Discover your Brand Part 1 - from the Amazing Jim Rubart

Me, my daughter, and Jim

Sitting in on a class with Jim Rubart is an experience!

It’s 1/3 humor

1/3 excellent writing material

And 1/3 preaching.

And every 1/3 weaves beautiful one into the other. (Allen Arnold teaches this way too, if you ever get the chance to hear him)

In May, I had the opportunity to sit in on Jim’s Branding class and, needless to say, it was fantastic, so today I’m going to share a few tips from it for you. (And I’m paraphrasing because that’s how I take notes usually J

First of all, what is a brand?

                I love some of these answers our class discussed.

1.       Identity

2.       A Visual representation of who you are

3.       A promise you make to people

However, I LOVE Jim’s take on it. He says, “A brand is not what we create but what we discover”

Tweet: “A brand is not what we create but what we discover”

Isn’t that a great thought?!? Have you ever considered ‘discovering’ your brand?

The brand is not what I thought it was! It’s not your books or your tagline. It’s not your agenda or message.

You are the brand.

Authentically YOU!

How does God use your uniqueness to create stories for readers?

God is a personal God. He’s also extremely personal. He’s created each of us in a unique way to fulfill a purpose only we were designed to fulfill. Writing is a part of that. A ‘calling’ upon our hearts endowed by our Creator.

So…..what is your unique sermon that only YOU can tell?

A brand transcends genres and prescribed ‘boxes’.

It draws people in because it’s organically you not what you’re ‘selling’.

It’s much more personal than that. J

So here’s an assignment Jim gave to us to help us discover our uniqueness.

Email 5 people who are close to you and ask them this question. How would you describe me to someone else?

Then email 5 acquaintances and ask them the same thing.

Look at the results. Listen to what people are saying about how they see you. Start discovering how you are unique.

I’ll leave you with this idea from Jim’s class.

Remember what you enjoyed as a child. What you were passionate about?

We forget what we were born to be. We forget our identity.

Satan attacks at the level of our identity because at the core that assaults our purpose.

Rediscover who you are and it’s the first step to discovering your brand J

Share your thoughts. Do you KNOW your brand? How did you discover it?

LIVE! From ACFW Indiana!

Greetings from Indianapolis! Your Alley Cats are late posting this morning since the festivities of the opening of the ACFW conference had us up wayyyyyy past our bedtimes last night. (Though Pepper was up promptly at 7 AM Eastern Time-- 6 my time!)

The lovely Mary Vee, Pepper Basham, and your's truly are sitting here having our morning cuppa and a bit of Panera before the conference jumps into full swing, but we wanted to fill you in--through pictures--on what we've been up to so far!

Ames meeting with her fabulous agent, Chip MacGregor.

                                                                                                 The first Alley Cat arrivals

Ran into the fantastic duo, Lindsay Harrell and Gab Meyer





  Cara Putman was brave enough to hang out with us for the whole evening.

Which involved a chopsticks war AND a pretty appropriate FORTUNE :-)










Jim Rubart ended our evening with his usual charm and wit!








And now...we're signing off to collect more pics. Sending lots of love to our AlleyPals both here and across the world

Amy and Pep brought you this post for today :-)

Assumptions in the Writing Life

We bring our own baggage to the table with everything we approach in life.

This week, I told my literature students that we all walk around with assumptions, many times without even realizing it, and these things influence the way we look at stories. These assumptions come from many places: past experiences, beliefs, values, and preferences, to name a few. I told them to visualize a dog when I said the word, "dog," and then we compared the kinds of dogs they thought of. As you may have guessed, there was quite a difference, depending on their own experiences.

Maybe your "baggage" isn't heavy--maybe it's sparkly pink or has a Hawaiian print. On the other hand, maybe your baggage looks like it should've been retired fifty years ago and is threadbare, barely able to keep everything in.

But wherever you're going, you bring these things with you to the next stop. That's why it's so important we examine the assumptions we are making about our writing lives. These assumptions, in a way, are our baggage. If they're possible assumptions, we may be well-prepared with what we'll need to face the challenges of our writing lives. But if they're the wrong kind of assumptions . . . well, that can do a lot of harm.

Jim Rubart and Allen Arnold led a workshop at the ACFW called "Live Free, Write Free," on a similar topic. Personally I wasn't able to attend this session, but from what I've read about it online, their main point was that the heart of an author is going to affect the heart of her story. You can't help it. Engaging stories--even fiction--have to be honest. That's why, they say, examining your own heart can help you find a way past writer's block. If you want to read the full Afictionado article about this session, it comes highly recommended by me. You can find it at http://www.acfw.com/ezine/article/workshop_10_live_free_write_free/

Today I want to break down three main areas wherein our assumptions affect our lives: assumptions about God, assumptions about ourselves, and assumptions about writing.

