Click. Click. Click.

It's a reactive thing, like a Geiger counter; you click whenever you come close to whatever you were built to do. ~Stephen King


Branding scares me. Just the word itself makes me feel I'm trapped in something--a genre maybe?--and can't escape. Branding means - recognizable. They say--and don't ask who they are--that every writer, published or not, should have a website. They don't tell us new/unpubbed writers what should be on that website, but I know it has to be interesting enough to keep readers/viewers coming back again and again and again. They say we should write articles for magazines and newspapers, get our name out there so it will become recognizable. Build a reader base. This makes sense, but writing and marketing articles take time and effort. They say we should speak to clubs--any kind of club--and reading groups to promote our works. I've heard some authors speak and figured they should have stayed in the chatrooms, remained anonymous. A bad speaker, a dull speaker can hurt her sales. Maybe that's my opinion. I should probably qualify that by saying a dull speaker can't sell me a book. Neither can a hateful speaker, a snobby speaker, a show-off speaker... and my list goes on. They say we should go on TV and radio. I'm certain my Texas drawl would be a complete turn-off to most listeners, and I've seen what television can do to my middle-aged figure. I'll have to pass.

When it comes down to it, branding is for the pros, those people who turn out book after book, year after year. I think we can even revise Mr. King's quote and say:

It's a reactive thing, like a Geiger counter; you click when you come close to whatever you were branded to do."

I believe a lot of times, click! brands just happen and that's when they're a good thing.

Click. Click! Click?