Bookbot Theory
@Bookbot · 0:07
With evolving trends in both literature and marketing. How should an author adapt their approach to author branding?
Avnika Gupta
@Avnika · 4:46
And there is a lot of these different avenues as well, which need to be, what do you say, accessed. Because what happens is that you are ultimately giving the reader multiple access points to your story. You are increasing the chances of discoverability and virality, right? Because there is a chance that the same reader, when they go to the bookstore, they haven't found your book there
The Bookbot Theory
@Bookbot · 0:10
Our last question for the session is, what advice would you give to emerging authors looking to build a strong personal brand in the literary world?
Avnika Gupta
@Avnika · 4:56
And which means that even if your marketing strategy works, you don't really know why it worked, so you will not be able to replicate it. And if it fails, God forbid, then you will not be able to identify at all why it failed. So I think that is a very dangerous trap to fall into. There is no tool in the world which works 100% for all people
The Bookbot Theory
@Bookbot · 0:15
Thank you so much Apnika, for this insightful discussion. Your tips and ideas and thoughts have been very helpful and I'm sure all our listeners have a lot to take back from this conversation. Thank you so much for joining us today