Assumptions about God

I accepted Christ when I was five years old. And yet, it never ceases to amaze me how easily and quickly my focus wanders away from the character of God. I don't care if you've been a Christian since you were a child, or if you just accepted faith five minutes ago. We all struggle with having, and maintaining, a proper view of God. But a proper view of God is this:

• God loves you. (John 3:16)
• God has put these dreams on your heart. (Eph. 3:20)
• God has gifted you with a gift that is unique to YOU and a calling only you can fill. (Rom. 12:6-8)
• God desires for you to use those gifts for His kingdom. (Rom. 12)
• God is not waiting to condemn you, but wants for you to live in freedom. (John 3:17)
• God desires for your life to be full and abundant. (John 10:10)
• God waits for you and never gives up. (Isaiah 30:18)
• God desires for you to be confident in His purpose for your life and in His love. (Hebrews 10:35-36)

Thoughts of failure, insufficiency, confusion, and fear, are simply not God-given (2 Timothy 1:7). We have to take back our minds from the control these things have over us. Am I afraid of being rejected by my dream publishing houses? Well, yeah. We all are. But that fear can't keep us from going after our dreams. We need to hold our fear back, rather than the other way around. That takes a lot of will power, and requires us to be conscious of our assumptions in the first place. If you believe somewhere deep down that God doesn't really love you, nor does He care about your story or your dreams, lie can hold you back from your potential and purpose as an author.

Ask God to show you His thoughts toward you and your writing. If you're anything like me, you have a head-knowledge of that, but having it translated to your heart makes for one of those "wow" moments. At the conference this year, I caught a glimmer of what God wants to do in my life and realized it is so, so much more than anything I could plan or dream up. Don't limit God. 

Assumptions about Ourselves

Part of you assumes you can make it as a writer. Otherwise, you wouldn't be reading this blog. But how strong is that part of you? How strong is the inner voice pushing you on?

When you're around writing circles long enough and put yourself out there enough times, you have a choice what you're going to believe. Some feedback will make you think you're about to rocket to the NYT list, and other feedback will make you want to go crawl inside a hole.

Now, I'm not suggesting you only take the positive feedback and ignore anything negative. Definitely not a good idea. What I am suggesting is that you make a very critical break between yourself as a write-r and your story as writ-ing. I had do to this very early on in my English program, or I never would've made it out of there. The fact is, to be a writer, you must be very brave.

People are going to shoot you down. At the end of the day, you have to be able to realize that negative feedback has no bearing on your calling. Of course it's okay to get bummed out and eat one too many brownies afterwards. But don't quit over it. Don't let it go from your heat to that critical place... your heart.

We have to believe we can do it. We have to believe we have a call upon our lives, and that ministry is important. Not to sound overly spiritual, but I really believe the enemy wants us to think we don't have what it takes and we might as well give up trying. That nothing we do will ever make a difference in anyone else's lives, so we shouldn't waste time developing plots and character arcs. But don't we most often find success when we least expect it? You never know what might be just behind that hill you're facing. Don't turn back now.

Assumptions about Our Writing

What do you really believe about your ability to write? About your story?

Dream with me for a second. Can you see yourself on a bestseller's list someday? Signing books at a bookstore? Writing a story that someone will read on an airplane and find a greater since of purpose from?

Why do we sell ourselves short of these things? I'm not just talking about commercial success. I'm talking about effective writing. Somewhere along the line, after getting a certain number of rejections and/or harsh criticism, we learn to be cautious. But the writing life is so not a safe career. Don't let these kinds of commends leak over into your perspective about your ability to write. Protect your writing voice.

If you knew that one year from now, your book would be a bestseller, what would you be doing differently today to prepare for that? Start doing it. Whether it's reading more books on the craft, learning the mechanics of grammar, networking with industry professionals, or spending more time in prayer--take your writing seriously. Serious goals take serious output on our part to achieve, but they can be done.


How might assumptions affect the way we write? What sorts of assumptions do you have about your own writing life?

