Turning What You Nerd Out On Into Your Author Brand

I like weird stuff… and I cannot lie. 

So instead, I use it.

When I first started to take writing a book seriously, I produced a story that felt like the kind of books I worked on when I was in publishing. Women’s fiction. Feminine stories of love and relationships. The kind of thing they tell you sells. I was thinking of Audrey Neffenegger and Alice Hoffman as I tried to create the most approachable book I could imagine that still had a glint of the sci-fi/magic that I love. 

That attempt was terrible. Though I had a pinch of time travel in the first manuscript I ever finished, it was mostly a women’s fiction novel. And while I was thrilled to FINALLY complete a first draft. I hated the book. Hated it. Couldn’t even stomach re-reading it. 

Was it a bad book? Perhaps not. But was it a book that spoke to me? Not in the slightest. 

The problem was… I was operating in a way I thought I was supposed to, instead of how I wanted to. I wasn’t a women’s fiction girl. But I wasn’t sure I was science fiction-y enough to play in that field either. I had only been to Comic Cons for work (loved them, but never bought a ticket to one myself). I never watched the original Star Trek. I didn’t kneel at the altar of Dune. I was just a girl who liked weird stories. All of which had a sci-fi element, but maybe weren’t what you would classically consider for the genre. 

So I just wrote a book that was me. I agonized over how I would market it (still do sometimes), but just wrote what I felt in my heart was my story. 

Through editing and revising, I stumbled on a thread of research. It was in the field of consciousness. And when I gave it a tug, my whole brand came tumbling into my lap.

Psychics and near death experiences. Transhumanism and secret government projects. Mind control and magic mushrooms. Dystopias and DMT. There was a whole field of knowledge, studies, science, history, and fiction that fascinated me and was already peppered into aspects of my story and other book ideas that were brewing. I simply needed to bring it to the forefront of my work.

Go Full Blown Nerd

I was genuinely nervous when I started sharing some of my weirdness. When you’re sitting around listening to a podcast about Black Goo, Cosmic Will, Fractal Time and Heart Consciousness, it’s easy to assume most people would think you’re a little strange if they peeped your podcast library.

But I started sharing anyways. I began to talk about Project Paperclip and the Mandella Effect and aliens and how the heads of tech companies are most likely lunatics who will kill us all and lo and behold… people connected to it. 

When I sent the first draft of my book to my editor, it didn’t contain any elements of consciousness and the fluidity of our minds (in hindsight, that’s odd considering the book is about time travelling through memories). That version of my book was severely lacking. But when I began to pepper in the kind of things I enjoyed talking about and learning about, the characters and the plot came roaring to life. 

And now, I have people send me their strange news all the time. Oddball articles and out there Instagram accounts. Suddenly, the thing I love has become a thing people love about me. Or at least, my brand as an author. (I can tell you some people don’t love this about me in my actual life. HA!)

I say all of this to encourage any writer who is trying to fit into a box to just build a big nerdy box around themselves.

I have an author friend who loves cheesiness. She just loves anything that is sappy and gooey and lovey. GUARANTEED there are plenty exactly like her. So I tell her, bring on the cheese! 

Whatever your thing is, do more of that. For one, it’s a pain in the ass fitting into someone else’s idea of what is “good” or “correct” or “marketable.” Second of all, it’s so much more fun to be authentic. It comes naturally. It’s easier. It flows. Anytime I’m not me… I can feel it in every painstaking word I type. In every imitated post I share. 

There was a time when I wanted to be the Rachel Hollis of publishing, shouting at women to write their books. But I’m just not that hyper. And I once wished I had the quirky, cosplay, purple haired life of a lot of sci-fi authors I see out there. But I don’t. I’m a homesteading mama of four who really prefers a glass of wine and a Marvel movie at home to some artistic, bookstore reading in the city.

There’s room for all of us in every shape we come in. And when I started to act like me, my brand started to feel more comfortable and I began to feel less twisted up about what I was going to say next and how my book would come across. I’m okay with not being for everyone. I’m okay with not being in the cool kids club. I like my little pocket of people who like weird stuff like me. And while I hope that audience grows with time, my earlier dream of going full blown JK Rowling or Gillian Flynn have mellowed into a quiet form of contentment.

And as far as marketing/branding goes, I’m not agonizing about whether or not “it works.” I show up as often as I can as exactly who I am and hope for the best. 

Have I struck gold? No. But I feel like I’m finally on the right path.