What’s in a name?

More than smelling like a rose, I’ll tell ya. It’s taken me ten years, but I’ve finally bitten the bullet and decided on a name ‘brand.’ The way I want my name to appear on all my indie book titles. Obviously, that’s not true for my traditionally published titles. (Your hands are tied, and not in a fun way, with a publisher with how your name looks.)

For many years, I resisted the idea of having one name (look) to rule them all, but I have now seen the light. I get it now. My name is part of my “brand” of being an author. It’s as important as food chains not changing up the look of their signs when they open another of their restaurants in a new town. Can you imagine if KFC used a different logo for every location? How confusing for the consumer! It’s the same for books if you get right down to it.

For instance, this is the spread of my titles before the name branding. You can’t see my name in a vast majority of them. Like the author’s name was an afterthought.

But now, after making that one small change to the books on the lower level (the titles I CAN change) there is a cohesive look. It looks more professional. Cleaner. Intentional.

The upper row does NOT carry my new “brand” for a few reasons.

1. The Twin Flames Trilogy will be tended to…this summer. Wait and see what I have planned. 😉
2. The Hallowed Realms Trilogy will remain as is as it is a joint project and together, we decided on this look. It’s not just my name being branded. You make compromises when you collaborate.
3. The Lurkers Within is with a publishing house which means I get NO say. They have their own branding that they need to stick with.
4. Eagle-eyed readers will notice that Enigma is NOT on this revised list. I’m starting to phase it out of graphics as it will not be available for much longer under that name/cover as it was recently acquired by City Owl Press. My name brand will not be on that cover either, as it’s not within my power to place it on there.

A shift like this takes some planning. Authors need to work with their cover designer to find a font that works to represent not only the author but a font that will work across all the genres they write in (and have yet to write.) Now, you may notice the font I landed on, my name is NOT centered. Usually, that would irk me. I’m a Libra. I like things balanced. BUT it totally makes sense for my brand. I write out-of-the-box stories that are a little off-center. So, naturally, that should be reflected in my branding.

You may notice that I’ve even changed the name on my newest release, and updated the front of book 1 to match the sequel.

The Practice Makes Perfect Series

All that is left to change is the trilogy, and boy oh boy, is that gonna change. I cannot WAIT to show you how!

Writing. It’s more than just putting words on a page. It’s also putting words on covers. 😉 Until next time, my peeps…

Danielle Bannister, author and brander of names.

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