*Photos from http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1397457,

***********************************************************************************************************************************

Ashley Clark writes romance with southern grace. She's dreamed of being a writer ever since the thumbprint-cookie-days of library story hour. Ashley has an M.A. in English and enjoys teaching literature courses at her local university. She's an active member of ACFW and runs their newcomer's loop. When she's not writing, Ashley's usually busy rescuing stray animals and finding charming new towns. You can find Ashley on her personal blog, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. She is represented by Karen Solem.

Branding: An (Almost) Simple Explanation with Jim Rubart

Had the chance to meet Jim Rubart at ACFW 2011!

Want to confuse yourself? Ask ten friends—or marketing people— to define branding. I predict eight to ten different answers.

My mission—which I’ve obviously chosen to accept—is to give a brief definition of branding you can keep in your head after you’ve read this post.

Branding has been a hot buzzword in the publishing world for at least ten years, but I want to go back farther than that. In 1904 Ivan Pavlov won the Noble prize for his research into branding. You’ve heard about his dogs. That’s branding. Ring the bell, give the dogs meat. Do it enough and the dogs salivate without the beef.

Psychologists call this planting an associative memory.

“I’m Tom Bodett for _______ and we’ll leave the light on for ya.” Most of you instantly inserted Motel 6 into the blank. Some of you even hear the folksy music in your head and are thinking about a “clean comfortable room” and “the lowest price of any national chain.”

Rooms

Mention Stephen King and we think horror. Nicholas Sparks equals romance (and tears).

How do we plant an associative memory into the mind of a reader, agent, or editor?

Consistency, frequency, and anchoring.

Consistency: Give people the same message every time. Did you know Pavlov did his experiment again with circles? Show dogs the circles then give them the meat. It worked. Then he changed the circles to ovals. It stopped working. The consistency wasn’t there. This is why it’s tough—but not impossible—to brand yourself as a nonfiction writer and a fiction writer at the same time. Or to switch genres. Once you get into the mind with a strong associate memory, it’s difficult to change it, or even add to it. For example, when you hear Harry Houdini, you think magician. But who can remember that he was the first person to fly an airplane in Australia? Even most Australians don’t know that. Why? He already was in there mind with a different brand.

Frequency: This is easy. Keep your message out there. Often.

Anchoring: This is the tough one. Many people think by throwing together some potent colors and coming up with a catchy tagline they’ve branded themselves. Huh uh. Anchoring is divided into three parts:

Book of Days

1.      Anchor to something no one else has anchored to. You must be unique. Telling people you’re the “Passionate author who shares the deep love of Jesus” will not be remembered. Showing up in your kilt at the ACFW awards dinner will. I’m serious. Agent Chip MacGregor knows what he’s doing when he goes each year in his kilt. Who is he promoting/branding himself to? Editors and writers. Do you think he makes an impact when he wears his kilt? Is it memorable? Unique? Yea verily.

2. Anchor to something the public wants. Picking on Chip again, people want entertainment, they want to be surprised. Are they, when he steps out in his MacGregor tartan? Of course. They love it. Randy Ingermanson has branded himself as the Snowflake guy to writers and editors. At an ACFW conference a few years back I smiled as I saw his branding had become so successful it was parodied from the stage during the opening session.

3. Anchor to something you already are. Anchor to something you already are. No, that wasn’t a typo. It bears repeating because this is where more authors stumble. Many try to create a brand out of nothing:

“Suspense that sucks you in and won’t let you go! Never! Ever! Really!”

“Making you hyperventilate after every chapter!”

“Romance that makes you a mush cake every time!”

The Chair

This is not branding. You can’t create or make up a brand. You can only discover and promote what already is. I worked with an author recently who claimed she didn’t have a brand, and there was no coherent theme connecting her three novels. She was wrong. She has a powerful brand/theme, one with universal appeal. She was thrilled after I showed her what it was. But I didn’t create her brand, I simply pointed out what was already there.

Branding is taking the unique elements about you and your writing that already exist and exposing them to the world. Your brand is there; your job is to uncover it.

Yes, it’s a challenge pinpointing what your brand is. Often we’re too close. Most people have trouble reading the outside of the bottle when they’re standing inside. So ask people close to you to describe your uniqueness. Brainstorm with other authors about what sets you apart. Ask your editor, spouse, kids, agent, and others.

Yeah, I know, we’ve only scratched the surface. That’s why Amazon is packed with books on branding. And why marketing people like me have jobs.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

I  love God, my wife, my sons, writing, speaking,
 playing guitar and golf, in that order.
And I dabble in photography.
(and yes that's me in the ski shot above)
www.jimrubart.com  

Now does that not make your brain stretch and swell just a little bit? But such helpful info for the beginning author, because NOW is the time to be figuring and discovering and finding our brand. I know from personal experience, taking the bit of time each day or week to learn something about marketing myself is a great way of getting the learning curve and overwhelming amount of "stuff" out there to do, out of the way now will better prepare me for the time when I do get to have a book on the shelves.

