Branding Yourself with a Slogan … by Bernadette Marie

When you think of Stephen King, a certain kind of book comes to mind. Your mind goes to a dark place. Images of certain movie stars with axes come to mind and nightmares begin. As an author, we quickly recognize that Stephen King is branded in horror. All you have to do is say his name.

When you hear the words, Eat Fresh, your mind will automatically think Subway restaurants if you’ve listened to the radio or TV in the past few years. If you hear Peyton Manning humming, you’re thinking Nationwide. Of course, the name Jake and the fashion of Khakis is synonymous with State Farm. These large chains have branded slogans to help you think of them, and sometimes at the most unusual of times. Seriously, when I said Peyton Manning humming, your mind heard the jingle, right?

Most authors set out to brand themselves in a genre. Nora Roberts writes great romantic suspense and Debbie Macomber gives you a much softer sided romance. They are branded by their writing styles as well as the book covers that their publishers put out. But if you’re predominantly a certain kind of writer, a slogan still might work wonders for you too.

I write contemporary romance. My books are novel-length, but not battling for word count. They’re what I would call an easy read and have been referred to as perhaps predictable. They also end with a happily ever after.

My slogan, Happily ever after…always, stems from the kinds of stories you can expect from me. I found early on, as a reader, that I didn’t want to ache after reading a book. You know the kind of books, the ones you weren’t expecting to have the hero die tragically just as the story was going in the right direction, but he does, and the heroine is heartbroken and now so are you. However, if I did come across this story line, it sure was nice to pick up the next easy read, which was predictable and lets my heart rest with happily ever after. That’s where my inspiration came.

If you pick up a Bernadette Marie book, you’re going to have a few pleasant hours of the rise and fall of romance, but you know how it’ll end because I’ve promised you that in my slogan. My avid readers know they can expect that from me. And wouldn’t you know it, when they mention me on Facebook or Twitter, they use my slogan.

A slogan can work for any author, especially those who stick to a certain genre with a certain pen name. For example, if an author had a slogan of, Murder follows him wherever he goes, you’re going to know that this author is going to give you a murder mystery. Okay, you might have known that when you went looking for a murder mystery in your Google search, but honestly, isn’t it better to know your chicken is Finger Lickin’ Good and not just your everyday greasy chicken—even if it is greasy chicken?

Slogans can be fun and entertaining. I believe the general consumer likes to feel as though they’re a part of something bigger. Seriously, Just Do It! isn’t just a slogan, it’s become a lifestyle.

So, what’s your slogan?

*Eat Fresh, property of Subway restaurants
*Finger lickin’ good, property of Kentucky Fried Chicken
*Just Do It!, property of Nike

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Bestselling Author Bernadette Marie is known for building families in which readers want to belong. Her series The Keller Family has graced bestseller charts since its release in 2011, along with her other series and single title books. She has released 26 contemporary romance titles. The married mother of five sons promises Happily Ever After always and says she can write it because she lives it.

When not writing, Bernadette Marie is shuffling her sons to their many events—mostly hockey—and enjoying the beautiful views of the Colorado Rocky Mountains from her front step. She is also an accomplished martial artist with a second-degree black belt in Tang Soo Do.

A chronic entrepreneur, Bernadette Marie opened her own publishing house in 2011, 5 Prince Publishing, so that she could publish the books she liked to write and help make the dreams of other aspiring authors come true too. Bernadette Marie is also the CEO of Illumination Author Events.

You can learn more about Bernadette and her books at her website and the 5 Prince Books website. She can also be found on Facebook and Twitter.