What do you think? Does Jim's comments open up a new understanding...and hopefully less daunting amount of info to consider while you do the preliminary marketing?

Highlights from the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference-2011

Hello Writers Alley,

It’s me – Pepper, and I’m delighted to share the highlights of my visit to the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference two weeks ago. This was my fourth year at Blue Ridge, where each year I attend as a day guest because the conference is about an hour and a half from my home in TN.

Nestled in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains, just east of Asheville, Ridgecrest Conference Center might be a bit unexpected for this growing conference, but it’s the perfect place. Beautiful, quiet, with friendly people at every turn.

I was so pleased to recognize lots of faces this year, as well as be recognized by fabulous authors like Deb Raney, DiAnn Mills, and Jim Rubart. Getting to meet new authors like Edie Melson (we’d met last year, briefly, Gina Holmes, and Ramona Richards was another treat. And waving to familiar aspiring authors like Lisa Carter and Lori Roeveld. Oh what a blast. And this year there was even more courses , agents, and editors  than last year.

But I’m rambling (no surprise). I wanted to give you a few of the highlights.

I was only able to attend 2 days – so I tried to pack as much in as possible. I attended DiAnn Mills, Writing Romance That Sells course, Ramona Richards Writing a Lady to Love course, and returned to DiAnn Mills for Writing Dialogue.

From Writing Romance That Sells:

1.       Characters are vital. We remember well-written characters. KNOW THY CHARACTER!!!!

2.       DiAnn suggests filling out a detailed character chart on each character, and filling out the Myers-Briggs personality test for each of your main characters. It gives important information that makes your characters more three-dimensional and complex.

3.       What are some things that make a ‘selling manuscript’?

a.       The triumph of a character through pain to fulfillment

b.      Unusual plots with your unique ‘spin’ on them

c.       Transforming love that makes each main character better people

d.      Witty dialogue

e.      Emotive conflict

f.        Satisfactory ending

4.       Each page in your manuscript must have some type of conflict

5.       Your protagonist should initiate the action rather than be a victim*** (I liked this one. Readers like strong, independent women)

6.       Quick look at 5 Plot Elements

a.       A sympathetic character (make us care)

b.      A problem arises resulting in conflict (make us desire something)

c.       Conflict must have twists and turns, and character must grow (make us have to fight for our desire)

d.      A climax must exist (make us fight to the finish)

e.      Resolution (make us meet our goal, find our treasure, recover our lost item, get the guy, etc.)

A Lady to Love – this class was absolutely awesome. If you get the chance to sit in on it at a conference near you – DO IT! (here are some highlights)

What makes a woman unforgettable? Scarlett O’Hara, Marion Ravenwood, Jo March, Hester Prynne, Vivian (from Pretty Woman)

1.       All of our current movie heroines descend from Cinderella

a.       A young woman struggling against her environment

b.      Breaks free of the conflict because of her personality

c.       Finds her way to break out

d.      End of story resolved well

2.       What type of woman should we write?

a.       One who cares deeply

b.      Independent

c.       Women who face immediate conflict

d.      Smart

3.       Three conflict for your heroine:

a.       Environmental Conflict (something you can ‘see)

b.      Internal Conflict (something within the heroine)

c.       Interpersonal Conflict (with others)

4.       Heroines are one of 7 personalities:

a.       The Boss (ex. Queen Elizabeth I) a ruler

b.      Seductress (ex. Scarlett O’Hara)

c.       Spunky Kid (ex. Meg Ryan in most of her movies) ‘girl next door’

d.      Free Spirit (ex. Lucille Ball) – follow their own path; ultimate hippie

e.      Waif – ‘Ultimate damsel-in-distress’

f.        Librarian – control freak, prim, proper

g.       Crusader – (ex. Marion Ravenwood from Indiana Jones) adventurer

Most heroines have a basic personality of one of these, with another type or two layering over the foundational one.

Okay, I’m going to stop for now. I have so much information – so many notes, but I’ll just have to save those for next time. What would you like to hear more about? Writing romance? Writing Dialogue? Writing heroines? The dance of character and plot?

Or would you like to learn more of the basics? What are conferences like, or specifically the BRMCWC?